A (Mostly) Unnecessary Introduction

For a long time I’ve gone by the alias ‘Mike at The Big Stick’ around the internet so it will probably take some time for me to get used to writing under my real name. I’m just old enough to be fearful of losing my carefully protected anonymity but I can think of no safer place to do so. Special thanks to Pat Cahalan for encouraging me to write for the League in this capacity and thanks to Erik and Mark for making it happen.

Because I’ve been hanging around here since the early days I am going to spare everyone a lengthy introduction. Regular commenters know who I am and probably have a good idea about my political leanings. As to what I plan to write about, I will probably cover many of the same subjects that I wrote about over the last four years at The Big Stick. While I will certainly discuss campaign politics in 2012, my sincere hope is to spend much more time on policy. My main areas of interest are education and urban/suburban/rural policy. I will do my best to avoid the really polarizing topics like abortion, gay marriage and what state has the best barbecue…but I reserve the right to stray from time to time.

My biography is pretty simple. Although I am well-traveled, I have never lived outside of the city I was born in and that is by both design and good fortune. My family has been in Louisville for nearly 170 years and I really like the idea of deep roots. I grew up mostly in the suburbs, attended Catholic schools and then went on to community college and the University of Louisville. I completed my majors in History and Anthropology in 2003. Along the way I spent three years as an archaeologist with the University of Kentucky before making the jump to Corporate America. Today I make my living as an analyst with a top-50 Fortune 500 company and despite my own disbelief at times, I love my job. My hobbies are also pretty simple. I hunt, garden and cook. And of course I write. I have a wife and two teenage daughters and if I do say so myself, we live in a pretty happy home.

I have been a zealous believer in the League since I first discovered the site and this is truly a dream come true. Looking forward to some great conversations.

* As a housekeeping note, The Big Stick will remain open for business. It will be an active home for my outdoor-themed posts and serve as an archive for my past work. All other new material will be posted here at the League.