Autobiography -- Part 1

As promised, the first thing to go up here will be something of an autobiography. Hopefully this will help frame my opinions in the future and help me to start exploring the writing style for this blog. Due to the length, it's been broken up into two parts, but even so I'll try to skip over (or embellish) the more boring parts.

Prologue -- The Measure of a Man

In the year nineteen hundred and eighty-six, on the twentieth day of November, in a suburb of Washington, D.C., while the show Taxi was on, Daniel John Paoletti was born to Jo B. Paoletti, a professor at the University of Maryland and James J. Paoletti, a carpenter who was, at that time, employed by former department store giant Woodward & Lothrop. The name 'Daniel' (meaning "God is my judge" in Hebrew) had been carefully selected as an obvious compromise between two warring proposals; Bruno and Paul (a story for another day). Truly, it had been fate, for from these humble beginnings would arise a man who would be above the judgment of all save The Almighty, Himself. (No one should have this much fun typing.)

Chapter 1 -- The Early Years

To begin, I grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, about 5 miles from D.C. After a four or five year period in which I explored the philosophies and and social networks of Greenwood Nursery School, I began an elementary school experience which was as idyllic and innocent as any other. During this time I...

...played soccer, baseball, and basketball (all poorly).
...traveled to Sweden.
...cried at the end of Jack.
...began playing the alto saxophone.
...felt more awkward than I ever have since.

Chapter 2 -- Beauty and King Dork?

As with many children, middle school was a confusing mix of hell and things that just barely made it all worth it. This was when I started to become interested in learning for its own sake and yet not using this interest to get better grades. This is also the period in which I developed ulcerative colitis, something which has affected me in a big way ever since (another story for another another day). During this time I...

...played soccer (better now).
...got a few bad grades.
...cared about getting bad grades in a visceral way.
...got picked on regularly for being skinny and white (an affliction I carry to this day).
...continued playing the alto saxophone.
...began playing the baritone saxophone in Jazz Band.
...was oblivious to the affections of the few girls who had crushes on me.
...had my first girlfriend (this does not contradict the previous point).
...lost my first girlfriend two weeks later.


That's enough for now. Stay tuned for the next exciting installment...

Danny's High School and College Experiences:

Love, Italo-Germanic-American Style OR
Religiously Liberal: The Buck Stops Here!