I am firmly grounded in reality but I can appreciate a fairy tale now and then. I can find something interesting in every person and believe only boring people get bored. I am at once an optimist and a cynic. I believe truth is stranger than fiction. I am my own brothers keeper and appreciate such compassion in those who are close to me. My moral compass guides me. I am a patriot but not a nationalist. I respect, and even expect those who dissent in the pursuit of a more perfect union. Family represents the ties that bind. We can love them or not, but they are ours-- they link us to our past a