I was born and raised in Castaic, California, a small truck-stop town with a decent number of residences and not many business. In fact, most of the residents worked in the Santa Clarita Valley, itself a far-flung suburb of Los Angeles, or the metropolitan area of Los Angeles itself.

Strangely, Castaic is not within the city limits of the City of Santa Clarita, which is slowly annexing areas within the Santa Clarita Valley; eventually, Castaic will become incorporated into the City of Santa Clarita. At least that's what city officials, through VIP, have told me.

I grew up playing chess, practicing piano, and studying. My parents always placed a large emphasis on education. However, I really didn't develop a love for anything until I discovered philosophy, the summer between 9th and 10th grade at a community college course, Philosophy 101.

During the summer of 2008, I was selected to attend TASP, the Telluride Association Summer Program, for entering high school seniors. Our group of 18 studied the History of Hollywood's Images of Africa. I can safely say that TASP was the single most formative event in my life.

I'm currently finishing the last semester of high school. Colleges? Unknown; waiting until early April.

Oh yeah, I also have a brother whose finishing his eigth semester at Harvard College. He helped me with the CSS for this website. Also, the second blog is his.