Hi! I'm a high school senior (beginning my first year at Columbia University this fall) who thinks Wikipedia is the best thing humanity's ever produced. I'm a socialist who likes the communist chic and a proud adherent to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandonian Jungle. I call my socialist friends "comrades" (only half-jokingly) and reference "the revolution" in everyday conversation. I support the EZLN and other national liberation movements around the world.

I'm also a convert to Soto Zen Buddhism who loves the old Beat Buddhists like Kerouac and Snyder. Every time I want a little spiritual kick I go and read some of Kerouac's Some of the Dharma.

I believe "America" is a continent, not a country, and that there's no such thing as an "American Indian" unless they speak Hindi, Urdu, or maybe Tamil or the like. I'm a Mexican/Hispanic/Latino mestizo with Totonac blood on my indigenous side.

I love learning languages, as evidenced by my babel boxes. I'm a longtime Esperantist and can now speak and write fluently in this language (or at least as well as I can in French, which I've studied for 4 years). Much to my embarassment, I've dabbled in tlhIngan Hol (Klingon, yes, it exists) and Volapük, and I'm capable of understanding very basic statements in both languages. Currently, I'm trying to learn: Portuguese and German. You can see my progress on my babel boxes.

I listen mostly to post-rock and pirate rock. The Decemberists, Neutral Milk Hotel, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, etc. Also, quite a bit of pissed off punk rock and Riot Folk.

My userboxes are here











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