[Insert Something Witty]

This journal is friends only. If you want to be friends, then post a comment here, telling a little bit of who you are and how you found my journal, and go ahead and friend me.

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I'm boring. That should be enough, but if it isn't, here's a bit more about me:

• I'm in my early 20s, but I've been told that I'm an "old soul." I think of myself as a cranky old man who is an acquired taste, and wear it as a badge of honor.
  
• Home is Alaska.
  
• I've always been very close to my family.
  
• I graduated magna cum laude from Northern Arizona University, with a degree in political science and criminal justice. I also have minor in sociology.
  
• I work in the sphere of education, primarily dealing with student discipline.
  
• My passion is politics. But I also adore my dogs.
  
• I'm a Republican. But I'm also pretty socially moderate, and pragmatic, and thus lament the GOP's lurch to the far-right. I have engaged in political activism, and while I'm not a hyper-partisan, I've never been a fan of President Obama.
  
• I'm gay. I'm also masculine. My sexual orientation does not consume me, although it is important part of who I am.
  
• I founded and maintain gsa_lj. Check it out.
  
• When it comes to religion, I'm agnostic. I can't help but be skeptical, but I don't pretend to know. I do find Deism to be somewhat compelling.
  
• I'm solidly introverted, quasi-neurotic, and unabashedly cynical. I'm also very blunt, but still try to be compassionate, kind, and do things with the best of intentions.
  
• My sense of humor can take some getting use to. Others have described my wit as acerbic, perverse, and dry. Try not to misinterpret anything.
  
• I'm very impatient. But it isn't as bad as my friends joke.
  
• I find the irony in my own contradictions to be cathartic. I revel in watching people's heads explode, especially if it's the result of strategically placed juxtapositions.

Because all of my entries are locked, I realize you can't really see who I am. So, below are some things others have said. Hopefully that will give you some idea of who I am, at least as other people see me. In full disclosure, however, some people think I'm an asshole. And I can be.

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TESTIMONIALS

"James you are absolutely amazing"
-brillosa; September 3, 2004

"But you go, baby. I love you madly, whether you come out completely or not. I was going to say that the world needs more gay people like you, but I'm going to broaden that and say that the world needs more people like you, period."
-geekwriter143; October 3, 2004

"Im glad to have you back. I dont knwo why, but it always feels good to read your journal. youre like this stable constant. and I know that even if my life is totally up and down and fulshed down the toilet, I can depend on you to present things in a rational way. and I just like reading it. because its not boring or psychotic. and I want you to know that I just scrolled through almost 40 journal entries, and yours is the only one I read."
-evilmannequine; October 25, 2004

"You're my hero, Jamie."
-smpte; November 10, 2004

"I really do love having friends like you."
-iconoclast; December 2, 2004

"When I read your work, I feel honesty...I feel resolve...I see possibilities without measure."
-vczachs; February 21, 2005

"Jamie you are such an amazing person!"
-immortalembrace; March 12, 2005

After my Washington D.C. CloseUp trip, in April 2005:

"I am so proud of you for getting up and speaking on behalf of your bill. You so completely rock, Jamie."
smpte; April 26, 2005 (on speaking for a bill that legalized gay-marriage in the large group, legislative activity where we acted like the House of Representatives. I rammed the bastard through the committee, amending it from civil unions, and spoke for it in front of the 200+ group, to a thunderous reaction.)

"Of course you blew 'em away. You're you."
homais; May 3, 2005 (after my speech at a banquet, people said I blew them away, even though I suck at public speaking and hadn't written anything)
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"Why must you be so decent all the time? Just once I wish you'd be evil."
-iconoclast; May 5, 2005

"That is the most disgusting and arousing idea you have ever come up with."
-whorecakes; May 29, 2005

"There's a reason why you're my conscience."
-iconoclast; June 24, 2005

"Jamie's a great friend and someone I admire greatly for his morals and ethics, it's amazing to look at his words and to think they are being written by someone so young...you deserve so much from life."
-immortalembrace; July 25, 2005

