About Us

 

My wife and I live near the Northwest coast of the United States, in Lake Oswego, a small suburb of Portland, Oregon. This is an area noted for its mild coastal climate which features enough rainfall to maintain a level of greenery rarely surpassed elsewhere. The evergreens include firs and cedars so tall as to seem exaggerated to folks from elsewhere. The winters are mild, thanks mainly to the proximity of the Pacific Ocean (with active ingredient: Japan Current), so many species of decorative plants and shrubs thrive here, such as rhododendrons, azaleas and roses.

 

My wife and I have raised our granddaughter, Morgan, who's a sophomore in college. She's an athletic girl who excels at softball, basketball, and the visual arts. (Click on her name for her page)

 

My wife grew up in Colorado, but has the same feelings about snow that I do (Like going to it. Don't want home delivery. Precipitation shouldn't require me to move it, but should go away on its own.), so it was her idea to move from the high country to here. In arid Colorado, the challenge in the yard was to keep things growing; here, you can't stop stuff from growing. So there's raking and pruning and raking and deadheading. We really enjoy our yard, so it's nice that it's easier here to keep alive what you plant. She enjoys cooking, reading, cooking, sewing (and related crafts), gardening, swimming and raising children & dachshunds. Did I mention cooking? Her favorite holiday is Christmas. We both enjoy travel by car through the lesser-traveled regions of America. She more-than-half-seriously refers to one of the kinds of music I play as 'the "J" word' (Jazz), even though she loves music and has very diverse tastes. Her computer is a 12-inch Powerbook, the smallest fully-equipped computer yet. We also have a G4 iMac, still one of the coolest desktop machines on the planet.

 

Christoph is my son. He lives in Washington, with his mother and stepfather. If you wish to know more, his MySpace page is a start. Also, he has a blog here; though I "advise viewer discretion": his language isn't always mild.

 

Chad is DiAnne's youngest. He still lives in Colorado. His MySpace or facebook pages are your best bet for more on him.

 

Others without serious Internet presences. All still in Colorado, DiAnne's two other children: Stacy (Morgan's mom) and her other child, Patrick; and Tammy and her son Dakota. Also, DiAnne's sisters: Sheryl (and her husband Don) and Becky.

 

Music I'm a musician by avocation; I've been playing since I could reach the piano's keys. When I was in fifth grade, I wanted to quit; my mother wisely made a deal with me that I could quit the piano (buh-bye Mr. Hanon) as long as I took up another instrument. I chose the trumpet, which I've been playing ever since (though when I went for my degree, my major was theory and composition, not performance). Growing up in the San Francisco area was great; I was exposed to literally all kinds of music (and everything else), and still like all kinds (I feel that those unfortunate folks who only like one or a few kinds of most things are like folks who've voluntarily agreed to eat nothing but spaghetti forever. Don't get me wrong -- I like spaghetti; I just like variety more. Everything from Palestrina to Prince.). Some influences: Heinrich Schütz, Giovanni Gabrielli, J.S. Bach, Frederic Chopin, Paul Hindemith, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Carl Stalling, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Mann, Wendy Carlos, Harry Chapin, Queen, Pink Floyd, Rich Mullins, Leonard Cohen, Sting, Lyle Lovett, Dream Theater.

While serving as a medic in the Navy, I found that the trumpet isn't much in demand when jamming with guitarists, and took up the flute. Playing a brass, a woodwind and keyboard has led to a very strange musical career. I've played Rock, Funk, Oldies, Standards, Classical, Baroque, Renaissance, Dance Rock, Blues, Country & Country Rock, Contemporary Christian, Jazz and Polkas. Mainly, I've had fun with a hobby that pays for itself, and keeps me in touch with elements of the Good within. If you want to know, here's what I use. Currently, I'm not playing in a band.

Speaking of music: If you like music, you really should have an iPod, whether you use a Mac or a Windows machine. And you must check out Apple's iTunes Music Store.

My other real loves include:
Reading (Fiction: Robt. Heinlein, Philip Dick, Isaac Asimov, C.J. Cherryh, Larry Niven, Wm. Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Ernest Gann, Kurt Vonnegut, The Writer Formerly Known As Shakespeare. Poetry: Edna St. Vincent Millay, Emily Dickinson, Toby Lurie and TWFKAS again. Non-Fiction can't easily be listed by author.). If you're interested in my recommendations for what to read, here are some all-time favorites.
Non-Fiction: The Origin of Consciousness In the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes, Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Lila, both by Robert Pirsig. I really believe that understanding these three books can change your life. The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science, by Isaac Asimov, Wonderful Life : The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, by Stephen Jay Gould.
Fiction: Following the Equator by Mark Twain, The Man In the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick, Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh, Neuromancer by William Gibson, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, Friday by Robert Heinlein, Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Chimes, and Oliver Twist, both by Charles Dickens, Fiddler's Green by Ernest Gann, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I've recently enjoyed the Honor Harrington series by David Weber; if you enjoyed the Horatio Hornblower stories by C.S. Forester, you should give these a try.
Movies Don't even get me started on The Princess Bride, This Is Spinal Tap, The Lion In Winter, A Thousand Clowns, The Producers and Fiddler On the Roof. Or Tracy & Hepburn, Powell & Loy, Wayne & O'Hara ...
Photography I can't draw anything more artistic than three-way drafting, so I use inordinate amounts of Nikon equipment to make my visual images. If you care to know, here's what I use. You'll find some of my photos here.
Computers We have Macs. It's rare in this world to find tools made with as much passion and intelligence as the stuff Apple makes; when you find one, use it. You're worthy of quality. Mine's a black MacBook running Leopard and Windows XP. The only languages I know how to use are Visual Basic, HTML and AppleScript (though DOS batch files look pretty arcane these days), so I'm not on track to be a programmer. When I was in high school, we used slide rules (I can teach you, if you want to know how). We sent folks to the moon using slide rules and computers that make my MacBook look like magic, not technology, but the current stuff is more fun (try playing Myst on a slide rule).

Some Rules for Life:

• Never Attribute to Malice That Which Can Be Adequately Explained By Stupidity (Hanlon's Razor).
• Nine Tenths of Anything Is Crap (Sturgeon's Revelation).
• The Sexiest Part of Your Body? Your Brain (F. Zappa).
• Rub Her Feet (R. Heinlein).
• "Years ago, my mother used to say to me, she'd say, 'In this world, Elwood, you must be' (she always called me Elwood) '... In this world, you must be oh, so smart or oh, so pleasant.' Well, for years, I was smart. I recommend pleasant. And you may quote me." (Elwood P. Dowd, in the movie Harvey, written by Mary Chase).
• Never Go Up Against a Sicilian When Death Is On the Line (Vizzini, in the movie The Princess Bride, written by William Goldman).
• Good Is a Noun (Robert Pirsig).