General Facts About Me
My daughter made this photo of me in August 2021 as I analyzed a chess game.
• Born: 1972, Hawai’i
• Resides: Killeen, Texas (2009-present)
• Occupation: homemaker, parent
• Status: married (since June 2006) (How We Met)
• Offspring: 2
— Rebecca (2010)
— Benjamin (2013)
• Politics:
progressive
• Former Religion: Christian : Protestant : Assemblies of God
• Current Religion: None : Atheist : Humanist
• Gender: None : Non-binary : Agender
— Pronouns: no preference
Likes / Dislikes:
show/hide
I like...
• learning
• chess
• photography
• reading (see my book reviews)
• knowing and understanding as much as possible about an issue before deciding
• being corrected — I'd rather be eventually right than always wrong
• hiking / taking long walks, either alone or with good company
• working with numbers, including statistics
• over-analyzing anything
• being alone
• sleeping / dreaming
• most music (but especially hard rock)
• charts, tables, graphs
• yard work
• finding new uses for old things
• figuring out things for myself
• asking questions (and getting answers)
• order and organization
I dislike...
• being misunderstood
• surprises
• unnecessary noise
• things that don’t make sense
• Daylight Saving Time
• current state of the English language
• poor use of language
• games of chance
• confrontation
• when easily correctable things go uncorrected
• crowded rooms
• formulaic media (books, movies, music)
• unethical business practices (like the stereotypical auto salesmen)
• preventable waste
• planned obsolescence
• rudeness
• violence without reason
Where I’ve Lived:
I’ve lived in two countries (U.S.A. and Japan), five states (Hawaii, Oklahoma, Texas,
Missouri, and Arkansas), and many cities, townships, and unincorporated areas. I’ve now
lived at my house in Killeen longer than any other place.
Click here for a complete list of states and countries I’ve
visited.
My Favorites (Media):
show/hide
Musical Artists:
• Band-Maid
• Guns ‘N’ Roses
Songs:
• Snoopy vs. The Red Baron (The Royal Guardsmen)
• Manners (Band-Maid)
• Black Hole (Band-Maid)
• Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin)
• Sweet Child O’ Mine (Guns ‘N’ Roses)
• Locomotive (Guns ‘N’ Roses)
Books:
See: My book reviews
• 1984 (George Orwell)
• The Selfish Gene (Richard Dawkins)
• The Better Angels Of Our Nature (Steven Pinker)
• Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert A. Heinlein)
• Cryptonomicon (Neal Stephenson)
• The Stand (Stephen King)
TV Shows:
• [None, really]
Movies:
See: Chan’s Top 20 Movies list •
My IMDb list
• Wonder Woman
• The Princess Bride
• Star Wars (all of them, but especially Rogue One)
• The Matrix
• Baby Driver
Education
show/hide
• Pre-school: Tokyo, Japan
• Kindergarten: Tokyo, Japan
• Grade 1: Oklahoma City, Okla.
• Grades 1-3: Nicoma Park Elementary, Choctaw, Okla.
• Grades 4-6: Nicoma Park Intermediate School, Choctaw, Okla.
• Grades 6-8: Bulverde Middle School, Bulverde, Texas
• Grades 9-12: Smithson Valley High School, Spring Branch, Texas
• College: Central Bible College, Springfield, Mo.
• College: San Antonio College, San Antonio, Texas
Other Activities:
show/hide
If it helps you complete a mental picture of me, here are some of the activities I’ve
participated in:
• High school years:
Marching band, choir, math club, chess club, Texas Boys State, founded and published a Christian
youth newsletter.
• College years:
drama club, intramural volleyball, volunteer DJ at college radio station, youth pastor, preacher,
sign language choir.
• Later adult life:
Environmental advocacy, civil rights marches, YouTube chess channel.
Occupations:
show/hide
Before becoming a full-time homemaker, I held a variety of jobs and was gainfully employed for
about 21 years. My jobs included: gas station operator, grocery stocker/cashier (for four
different chains in four cities and three states), fast-food cook/cashier/manager (for three
different chains in three states), clown, church janitor, telemarketing (for only three days!),
bar-coder at a jeans factory, writer/photographer/editor at a small-town daily newspaper, and
free-lance photographer.
The newspaper job was the longest duration for me, at about eight years. My grocery years
combined come in second at about six years; divided by company, they would come in
second, third, and sixth.