User:Dirty Dan the Man

Hello --

It is a pleasure to finally register on wikipedia after consulting, reading from it and making minor contributions to it for some time. Up to now my "minor contributions" have been suggested additions or questions to provoke additional thought or commentary on different articles I have read. I have not esteemed myself to be an expert sufficient enough to actually edit or initiate any pages or entries, so far...

An explanation for the handle "Dirty Dan the Man" comes from trying to register my user id first as "Dan the Man", then as "Dirty Dan" -- both of which were already taken. "Dan the Man" was my radio name in another lifetime when I was once a (small-time) radio announcer. "Dirty Dan" came from my active duty hitch in the Navy (1975 - 77) while on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, CV-63. I was criticized for usually having a dirty uniform - to which I replied with a question of "Then why was it called a 'work' uniform?" I was also religious, so it fit in nicely to refer to me as such because I really wasn't (in my character) a "dirty" person.

More about me: I never dreamed that my initial Navy enlistment would turn into a military career of over 26 years. After my discharge from active duty with the Navy I spent several years in reserve "limbo" before enlisting in the Reserve and the National Guard programs of the Army. This led me back to active duty in 1989 and my retirement at the end of 2002. Upon my retirement from the Army I returned to college to finish something I had started back in 1980. I graduated from the University of Tulsa (Oklahoma) in 2004 with a double major in Spanish and Education, and a minor in Political Science (certificate in Latin American studies). I am now in my 3rd year as a middle school Spanish teacher in Broken Arrow, OK. I retired again in 2012 as disabled and am now a full-time powerchair resident.

My hobbies, interests and passions include a long involvement with the Boy Scouts program through my church; Spanish & Spanish-speaking cultures; politics; music and my family. I served a two year proselyting mission in Mexico for the LDS Church (Mormon) where I first learned Spanish - never realizing how it would end up being a constant influence and factor in my life.

Feel free to correspond with me on any entries I make on wikipedia, or to discuss topics of interest having to do with music (rock, blues, country), Spanish and Latin American issues (especially about Mexico).

Dirty Dan the Man 21:04, 26 December 2006 (UTC) Dirty Dan the Man (talk) 03:35, 15 March 2020 (UTC)