30 Random Things About Me

1) My name is Jason. But, my friends call me JBall.

2) I have been married to Bridget for 7yrs this April. We have a very polite three year old son named Xander.

3) At 33 I have decided that I need a college education. I currently am in my fourth quarter at the Art Institute of Indianapolis. I’m earning a BS in interactive media design.

4) Both my wife and I are only children. So our son has no natural aunts or uncles. Several Great Aunts and Great Uncles. But, none of his own…

5) I started my own freelance web design company two years ago. Since then I have partnered up with Rob (copywriter) and Chuck (programmer)… Need a web page?

6) My favorite ice cream in mint chocolate chip.

7) I’m fat. Always have been. Get over it, I have.

8) I play funk style bass in the metal band Honesty Kills. (myspace.com/officialhk)

9) I’m a total comics geek. I love’em!

10) I consider myself to be pretty crafty. I love to make things…

11) I used to be a cowboy… Now: not so much.

12) I hate chain mail! OMG! Stop the insanity!

13) Online is probably the easiest way to get a hold of me. Or my cell.

14) I miss my high school friends dearly… Anyone seen Mitch Balke??

15) I’m the “black sheep” of the family.

16) I wish I had a clone. Maybe then I would have enough time to get everything done I want to.

17) I really want to be a gamer. But, I don’t have the time. I love video games, mostly fighting and 3rd person shooters.

18) I suffer from road rage. It’s an occupational hazard.

19) I’ve become a hermit in my old age. I used to be a social butterfly. Now I relly like to stay home where its quite and uncrowded.

20) I think that Texas Roadhouse makes about the best steak I’ve ever had the pleasure of digesting.

21) I snore. There I said it.

22) I’ve never been further west than Nebraska. But I’ve been to just about every state east of there.

23) In high school, Spencer and I loved to do the exact opposite of what the art teacher told us to do. Just to prove that we could.

24) I love the DVR. Without it I would miss everything. I spend most of my spare time in front of this computer.

25) As Travis says “You can trust me”

26) I’ve held a wide varity of jobs. Including 12yrs in the restaraunt field. I also spent a summer traveling around stacking semi’s for transport. We’d stack two or three tractors onto the saddle of one and drive to another state and un stack’em. Hard work but, I’ve seen a lot of cool Kenworth dealerships…

27) When I was in kindergarten my parents bought me a puppy. She was a cocker spaniel named Pepper. She was my best friend until my senior year in high school, when we had to put her down.

28) I was born and raised in Noblesville, IN. My family only moved once during the twenty some odd years I lived with my parents.

29) I’ve known my wife for close to 15 years. We have mutual friends and would often end up at the same parties. I used to always hit on her but, she never took the bait until the winter of 1999. We haven’t been apart since. We hardly argue and when we do it’s about money. Hell, who isn’t uptight about money these days?

30) My mother and father own a bed and breakfast in Metamora, IN. They were wonderful parents who did the best they could to raise me right. I hope to be as diligant with my own. They are a great role model for longevity in marriage. They(we) have had our share of rough times, sure. But, they have stuck together through thick and thin for 44 years.

Altruism: Hope or Hoax?

In the beginning…

God created man, created man in his own image, or at least that’s what the good book tells us. The bible also tells us that humans are flawed. We are easily led into temptation and away from God’s light. Therefore away from God’s image and further still from an altruistic behavior.

To truly obtain an altruist state, one would have to truly be a god. I don’t believe that we have it in us to be that selfless. Policeman, firemen, and even soldiers do what they do for ulterior motifs. Maybe it’s the money, or maybe it’s the adrenaline rush of being in life or death situations. I don’t know what drives an individual to seek those kinds of jobs, but, it most certainly is not because of a deep seeded need to serve mankind. Those jobs may be considered public service but, those who seek that kind of profession have a different reason.

What about doctors and teachers?

Again both professions seem to be selfless on the outside, but, I highly doubt there is a doctor in the world that thought “I’m going spend my life doing charity work.” No matter how much you like to learn and attend school no one goes that long without thinking that an education can increase their monthly income. Not one single person. Those drawn into the education field maybe the closest to a true altruist. Educating the masses to better themselves is a very noble career. I compare it to being a parent. Quite possibly the most important thing one could do with one’s life. Most educators are greatly underpaid and underappreciated.

Since you brought it up, what about parents?

I don’t think it’s fair to even bring up parents in a conversation about altruism. Being a parent is fueled by a primal need to protect your young. History has shown us that the extreme opposite also lurks in our society. Those who would do harm to a child or worse. Although for the majority, it’s nature at her best. Parents can’t help themselves. We want to see our young thrive. It’s not altruism, although it shares a common ground.

All right hot shot, Priests, Preachers, Nuns and Jesus.

Pulling out the big gun, eh? Well, to that I say that their motives are obscured by religion.

We think that by default, people drawn to Gods work are selfless individuals. That being a witness to Christ somehow transforms them into something more. Truth is we are all human. Therefore we are all flawed. And a flawed soul is incapable of altruism. I would even go as far as to say that Jesus Christ struggled with altruistic harmony. Although the son of God, he was born a man. Born from the womb of a woman and therefore imperfect. Yes, he had a stronger faith and moral backbone than those around him, but still a human. I believe that his motivation and the motivation behind any religious figure head is pleasing God. Helping the human race to be better humans is simply a fast track to Gods graces.

In closing,

I think it is well within reason to believe that there are those among us who feel the calling to lend a helping hand. I think that we as a population strive to be moral and polite. All good things to be, I would hate to live in a world where humans had forgotten their manners, but, an altruistic society we are not.