Welcome! I hope you enjoy reading through this about me section. I promise, I am quite the enjoyable person to get to know and be around!
Here’s a short list of things I love:
Aviation, Traveling, History, Italian Opera, Electronic Music, Music Festivals, Running, Motorcycles, Tattoos, Reading, Writing, Beer, Dry Red Wine, Music, Home Renovation, Philosophy and Religion, Yoga and Meditation, Political Theory (specifically theory not modern politics), talking about ideas, talking about books, and dreaming big dreams.
Fun things to know about me: I am a Vegetarian, I like to sing, and one day
I dream of being a best-selling author historian!
I have an idea to write a piece of historical pseudo-philosophical fiction! It’s a secret. I can’t decide if I should make it a tome in the likes of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, or break it down into smaller parts. I guess the former is technically multiple parts… I could rattle on about my book for hours! Ask me about it!
So I heard you like airplanes?
Like? Obsessed. Everyone has that aviation story; the time where one looked to the sky and couldn’t help but be enthralled with the need to join the freedom of the open sky. I had that moment three years ago when I was working on the ramp for UGE, a United subsidiary. I was sitting on a belt loader out on the ramp waiting for our turn and landing on 9R at KSBN was a Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy. Rumor around the airport was that the Secret Service was flying in support equipment for the upcoming Trump and Pence rally in Elkhart. I could not believe my eyes that this behemoth flew in the sky. Little did I know that moment is what would spark my passion for aviation.
I worked around pilots everyday at my job working for both UGE and DGS at the South Bend airport. Even though I could never see myself as an airline pilot, I was always curious about aviation. There was just something so unappealing about the job responsibilities of a commercial airline pilot that I always pushed the thought of becoming a pilot out of my head. Cool job, just not for me. Until…
Again, there are certain moments in time that seem to just freeze in your head. One of the FBO’s Corporate Wings at SBN always liked to offer the workers on the terminal side of the airport some of the catering food they bought for the Notre Dame football charters. I don’t even slightly remember the date, must have been a Saturday. I was sitting at the fold-able picnic table eating a full plate of food with some coworkers when the Air Force pilots that were doing the fly over for the ND game walked through the FBO. It might just be a dramatic overthought, but I looked at those four pilots like they were some sort of demigods. I had met professional athletes before, famous celebrities or music artists a few times. Three men and one woman walked right past me with a level of confidence and swagger I had never seen in my life. From that moment on I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted… I have to be a fighter pilot.
My journey towards reaching my goal is a long one, but as I like to say, “it’s a race to the starting line.” I checked off some boxes towards my career goal of being a fighter pilot, like getting my B.S., but with each passing day I invest more into what I believe is my calling. I cannot get enough Youtube videos, book about military aviation, or flight time to quench my thirst for aviation. I became a private pilot March 10th 2023! I am so excited to get in the sky and make use of my license. One of my best friends Khale bought a plane and I hope to get to fly it around this summer!
To get to know me better, I’ve made the following Q&A. Enjoy!
Who are your heroes?
Anthony Bourdain is by far my biggest hero I have ever encountered in life. Although I never got the chance to meet him, I feel like we’ve already met.
Laura Dern said it best when she accepted her 2020 Oscar for Best-Supporting Actress. “Some say never meet your heroes,” she said. “I say if you’re really blessed, you get them as your parents…You got game. I love you.”
Left: My family and I during Mother’s Day brunch 2019 at Tapestry South Bend. Two for the price of one!
Right: Dad when we were waiting in Mersing, Malaysia, for the ferry to go to Palau Tioman.
What is your favorite book(s)?
Everything about this book is a masterpiece, every time I go back and read this book I am more impressed. The style of storytelling using deep-rooted philosophical ideas is appealing to my intellect. “Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”
This was my favorite book before Dorian Gray took the cake, but it remains a close second. One of the best mystery thrillers ever written, it’s sad Stieg Larsson never lived to see his books rise to critical acclaim. The trope books are always better than the movie is often true, but in this case the movies don’t even hold a candle to the original books. Every moment in the book is so vividly captured your heart will beat as fast as the characters in the book.
