About a month ago, I was contacted by someone through NextDoor, a site where you can connect to neighbors in your area, asking if I’d like to tell my military story for the Veterans History Project. What follows is my story, from the day I enlisted in Dallas, through Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and …
Author Archives: Charles
Countries Where I’ve Traveled
My list of preferred Austin restaurants
A friend has family visiting Austin next month, and has asked me to provide a list of area restaurants that I prefer, so here goes! I’ll try to include primarily locally owned restaurants, although a few are national or regional chains, albeit with local roots. I’ll also try to include only those restaurants where I’ve …
My Genetic Makeup
Source: 23andMe
14 Things About Austin I Learned from Living There
In March, I will have lived in North Austin for two years. If you’ve ever lived or visited Austin, Texas, then you’ll know what I mean when I tell you it’s decidedly different from other large cities, even within Texas itself. Here are 12 things I’ve learned while living here: Austin isn’t as nearly politically …
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John Stricklin’s Will
I John Stricklin of the County of Hardin and State of Tennessee, planter, do make and publish this my last will and testament, hereby revoking and making void all former wills by me at any time heretofore made. And first I direct my body to be decently entered in a manner suitable to my …
Zombies 101
One of my favorite television shows these days is definitely AMC’s The Walking Dead, and I haven’t generally been a fan of the whole “zombie” genre, although I really liked Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later… and I am Legend. With The Walking Dead, though, I’m not really sure the writers adhere to a …
My Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
The Myers-BriggsType Indicator® assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. These preferences were extrapolated from the typological theories proposed by Carl Gustav Jung. The original developers of the personality inventory were Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers. They began creating the indicator during …
Alexander Stricklin July, 2002 – December, 2011
Shortly after the breakup of my engagement in July of 2002, someone left a box in the alley beside or behind a co-worker’s home in Benton, Louisiana. Inside that box was a small, grey kitten who was probably only a few days old. My co-worker, Susan, knew that I was a “cat person” and began …
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My top 5 StrengthsFinder 2.0 themes
So many “personality” exams focus on fixing our shortcomings instead of identifying and developing our strengths. Going against that trend, I recently took the StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment, and it identified the following five strengths or themes as my top five: Input, Intellection, Communication, Responsibility and Learner. It also created an action plan for me to follow for each of …