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.
A long-overdue welcome aboard, Mike! However, I’m afraid that as an initiation rite, you are obligated to immediately jump into the fray on one of those “controversial” topics. That’s right….barbeque. In the alternative, I demand a post on what state does the best things with pork in general.
All of which reminds me that I need to do my own post on the cooking of meat soon. I intend to ask the question: “Well-done Steak: A Sign of Fascism or Communism?”Report
Mark – ‘Best Use of Pork’ seems to be a discussion more likely to lead to victory for the Bluegrass. I’ll have to start compiling some facts to plead my case.Report
No doubt about that. Kentucky Ham may well win the battle on its own.Report
BBQ hell – the man’s smack dab in the middle of the land of bourbon! That’s what we want to hear about in excruciating detail. Your [New Year’s] Mission, should you choose to take it is to start planning excursions to whiskey tours and tastings. Bring along a smart phone and blog while you’re touring. Extra credit for progressively more garbled prose. 😉
Welcome to the big league big stick.Report
Ah – Wardsmith, I am a heretic with regards to bourbon. I have never liked it and haven’t had a sip since an ill-fated moment in a Louisville bar with Mark Thompson some time ago. If you want a review of local beers I will be happy to assist but alas, I am no bourbon drinker.Report
Controversial? There’s no “controversy” in barbeque. All one needs to do is remember the three magic words:
Big. Green. Egg.
Everything else is just details.Report
I like my Cobb!Report
Mark:
Everyone knows that NC has the best BBQ. Not to mention that anyone who uses ketchup as a BBQ sauce base is morally suspect.Report
Ok, this put a smile on my face.Report
Welcome, Mike! (Although the word “welcome” seems a bit wrong in your case, eh?)
My one quibble would be that I don’t think you should post all of your outdoors stuff elsewhere.Report
Tod – I will try to throw a few outdoor posts over here from time to time. Although at the moment hunting season has been so slow that I have little to write about. If our Canadian friends could send down a cold front it would be much appreciated.Report
Mike – Great! As I get to know people here, I find that I enjoy their writings about their personal passions as much or more than the political stuff.
Canadian friends – Please don’t.Report
Ditto to this. I’d take it one step further, even: writings about personal passions make the political stuff a lot easier to discuss.Report
As a self-exiled Kentuckian who’d get hit by the brunt of that cold front, I second Tod on this one…
Besides, wasn’t it snowing (or at least threatening to snow) in Louisville over the last few days?
(Meanwhile, no one is noticing the slow but certain Bluegrass takeover of the League… All goes according to plan, and if only I, too, had a devious mustache to twirl…)Report
JL – We got about 30 minutes of snow yesterday. We need at least 4-5 days of sustained cold up north to push those birds down here. Since you’re west of the Mississippi you would be out of the path for that Canadian cold front I’m looking for.
First a trickle and then a flood. I’m envisioning the interwebs as a 21st century Cumberland Gap.
Report
I lived in Louisville for 3 years and my identical twin has lived there since 1986 can I be part of the Bluegrass takeover?Report
Awesome, looking forward to your contributions.
Two teenage daughters and still a happy home?? What sorts of powerful drugs are you secretly giving them (or yourselves)?Report
Additionally: You’re in charge of this weekend’s Jukebox and Open Thread.Report
(I should also add: Welcome aboard.)Report
Welcome Mike! Great to see you writing for the League!Report
Holly Hannah! Welcome aboard Mike!!Report
Sorry it took so long to get you up and running Mike. Welcome.Report
Welcome to the League Mike. Looking forward to the education posts in particular.Report
Congratulations upon your newly exalted status – I’ve enjoyed your commentary and look forward to your more substantial contributionsReport
Mike, welcome. I’m looking forward to your posts. Please don’t hesitate to write about your hobbies. That hunting guest post a while back gets my vote for inclusion in the Ordinary Gents anthology. Now, to distastefully make light of heavy topics:
abortion – It’s not quite the same as taking out the trash.
gay marriage – Why the fuck not?
what state has the best barbecue – North Carolina. That “barbecue sauce” is clear should be clear.Report
Welcome Mike! Hmm,this blog does seem to be tilting rightwards… First TVD then Mike and EDK and RyanB et al (i.e. our resident liberals) are registered republicans? Twilight zone…Report
All y’all look like statist pinkos from here.Report
Geeze, I’m away for a few days and Mike gets front page and gives me even some passing credit for it?
Clearly I should take longer vacations from the computer. Good Things Happen when I’m only slightly around.
Looking forward to catching up on your posts, Mike D.Report
Barbecue is heresy.
A good cut of meat could only suffer from being slathered in such a heavily-flavored sauce.
I just felt a need to take a contrarian view on your first post here, Mike.
I’m sure you’ll understand.
Welcome to the League!Report
The whole point of barbecue is to make bad cuts of meat edible. :p
If you’re using “good” cuts of meat like non-brisket, you’re already doing it wrong.Report