I love to be physically close and to hug. I like to walk and always want to hold hands. My mother was big on hugging and touching and I’ve inherited that trait from her. My dad was more reserved, although we did hug more often after I had grown up.
I enjoy science and technology, especially computers and software programming. I love science fiction. As a child, used to sneak up past my bedtime to watch my hero’s, Kirk and Spock, explore strange new worlds on Star Trek (TOS). Later when I was in high school, I went to the movie theater many times to watch the first Star Wars movie. When I first started working at LLNL, I would get a take out pizza from Round Table at the end of every week and watch Dr. Who late on TV in my apartment. I’ve read every Captain Future story and enjoy all the grand old space operas, like the Lensman series. In my youth, I eventually checked out and read every library book in the children’s section of my local library that was science fiction (denoted by a spaceship sticker on the spine). One of my all-time movies is the original 1951 ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’. It’s in black and white and, in addition to the story, I love the use of darkness and light in it. I don’t like horror movies.
Musically, I love the sound of singing rock guitars and pounding drums. I love the sweeping emotion of romantic symphonies. I cried the first time listening to Big Star’s first album and to Sibelius’s Symphony #2. I love the Beatles and Power Pop bands that play music with energy, melody, rhythm, and harmonies, like the Raspberries, Badfinger, and Big Star. In college, I added some simple guitar music of my own (some of which is found on this blog) to my poetry lyrics.
I’ve always liked dogs. When I was a child, we had a lovable black and white English Springer Spaniel as a pet. I didn’t understand cats. However, my children, mostly my daughter, have adopted many cats over the years and I’ve learned to like cats. We have one dog and four cats today. I took care of my daughters parakeets for many years, ignoring the loud chirping when I would try to watch TV or attempt to talk to someone on the phone. I’ve had several aquariums with tropical fish, but I’m down to just one tank now.
I’m not much into travelling, although I’ve been to various places like Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and the Anasazi Ruins. I really have little to no desire to travel after retirement, contrary to most retirees, I’d rather just stick closer to home. When we were first married, before we had children, my wife and I would take vacations together and mark our trips on a big map. We went to places within driving distance, like Washington D.C, Charleston South Carolina, Jekyll Island off the cost of Georgia, Florida, etc.
I’ve always been kind of clumsy and I never learned to dance. I enjoy watching people dance closely, but any women I would dance with would need some good Nancy Sinatra boots to protect her feet.
I’m not much on playing games. The last video game that I enjoyed was pong. I don’t really care for puzzles or crosswords. I tried to play Halo once with my kids, I got my character stuck in a corner until someone put me out of my misery from shooting me in the back or something.
Usually it’s more relaxing to watch my aquarium than to watch TV. When I do watch TV, I like channels like Smithsonian, Discovery, Science, DIY, and Motortrend. Recently. I mostly enjoy the Hallmarks channels, UpTV, and Pixl. I find shows that show people in emotional pain, like Law and Order SVU, too painful to watch or to even listen to. Unfortunately for me, these shows are on almost 24 hours a day and my wife has them on in the TV in our living room all the time. She likes to sleep with the TV on and even leaves it on for the dog when she’s gone. No wonder our little dog is a psycho and barks like a demon dog whenever the mailman or a delivery comes.
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