Name: John Martin
Alias: tekBuddha
Age: 33
Birthday: December 25th (Yes, I’m a Christmas baby. No, it doesn’t suck.)
Education: Community College dropout
Favorite Color: Blue (No! Green!)
Favorite Album: Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
Favorite Book: Dune by Frank Herbert
Favorite Movie: Raising Arizona
Favorite Food: Beef stroganoff

Before you learn anything else about me, you should know that I am a lover of music in almost any form. It is the foundation of most things that I enjoy in life. I was fortunate enough to have parents who raised me on the likes of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Kansas, Styx, Electric Light Orchestra, and many of the other progressive rock pioneers from the 1970s. (I’ve often said that I have no memory that I can’t tie to a Pink Floyd song.) I live with a constant sound or rhythm in my head. It is calls many emotions and thoughts out of me. I learned to sing and play instruments to make music early. I have about two years of formal training under my belt from junior high. The rest has been learned through a love of making music.

I make my living as a technical manager of talented engineers and administrators. We build & support applications which consumers use to make important decisions. That may seem over simplified, but you’ll find that I try to be as general as possible in speaking about my job. There is a time and place for those discussions and in my personal blog is not one of them. Perhaps I’ll make a reference here or there but otherwise it is the business of The Business alone.

I have a strong interest in politics, the media, and their relationship. This is likely another remnant of my youth. As a young lad I was exposed to a multitude of protests and rallies on various issues ranging from Iran-Contra, guerillas in Central America, pro-choice rights, LGBT rights, and overall good-will-to-all matters. Despite a raising upon liberal-leaning ideals, I spent a few years of my late teens/early twenties as a conservative. (Fun fact: I was first registered to vote Republican.) My political interests were kicked into high gear at age 23 when I read The Best and The Brightest by the late David Halberstam. As awareness grew, so did frustration and anger. The best way to ease that frustration was to write, share, and hope others would relate to it.

This led to blogging in a simple manner. What started as daily postings of random news items to share with friends turned into a real blog with a real following. I have enjoyed a brief stint of popularity with references to my writings on major political sites and even of a few print publications. Over time that popularity has waned as I’ve diverted my attention elsewhere.

qmunic8 truly is my space. It’s a collection of thoughts and works in words, music, and images. These are mine alone. They do not reflect those of my friends, employer, next door neighbor, nor anyone else whose view has not been directly attributed them. You’re likely to read something here you disagree with. Good! I encourage you to challenge me on matters we disagree on. Not for the sake of convincing one another but purely in the interest of spurring thought.