The President gave his State of the Union Address this week, and I listened with casual interest. Rarely does the state of the union (which is always strong) affect how I do things. Obama started slow in my opinion, talking about the jobs that used to last a lifetime but now don't. Personally, I have never encountered any job that made me feel like it was forever. He told boomers to become teachers, kids to embrace science & technology, and everyone to create a Sputnik moment. I will take speeches like that over war rhetoric and demands for better national security any day.

Still, I looked at myself and wondered where I went astray. I was a good student. 4.0 grade average in high school, college scholarships to the big state school, graduating with a 3.7 GPA and BA degrees in Political Science and Psychology. Science and technology have never been at the forefront of my life.

I have never owned a cell phone, the Internet came to be right after my higher education ended, and the only science I took in college was a geology class and a dinosaurs class. Enough said.

In high school, I did the standard biology, chemistry, and physics progression. I did the math thing: Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and basic Calculus. The more I learned, the less I wanted to know. Memorizing the periodic table was fine, but not stimulating. Learning the anatomy of frogs was tolerable but not literally fondling the parts. Physics explained how to look at everything in life with mathematics, and that really was a turn off.

In the end, I preferred the teachings of Kurt Vonnegut to Albert Einstein, the rhetoric of Malcolm X to Sir Isaac Newton, and the notions of Freud to Darwin. In short, I became a man of metaphor not science.

After my higher education, there was no science, no well paying job, and a lonely existence. I helped the less fortunate for a while, which taught me how to live on next to nothing and appreciate it. I didn't get excited about the new gadgets, smart phones and cars with tricks. I learned how to live a simple existence, with little science or technology. I once mused about calling my rock band 'Do The Math' but even that wasn't taken seriously.

My guzzling car runs on gasoline, and I wish it didn't. I have basic cable with phone and Internet access. The house is heated by natural gas and cooled by a swamp cooler, simple technology that has been around for decades. Fine by me.

So where does all this science and technology come into play? Should I have been pursuing different fields? Out of all the science offered to me, I guess chemistry was the most accessible. I preferred making potions to gutting animals. When you start talking about force equalling acceleration, however, I start wondering if there are really spirits in the wind. If science and technology are the future, I just might blow away without notice.

People always talk about finding your niche in life. After three and a half decades of life, I have yet to find it. I have a wife and a daughter, I drive a cab for money, and I act in plays for my art. My life is full but fragile. It could crumble and fall at any time, or it could blossom into a garden of unending bounty.

Of course, that's just a metaphor. No science or technology required.

Chris Jungle always saw math as a puzzle, not a way life.