I'm looking for pen pals - people who enjoy expressing themselves in writing and pursuing interesting discussions through correspondence. I'm no genius but I think I can hold up my end of the discussion on a variety of subjects including current events, books, movies, sports, exercise/fitness, politics, business, music, relationships, history, science, religion, etc.

I think the critical factor to an ideal correspondence relationship is that both parties truly enjoy wordsmithing and expressing themselves through the written word.  I'm a frustrated writer and suffer those traits.

Hobbies/interests include reading, exercise, motorcycling, hiking, museums, current events, golf, music (play a "bad" sax), crosswords/trivia, skiing/snowboarding, sports, movies, history, gambling, and of course, conversation.

Re music, I like mostly 70s/80s rock/pop but also some newer stuff and some classical pieces.  Here is a partial list of the artists on my iPod.
38 Special, AC/DC, Alan Parsons Project, Annie Lenox/Eurythmics, Beatles, Bee Gees, Bill Chinnock, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Cure, Don Henley/Eagles, Steeley Dan/Donald Fagan, Doobie Brothers, The Doors, Edgar Winter, ELO/Jeff Lynne, Clapton, The Fixx, Foreigner, George Thorogood, Grand Funk, Hall and Oates, Harry Nilsson, J Geils, James Taylor, Joe Walsh/James Gang, Kinks, Lindsay Buckingham, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Michael Jackson, Michael Nesmith, Moody Blues, Outlaws, Paul Young, Pretenders, Producers, Psychedelic Furs, Rembrandts, Roxy Music, Saga, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Squeeze, Styx, Supertramp, Talking Heads, Todd Rundgren, Tom Petty, U2, Van Morrison

Newer
All American Rejects, Amos Lee, Black Keys, Bleachers, Blues Traveler, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Collective Soul, Colony House, The Corrs, Cousteau, Daft Punk, David Gray, Del Amitri, Ellis Paul, Fitz and the Tantrums, The Fray, Gorillaz,  Haim, Imogen Heap, Jason Mraz, Jesse J, John Mayer, Justin Timberlake, Keane, Kings of Leon, Maroon 5, Ollabelle, Panic at the Disco, Pete Yorn, Post Malone, Richard Ashcroft, Vertical Horizon, Young the Giant

Classical/Jazz
Andrea Bocelli, Jean Luc Ponty, Vivaldi Four Seasons, Tim Janis,
Transiberian Orchestra, Vangelis

Soundtracks
City of Angels, Lost in Translation, Little Miss Sunshine, Lost,
Platoon, Duets, Garden State, Life As a House, The Straight Story

I was a little disappointed with the new Quentin Terentino movie "Once upon a time in Hollywood".  It just seemed like there was a lot of filler that didn't advance the plot, especially the scenes with Sharon Tate and so much time spent on Dicaprio's character acting.  It's still worth seeing; It's just that QT has set a high bar with his earlier movies.

Here's my top 5...
1. The Natural - I'm sure this film is big with a lot of guys my age - an over the hill ball player makes it to the big leagues and is the hero. Redford is one of those people I just like to watch (Jeremiah Johnson would certainly be in my top ten); I think he may be the greatest nonverbal actor of all time for me. This is also a rare case where the movie is better than the book, in which Hobbs is a dark, unlikeable figure.
2. Somewhere in Time - Something about this makes it one of the few love stories that draws me in (others are Untamed Heart and City of Angels).  Could be the time travel angle and the tragic ending.  Also I love the theme and always had a thing for Jane Seymour lol.
3. Platoon - Gritty portrayal of the horrors of war and the futility
of Vietnam.  One of those movies I always stop and watch if I'm channel surfing. What kicks it to the top 5 though, is that it gave me the most beautiful piece of music I've ever heard - Barber's Adagio for Strings. Saving Private Ryan is up there for me too.
4. Awakenings - So sad I can barely stand to watch it. I always think about what the patients must have felt when they realized the drug's effectiveness was only a temporary fix.
5. Anchorman - I wanted one comedy. I appreciate a movie that can make me laugh out loud and smile every time I think of certain scenes. It was very close between this movie and Caddyshack but I think Anchorman has more laugh-out-loud bits for me.  Actually I was thinking of moving The Hangover to the top comedy spot after seeing it the first time but the second viewing didn't keep me interested whereas I've
watched the other two several times (and will continue to watch them again and again).  Maybe it was just too soon with Hangover but part of the wow of that movie is the unpredictability and you lose that after the first time.

Series I'm currently (and slowly) watching (all streaming now, since I cut the cord) and enjoying...

- Fallout, s2
- Stranger Things latest season
- Pluribus
- Mr. Robot

I finally was able to watch the last few seasons of Game of Thrones on a temporary HBO subscription.  I thought it was great, especially since I've read all the books.  There's no way now he can resolve his book series to match the tv series, though.  He both diverged from the book series in parts and extended the plots far beyond the books.  I'll read them though.

I watched a series called The Keepers on Netflix, which is a documentary about abuses in a Baltimore Catholic high school and the murder of a nun.  It’s interesting for me, having been immersed in that Catholic world as a child and going through high school at about the same time as those events took place.  As a child I had no inkling of any kind of abuse, aside from the priest berating the congregation during mass to put more cash in the collection boxes, but I do remember him as an unquestionable authority figure above suspicion so I can see how they get away with it.  It bothers me that the show doesn’t cast blame on the religion itself.  It’s the system of absolute authority combined with brain-washing children and sexual repression that creates a perfect setting for abuse.  That’s why it has been so prevalent and attracts/breeds predators.  I feel very lucky that I rejected that influence and way of life so young.

