People
- Barrett: Mardy’s youngest son who lives in Savannah, GA. Although his brothers probably think he’s the spoiled youngest he’s a pretty good kid.
- Berdean: My siblings and I call her “Mother” to her face but I also refer to her as “my mom” to other people. She lives in Riceville and visits us in Portland once or twice a year. She was born only 2 days after the stock market crash of 1929 and is truly a child of the Great Depression.
- Uncle Buddy: Although technically Tina’s uncle (Jan’s brother), we all call him Uncle Buddy and I consider him to be a great friend. Buddy moved to Portland in 1998 and we’re very glad that he has stayed.
- Aunt Carol: Tina’s aunt who lives near San Francisco, CA. She’s married to Ralph and is mother to Victor and David.
- Cousin David: Tina’s cousin who lives in San Jose, CA. He’s married to Danielle and is the youngest in the extended family.
- Graham: My youngest son who was born in 1999. Graham is full of joy. And piss and vinegar.
- Aunt Carol: Tina’s aunt on her mother’s side. She lives in California and is married to Uncle Ralph. They are the parents of Tina’s cousins Victor and David.
- The Foxes: Maridee, Steve, Trisha and Michael.
- Jan: Tina’s mom, married to Tom. They live outside Albuquerque, NM.
- Kendrick (the older): Mardy’s middle son who lives in Savannah, GA. He’s had a run of bad luck since the day he was born.
- Kendrick (the younger): Son of Kendrick and Lalinda, grandson of Mardy.
- Kent: My older brother who lives in Crystal Lake, IA. He’s the youngest of the “first batch” in our family and has been a tremendous influence on my musical tastes.
- Kim: My older brother who died in 2003. I wrote about him extensively back then but he has had more influence on the person I’ve become than anyone else.
- The Kittens: Rory, Butters and Baby Elvis who we got in the summer of 2007.
- Lalinda: My nephew, Kendrick’s partner and mother of his child, Kendrick.
- Mardy: My oldest sister who lives in Savannah, GA. I lived with her during the summer when I was in high school.
- Maridee: My big sister who is almost three years older than I. She moved to southern California when I was in college. She is often described as “the quiet one.”
- Mark: My oldest brother who lives in Forest City, IA. He fits the older brother role as well as anybody I know.
- Micah: Mardy’s oldest son who lives in Jacksonville, FL. He’s full of tattoos and rebellion.
- Michael: Maridee’s son
- Michelle: Tina’s sister who lives in Phoenix, AZ. She’s married to Ric and they have two boys.
- Mike: Michael Donnelly, my sister Mardy’s ex and father to Micah, Kendrick and Barrett. He lives in Jacksonville, FL.
- Mindy: My little sister who is three years younger than I. She lives in Nora Springs, IA.
- Ming: Our oldest cat whom we adopted from a neighbor who developed “cat scratch fever” after they got him. He’s blind in one eye and completely deaf. He doesn’t much like The Kittens.
- Nietzsche: My cat who died in the summer of 2007. Tina and I adopted him from the ASPCA in 1992 shortly after we met and she moved to Portland.
- The Powells: Michelle, Ric, Xander and Wil in Phoenix, AZ.
- Uncle Ralph: Tina’s uncle who is married to her Aunt Carol. He lives in California and is the father of cousins Victor and David.
- Ric: Michelle’s husband and father of Xander and Wil. His full name is Fredric. He used to work for AOL but left after they moved their entire call center operation offshore.
- Rob: My long-time friend whom I met on my first day at Wartburg College. He works for Yahoo! and lives in California.
- Steve: Depending on context, this could be Steve Hunnicutt or Steve Fox, who are married to my sisters Mardy and Maridee, respectively.
- Thomas: My oldest son who was born in 1996. Thomas and I share many traits and not all of them are positive.
- Tina: My lovely wife since 1992, and the mother of my beautiful children. We met early in the spring of 1992 when she was in Albuquerque and I was in Portland. She moved to Portland shortly after and we were married that fall. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me.
- Tom: Tina’s step-father who is married to Jan. They live outside Albuquerque, NM.
- TQ: Tom’s father, whose full name is Thomas Q. Schultz. He was married to Ruth who died a few years ago after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. TQ is one of my favorite persons in the world.
- Trisha: Maridee’s daughter (full name Patricia) who lives with her in Moreno Valley, CA.
- Cousin Victor: Tina’s cousin who lives in Portland. He is married to Ann and father to Abby.
- The Weinsteins: Depending on context, this could be cousins Victor and Ann; Uncle Ralph and Aunt Carol; or Cousins David and Danielle.
- Wil: Michelle’s youngest son whose full name is William.
- Xander: Michelle’s oldest son whose full name is Alexander.
Places
- CPS: Critical Path Software, my place of employment from 2000 to 2008.
- EFI: Electronics for Imaging, my current place of employment.
- The Gorge: The Columbia River Gorge, the beautiful natural area very near our home in Portland.
- Iowa: My home state where most of my family still lives.
- Portland: My hometown in Oregon since 1990.
- Riceville: My little hometown in Iowa. I lived there for 18 years before going away to college at Wartburg.
- South Carolina: My summer home during the mid-80′s. I lived with my sister, Mardy, on John’s Island and worked in Charleston at the Credit Bureau.
- Vancouver: The Washington city just across the Columbia River where I work at EFI.
- Wartburg: The small Lutheran college in Waverly, IA, where I got my BA in Computer Science.