(As part of my "turning static pages into blog entries" project, I'm converting the About Me page I had into, well, a blog entry. Since it's mostly text, that means I don't have to go and update it's template every time I update my blog design.)

The Short Form

• Husband of a wonderful wife, Margie.
• Father of an active little girl, Katherine.
• Pointy-haired documnentation manager of an IT department for a major engineering company. Previously a desktop and network services manager, DBA, programmer, and help desk guy. Previous to that an elementary school teacher. Previous to that a mainframe systems programmer.
• Liberal arts graduate (History major) from Pomona College.
• Born at the very end of the Baby Boom generation (depending on how you define it).
• Episcopalian, in an unorthodox way (which may be redundant)

See also the Family Site, which badly needs updating.

Also check out The Saga of Three-Star Dave.

Shallow Thoughts

• I read a lot. Mostly fiction, mostly sf/fantasy, with some detective and mystery bits on the side for leavening. I also have a crack-like addiction to comic books. I spend a lot of time walking around with a book in my hand, including walking to and from lunch. My wife says my super-hero name would be "Easily-Distracted-by-Reading-Material Lad."
• I watch an odd mixture of TV. Very little on the networks. Very little on a schedule. A lot of re-runs.
• I play (and GM) Role-Playing Games. So far as I know, I've never encountered Satan in any of them.
• I write. Not as much as I'd like or I should. I used to draw a lot, too. Not enough time in the day ...
• I blog, therefore I am.

Some of the above are delved into further in my sadly-neglected static web pages.

Deep Thoughts

• Civil libertarian. Social liberal. Economic moderate. Probably something of a Jacksonian when it comes to foreign policy. I dislike whiners, demagogues, easy-answerers, and opportunists on all ends of the political spectra.
• With great rights come great responsibilities.
• It's a shame that philosophical ideals don't always match up pragmatic reality. We live in an analog world, not a digital one, so binary black-and-white choices and reflexive adherence to absolutes are rarely useful or applicable. Deal with it.
• Life isn't fair, at least on the micro level. Deal with it. But don't deal with it by making it more unfair.
• There is justice. Sooner or later, there is justice. Just hope there's mercy, too.
• Nobody has a Monopoly on the Truth. On the other hand, some folks haven't passed Go recently.
• Tolerance does not equal agreement or support.
• Everybody is irrationally picky about certain things. That includes you. It certainly includes me. The trick is to recognize it and admit it, even if you can't change it, and to not go ballistic if others don't share your pickiness.
• Spelling and grammar and vocabulary count. Or they should, dammit. (See previous point.)
• Aesthetics are not morality. Don't confuse Taste for Truth, Icky for Evil, or Preference for Perfection.
• Power without oversight will be abused.
• Equal rights does not necessarily mean equal outcomes. But unequal outcomes might mean unequal rights.
• People are way too worried about on-line privacy. Except for the Big Corporations, who aren't nearly worried enough about it.
• Big corporations and the accumulation and use of capital have done incredibly wonderful things, and those things outweigh, by and large, the evils they have also done. Which does not mean that those evils were not largely avoidable, or that We the People don't need to keep their feet in the fire to avoid future evils.
• No single cause is all-important. Zealots who feel that way usually end up being a lot more of a threat than a help.
• God will not eternally damn you to infinite torment for a finite lifetime of mistakes. But by the time He's done rubbing your nose in it, you'll wish He had.
• The true Mystery is how to have a personal relationship with an infinite being. Fortunately that being is omnipotent, so She'll do all the hard work.
• Mind your own business. But love your neighbor as yourself.
• Think about the precedent you're setting. Somebody else will.
• It's your prerogative to ignore what I have to say. It's not your prerogative to keep me from saying it, nor to keep me from hearing what someone else has to say.
• Your Mileage May Vary. Maybe that's the point.
• If hard choices of life were easy, everyone could do it. Maybe that's the point, too.
• There is a point. Don't expect to understand it yet. You're still in kindergarten. So am I. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying to understand.
• Bad actions can lead to bad thoughts. Good actions can lead to good thoughts. We do what we are, and we are what we do, sooner or later.
• We can't control the world. We can only (barely) control our own reactions to it. Happiness is largely a choice, not a right or entitlement.
• Take care of the little stuff and a lot of the big stuff will take care of itself.
• Things almost never turn out as horribly -- or as wonderfully -- as it seems they will. It's the occasional exception to this that keeps us on our toes.
• If you let yourself get pushed around, you will be.
• Sometimes force does solve things. Unfortunately. It's difficult to tell sometimes whether it's more unfortunate that this is the case, or that some people don't realize it.

The Project List

Here are major projects with which I could easily take up all my time (and money), if my "minor" projects didn't keep getting in the way. I place it here both as information and as a reminder to me. In no particular order:

1. Quotations: catch up on recording quotes, track down biographies, track down source citations, develop a decent on-line database and query engine. This is, of course, a never-ending project, though one that brings me great joy each time I do another installment of it.
2. Genealogy: update software, scan photos, track down most "recent" info. When I am fabulously wealthy and have lots of time on my hands, this will be something I can devote the appropriate resources to.
3. Comics: keep entering data into ComicBase, organize boxes and shelves, do a massive recollation of books. Another never-ending project, until I stop collecting -- at which point, I won't care any more, right?
4. Writing: finish Ring of Darkness, finish Catspaw, start something else. Two weeks of solid effort. That's all it would take. Really.
5. Outside Stuff: terrace front yard, steps in front yard, terrace back yard, new deck in back yard, walkout door from basement. Just send money.
6. Inside Stuff: paint out loft railing, build cabinetry/sideboard in dining room, ceiling fan in master bedroom, paint out doors, recarpet/tile family room, turn master bathtub into a shower. Just send money.

The Illustrated Dave

Filed under :: Personal

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