So what to say about myself? Well let's see, I'm 47, married, and living near Atlanta in Lawrenceville Georgia.
This is a picture taken shortly after Mary and I got married. I've a bit less hair now and have increased in girth, but I'm still smiling.
This picture was taken on 11/5/1999. Perhaps we haven't changed all that much after all.
So, what do I actually do?
Reading is on of my major passions. I read a lot of science fiction. I attend science fiction conventions when everything else allows it. This hasn't happened recently though.
I ride a motorcycle. Both Mary and I ride. Our motorcycle is a 1998 Yamaha Virago XV1100. I'm also interested in other types of bikes.
Music is another primary activity. I listen to most sorts of music. I enjoy playing the guitar. I've got three at the moment, a Penco brand acoustic twelve string, a Martin J-15 which is an impressive guitar, and one of the 1980s vintage American Stratocasters from Fender. I play the Strat through a Line 6 Flextone II XL, an amp that continues to impress the heck out of me. I'm passable for an amateur. So far, it seems like a good idea not to give up the day job. But making music is fun, and worth the minor effort it takes to practice. I also have a number of other instruments, but don't claim that I can play them
Woodworking is another hobby of mine. So far, most of my projects have either been of the rebuild the house variety, or the small trinket sort of thing.
Before they paid me to program computers, I was a computer hobbiest. It was exciting back in the late 70s, and early 80s. I started out in 1974, in high school playing with the ASR-11 teletype which connected via a modem to a PDP-8 (I think) at the University Of North Carolina, Asheville. I moved on to Apple II's and then to PCs before coming back to the PDP-11's and then to working with Vaxes. Around the late 80s, or early 90s, I went pro, and now get paid for what used to be a hobby. Life is good! I still retain an interest in computer music (MIDI) and graphics/animation. If you have an interest in the sort of stuff I've done, feel free to send me a note. There's information on the resume page about the specific sorts of things I've done.
I also enjoy fantasy role play gaming. I started playing back in 1977, which means that I've been at it for over twenty five years. I've not been playing real recently, but the last campaign ran for about two years. I've been thinking about starting things up again. Unfortunately, I've been busy with work, and the gaming seems to have suffered for it.
I still write most of my own material. The current campaign uses elements of TSR's Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (TM), but I do modify extensively, and also refer to other game systems (Runequest, Chivalry and Sorcery) as makes sense to me.
Please tell me what you think about my home page and how I might improve it.