User:NetherlandishYankee
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Hi, I'm Robert McDaniel (Rob to my friends). I'm twenty-four years old, I'm a euphonium performance and music education major at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, and I love pretty much everything about music in general. My non-music interests include: reading Christian apologetics (especially C.S. Lewis), traveling/sightseeing, and linguistics and etymology.
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[edit] Some facts about me
- I'm a Born-again Christian, which means that I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior, though for the purposes of Wikipedia, it means that I believe strongly in the principles of objective truth, moral right and wrong, courtesy, reason, and tolerance... yes that's right, I'm a Christian and I prize reason and tolerance.
- I'm socially and fiscally conservative, though this does not mean being a blind follower of George Bush or the Republican Party. On most of the hot-button foreign and domestic policy issues of the day, I'm moderate, in the sense that I don't believe either party or any politician has all the answers. In general, I dislike most politicians regardless of affiliation, and I despise advocacy, tunnel vision, and blind allegiance to any earthly cause.
- My father was a U.S. Air Force officer for 30 years (1975-2005). Traveling and moving around have always been parts of my life, though saying goodbye never gets any easier. Places I have lived include:
- Valdosta, GA (Jun 83-Dec 84, my birthplace)
- Sumter, SC (Jun 85-Jun 86)
- Zaragoza, Spain (Jul 86-Apr 90)
- Baiertal (near Heidelberg), Germany (Apr 90-Sept 92)
- Valdosta, GA again (Sept 92-Jul 96)
- Fairfax, VA (Aug 96-Jun 98, my favorite place)
- Rome, Italy (Jun 98-Jun 01, where I graduated from high school)
- Wassenaar, The Netherlands (Oct 01-Jun 03, where I got my username)
- Denton, TX (Aug 03-present, where I go to school now)
Overall, I've lived for eleven years in Europe.
- Some family trivia: as noted above, my father was in the Air Force for 30 years, first as a fighter pilot (first F-4s and then F-16s) and then as a military attaché. He's now a doctoral student in medieval Spanish history at Texas Tech University. My mother used to be a math teacher and has since held a variety of jobs. I have one brother, who is User:ryanmcdaniel; he's 28 and married. We get along great, but as you can probably tell from our user pages, we're pretty different. My mom's mom is English, from the tiny village of Parson Drove, and was a war bride. I have first cousins ranging in age from 40 to 6. Virtually all of my extended family - cousins, aunts, uncles and all - works or has worked in either the Air Force or in education. NO member of my extended family currently holds a typical corporate desk job.
- I am absolutely fascinated by the historical development of languages and the connections between them, especially in the many influences on the English language. I hope someday to be able to make some contributions to Wikipedia on this subject.
- I'm an Eagle Scout and believe strongly in the value of the Scouting program.
Some things I would like to do before I die:
- Get married and have a family.
- Play euphonium in a premiere military service band.
- Read, if not speak, every Germanic and Romance language to a fairly good level... say level 2. That leaves German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic, plus French, Portuguese, and Romanian! Good thing I'm still young!
- Travel to Australia and New Zealand.
[edit] My travel log
[edit] In the U.S.
Lived in:
Spent long periods of time in (several days to weeks):
- California (my brother lived in the LA area for a long time)
- Colorado (my mom's from Colorado Springs and her mother still lives there)
- Florida (actually "lived" in Tampa for three months when I was a toddler)
- Michigan (spent five summers at the Interlochen Arts Camp near Traverse City... love it there)
- Minnesota (I have an aunt and uncle who live near Minneapolis)
Spent at least one night in:
- Alabama (can't remember exactly where)
- Arizona (one night in Flagstaff and one at Grand Canyon Village at the South Rim, though I've been back to the North Rim since)
- Arkansas (all in Fort Smith visiting friends... we also went to Russellville and nearby Mt. Nebo State Park)
- Connecticut (a few nights in New London in '06 when I was auditioning for the Coast Guard Band)
- Illinois (in O'Hare airport... hahaha)
- Iowa (just one night, in Council Bluffs)
- Kentucky (just one night, my twelfth birthday, in Paducah)
- Louisiana (several nights in New Orleans surrounding two UNT appearances in the New Orleans Bowl... don't need to go back)
- Maryland (various places)
- Massachusetts (a few nights outside of Boston several years ago)
- Mississippi (just one night, in Meridian)
- Montana (just one night, in Gardiner, though we also went to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument)
- Nevada (a few in Las Vegas, two a long time ago and one more recently)
- New Mexico (two nights in Santa Fe along time ago, two in Cloudcroft very recently. My brother just moved to Albuquerque, so I may have more reason to visit in the future)
- New York (New York City, a long, long time ago... barely remember it)
- North Carolina (I think a few nights in Durham a long time ago)
- South Dakota (just one night, in Rapid City... also saw Mount Rushmore and the Badlands)
- Utah (one night each in Wendover, a long time ago, and Moab and Springdale, more recently)
- Wyoming (one night in Kemmerer and a few more in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks)
Never spent a night in, only driven across or been in a tiny corner of:
- Delaware (on I-95)
- Kansas (through Wichita, Salina and Hays on my way from Fort Smith, AR to Denver, CO... what a drive that was lol)
- Missouri (just down the western side and across the center)
- Nebraska (just ate dinner one night in Omaha while staying across the river in Council Bluffs, IA)
- New Jersey (just in the NYC area)
- Oklahoma (went with the UNT marching band to a football game in Norman... have also driven through eastern Oklahoma (eg Lake Eufaula, Tulsa) a few times, that's real pretty)
- Pennsylvania (Philly, Gettysburg and a couple other things)
- Rhode Island (landed at the Providence airport, then drove to Connecticut
- Tennessee (have crisscrossed it north-south on I-24 and west-east on I-40, though I don't remember the latter at all)
- West Virginia (just in Harper's Ferry)
Never been to:
- Alaska
- Hawaii
- the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho)
- upper New England (Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine)
- North Dakota
- Indiana (unless you count a brief refueling stop at Indianapolis airport on the way to aforementioned night in O'Hare)
- Ohio
- Wisconsin
All in all, I've been to 38 states. One of my goals in life is to spend at least a night and a day in all 50 states. I think I'm at 28 so far... good thing I'm still young!
