What to say, what to say. As a newbie, I guess I better jump on one of these threads and say hello.
I’m 31, married (six years now), two boys (1 and 3), five cats (Indy, Tess, Winston, Cassandra, and Frisco), and one dog (Holly), 3rd generation Californian. However, I live in a really rural part of the state (western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, about 50 miles east of Fresno) and I love it here.
I’m bald (partially due to genetics and partially due to the razor) and wear a full beard. Pretty stocky (5’8", 190 lbs.) but fairly athletic. I play basketball ususally every week at a community court and can usually hold my own with the kids. Just built a mini-ramp in the backyard. I’ve even managed to tell people with a straight face that it is for the boys. I just figured what the hell. I always wanted one when I was younger and never had the room, money or time. Now I do.
Graduated from high school in 1989, promptly flunked out of college, worked as a nanny on a farm in Germany for a couple of years, traveled across four continents, inspected fruit and vegetables for the USDA, lived on unemployment, played too many video games and smoked too much herb, went back to school, received BA’s in Linguistics and Anthropology and an MA in Linguistics (Phonology).
I am now a working archaeologist which I love. I never thought it could be a career but it is and it is great. The only problem is constantly having to explain that 1) No, we’re not digging for gold, and 2) paleontologists look for dinosaurs. However, it is better than the linguistic version of the aforementioned which is 1) Wow, how many language do you speak? and 2) I bet you have really good grammar.
In my spare time I skate, read (mostly natural history/science and fantasy with brief, well-recommended forays into science fiction), work on my motorcycle, and enjoy most outdoor activities that don’t involve the internal combustion engine.
I love being a dad. It has been the most rewarding and frustrating experience of my life. None of my experiences prepared me for the emotional roller-coaster kids send you on, and mine are only 1 and 3!
The wife and I have a great relationship. She was the first woman I ever met who saw my “cool” exterior for what it was and didn’t put up with any of my bullshit. I love her for that. She’s a teacher but is staying home with the boys. Best decision we ever made. We’re poor, but we have good, smart kids.
Things I like: Tolkien, Monty Python, They Might Be Giants, the genius of Christopher Guest and Michael McKean, Wilco, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Carl Sagan, Steven Jay Gould, Chomsky, Optimality Theory, Michael Moore, The Onion, Stiff Little Fingers, Independent Truck Company, Austin City Limits, Junkyard Wars, Irish Setter boots, customer service, Marshalltown trowels, Gore-Tex, waterfalls and meadows and mountains you have to hike to see, vintage Dewey Weber surfboards, The Endless Summer, The Pietasters, meat that is still bloody when you take it off the grill, Makers Mark, Lufkin measuring tapes, Makita drills, Triumph motorcycles, role-playing games, locally-owned businesses, Civ II and Alpha Centauri, Richard Dawkins, the color green, 1966 tri-power GTOs, Birkenstocks, flintknapping, the Oakland A’s, maps, the Bundesliga, Buck knives, the John Muir Wilderness Area, Metallica’s Ride the Lightening album, used books stores, coffee, surfing at 38th Street in Capitola, Reservoir Dogs, optimists, and…hmmm…there is one more thing but I can’t think of it right now, it is a message board but the name escapes me.
I greet you all with the exuberance of a poorly-trained puppy.
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Heh…you don’t want me to explain that, do you? (I realize I’m 21…but it’s not my computer and I’m living with my parents.) The good news…I’m pregnant…oh no, that’s not it. I’m not. I meant that I’m working. lol Retail. Hehe. Talk to you all later. : ) hugs and kisses