Born and raised in Wisconsin... from Danish, Dutch, and German stock. I've been to about half of the fifty states, half of Canada, England, and Ireland, but Wisconsin has always been home. Planning to see Denmark, Holland, Scotland, and more of England soon.
Important interests include music (especially drums, rock, and blues); writing, reading, and graphic arts; other arts and photography; publishing; horticulture and the great outdoors; and the Mac. There are other things of course... as a complement to music, for example, I've always had a hobby interest in audio gear and electronics, but lately I've been applying that (along with computer stuff) to some actual work. I've been online since '85, when I first joined CompuServe, and then Delphi and GEnie. Still at it (obviously), but now with broadband instead of a 1200 "baud" modem!
Work has included a couple of restaurants; a filthy charcoal factory (fortunately not for long); woodcutting (firewood, pulp, harvesting Christmas trees, and clearing brush along roadways); a writing clinic; a library; publishing (writing, editing, book marketing, and some software publishing); furniture assembly and delivery. Presently I run a groundskeeping biz, with a sideline of audio-photo digitizing and restoration. To help in the landscaping realm, I got a Master Gardener certification through the UW-Extension.
Music can't go without a special mention. When The Beatles came onto the American scene in 1964, I was nine. "Meet The Beatles" would be my first rock record, but I had already been listening to almost everything in my parents' collection (a lot of classical, jazz, easy listening, show tunes, country, etc.). Also before The Beatles, I already had an interest in drumming. I used different sized containers for drums, a glass lid from a candy dish for a cymbal (hung by string from a tabletop), and pencils for sticks. When our 5th grade music teacher started signing us up for school band the next year, she went alphabetically, which put me toward the end of the list. As I waited my turn, I wondered why nobody was signing up to play drums. I wondered if they even allowed it, and if I'd have to go with sax or something! Well, my turn came, and I felt a bit weird, but I asked her if it was OK to play drums? "Oh yes!" she said. I was darn relieved for sure, and that was that. So, I played in everything there was... concert band, pep band, pit band, jazz band, marching band, percussion ensemble and drum duet, and a garage-based rock band... until I graduated. I enjoyed all of it, but I think pep band was actually my favorite, because we played a lot of current pop tunes. We could have some fun with it, and not get the evil eye for improvising. All the while though, rock and blues was my usual listening fare, which brings me back to that first Beatles record. Hats off to The Beatles... not just for their music and important influence, but for causing a sharp turn in my own musical tastes and directions. Well anyway, I'm still playing drums, at least a little bit every day when possible. :-)