Why "Bastian Contrario"

Bastian Contrario is a character of the popular mythology of Tuscany. His characteristic (a very Tuscan characteristic indeed) was to say always the opposite of what other people were saying. 

On a more personal note, my father used to call me that way as a kid, mostly out of exasperation for my rationalization of my stubborn refusals to do something that he, as any father, would want me to do and I, as any son, ipso facto refused to do. 

 I seem to have retained quite a bit of this confrontational attitude, at least in my professional area. As Nanni Moretti said (I am paraphrasing), I have always been part of a minority, and I am quite comfortable with it, especially when I see the disasters that the majorities are doing. 

I am definitely part of a tiny minority in my professional stances, and part of a more substantial minority in my political and social ones. So, what better way to title this collection of blurbs than in honor of the minority member par excellence, the quintessential dissenter: Bastian Contrario?