Height: I once was 6' 4½", but in the past years I've shrunk about an inch. When I was very young and silly, I wanted to be over 7 feet tall.

Shoe size: 13, though, since the Chinese have begun to make all our shoes, it seems to have increased to 14, at least sometimes. Some maternal cousins have upwards of 15 and 16.

Weight: Recently shrinking. If I write a rant on the American diet (and its sub-cults) sometime, I will explain what I've been up to.

Colors: Blue eyes, but sometimes bloodshot while designing web pages. Hair, grayer than ever, originally blondish, then brownish.

Family: My parents are both dead (my mother since 1967, my father in 1986). No siblings, so I'm an "orphan" these last 25 years.

Friends: I have many, and many good ones.

First memory: Apparently before age one. My mother had a bout will Bell's palsy shortly after I was born, and I remember seeing her face a bit "contorted." When I mentioned this once to my father, he informed me I couldn't possibly remember that, as I was too young. But, despite his naysaying attitude, I do. I remember bits and pieces of a 3rd birthday party, when my Uncle Paul brought me a used toy tractor to ride (like a tricycle) on the sidewalk. He'd taken off the rust and painted it, and fixed it up nicely. Many other very youthful memories.

Last memory: Typing the word "memories" in the above paragraph.

Where I've lived: New London, Iowa, until age 18, then Ames, Iowa, until age 25. and finally San Francisco, California, since then (1978). I've lived in the same apartment in San Francisco since 1980.

Travel: I had a touch of the travel bug when I was in my 20s. I went to Europe twice. I haven't been on an airplane since 1990, so I guess the bug was exterminated. Nowadays I am not the biggest fan of the airline industry. Global warming and all...

Health: I was a sick kid, getting a lot of colds, ear infections, as well as the usual childhood diseases. I missed a lot of school some years. By the time I was a teenager, this improved greatly, and I rarely get sick now. However, as I have survived 2 aortic dissections (see the "Bad News" Section), and since I have a titanium aortic valve and some plastic arteries, I wouldn't say I'm the healthiest human on the planet.

Hobbies: I spend a lot of time on my computer. It shows. I began an interest in genealogy in about 2000. It meshed nicely with the computer interest. I studied piano as a kid and some in college and have a great interest in music. Composed some for awhile, and was obsessed with making video once upon a time. I have one cat left (there were three just a few years ago); he is not a hobby but my good friend.

Other interests: I have an interest in where culture is going, and why. Additionally I have dabbled lately in evolutionary psychology, but I am not "adept" in knowledge of it.

Education: New London (Iowa) High School, graduated in 1970. Attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. No degree, all sorts of things happened during that period (see the gay liberation section of "Schools.")

Work: I have been on disability since May 1998 from the aforementioned aortic condition. Not working has kept me alive. I previously held a number of interesting jobs, ranging from janitor to chemical technician to the middle manager boss of ten folks in the accounting department of a produce company. I didn't expect or really want an early retirement, but thus crumbled the cookie. We can't always get or have what we want, even if your spiritual advisor tries to convince you otherwise.

Irritations: These change periodically. Presently they are cell phones in public (disruption of the commons), cell phones regardless of location (to some extent all digital addictive media, though I am an addict as well). I get pretty angry sometimes at the entitlement felt/exhibited by those who push baby carriages on local sidewalks and stores (baby carriages are the SUVs of the sidewalk). Often I get irritated by those who accept unfounded myth in the face of all evidence, and the rationalizations they make in the supposed reasoning of their beliefs. However, I have come to believe this latter trait is probably a natural human phenomena, evolved as such, and try to just let my irritation go about it whenever possible. I can still feel some astonishment without the irritation and get along better with the world.