Page 2: In Which I Explain My Life To The Class of 1985

I’ve been in Portland since 1990 after a short detour to San Diego after graduating from Wartburg. I met and married my wife, Tina, in 1992. We have two awesome boys who dictate how we spend most of our time. Both are very active in Boy Scout Troop 820 (troop820.org) and both play the double bass in the school orchestra after converting from the cello.

Graham is a nerd of the first order and thinks I’m the coolest nerd on the planet. He loves to play video games on our Xbox and Wii but is enthusiastic in almost everything he does — even when I enlist his help in yard chores. Since he was a baby we have known that he is strong-willed and joyous. He’s also very intelligent and somewhat arrogant about that fact, regarding it as a fact of life that he’s smarter than everyone else. I’m trying to work that out of him.

Thomas is more reserved than Graham and less likely to risk looking uncool. A year ago I helped him buy his first electric bass. Since then he has learned to play all of his favorite sons and a few “classics” that I asked him to learn. He can also has pick up Tina or my guitar and play them much better than either of us. In many ways he’s very much like I was at that age: long hair, quiet except with friends, stubborn and often inconsiderate. He’s also very smart but not always willing to work hard for great grades.

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Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 1496
Weight lost: 50 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 7
Hours billed last week: 45.5
Aches & pains: sciatic
Current reading:: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Recent listening: Handsome Boy Modeling School, The Zombies, Sun Ra, NPR Story of the Day
Recent viewing: The Simpsons, Mindfreak, Man vs. Wild, Biography: Johnny Depp, Biography: Howie Mandel, Gilmore Girls
Recent playing: Pangea Arcade
Recently accomplished: fixed temporary mailbox so it would open, uploaded photographs, cleaned inside of tent, installed memory and DVD drive for Thomas, sent off Lala envelopes, packed up tent, backed up Tina, Graham & me, bike maintenance, cat box, installed desk lamp for Graham, groceries, CD for Ziad, sifted through inbox items
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, sift through inbox, post office, renew van registration, pack for Iowa, finalize Iowa travel plans, clear Tivo schedule for vacation, new litter for cat box, fix boomtube, call Kent, call Colleen/Kurt, record movie for Mindy