JRid profile picture

JRid

I am here for Dating, Friends and Networking

About Me


General: I'm a pretty easy-going guy and I try my best to get the most enjoyment out of life. I love to make people laugh and also to perform in music (singing) and drama and have appeared in the musical "This is Kirtland!", a musical about the early LDS (Mormon) settlers in Ohio, each of the last three summers. This summer I was Newel K. Whitney, an early LDS pioneer in Ohio. I'm also a big sports fan, especially for my local teams, and enjoy playing sports even though I'm not really good at any of them (except Ultimate Frisbee!!!!!!). I also love spending time with my awesome family both immediate and extended and I'm a very loyal person to just about anything I'm attached to or affiliated with. I also love Wikipedia and am an active editor there. And if you can't tell, I also like flags and have a small collection of many different flags in different sizes. I find them very interesting! Oh, and if you ever need directions to just about anywhere I can help, especially if you're here in Ohio. I have a mind for maps and directions (ask my family) and I LOVE Google Earth!
Education: I'm almost done with college (finally!), though it's taking a LOT longer than I ever thought it would! After a battle with BYU-Idaho and their antiquaited, biased, and unreasonable (and undefendable!) housing policy, I returned to Kent State University, where I started college in 2000-2001 and also attended in 2004. I was in Music Education (I was supposed to student teach Fall 2007), but for technical reasons (so I can graduate sooner), I'm now just a Music major with a poltical science minor set to graduate Spring '08. This summer I'll be starting my masters work in teaching (where I'll do my student teaching in 2009). I anticipate finishing my Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree in May 2009. I was at Brigham Young University-Idaho (not to be confused with sister school BYU) in the magical and distant planet known as Rexburg, Idaho from Fall 2004-Spring 2007. And no, I DON'T miss it AT ALL!!
Religion: I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka the Mormons. I served a full-time mission from December 2001-2003 in the Arizona Tucson Mission. Currently in my home ward (congregation) I am the full-time pianist for Primary (children's Sunday School), my most favorite calling ever!!!!!!!
Politics: Politically I consider myself a "moderate conservative." On idealogical and social issues I'm pretty conservative, but on educational issues I tend to be more on the "liberal" side (i.e. not a big fan of charter schools, vouchers, or standardized tests). I try my best to not only recognize other viewpoints, but UNDERSTAND them as well even if I don't agree. So yes, one CAN be conservative AND open-minded (just the same as one can be liberal and close-minded...believe me I've met enough to know that's true!). We can also disagree without being rude and uncivil...a skill so many seem to not have in discussing politics and opinion. I am a registered Republican, though by no means do I vote exclusively Republican. True, I usually lean that way (especially on the national level), but anyone who believes one party can "save America" is living in a dream world in my humble opinion. I try to vote for the best candidate no matter what party they are in. Be an educated voter!!
Well, USUALLY I vote Republican, but I always THINK!! =)
Check out my website at http://hometown.aol.com/moroniohio
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Myspace Layouts - Myspace Editor

My Interests

History, LDS (Mormon) History, as well as playing and watching sports. I tend to root for my local teams, but lately all I get to deal with is high anticipation and major disappointment. Still waiting for ONE of my teams to win anything. So for now, I'm not really following specific teams. I'm also big into singing and acting, although I rarely get the chance to do much of either.

I'd like to meet:

Ooh, let's see...I'd like to meet many people. For one I'd like to meet Joseph Smith & Gordon B. Hinckley, and probably the rest of the prophets in between, not to mention some of the Bible and Book of Mormon prophets too. I'd also like to meet President Bush...we'd have lots to talk about. Of course I hope to meet God and Jesus some day! There are many other people I'd like to meet as well, mostly famous people who I think are interesting.

Yep, that's me in the video below, singing the national anthem at the KSU vs. Akron game on January 23, 2008 in Kent, Ohio.
This is fun video!
Here's a video of my appearance in my sister's production of "The Amazing Race at BYU-Idaho." It was filmed and debuted this past Fall 2006. It's not my best acting work, but at least it was something...my sister did a great job directing it and putting it all together though!
Here's another video my sister put together that we both make appearances in (as does my car!) called "Cleveland Rocks!" I helped a little bit in filming and supplying some pictures, but by far this was my sister's great work!!

Music:

I'm a music major so I like just about anything. I don't consider rap in itself music (although it has music in the background) and I'm not too big on country, but it's getting much better than it used to be. I like pop, oldies (like 50's, 60's, and 70's), and movie soundtracks (especially Star Trek).

Movies:

The Star Trek Movies (especially IV & First Contact), Back to the Future Triliogy, and the Sister Act movies

Television:

I like to watch sports on TV, like college football and basketball, as well as NBA, MLB, and NFL action. I also enjoy Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and the current Nick at Nite Shows like Fresh Prince and Roseanne.

Books:

The Book of Mormon and the Bible are pretty good books as is "The History of Joseph Smith by his Mother." I did enjoy Catcher in the Rye when I read it in high school.

Heroes:

Well, Jesus Christ is a big one, but besides him I'd have to say Joseph Smith. I think he had a lot of courage and dedication to go through what he did.

My Blog

New Blog

So, after a little bit of thought, I decided to move my blog from MySpace to Blogger.  Basically, it boiled down to who could read my blog and comment on it.  On MySpace, anyone can read my ...
Posted by JRid on Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:00:00 PST

National Anthem part 2

So I had a pretty cool experience tonight singing the National Anthem at the KSU-Akron game in Kent.  For those not familiar with the rivalry between the two schools, the University of Akron and ...
Posted by JRid on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:01:00 PST

National Anthem spectacular!

So I wanted to share how much I've been singing the National Anthem lately.  It's been a lot of fun and I still have a few more performances left.  In high school I used to sing it pretty re...
Posted by JRid on Sun, 20 Jan 2008 10:29:00 PST

poor article

So I wrote a blog about this about a week ago, but as I went to post it, the system said I wasn't logged on so it deleted it.  Oh well...it was a pretty long post, so I guess I just wasn't meant ...
Posted by JRid on Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:07:00 PST

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I had a really nice, long blog all written and when I went to post it, BAM, all gone.  Thank you myspace!
Posted by JRid on Sun, 13 Jan 2008 08:38:00 PST

If you get the Ensign...

Just a little note of explanation, the Ensign is an official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that comes out monthly.  It is an excellent source for inspirational ma...
Posted by JRid on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 06:33:00 PST

Family Christmas Newsletter

As promised, here is our family Christmas newsletter!  And yes, I put the whole thing together AS ALWAYS.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ...
Posted by JRid on Sat, 22 Dec 2007 06:50:00 PST

Christmas Newsletter

Here is my Christmas newsletter.  If I didn't send you the PDF file and you'd like it, please let me know.  I also have a family one that I'll be posting.  This one, however, is all abo...
Posted by JRid on Sat, 22 Dec 2007 06:36:00 PST

Sledding fun

I just wanted to share some pictures from our little sledding trip on Monday, December 17th.  My sister Katie and I took two kids she occasionally babysits sledding at the Kent State front campus...
Posted by JRid on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:43:00 PST

FINALLY

OK, so I've pretty much been absent on myspace most of the semester.  As much as I like to keep it updated, it's hard during the semester, especially one like this where I'm getting used to being...
Posted by JRid on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:57:00 PST