User blog comment:Love Me Cruelly/What? Oh, and Hi./@comment-24040907-20140928023703/@comment-24040907-20141002070258

I think that the quality of having a Great mind is subjective. As a critic, I encounter many viewpoints. I'll read (and love) a story that someone else hates. I'll watch (and hate) a music video that everyone seems to love. 3 guesses as to who made the video, his last name rhymes with Flieber ;)

Not everyone has identical opinions, is what I'm trying to convey. I could look at you and say with all honesty that you have a great mind. You could look at me and say I'm also quite intelligent. Beethoven and Einstein will break into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

We can define ourselves (I think I'm smart) but others may not see eye to eye with us (you're an idiot, Tybs). So, when do you have a great mind? When others say you do? I disagree.

Let others think what they want of you. Let them critique and review you and give you advice. You have to critique yourself, evaluate your self and be proud of yourself. Look at what you've done and say "I rock! I have a great mind!"

So, you're a Southern Belle, eh? And you'd like to know a little about what it was like growing up in my shoes? I'll spin you a yarn:

I am a mix between Irish, Cheyenne, Maori, Dutch and God-knows what else. I owe everything that I am to my mother, my personality, mannerisms, moral code and sense of humor are all akin to her and her side of the family. My mother taught me in the ways of the Cheyenne, to always have honor for oneself and for the world you inhabit. I was also raised to be a fun-lovin', storytelling Irishman, a trait I'm glad was instilled in me.

I never really competed in sports or anything in athletic nature, I was content to write stories and draw pictures when I was a kid. I would watch an old TV show about two brothers: a smart, nerdy one and a popular "jock" one. The TV show expected its viewers to love the jock brother, to relate to him, and look up to him. I could never do that. I looked over at the other, often ignored, brother and thought;

"I want to be that! I want to be smart, I want to know about the world around me, there's just so much to learn!" And I'm still like that to this day.

And I continue to look up to him, and to my other heroes; Earl Hammond, Rod Serling, Markus Persson, John Carmack and John Cheese, among others. I think to myself "I want to be like them, to do what they do and do them proud!"

And I can, I know I can. And that's the beauty of life: it's the process of chasing our dreams that make those dreams worthwhile.