Obligotory introduction restating that which most of you already know,,,

Let me rip some info from the first entry of my old blog which is now sadly devoid of purpose.

Hey, everyone. Thanks for reading this.

My name's Marshall. I'm 23 years old and from the greater Cleveland area. I graduated from Bradley University in 2007 with a double major in Criminal Justice and Sociology. I left school with a bunch of awards: Dr Martin Luther King Jr Award for student leadership, Bradley University's first ever Outstanding Contribution to Campus Unity award, the multicultural student services Outstanding Volunteer award, Habitat for Humanity (Bradley University Chapter) Pimpest Hat Award, etc. On top of my leadership and extracurriculars, I got good grades too. All in all I feel like I'd done pretty well for myself with education.

That's my story so far. I'm awesome. And modest of course.

So why did I start this blog?

The world needs to know what an awesome person like me is thinking about most of the time. To sum it up quickly and crudely, I spend most of the time thinking about women, food, cars, and my future (especially pertaining to women, food, and cars). You see, a cool person like me needs to think about cool things like those. And I need to talk about them, among other things. Now that's entirely too simplistic a summation. People who know me know there's far more to me than that, which I'm sure you'll get to know over this blog. But I wanted to give you a brief glimpse of what goes on in my head to let you know that I'm a pretty typical guy.

So lets start with girls and sex. Here's my deal. It's been a while. A long while. The last time I was actually in a relationship was nearly 22 months ago. Last time I got any substantive action was about 14 months ago (I call 'substantive action' that which involves MUTUAL sexual satisfaction) Not to say I want to throw myself into a relationship, far from it. I want to date around first, get to know people, have some fun. Possibly in the clothing-optional capacity if I can swing it. In any case something needs to happen. I'm bored. And I know I'm good enough to deserve a phone number, date, hookup, w/e. So I'll keep you all informed of my progress (using pseudonyms of all people to preserve anonymity of course).

I'm trying this new thing, it's called going out on weekends. Who knows? maybe I'll meet someone. I'll let you know how those exploits pan out, because despite being an extrovert, I've never been a really avid socialite before. Certainly haven't hit the bar scene heavily in my life. In college I did most of my drinking at dorm or apartment parties, and when I went to bars it was usually a more quiet place to sip beer and enjoy conversation. I am mostly a beer guy. But I also do whiskey-variant cocktails. Give me a whiskey, bourbon, or scotch and mix it with something carbonated on the rocks. Canadian whiskey is my favorite; Black Velvet and Canadian Club. I also like tequila, and the occasional mojito. There are a few moments where I've been spectacularly drunk in my life but those have been few and very far between, and even if I'm going out more I expect that to remain the same.

Cars? Expect me to geek out about cars on this blog from time to time. To me, a car is not just transportation. A person's car is their vessel, their flagship. It's tied intrinsically to one's being, and it reflects a lot about its driver. A car is the second biggest purchase a person will make in their life, next to a home, so I think they deserve all discussion and attention they get, and I want to contribute to that pool with my enthusiasm. I dream, I research, I drool, I test drive, and I'll write about it.

I promise not to get all emo and shit, but I do have problems like everyone else and I'll use my blog as a way to discuss 'em.

Finally, I've got a fair amount of wisdom and insight to share. To quote a washed up 90's pop singer; "you live, you learn". I doubt I'd be helping improve peoples lives if I was selfish with those lessons. Here's to a little living and learning, people. Viva la Marshall is up and running.