[edit] Abroad
Lived in:
Spent long periods of time in (several days to weeks):
Spent at least one night in:
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Egypt (a week in spring of my senior year of high school... that was amazing)
- France (Carcasonne, Chartres, Normandy and various other places, though all I really remember is Paris)
- Portugal (though I only remember driving across a small portion of it more recently)
- Scotland (Edinburgh)
- Switzerland (a week of scout camp in Kandersteg, as well as Bern and Lucerne)
- Wales (again, I only remember a brief drive across more recently)
Never spent a night in, only driven across or been in a tiny corner of:
Never been to:
- Eastern Europe
- Russia
- Antarctica
- Asia
- Australia or Oceania
- Central America
- India
- the Middle East
- South America
- Sub-Saharan Africa
[edit] Extreme points of my travels
In the U.S.
- farthest west: San Francisco, CA (122° 26' W)
- farthest east: somewhere on Cape Cod, Massachusetts (between 70 and 71° W)
- farthest north: Little Falls, MN (45° 58' N)
- farthest south: I think Tampa, FL (27° 58' N)
In the world:
- farthest west: San Francisco, CA (122° 26' W)
- farthest east: Aswan, Egypt (32° 56' E)
- farthest north: Keflavik International Airport, Iceland (63° 59' N) if you count that, or else Aarhus, Denmark (56° 9' N)
- farthest south: Abu Simbel, Egypt (22° 20' N) (also the only time I have ever been below the Tropic of Cancer)
Where I've lived:
- farthest west: Denton, Texas (97° 7' W)
- farthest east: Rome, Italy (12° 30' E)
- farthest north: Wassenaar, The Netherlands (52° 15' N)
- farthest south: Valdosta, GA (30° 50' N)
[edit] Places I would most like to go
In the U.S.:
- eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas (the Ouachita Mountains and Ozark National Forest)... also northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri... it looks soooo beautiful
- Appalachia, especially eastern Tennessee, western Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky... I'm all about natural beauty and camping/hiking/rafting/canoing... you've also probably figured out what kind of terrain I like best
- upper New England (Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine) in the spring or fall, preferably!
- Alaska
- Hawaii
Abroad:
- Australia and New Zealand... I wish I could take like 4 months to just thoroughly explore these countries and all their nooks and crannies... that would be the trip of a lifetime
- eastern Europe, especially Vienna, Budapest and Prague, and possibly Warsaw or Krakow as well
- Scandinavia... Oslo and Stockholm, yes, but more so the fjords in Norway and some of the little villages waaayyy up there, like Lofoten
- Svalbard, Iceland and Greenland... call me crazy, but ever since a few flyovers of Greenland and a layover in Iceland, I've had an insatiable curiosity for places that are exceedingly remote
- several highland locations in South America and Africa... I have been fascinated by reading about entire climate types (namely Koppen Cwb) that are completely outside my knowledge. I am especially intrigued by Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, not only for its seemingly perfect climate, but also as the capital of an ancient Christian nation. I really want to go on a photo safari too.
- Hokkaido, Japan and possibly some mountain locations in central Honshu... I really want to see the extreme natural beauty I've heard is found there. Not Tokyo, that would be too overwhelming for me.
[edit] Edits to pre-existing articles by category
Music
- Euphonium (found it like this). I swear I'm going to get this to GA-status or die trying.
- Concert band (I don't edit this one anymore; I've pretty much given up on it as a lost cause)
- Brass instrument
- Piston valve
- Rotary valve
WikiProject Spain (all with translations from their equivalent Spanish-language articles)
- Asturias
- El Escorial (found it like this)
- El Escorial, Madrid
- Navarre - more should be coming soon
- future project:a big expansion of Ávila
Left Behind
Fantasy books/movies
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
- The Chronicles of Narnia (film series)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Miscellaneous
- Denton, TX
- Chapter house - with translations from Spanish
- Llano Estacado
- many other one-edits
[edit] Articles I've created from scratch
Original English
- Leonard Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival
- List of euphonium players
- Euphonium repertoire - My proudest creation.
- Transition from Renaissance to Baroque in instrumental music - Made DYK on the main page on 7/9/07!
Translated from Spanish
Translated from Dutch
I created this account on December 23, 2005. As of December 19, 2007, I've made about 970 edits under this username to 133 distinct articles (not counting this userspace) and 34 distinct talk pages (not counting user talk pages). I've also uploaded 12 images to Wikipedia, used in 3 different articles.
All the edits by 80.34.109.71 and 129.120.233.7 and the ones by 80.58.9.44 between 12/22/05 and 1/5/06 were by me too. Counting my anonymous work, I've made about 750 edits to 79 articles and 23 talk pages.
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