John Sims-Jones

Hey there.  My name's John.  I'm a junior doing a double major in anthropology and Spanish.  I look like this:

The guy on the left

My parents look like this:

My mom, who will not appreciate me using this photo

My dad

My girlfriend and I have been dating for five years.  She goes to UT Knoxville where she's studying architecture.  She looks like this:

Paige

I'm from Palmyra, TN, which is about twenty to thirty minutes outside of Clarksville.  It's a small town with absolutely nothing in it, despite the fact that it was a vote away from being the state capital.  My family and I moved there when I was 13 after my father accepted a preaching job at this church:

Since January 14, 2005, I've had Type 1 Diabetes.  For those that get confused by this, Type 1 is very different from the much more common Type 2, which is frequently associated with obesity and poor eating habits.  Type 2's can't utilize insulin very effectively, whereas my pancreas attacks the islet cells that allow for insulin production, forcing me to manually inject insulin.

Anyway, some slightly more interesting things about me:  I played soccer, cross-country, and tennis in high school.  I'm a surprisingly big fan of comic strips like Dilbert, Fox Trot, and Far Side.  I like horror, sci-fi, and comedy movies; some of my favorites include Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil, Zombieland, Scream, Serenity, and Hot Fuzz.  My favorite book is Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, followed by Ender's Game, Alice in Wonderland, and The Hobbit.

Probably what defines me the most is my love of music.  I started off playing piano when I was six, and I started learning guitar when I was 14.  While I try to listen to a variety of genres, by far my favorite music is late 80's/early 90's alternative rock.  My top ten favorite bands are:

1.  Local H (2 piece grunge band from Chicago)
2.  Fountains of Wayne (Stacy's Mom is a fun song, but it probably doesn't do them justice as songwriters.)
3.  Foo Fighters
4.  Toadies
5.  Dinosaur Jr
6.  Nirvana
7.  Alice in Chains
8.  Jimmy Eat World
9.  Seether
10.  The Hives

Since my life mission is to convince people to listen to Local H, here's a video:

In addition to just listening, I'm also a dedicated musician.  For the last 2 and a half years, I've been the writer/guitarist/vocalist for an alternative rock trio called the Resistance House Band, which plays off-beat, darkly humorous songs about zombies.

Us playing an acoustic set at New South Coffee Co. in Clarksville

Back of our EP "Blame the Scientist"

I've also played for a couple of other bands: I played bass for a wizard rock (Harry Potter themed) band called the Godric Gryffindors.  I played bass/keyboard/guitar for a pop/blues rock trio called Red Tide.  This Summer, I formed a grunge/alt rock duo called Darkhorse Forest, which technically still exists but is on hiatus while the two of us focus on our primary bands.  If you're interested, I have a Soundcloud, which features some of my more unusual recordings, most of which are the result of me experimenting with genres I don't usually touch.

In conclusion, my name's John, and the only thing I like to talk about is music.