Besides writing assembly work procedures at my former job in manufacturing, most of the the writing I've done has been online. I used to write parody articles for a humor website called the Movementarian. It was non paying but still it was fun to write a bunch of nonsense for shear enjoyment. I have written a few serious articles for other websites and done some blogging as it has become fashionable to do so. Most of my writing in the past year has been right here at Helium.

When it comes to my Helium experience, I write under the pen name Tom Karlin. I find it an interesting place to experiment with different types of writing, and I have written serious articles and humourous ones. I have received a couple of emails from fellow writers with praise which was surprising, in a delightful way. It's encouraging to hear that kind of support. I hope I remembered to thank you.

I'm always interested to see how my articles are rated by others, probably because of my insecurity. Sometimes, interestingly, what I think is a good article ends up sinking to the bottom of the rankings. That's when I question my abilities, but I don't let it get me down for too long. I brush it off as a learning experience and am good to go again. I realize that rejection is simply part of the writing process, and one must expect it.

For the most part, I am a serious minded person, but I enjoy humour. In my spare time I enjoy biking or taking long walks along the river. Depending on my mood, it can inspire me to write and/or draw cartoons.

Politics, News & Issues > US Elections (Other) Should Election Day be a national holiday?

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Can you imagine what would happen to the election process if we decided to make Election Day a holiday? It would simply become a joke. First of all, it is a minority of eligible voters who actually vote in the federal election to begin with. I would have to say that these people who actually take the time to go out on a chilly November day and cast a ballot have probably spent some time studying the candidates and the issues. With a little luck, they can sometimes even make the right choice. Sorry, the last statement was meant as a joke. Unfortunately, there are a whole lot more United Stat...

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