What historical periods do you enjoy studying most?
My favorite historical periods are the age of enlightenment and both World Wars in the late modern period, and development of religions in the Axial Age.
What was your favorite traveling memory?
I have so many traveling memories it’s hard to pick! My favorite traveling memory is probably when I went to see the Battle of Austerlitz site in Czechia. Check out my blog post “Where is it? That great lofty sky that I did not know til now, but saw today?” on it! My other favorite memory is when my Dad and I went to Asia. We were sitting at the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore when I got the urge to go to a tropical beach. My Dad said he was along for whatever I wanted to do, so I jumped on Google. The next morning 5 am, we were on a bus out of Singapore headed for Malaysia. A couple hours of windy mountain roads and a couple hour ferry ride later, we got to Tioman Island off of the coast on Malaysia. This part of out trip was totally impromptu! A total coddiwomple! I should really finish the travel sections of my blog!
Where do you plan on traveling next?
I’m just gonna coddiwomple it! 😉 I have no big plans set in stone. If I do get into the military I plan on taking a couple months to backpack around Asia! I would love to visit the Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Who are your three favorite musical artists?
Left to Right: Nick Cave, Gillian Welch, Elliott Smith
Cue “Everything Is Free.”
What is your career goal or dream job?
My dream job is to serve in the United States Navy as a fighter pilot and make my way up to a test pilot! Getting into the military as a pilot is no easy task. To get a fighter jet as your aircraft is even harder, reserved only for the top of performers. I have been doing everything in my waking power to build myself into an elite pilot. Body, mind, soul. Body – I’ve been working on keeping my physical fitness at a high level. Currently I’m training to run a marathon in October. Mind – I have been focusing on keeping mental clarity by spending some time journaling and writing every morning. I also have been reading as many books as possible. Soul – I’ve been keeping my spirit full with love for others and my relationship with God by consistently attending church on Sundays. I currently have an application in the the USN to be a pilot. I’ll find out in September whether or not I’m accepted. Wish me luck! I intend to write an entire separate post about my planned career as a Naval Aviator. Until then.
What is your biggest dream?
My biggest dream starts with a collection of Tiny Homes littered all over the mountains of the US, each with a theme. I want to have a tiny home in the mountains that’s filled only with books, one that’s configured only as a huge kitchen, one that’s filled only with board games, a tiny home that’s built out as a music studio, one that’s set up only for erotica, a tiny home that’s build into a cave, a tiny home that is built as a tree house, one that’s build as a large greenhouse and act as a homestead. Once I have my collection of time homes I want to have my own bush plane and fly it directly to my front porch! On that note…
What is your dream airplane?
Realistic dream plane? It has to be a Kitfox. To make my tiny home dream possible I need a great STOL aircraft. There are some beautiful Kitfoxes out there. If I had the time, I would love to build one myself. My dream plane if money was no object? Well it has to be a restored P-51 Mustang. If only I stumble across a few million dollars!
What is your favorite music genre?
This is a hard one because its such a toss up between my favorite two. I love electronic dance music. There is nothing like going to a show and dancing your entire heart out. I really love house music, especially acid house, but I also get a deep enjoyment from trance and drum and bass. I really love it all! When you start to listen to electronic music, a lot of it might sound very similar and it’s hard to distinctly recognize songs. We grow up on song lyrics but most electronic songs don’t have any! It definitely takes some practice to get good at knowing certain songs. Some of my favorite EDM artists are Jamie XX, Kai Wachi, Zeds Dead, Chris Lorenzo, Moby, Fred Again…, Fatboy Slim, Flume, Kaskade, and Wax Motif. Just to name a few! My true favorite music genre is the Italian Opera! I can seriously listen to it all day. I don’t speak any Italian so I have no clue what they’re saying, but for now that adds to the beauty. I do intend on learning Italian after I have mastered my Spanish, and when that day comes I will develop an even deeper appreciation. What is interesting is that both EDM and a foreign language opera both share many similarities! Each genre has a way of getting my lost in the music and brightening my day one song at a time. I also really enjoy the genre shoegaze! So many of my favorite songs of all time full under this genre!
