About Me & Preliator

My Holy Trinity

Reason · Freedom of Expression · Equality

Here are a few details about me, myself & I, as well as some basic info regarding this blog.

About Me

Me at 18 (07/13/10)

Obligatory disclaimer: Any and all views, opinions and writings on this blog are mine and mine alone (except when otherwise noted) and are not in any way affiliated with any of my employer(s), associate(s), friend(s), family, and so on.

I’m Joé McKen (Jo-eh Meck-en), and as noted to the left, I’m a liberal skeptic and atheist living in suburban Montréal, in the heart of Québec, Canada. I was born here in December of 1991, moved to Texas in 1996, returned to Québec in 2001, and have been stuck in a rut here ever since. I’m undereducated (by academic standards) and unemployed (though searching), all of my 5½ friends are online, and I probably spend far too much time alternating between getting into pointless arguments, browsing for decent porn, and weeping myself to sleep because I still don’t have a dog.

My interests and hobbies include:

• Reading (anything from blogs to cheesy romances, with some sci-fi in between);
• Writing (novels, short stories, lots of blogging – though no poetry, which I suck at);
• Drawing (technical and artistic);
• Composing music (notably orchestral and rock);
• Watching TV (House, Frasier and MythBusters are my drugs);
• Videogames (notably Perfect Dark (N64), SimCity 4 and GTA IV); and
• Generally browsing the Net for anything remotely interesting.

Me the atheist: I can’t say I ever really “deconverted” from religion, as I was never really religious to begin with. My family is largely made up of nonpracticing Catholics, and I though my mother occasionally read me bits of the New Testament and drag me to church now and then during my younger years, none of it was ever more than a dreadful bore to me. Even as a young child, it all sounded silly and unbelievable. I did nominally believe in God for years, but at about 16, I eventually realized how none of it made the slightest bit of sense to me. And so, I turned to godlessness, which has given be a far apter intellectual home ever since.

You will notice how I am quite anti-religious. Please note the distinction between being anti-religion, and anti-religious-people, which I am not. It’s religion itself I despise, not necessarily those who adhere to it. I happily welcome any and intelligent and rational discourse on the matter, from either side. I do not hide my beliefs, nor do I curb my attitude should others find it offensive. If you are disturbed by anything I write, then I ask that you not come complaining to me.

About Preliator

The name “Preliator pro Causa” is simple (and presumably botched) Latin; it means “Fighter for a Cause”, or some variation thereof. After all, the only way to live responsibly in this world is by striving to make it a better place, however we can, little by little. (Technically, it should read “Proeliator” with an ‘o’, but I don’t like that ‘o’, so there.)

Preliator saw the day on July 25, 2009, and is my second blog (my first being the now-defunct and archived Respectful Defiance). Its purpose, as with most blogs, is to serve as my outlet on the world. Anything I wish to share, from commentary on current events to reviews on books I’ve read or movies I’ve seen, I plaster on this blog for anyone interested or bored enough to enjoy. This blog is more of a journal of sorts than an actual attempt at socializing (which I suck at, anyway), a place where I can chronicle my thoughts and experiences from day to day. This blog is also where I showcase my works to get reactions, from my music to my stories, with the occasional drawing and miscellaneous work every now and then.

Please note that you are advised to familiarize yourself with the Site Rules & Policies before commenting on this blog. Otherwise, you might just end up in the The Dungeon.

Preliator is optimized for viewing with Mozilla Firefox, as Internet Explorer really screws up the formatting. (Besides, in this age, no sensible person should be using IE anymore, anyway.)

Custom background image created by Michael Valenti. List of header banners (random title images at the top of the page) available here.

If you have any questions about how I customized my template, feel free to ask me.

Last updated: 05/16/12 9:07 PM