Week 1 Introduction

Greetings classmates,

My name is James Richards and I am an English major. This is about my third semester at Los Medanos College and I only have two classes left before I can transfer to a four year institution. My dream is to someday attend law school and become a lawyer or judge like my idol the late Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court. I would also like to serve as an officer in the Marine Corps at some point in my life. I recently made the honor roll and am very thankful to be able to share this class with all of you and our wonderful teacher who was kind enough to add me.

There is not much to know about me. I am the oldest of three children and like to read a lot of books. Dostoevsky is my favorite author of all time and the reason why I became Russian Orthodox, which is my religion. I am currently about 500 pages into The Possessed after having finished Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, and Notes From the Underground this past year. Astute readers will have noticed that the title of my blog was inspired by the latter work. Additionally I like to write a lot of short stories, essays, and speeches related to a variety of topics. Other authors I enjoy are Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Richard Matheson, and the early Christian writers like Athanasius, Augustine, and Maximus the Confessor, each of whom are important to my religion.

Horror is an interest of mine, anything dealing with societal collapse and the breakdown of civilization as we know it. I like to imagine how it could happen and try to speculate what the consequences would be. My favorite films are Mad Max and Dawn of the Dead precisely because they explore these themes in depth. I also like to go to the gym and learn about history. Our instructor had mentioned something about Indian epics somewhere and that interested me. My knowledge of the culture and heritage of the Indian subcontinent is extremely lacking, but from what I do know, it produced the longest poem in the world as well as the most famous love manual of all time.

More than anything, I would like to get married and have a large family someday. I have always wanted to have my own daughters to love and cherish with all of my heart. I want to have four. I am only 22 right now, but everything I do from going to school to wanting to be a marine and a lawyer is all predicated upon the hope that this dream will someday come true, that I will have a family.

James Richards.