Greetings and thanks for visiting my website. I’m old enough to remember when having a personal website was an expensive indulgence. Now anyone can do so relatively cheaply and easily.

I have a little more time now for indulging myself in my hobby of writing and a website gives me a place to publish my musings to the world though I suspect the only ones who will actually see or read it will be the people I tell about it (mainly friends and family).

I also want to use this site as a clearinghouse of information on topics I consider of importance and interest and so I will take the role of a curator and publish articles on this site for the convenience and accessibility of my readers. Sometimes I will add my own commentary (denoted with My cmnt:) and/or edit the content for space, brevity or clarity.

My only claim to fame for my writing is having published ten or so full-length (800+ words) opinion pieces in our local newspaper.  I have also written an unpublished (so far) children’s book. I like to envision my children’s book as a wonderfully illustrated picture book but have been told by an editor that it is too long for that and should be made into a chapter book. So I don’t know yet where that is going.

My three siblings, all public school teachers, have told me I should continue to pursue a second career in writing. They are impressed with the personal correspondence I have written over the years to each of them, my columns in the newspaper and the three eulogies I have written for our parents’ and my father-in-law’s funerals. My previous career was performing systems analysis and programming for a large manufacturing company.

I used to play my flute for weddings (including my own), funerals and church services but that requires so much practice time I’ve kind of lost interest in continuing to do so. It is difficult to keep one’s embouchure up, for me at least, without continual practice. That is why I kind of envy pianists who can continue to play well into their 80s. The piano does not know who is plunking down on any given key. It could be a person of no skill, a master or even a cat. Wind instruments are far less forgiving.

Update: About two years ago (Summer 2022) I purchased the Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone. It has been a life changing experience. If you already know how to play a saxophone (I played all the way thru high school) and know how to read music you can have so much fun with this instrument. The fingering for a flute and a saxophone are very similar so my muscle memory for my fingers was kept strong by playing the flute the past 50 years. You will need a pair of external speakers to get the real saxophone sound (the built in speaker is useless) and will also have to purchase an adapter as the replaceable batteries last about 15 minutes. I can actually play Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty and sound like Raphael Ravenscroft’s sax riff. And no I’m not being paid by Yamaha to say this – tho’ I should be.

Update: I also purchased the computer app Tomplay. This was my second greatest discovery after finding the YDS-150. This app has interactive sheet music with backing tracks for a thousand songs. It has the score to Baker Street which is why I can play it (of course you still need the skill level to play this piece). Tomplay has the scores to Supertramp, Billy Joel, ZZ Top, Chicago and dozens of other top artists. And again, no I’m not being paid by Tomplay to say this – tho’ I should be.

We’ve been married almost 47 years now and are occasionally asked by newlyweds our secrets to a lasting marriage. We say turn to the Bible and heed what the Holy Spirit says:

1 Pe 3:1-7 “Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ² when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. ³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. ⁵ For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, ⁶ like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. ⁷ Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Another interest of mine has been informing myself on neoDarwinism and its many failings as a valid scientific theory. I recommend two books by David Berlinski titled The Deniable Darwin & Other Essays (DI Press 2009) and The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions (Paperback edition, Basic Books, September 2009). I also recommend anything written by now deceased UC Berkeley Law Professor Phillip E. Johnson, a brilliant man who writes lucidly and accessibly about classic Darwinism and its current renditions and other contemporary societal issues.

For a short (250 pgs), easily digestible yet amazingly comprehensive overview of Darwinism – done with a very even hand – I recommend The Naked Emperor: Darwinism Exposed (Janus Publishing 2005) by Antony Latham.

Using the words of Morpheus:

“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I’m offering is the truth – nothing more.”

My worldview is fitly summarized in The Nicene Creed, The 23rd Psalm and The Lord’s Prayer.