Introductions: My First Guest Author
I would like to introduce the very first (and possibly, but hopefully not, last) guest author on Dead Seriously!
If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, then Dan Weston requires no further introduction, as his comments have influenced many discussions over the past six months–especially those related to same-sex marriage. However, if you missed out on the earlier fun, then the following (lifted from his own blog, Zo Kwe Zo) will help:
I studied engineering physics at U.C. Berkeley, spent time in the aerospace industry, and now create software for visual effects at a major studio in LA. Before all that I spent 2 years in the U.S. Peace Corps, teaching math in French to junior high kids in Kembe, Central African Republic. I have buried one husband, am madly in love with another (now going on 6 years), have 3 dogs, and love to travel. I am an ardent defender of free speech and card-carrying member of the ACLU. I am a native speaker of English, fluent in French and German, studied 2 years’ Latin and Japanese, 1 year Chinese, and can get by in Sango (national language of the CAR).
Additional trivia and non-minutiae you should know:
- Dan is not a Mormon. He was a Catholic. Now he’s an Atheist. But he’s still a Catholic. I’m still working on turning him into a Mormon.
- Dan is gay. Dan is also married. Hence, Dan does not particularly appreciate the passing of Prop 8.
- Dan is a professional when it comes to illumination through obfuscation. I’ve often found myself nodding my head through his posts/comments, only to realize that I’m agreeing with something I completely disagree with. You have been warned.
- Dan’s vocabulary will probably make you shrink. This is not unrelated to the previous point.
- Dan enjoys long walks to Starbucks (where he orders a Tall Mocha, which we Mormons would know nothing about), the Lifetime Network, Harry Potter, and reveling in (ex-)Catholic self-loathing (we Mormons know a thing or two about that!).
Seriously, I JUST found out the other day that a “tall” is the smallest size at Starbucks. Who new? (Well, mostly everyone except this extremely naive-as-to-things-made-from coffee-beans mormon boy)
That is NOT true. There is such a thing as a “short”, which is the cup size for shots of espresso (solo, doppio, C-three-pio).
I must confess to bemusement at the “venti” size, though. Venti in what units? (Answer: 20 ounces). Who knew that Italians used ounces?
That’s what’s great about America. We steal the best of foreign culture, dumb the concept down, then serve it up super-sized.
I’m so confused. This whole time I thought that Venti was a reference to the god of winds in Roman mythology. But I suppose that doesn’t make much sense in coffee-lore.