Hello my friends! "Everyone has different ways of dealing with problems. If you really love them, you make room for the way that they want to deal with it. That's how you show affection." ~~Elizabeth Cooper Roth

"What we have to find is a way of seeing the world which shall justify the saint, the artist and the scientist, and give each his full rights. Not a doctrine of watertight compartments, an opposition of appearance to reality. Rather, a doctrine of the indwelling of this visible world by an invisible yet truly existent world of spirit which, wile infinitely transcending, yet everywhere supports and permeates the natural scene." ~~Evelyn Underhill

"Laughter and love are everywhere; in healthy people there is no war between them." ~~Ronald Knox

"I am here to live out loud." ~~Emile Zola

PLINK

"Quid -- Num Vexor?" ~~A.E. Newman

I have a birth defect called Spina Bifida. This means I was born with an open spine, which had to be repaired through numerous operations. As is typical for this birth defect, I was originally paralyzed from the waist down and wasn't expected to live long. However I beat the odds, and today I walk with crutches when I'm not in the house. I consider myself to be an educator concerning my birth defect, so don't be afraid to e-mail me questions. If I can't answer them I'll try to find the resource that can, for you. In the next few months I plan to write some more on my philosophies about living with a birth defect and interacting in everyday life.

"Get moving!" I'm quite active. My favorite sports are snow skiing and fishing. Surprised? I learned to sno-ski through an organization called SKIFORALL, and I've been skiing for about ten years now. SKIFORALL's motto is "Skiing is for all," appropriately. I'm a soccer and hockey fan, though I don't play. Sometimes when I get moving I wiggle right out of the country, and to date I've been as far away as Nederland and Russia.

"Expand your cranium!" Whoa! This paragraph is a little link intensive. I'll fix that some other time. ;-) I speak English, (the American version, anyway.)Dutch, French, and I'm learning Russian. During my trip to Russia, I began to pick up Sign Language, and we even went over the Russian Sign Language Alphabet a few times. However, most hearing impaired people we encountered spoke International Sign Language. Basically...I talk a lot. I'm also a devout Roman Catholic, and a baby Libertarian, although I'll probably still vote Democrat this year until I get some free time to figure out my political views. I'm a journalism major. When I'm in college I major in Journalism and minor in ethics/philosophy. (I just said that twice so I could use the different links, *snicker*) I adore reading and writing. After a 20-25 year career in journalism I hope to become a full time, published author. My favorite authors currently are J.R.R. Tolkien, Guy Gavriel Kay, and Michael Moorcock, indeed the "genre" I write in tends to be Fantasy/Sci-Fi. If I had to name a favorite book, it'd have to be the trilogy, "The Fionavar Tapestry" by Guy Gavriel Kay.

Access Etiquette. Almost three years ago I wrote an article based on my experiences of using crutches and a wheelchair on a daily basis. The next link leads to a modified version of the article that appeared in the May 1996 NSCC Polaris, in the WSU campus newspaper The Daily Evergreen, and won a journalism award in June 1996 from the Washington Protection and Advocacy System in the "Not-Just-A-Contest Contest." If you're an able-bodied person, this is a must-see. Please read my article called Access Etiquette.

2-27-99 Please check out Dynamic Patterns Webzine. In the fiction section you will find my story, "Farewell Best Friend."

5-1-99 I've been published again! Please check out my poem "All Priorities in Order Tonight" at The HorseThief's Journal

"Let's dance!" My favorite music is from the 80's such as Depeche Mode; and Romantic/Classical musicians such as Tchaichovsky and Brahms. I also enjoy current artists such as George Michael, Jewel, and Celine Dion, and just about everything else you can throw at me...except country, folk, or hard-core gangster rap. Feel free to e-mail me if you would like to debate the merits of these particular music genres.

"The Truth is Out There." My favorite television shows are The X-Files, Red Dwarf, and The Sci-Fi Channel's "Farscape". My favorite movies are The Princess Bride and Titanic, and yes, The Blair Witch Project. I'm also fascinated by the SCA, or the Society for Creative Anachronism, though I'm not yet a member.

"If there's artificial intelligence, there's bound to be some artificial stupidity." Well, hopefully, anyway. Honestly, I worry a bit about the moral considerations and consequences of what could happen if artifical life became sentient. Lately I've become increasingly interested in artifical life and artificial intelligence. There's a lot out there, but two programs that interest me the most are Petz, & Oddballz, by P.F. Magic; and Creatures (Norns) by CyberLife. I finally located a CD of the game "Creatures" and now have Mac Norns that I've bred and am ready to trade. I'll probably get around to creating a section of my web site for them, but for now e-mail me for creatures. I also have several Mac Oddballz Eggz, so if you're a Mac user looking for those, e-mail me for the adoption kits.

2-20-00 Well happy new year! I've been really bad about keeping my current events sections updated, but ahh well. I'm in the midst of another crazy semester, creating a few web pages at once, and just THIS weekend gave my web page here a new look as you can see.