by Hrothgar
Thu Nov 17th, 2005 at 03:26:33 PM EST
Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth (not) and taste (some).
My name is Andy Rogers.
- I am 44 years old (Virgo), am married, with 4 children (2 boys, 2 girls), ranging from 12 to 4.
- I am a Canadian of Dutch descent (mother) and Canadian (British heritage) courtesy of my father. I have one (younger) brother. He is also a passionate anti-Bushite (see below).
- I am a manager of technical writing for a division of Sybase Inc. We make internet banking software targeted at top-10 US banks and now breaking into China. I have been a technical writer for 20 years now.
- I have a BA in English Literature and a certificate in Computer Science from Ryerson Polytechnic Institute (in Toronto).
- I have lived all over the world (Trinidad, Germany--born there in Koln, Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, England), courtesy of my father who was in the diplomatic corps. My Canadian roots were primarily in Ottawa where I went to high school.
- I attended the University of Western Ontario taking an Honours degree in English Literature.
- I lived in Toronto for about 7 years after graduation (working for IBM at their main software development lab) and then moved to Cambridge to raise a family and get away from the smog.
- I am a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. I despise George Bush and think he is either a puppet of the neo-con agenda or a murderous thug. What he has visited upon the United States and the World at large is heinous and despicable. I am and have always been against the invasion of Iraq.
- My passions are music and world events, I am a daily reader of dailykos and am a news junkie. My main source of news is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a government-funded public broadcaster. While they are publicly funded they are also quite independent. They do lean to the left, like my country.
- My musical tastes are vast but I have a special fondness for progressive rock. I also enjoy indie music and typically can't stand what passes for top-40 crap on the radio.
- I love to read but do not have the time (except online where I waste vast amounts of my employer's time by surfing the left-leaning blogs and news sites).
Thanks for the kind welcome and I hope to be an active and thoughtful contributor/debater.
Cheers, Andy.
To answer Oui's question:
My mother (Anneke) was born in Amsterdam (1933), the daughter of the manager of the Handelsblad newspaper (Jan Groot). She went to the public school in Amstelveen and then the Christelijk Lyceum where she took Psychology and English. She emigrated to Canada in 1957. Her brother (Jan Nanne) emigrated to Canada around 1969 or so and moved to BC. Sadly they are both dead now. My uncle died of a heart attack about 20 years ago and my Mom passed away last year with pneumonia.
I am extremely proud of my Dutch heritage and often wish I could travel back to Holland to revisit my roots. I have been there many times, mostly in childhood. The last time I was there was 24 years ago (when I was 20). It will always hold a special place in my heart.