I watched Alone, season 3.  The winner lasted 87 days, 3 weeks longer than the longest from the previous 2 seasons.  With lasting longer, it turned into a race to see who starved the slowest.  The winner was, no coincidence I think, the fattest entry.  He lost over 70 pounds but had more to lose before reaching the minimum BMI.  I'd like to see a competitor on one of these shows who can survive indefinitely, to get enough calories from the land to maintain body weight.  Our ancient ancestors did that so I'm guessing it's possible.

At this point if it weren't for sitcoms, sports, "Jeopardy", and poker, I'd have little to watch on broadcast tv.  I can't stand reality and competition (Idol) shows and I'm burned out on all the episodic cop/lawyer/medical shows  that have to resolve the issue at hand at the end of each episode.  I can't watch anything with that formula.  If I can't find anything else, I'll watch one of the seemingly infinite number of reality shows about people living in Alaska ("Life Below Zero," "Kodiak," "Alaska: The Last Frontier," "Alaska Bush People," "Mountain Men," etc).  I picture running into camera crews everywhere up there ;-)  One thing I wonder about is why they have a tendency to lie about the temperature in those shows, saying it's colder than it really is.  You'll regularly see them list the temp in some segment as below 0 F and yet you can see it isn't nearly that cold, with the characters not wearing hats and not dressed that warmly, snow melting, and especially, their breath not freezing.  They aren't fooling anyone who's ever lived in a winter climate, which is a LOT of their viewing audience.

I do have to give special kudos to Comedy Central's "Daily Show".  It is clearly biased toward the left but one bit in particular had the most insightful, instructive and balanced message I've ever seen regarding politicians, a sketch that should be required viewing in every school.  The party in power in Washington can use a process called Reconciliation to push through a budget without allowing opposition filibuster.  The Democrats were doing it at the time they aired the bit ('09 I think) and the Republicans did it when they controlled both the House and the Senate during Bush's administration a few years earlier.  They showed two clips of Republican Judd Gregg praising Reconciliation when the Republicans used it and blasting the process and the Democrats for doing it this time.  They then showed two clips of Democrat Nancy Pelosi doing exactly the same, trashing the process when the Reps used it and lauding it in glowing terms when the Dems did the exact same thing.  It perfectly illustrates how lying just comes with the territory for politicians and every public word out of their mouths is about influencing public opinion and has nothing to to with being truthful and that they are ALL cut from the same cloth - left/right, male/female, black/white, etc.

I've been an avid reader since I started and at this point I mostly look for books with unusual characters, plots, etc.  I just can't stand formulaic books like thrillers, mysteries, etc. now. Recent good reads (newer entries added at the top)...
- Killing Time by Caleb Carr
- Anything by Haruki Murakami.  I'm working my way through his books now.
- "The Tournament" - Interesting historical fiction about a young Elizabeth I attending a chess tournament in Constantinople.
- "Green Hills of Africa" by Hemingway
- Historical fiction by Bernard Cornwell.  I'm currently enjoying The Saxon Chronicles series.
- Anything by Christopher Moore.  "Sacre Bleu" is my favorite so far.
- Anything by Ian McEwan.  I worked my way through all his books about a year ago or so.  McEwan writes these books with
unusual plots and I like his gritty writing style.  For example, in "On Chesil Beach", he goes back and forth between a man and woman as they court and proceed toward marriage.  The twist is she's frigid, terrified and disgusted by the very idea of sex.  He sets it in the early 60s so it's realistic that they don't have premarital sex.  Talk about building suspense for the wedding night.
- "Until I Find You" and anything else by John Irving, though I didn't care for his latest book, "In One Person."
- "Terrorist" by John Updike.  About a NJ kid with an Irish mom and long gone Arab father who falls into that life.  Seems very realistic.
- "A Soldier in the Great War"
- "A Confederacy of Dunces"  An old satire my son turned me on to.  I thought it was hilarious.
- "A Free Life" by Ha Jin.  It's about Chinese immigrants who grew up with communism adapting to life in capitalistic US.  It's a fiction but I imagine there's a lot of truth to it.

"We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing.  Others judge us by what we have already done." Longfellow (Good to know and also illustrates the too-common human flaw of seeing the world as we want it to be versus accepting reality.) 

"Wisdom is the reward you get for listening when you'd have preferred to talk." Larsen

"All meaningful and lasting change comes from within." Tice

"The only reason there is such a term as 'guru' is because 'charlatan' doesn't fit in most headlines." Goldberg

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." Feynman, after the Challenger tragedy

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." John Dalberg-Acton

"Higher taxes never reduce the deficit. Governments spend whatever they take in and then whatever they can get away with." Milton Friedman

"And you've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above..." Bruce Springsteen

"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it." Thomas Sowell

"People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything." Thomas Sowell

Focus on the journey, not the destination.

The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.

The more you help someone, the more dependent they become.

Considering motives usually helps predict actions.

Good, fast, cheap; pick any TWO.