There is no doubt that I am a person of numerous interests, and can yap on with some authority across a plethora of topics. That is simply a function of my extensive reading and experiences (not being tethered to the social media scroll frees up a lot of time). Many have been the occasion when someone remarks, "I didn't know you knew so much about x." Well, my view is life is for living and learning. I've had the splendid opportunity to occupy many roles, don many proverbial hats, and am equally at home with my scholarly peers as I am in the most tooth-deprived dive. I very much appreciate the kind of "renaissance" form of curiousity and exploratory adventure for both mind and body. A quickie itinerary of my interests follows...(in no particular order)
Philosophy & Metaphysics
This is where I formally trained for the bulk of my degrees. I have soldiered through the entire canon, and am as at home with the presocratics as I am with Scholasticism, rationalism, empiricism, German idealism, hermeneutics, and many of the more contemporary flavours. My preferred choice is continental philosophy, particularly the works of Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Theodor Adorno and the Frankfurt friends, and of course Nietzsche. I have published extensively in these areas, including semiotics, in peer-reviewed journals, and it truly informs much of what I teach in the classroom.
Political economy & Labour
On the side, I was able to retrain in this field, and I have more than just a passing familiarity with grounding texts from Smith, Ricardo, Marx and much of the neo_marxist field. I keep tabs on non- or anti-Marxist economic theories as well, so feel adept with von Mises, Bell et al with information society "stuff," neoliberalism, neoconservatism, and our current more protectionist-nationalist policies worldwide. I am also an unabashed labour advocate who has served union roles, while also contending with issues of digital labour.
Literature & Literary theory
I would say nearly half of my reading has been in this area, and I have an embarrassingly long list of publications in this field from poems, proems, novels, short fiction, etc. Once upon a time, I was a mainstay in the poetry readings scene, and even ran a few small indie presses. I maintain many good friend in the literary creative space. It is an area that I hope one day to return to with the vigour and gusto of my 20s and 30s
The Plastic Arts - Illustration and Music
I come from a long line of capable artists. I know how to draw, but I also have a good grounding in art history to understand various approaches and schools. At times, I have been tapped to write essays to accompany an exhibit, or had my own work featured here and there. I can span a variety of styles, and even have had commissions in the past.
Musically, I can play a few instruments. From a listening perspective, my tastes are eclectic, and most often obscure. Who listens to Fossil Aerosol Mining Project, Rapoon, but also lesser known punk bands from the late 1970s while swapping out to Mahler or Kraftwerk or Aphex Twin or Whitey or DIIV or, or, or. Dead Kennedys or Dead Milkmen, The Melvins or Leadbelly, I'm right here sometimes listening to what others would consider the unlistenable. But, as one person from an ensemble I admire once put it, "you are using our music in the way we intend it," which is to say the music matches and complements the occasion. Drinking alone or in a group, being out in the field where lyrics take away from the event and still one wants beyond earth displacement, training on the bag and in the gym, being in the lab preparing fossils? Different tools for different jobs.
Musically, I can play a few instruments. From a listening perspective, my tastes are eclectic, and most often obscure. Who listens to Fossil Aerosol Mining Project, Rapoon, but also lesser known punk bands from the late 1970s while swapping out to Mahler or Kraftwerk or Aphex Twin or Whitey or DIIV or, or, or. Dead Kennedys or Dead Milkmen, The Melvins or Leadbelly, I'm right here sometimes listening to what others would consider the unlistenable. But, as one person from an ensemble I admire once put it, "you are using our music in the way we intend it," which is to say the music matches and complements the occasion. Drinking alone or in a group, being out in the field where lyrics take away from the event and still one wants beyond earth displacement, training on the bag and in the gym, being in the lab preparing fossils? Different tools for different jobs.
Municipal affairs
I got my first taste through my friend Bill. I've always been a political animal, but here was an opportunity to make a difference where it matters most. Sure, provincial and federal politics steals the limelight, and it is the environment in which we are situated, but the day-to-day comes down to local government. Your potholes, trash, public transit, policing, fire protection, infrastructure, roads, sewers, water, and all else really happens here. I have had the opportunity to run a successful municipal consulting firm in strategic planning and comms for over a decade now, feeding the occasional piece to municipal publications, liaising with officials, management and staff, in addition to both running a course at the university on strategic planning in addition to providing workshops for the AMCTO on various areas like performance management and HR issues. The most rewarding thing about it all is the difference I can see, and that I continue trying to make lives for millions more people in the future.
Mathematics
This came about via my good friend James who is perhaps one of the keenest and unknown minds of our age. He set me about a course of higher mathematics (not arithmetic) as I tried to untangle issues about sets and infinity. There is an elegance and cleanliness about this ideal space that need not have any true connection to empirical reality. For the most devoted, you can get higher on math than you can on drugs.
