Personal Interests

I may be but a simple man, but I'm an active one. I groove on various activities, some geeky, some sweaty, some wordy. Here's my general list of fun things to do.

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I get on my bike, go east for an hour or two, then turn around and come home. The ideal day is clear, blue skies, sunny, around 80 degrees F, and no wind. Getting the pulse up around 150 for three or four hours can't be too bad for me. Some people dream of writing the great American novel. I think it'd be pretty keen to do the great American ride, and bike across the country. Time will tell.

The great thing about biking is that are so many gadgets, widgets, and gizmos to buy for your bike and your body. Things to wear, assemble, eat, drink, and sit on. To get a better idea, take a gander at the junk in the Performance Bike Catalog.

It's also helpful to know the jargon. To get up the speed, flip through the Bike Slang Dictionary.

Roald Dahl, The Witches William Goldman, The Princess Bride Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird Madeline L'Engle, Time Quartet A Wrinkle in Time * A Wind in the Door A Swiftly Tilting Planet Many Waters An Acceptable Time C. S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Prince Caspian The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" The Silver Chair The Horse and His Boy The Magician's Nephew The Last Battle C. S. Lewis, The Space Trilogy Out of the Silent Planet Perelandra That Hideous Strength Hugh Lofting, The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle * Lois Lowry, The Giver * Max Lucado, You Are Special Robert C. O'Brien, The Rats of Nimh * Scott O'Dell, Island of the Blue Dolphins * Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia * Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved * Robert Newton Peck, A Day No Pigs Would Die Louis Sachar, Holes * Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings The Hobbit The Fellowship of the Ring The Two Towers The Return of the King Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Judith Viorst, Alexander and the Terible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Ferns Grow

* Winner of The Newbery Award

The Classics
I survived High School and College without reading a great many of the "classics" and without much appreciation for the ones I did read. However, I recently began re-reading some and reading others that I never got to. Turns out they are considered "classics" for a pretty good reason - they are really good! Here is my current (paltry) list of literature.

Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal Robet A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers Victor Hugo, Les Miserables Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest George Orwell, 1984 George Orwell, Animal Farm John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilych and other stories

History
My dad gave me a book called Citizen Soliders. It was awesome. After that, I asked for more books by the author, Stephen Ambrose, for Christmas. I am currently reading his history of the Lewis and Clark expedition. I've since finished that one, and read my fourth book, about the parallel lives of Gen. George Armstrong Custer, and the Souix Indian, Crazy Horse. It was incredibly interesting. Now I need to find some more interesting history books to read. Suggestions?

Stephen Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers Stephen Ambrose, Rise to Globalism Stephen Ambrose, Undaunted Courage Stephen Ambrose, Custer and Crazy Horse Cliff Stoll, The Cuckoo's Egg

Fluff
Don't get me wrong - I'm not all serious and intellectual and stuff. I've been reading light, fluffy books for years. Because most of it was, well, forgettable, I've forgotten most of it. But here are authors that I think are well worth the time.

Clive Cussler - If James Bond was an oceanographic engineer with an infatiguable, Italian sidekick, and worked for the U.S. government, then his name would be Dirk Pitt. Mix in cool gadgets with some revisionist history, and you've got the makings of another exciting Cliver Cussler novel. Tom Clancy - What can I say? I like the military scenarios, technical details, and the characters who see things in black and white.

Phil Keaggy

Creed

Sting

Rush

N64

1080 Snowboarding

Rogue Squadron

Wetrix

PC Games

Half-Life

Starcraft & Broodwar

Diablo

Unreal Tournament