"You're a really awesome guy, something really special, and you just have to let other people see what the rest of us see in you."
-smpte; August 29, 2005

"I admire Jamie a lot. I would get all choked up this morning...if I explained all the ways how."
-smpte; September 16, 2005

"Jesus, Karl Rove would look at you with total envy."
-iconoclast; January 29, 2006

"Be careful about expressing those conservative opinions. You could put Jamie into heat, and he'll start humping your leg and spraying the furniture."
-smpte; March 28, 2006

"i just re-read that and meant to say 'amazingly well written for such a complex topic.; but apparently i forgot the last part since i was in such a hurry to applaud you. you write well, and it's extremely easy to read and comprehend it, but written in a very sophisticated manner.

"i envision you writing washington post editorials in the future."
-lastwaykeeper; March 31, 2006

"You revel in your bluntness, your rough edges, your sexual frankness. I get the impression that effete gentility annoys you, and that you enjoy puncturing it."
-forcemajeure; July 16, 2006

"You that one South Park where Cartman feeds that one kid his parents in chili? You remind me of that... remind me to NEVER piss you off."
-novus_semita; July 20, 2006

"You can be so clever when it comes to evil. There's hope for you yet!"
-iconoclast; October 18, 2006

"you really are a great person, and empty people just get up in arms because they see they will never live up to your quality of character."
-livethetruth; January 2, 2007

"You are indeed a caring person, Jamie. If all politicians--heck, all people--were like you, the world would be a much better place."
-k611; March 12, 2007

"Jamie, you will be so great in politics one of these days."
jadedone2many, May 19, 2007

"yr the last person i'd think of when it comes to nutters... if anyone's thought about what their politics means, how it intersects with their communities, their faith or otherwise, and their self, right down to how you conduct your private life, it's you."
-focaultonacid; May 21, 2007

"Wow. Even when you rant you're terrific."
1loststone; July 10, 2007

"You're smart & observant, and that's only some of the reasons why I think you're great."
-jadedone2many; September 9, 2007

"I know we think differently & about very different things, but you're a wonderful & caring person, and I'm very glad to be able to call you my friend."
-jadedone2many; October 19, 2007

"I really hope you achieve greatness because this world would be a much better place..."
-immortalembrace; November 8, 2007

"You know, there's a saying that transition lets a person know who his/her real friends are. I'm glad you're one of mine."
-k611; December 4, 2007

"I think you underestimate what you could do for the country."
-iconoclast; March 4, 2008

"I saw a spark in you. I knew you were something special."
-iconoclast; March 24, 2008

"You amaze and inspire me, Jamie."
-darkladyvamp; March 31, 2008

"I love talking with you. You shock me at least once a week."
-menace3; July 17, 2008

"You're great, you know that?"
-jarsofwind; November 5, 2008

"ou're one of the most compassionate persons I've encountered on the internet. We need more people like you running the world. JAMIE FOR PRESIDENT, 2012!"
-soluie; April 9, 2009

"Honestly, you've gotta know by now how awesome a person you are, right? There are folks out there who are rooting for you & see you doing great, amazing things in the future, you're that great of a guy."
-jadedone2many; April 9, 2009

"I love it! Jamie, you have a way of getting to the heart of the matter in a very pithy way. Bravo!"
-bdouville; April 27, 2009

"I know I can always rely on words of sanity, clarity, and kindness from you."
-jadedone2many; August 24, 2009

"I guess you're enough of a cranky old man to be a grandfather now."
-halogencycle; October 26, 2009

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Marriage is about love, not gender.

Jamie's favorite quotes!

"Damn the consequences, give me the pen!" -Lewis Morris

"I will be as harsh as truth and uncompromising as justice. I will not retreat a single inch, and I will be heard!" -William Lloyd Garrison

"Let them call me a rebel and I welcome it, I feel no concern from it; but I should suffer the misery of demons were I to make a whore of my soul." -Thomas Paine

"It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not." -Andre Gide