Are you a morning or night person?
Oh, I am so much more of a night person it’s not even funny! I don’t understand those psychos who say they’re morning people! “Oh, but you have to give it a chance. Try it out and you’ll fall in love with it.” NO. I’ve done more than my fair share of waking up early in my lifetime. Maybe I just lack the willpower to rise out of my bed despite how tired I am, but really, no matter how long I kept a morning routine I always spent my day exhausted and tired. Now I do sometimes still wake up early to workout, but I feel good from the workout chemicals, not the waking up part. Maybe its just a Millennial depression thing? The biggest reason I cannot be a morning person is because I love the night. To me, staying up until 3 am is just as natural as going to bed around noon. I am not the type of person who can go to bed at 8 or 9 pm! I have a hard time going to bed as early as 11. I don’t have insomnia because I can sleep like a baby, but when I try to go to bed that early my mind starts to really come alive. My creative brain is most active during that time! I try to channel my night time for writing, reading, learning, etc. I would much rather stay up late and have to drag myself out of be and into the office!
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Hmmmm. No. I believe in lust at first sight. This will get its own separate post, I think!
Do you listen to music albums or on shuffle?
I am hands down an album guy. My favorite albums of all time are all concept albums! There is a time and place for listening to music on shuffle, like in the car with friends or at a bbq, but listening to album through is the best way to listen to music. There are few better ways to spend an evening that to putting on a record, staring up at the ceiling, and listening from front to back. The best albums are not just a collection of songs but a coherent work of art. They paint a much more beautiful story. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, Murder Ballads by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds , The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill, or (my favorite album of all time) Heaven or Las Vegas by the Cocteau Twins are all fantastic albums. I just rattle off the top of my head but there are too many to count! You can’t even compare to listening to singles or songs on the radio.
What do you do for work?
I am a network engineer! Currently I work at Dish Networks at the Echostar Cheyenne Uplink. The thing I like most about working as a network engineer at Dish is how much trust and freedom I am given to do my job. My primary job role is to do enterprise WAN Cisco switching and routing, but we also have many other technologies we work with that I have to be an expert in. What is networking? It’s quite fascinating! One thing 99% of people don’t think about is how the internet works or how you connect to wifi. Anytime you get on your iPhone and do a Google search, you are exchanging information packets online. Essentially my job at Dish is to ensure the TV video information packets get from the TV station sources to the Dish Uplink centers where it is then shot up to satellites in space and back down to set-top boxes in people’s homes. My group in Dish, Broadcast Networks, is responsible for all of the video IP traffic that traverses each Uplink network. Our group is essentially the cardiovascular system of our company, delivering packets of information (blood) to each group (muscles and organs) within the Uplinks. I also quite a bit of systems engineering for our team! I’ve been handling a lot of the systems management for our team and have building my skills on the Linux server side to do more back end administration as well. I have a lengthy background in coding from my undergraduate degree at IUSB, so I’ve been working at Python scripting and coding, building our GIT repository our group. Next will be to learn more Ansible. While I do thoroughly enjoy my job and building my IT expertise and career, my heart is in the sky. It is my destiny to become a pilot. This time I am spending developing these IT skills are going to feed into the future career I want to build as a test pilot. I would say it’s well worth the cost of investment!
Are you a deep person or more go with the flow?
I am such a deep and thought provoking person! I don’t understand how some people can be so numb or oblivious to what is going on around them. The world is so complex and times are for sure shifting, but we must slow down to see the beauty all around us. This life is too short to just go with the flow without deeply thinking about the important things in life. Art, culture, literature, music, relationships with most close to us, relationships to those people we only share microscopic interactions with — it all must be done with an intentional act of presence. Be fully awake to what is going around you and the world unfolds like a ornate flower. One reason I love writing letters to friends is because you have to slow down and write every word out. It’s an act of thinking and presence that anyone can do. Try it!