Invertebrate paleontology
There is no secret that I have pivoted hard to this field. What began as my own mother introducing me to fossils along the Ottawa River behind the Parliament buildings when I was 7 became a lifelong passion put into hiatus by girls, school, and other interests. Upon the death of my first wife, I came back to it as an anchor. I am now among the few who specialize in trilobites with an extensive collection. I collect, draw, and prepare them. When I am not working, I am in the field following up prospects. I have been all over, in places near and remote, at personal cost. I have a lab and my house is infested with trilobites. I spend my non-working snow-free months where I am happiest: in nature, on the hunt. I have had the opportunity to dig with experts and liaise with paleontologists, as I carve out whatever I can to contribute to the science. The fossil blog on here gives a sense of my dedication.
Numismatics
As geeky as things can be, I also collect coins. I do have a fairly nice collection. I also have been tapped to do estate appraisals on coins. In my childhood, I remember buying rolls of pennies from the bank to find any old ones, replace those with newer ones and trade them for a new roll. I used to use my lunch hours in elementary school to rush up to my local coin shop. I had given or sold my coin collection away, but quickly rebuilt it in the last decade. I can grade coins like a pro.
Comics!
In my youth, I was a comics kid. I even worked at a comic book store. I had a huge collection, all bagged with backing boards when the speculation of increased value was a big thing in the early 90s. That collection is gone, but I did not give up reading as comic book audiences in many cases grew up and the comics industry grew up with them. Today, there are university classes on comics and researchers. They have been in some cases works of literary value. I suppose I got demented early at 10 years of age when Alan Moore took over Swamp Thing and intentionally violated every rule of the CCA to create a psychological thriller imbued with literary depth. He and those like Neil Gaiman became pioneers in this field, and spawned so much in the indie spaces. We are not talking Archie or superhero fluff, but deeply engaging works. I have my tablet with thousands upon thousands of great works I know by author name, just as I would know the works of Celine or Borges or Miller.
Travel and Languages
I did not have the opportunity to see the world I read about in encyclopedias when I was young due to the realities of poverty. At the first moment I had an opportunity, my first overseas travel was to Romania for two months. I have since traveled all over the world, and my method is different than those who want to see the typical tourist sites and enjoy the comforts of some simulacral representation of home. I intentionally do not plan "site visits" to touristy locations. I try to blend with a people and operate serendipitously I also endeavour to learn the language. I can operate in many languages, and that is an outcome of my younger years of reading etymological dictionaries and understanding familial languages and roots. I have not taken a tally of my languages, but I know I probably can safely operate in more than 5+ languages beyond "where is your bathroom?" I need to see the world, but I need to see it on its terms.
Martial arts and physical training
If I'm not teaching, doing consulting work, or in the field on some fossil adventure, I am at the gym or fight club. I have spent almost a decade training in kung fu, kickboxing, stand-up boxing, and Muay Thai. It helps that I am very tall, lean mass, and have an excellent muscle build. Issues of physical training is tied with health, particularly because of a disease. There are not many people nearing 50 with under 9% body fat who can also bench over 400lbs. I am very strong and have good stamina. Most people can throw a good hard 10 seconds in the ring. That is like sprinting. I do 30 minutes. At present, I am the strongest I have ever been, and I was not a wimp after 16 (I grew a foot tall and wide in that year). nMy diet is extreme, my supplements obscene, and the results follow. I'll take a victory lap on having visible abs at my age and the ability to defeat opponents half my age in the ring. That translates well to my field work as "the human backhoe."
Markets and macroeconomics
I got stuck in on investing and doing swing trading. I have a fairly good sense on how they work, how manipulation and money can artificially pump or suppress prices whilst playing on the psychology of retail investors. Algos and big money are impossible to defeat, but there are ways to make money. I am no guru and have many bags, and I do not provide investment advice to anyone. That said, for those who want advice, maybe just go with a financial advisor to assess risk profile and goals. Don't listen to people on social media or on stock boards: you have no idea if they are pumpers or shorters. Therein is the trail of tears.
the natural world
I like bugs! As a kid I used to flip over rocks to see them. I enjoy my forests, my rugged terrain, changes in biomes. If I had any spirituality, it is my connection to nature and the seasons. Non-human animals are my joy, as are trees and undergrowth, as are the fish in the Caribbean and the cephalopods. I do not kill any non-human animal unless I have to. I will not step on ants, but avoid them. I will not kill a spider in my house, but maybe transport it safely outside (or just leave it alone). I do not use pesticides or inhumane traps. I am at peace and in myself in the wilderness. It provides me such joy and stimulation that the human world can never hope to give.
Codes and ciphers
I love 'em, though I can fairly say I have never actually cracked one. I came close a few times, but no dice. I still remain interested in it, although we now have computerized methods that can work through permutations much faster than us plodding human primates!