Continuing in my quest to provide insight into the personage of Winter R. Child, I give you this rambling entry of obscurity. (I have no idea what I just wrote there.)

I believe in God, the Heavenly Father; his son, Jesus the Christ; and the Holy Ghost. I'm a practicing Christian, though I hate the phrase. I mean, what are we practicing for? The big Christian recital at the end of the semester? I prefer to just say that I am Christian.

I believe that all people are beautiful, both spiritually and physically. How they choose to perceive and cultivate that beauty is up to them.

I believe that music is one of the sincerest forms of prayer. This is my basis for not accepting rap as "real music". I never feel comforted when I listen to rap. It usually has the reverse effect on me, making me feel angry or lonely.

I think that the idea and concept of America is beautiful and worthy of pursuing but the reality of America at this time is sickening. Americans need to learn to appreciate the rights and privelages they enjoy. They need to exercise these rights instead of resorting to arrogance, pettiness, and slothliness.

I value the rights that Constitution grants me as an American citizen. At the same time, I understand that I forfeit these rights the moment I use them to infringe on the rights of others.

I believe that all men, sorry let me be politically correct, all people are created equal and should be allowed to pursue the life of their choosing without the interference of prejudice.

I believe that there should be moderation in all things. I understand that there must be opposition in all things as well, otherwise we would never recognize the good from the evil and we would all eventually fall into destitution of heart and mind.

I am a mild feminist. By this I mean that I support the movement for gender equality. I think that too little action in the movement will cause digression and that too much action will result in a new type of sexist. I believe that we should strive for equality, not superiority on either part.

(The guy behind me is being all pervy and laughing about strap-ons. It's very hard to be insightful when things like this are constantly interfering.)

I believe in the Articles of Faith and stress the eleventh article heavily. (We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.)

I have tried to adopt the concept of live and let live in my life. People are who they will be and it is not our place to change them into something we deem as fit. I will share my believes and principles with people but if they request that I do not or express disinterest I will not pressure them. That's the only thing I ask from other people. Share with me, convey your beliefs and knowledge but do not try to change me. You can either accept me for who I am or remove yourself from my presence.

I'm a conservative liberal (an oxymoron, yes I know). I believe that there are parts of life that require a conservative attitude and at the same time there are concepts that require us to be open minded. Just because something is different does not automatically make it bad. I try not to judge people but if I do find myself judging them I try not to judge them by their actions. Because actions are only a small part of a person. Just because they say or do something one day does define their entire being.

If people judged everyone entirely by their first impressions very few of us would be close to any of the people we love most. I know that I make poor first impressions. I often say and do things without thinking. I'm very rash and if everyone judged me on those actions, believe me, I wouldn't have anyone claiming to be my friend.

I am a very accepting person, well at least in my opinion. But being accepting does not mean I have to devotedly love every person I meet. There are some people I click instantly with and allow almost immediately into the "circle of trust" (*snicker*). Others, have a little something more required from them. I used to allow almost anyone in, I was very open but I was also naive, expecting everyone to be as open minded as I was. Needless to say, I was hurt badly by several people I desperately loved and who I thought loved me. Now I'm a little more selective. And as Max once worded it "I seek a higher class of friends". There's things about me that are volatile, I can't always be promise to be sweet and I often lose my temper over stoopid things. And there are things about me that are constant. If you accept me, you accept both parts of me.

I'm not perfect, not a one of us are. I don't pretend to be. I don't pretend or believe that I am better than anyone else and at the same time I don't believe anyone else is better than me. It all depends on which aspects a person chooses to cultivate within themselves. Some of us are scholars and some are dreamers. There is a balance that does not make one any less important than the other.

I often make remarks that others consider to be self-depreciating. I'm not putting myself down. These remarks are a remembrance of who I was and a celebration of who I have become. My self esteem is hazy at times but I've come a long way where I used to be. It's the ability to laugh at myself, to joke about my flaws that allows me to feel more at ease with myself. I have a few problems with myself (who doesn't) but that doesn't mean I hate myself. On the contrary, and at the risk of sounded conceited, I love myself very much. I think I am a beautiful, worthy person. There are aspects I need to work on, things I need to polish but that is a part of life. I am very content with the person I am. I don't view myself as extremely intelligent or talented but that doesn't mean I think I am worthless. I have my own areas of interest that I work at. That is what makes me unique and that is what makes me happy.

I have a lot more I want to cover but I need to get to class so I will finish later. I love you, don't forget that.