About Me

I have tried avoiding this kind of column because I highly doubted I could come up with enough material to fill an article. I am not that interesting of a person. If you are looking for a controversial article, you’ll have to wait for another week. So, here goes; let me tell you all a little about me, the writer of your favorite column ever, or the column that you spill your Magic Wok on. Either way ….

My name is Dan Hollinger. I am a senior in computer science and engineering with a minor in writing plus a few Japanese courses. I have always enjoyed writing, hence the insane combination of engineering and English. I have a terrible case of senioritis. Taking class after class that will not help me in the real world is getting tiring. I’ve had two internships, one in Austin, Texas and one in Seattle, Wash. I have had a taste of the real world, and double integrals don’t really play a part in programming practices.

Among my hobbies is soccer, which I’ve played since kindergarten. I am only an average player. Although I enjoy playing, I can’t watch soccer or any sports. All sports bore me. I just don’t care enough about the ball, the play or the player. I took up sculling in Austin and Seattle. It’s a great workout with some beautiful views. I also enjoy swimming, but I have only started that in college. I also enjoy reading science fiction, writing poetry, stories and articles and obviously computing. I don’t really watch television aside from the vegetative VH1 and the addictive “House.” My favorite movie is “Shawshank Redemption.”

I grew up in a small town in Ohio called St. Marys. The only special quality about the city is that it is home to the largest hand-dug lake in Ohio. It is a rather dull place. I grew up on a chicken farm. We gather roughly 70,000 eggs a day. This was my default summer job. I hated high school. It was a rather boring experience. Other than varsity soccer, I took part in Scholastic Bowl (high school jeopardy) and thespians. Senior year, our scholastic bowl team went to nationals.
In college, I have been really active in a variety of things. Freshman year, I took a tiny role in a play and rushed Theta Tau. I’ve had a handful of 20 credit-hour semesters. I am also a member of the Engineering Council and Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honor society.

I was raised Christian and have actually read a good portion of the Bible. My family jumped denominations throughout the years. I have been Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran and Missionary. Somewhere around junior year, I began to seriously question faith. I now consider myself a deist. All the belief in god with none of the dogma. I hold this belief mainly for poetic reasons. My god is not an anthropomorphic old man in a beard. It’s more of an energy or spirit that encourages life. When I first lost my faith, I had a very “live and let live” stance on religion. Nowadays, I am a bit more opposed to anything other than personal faith. If I believed two plus two equaled five and kept it to myself, no one would care. If I tried to teach my belief in schools, wouldn’t you want to stop me?

Politically, I consider myself very moderate. However, I typically lean to the Democratic side of moderate. I am socially permissive. The government should stay out of wombs and bedrooms. Fiscally, I agree with much of the Republican stances of personal responsibility. It is my money, I know how to spend it better than the government. On the other hand, I understand the need and costs for society to help the less fortunate. War-mongering and insanely high defense spending I do not agree with.

I am a very relaxed and pacifistic person by nature. Perhaps it is related to my laziness. I don’t understand hate. Hating takes an active effort on the part of the hater. I do not really get angry. The worst you can do is really annoy me. If you do not believe me, go ahead and ask my wonderful girlfriend.