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EJ, UnIncorporated
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Odds and Ends
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Like the title says, here are odds and ends relating to life as Erik. Personal, professional, highly unprofessional, questionable,
charitable and otherwise all manner of sundry that has caught my eye.
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The OFFICIAL ERIK FAQ:
Well, actually, I'm not all that interesting. Though
I suppose if a good question comes up, I'll post it (and an answer) right here...
Q: All your friends have kids. Aren't you going to have kids?
A: Biologically speaking, I can't have kids.
Q: Ohhh... Sorry. I didn't mean to-
A: No, dingus, I'm a guy. I can't have kids.
Q: Alright, wiseguy, when are you and Jenny gonna have kids?
A: Dunno. At first it was "in five years" (to give us a chance to do a little living). Now... we still would like to have
kids, but it would be an incredible strain on Jenny to stay in school through a pregnancy. So, long story longer, maybe when
she gets out of school (maybe sooner if we suddenly find we're rich).
Q: So, what's up with your face?
A: Step a little a little closer and say that.
Q: Er, I mean: what's the scar from?
A: Dog bite. Rottweiler named "Lieben" ...but I wasn't feeling the love. If you'd like to see the aftermath, be my guest, but beware: the pictures can be a little rough.
Q: Any tattoos?
A: No, but I've ridden in de plane! Har, har, har. If society ever completely ticked me off, I
thought about a big tribal tattoo on my neck. I think it would go well with a two-piece suit and a law degree. I've seriously
considered getting a barcode of my name on the back of my skull, just above the hairline. Or, more realistically, perhaps
my blood type and "Organ Donor" on my left wrist, right under my perennially pale watch-band line.
Q: You used to be buff. What happened?
A: You again?
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| A rare shot of me in the gym |
Q: No, really. You had a "six pack" once. It looks like you kept having six packs.
[**Deep Breath**]
A: A shift in priorities. Between the wife's cookies and her snuggling (...take that as you will...),
I just don't have time for two-a-days at the gym anymore. But I can still do 3 sets of 20 dips. That count for anything?
Q: What's a "dip"?
A: Never mind...
Q: Windows or Mac?
A: Mac.
Q: Why?
A: I've been a fan of the GUI since the Apple "Lisa" (typing in command lines was never my thing). I have, however, owned an IBM XT in college and worked on everything from
MS-DOS to Windows XP. That, more than anything, continually reinforces the lesson that when I'm going to spend my own clams
on a computer, I'd rather give it to Jobs than Gates.
Q: You're a Mac bigot then?
A: Not at all; I try to give everything a fair shake. Uncle Bill is a smart guy and he's done some great things. Heck, I think Word is the cat's pajamas for serious writers.
Q: Obviously you're not a gamer.
A: That's actually kind of a sore spot. I'm not "hardcore", no; I don't get excited about framerates in the latest FPS. I do love playing "Civ" and "NWN" and once in a great while, I lose myself in "Sim City" or "The Sims" or a shooter or two. By and large, though, these aren't hugely demanding games. The only thing that irks me is not having the developer's tools usually created on the WinTel platform.
Q: Is it enough to make you switch to Windows?
A: Nah. When I look at the future of the Mac platform, I see it getting stronger. With Intel inside (man, that still feels
strange), I have a feeling more will be ported to my chosen platform. For those that I absolutely gotta have that simply won't
be ported? I think a future MacBook Pro will run Vista over Parallels at a pretty snappy rate. That said, I'll still buy OS X native software where ever I can. The interface and stability is simply worth it (I've even been getting over my command
line aversion by tinkering with the UNIX underpinnings!).
Q: Politics?
A: No, thanks. The Surgeon General has determined that it's hazardous to our health.
Q: But...! Are you saying you don't vote?!
A: No, I vote in every election I can. Vote early and vote often!
Q: So you're a Daley Democrat?
A: Nope. I was actually a Republican briefly, but that was mostly to be a contrarian when I was in college. These days I'm
an Independent. I've voted Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and if I recall correctly, even "Green" once.
Q: Conservative? Liberal?
A: Intolerant Moderate. Militant Centrist.
Q: Come again?
A: Fiscal conservative, social liberal. Almost Libertarian except I believe in a strong central government (just a strong
central government that doesn't breathe down my neck).
Q: I noticed you shoot. Are you a member of the NRA?
A: No. Unfortunately, there are certain realities the NRA lobby ignores. To be fair, many gun control advocates have the same
bad habits. Therefore, I support neither the NRA nor any of the groups opposed to it (see the politics section above).
Q: Um... So what do you support?
A: In relation to this issue, I am for significant individual ownership rights. I even advocate the right to concealed
carry for trained and qualified civilians. I also believe the five-day waiting period is a good idea and that "straw purchase" is a significant problem.
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Talk to me!
Words to Live By
I'm not going to bore you with a bunch of axioms
and maxims - but if you want to see what makes me what I am, you can check out the "quotes page." Good luck... and bring plenty of coffee.
Hobbies
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| Click the pic |
Thank God there are 32 hours a day! I just don't know what I'd do if there were any less! ...Except, maybe, have a dozen different
hobbies that bubble back to the surface every few months to put a dent in my wallet. From scuba diving to period piracy, I
alternate between a dozen grossly expensive, insurance-cancelling equipment-geek pursuits. Feel free to check out the "hobbies page" and if you find yourself with the same afflictions, drop me a line and let's waste some time together!
Hot Linx!
Whadda world! Everybody has their own site! Check out fiends (er, friends) and family on their terms. Check out the featured and favored links. If you've got a site, and you want to be on here, drop me a line!
The Jeep
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| Jeepin' in Los Padres |
I was torn: does the Jeep go into the hobbies
page? It could, it's a sort of a pastime like that. And yet, it's also my daily driver and sometimes conversation piece. If
you have a Jeeping soul, check out Rigby's page.
Where else you can find me...
You can find me all over the place. It's kinda
like my hobbies in that respect: there's way too much out there that's interesting. How much I contribute at each place really
varies depending on what life has been like lately.
First, for the blog, check out Blogspot and feel free to communicate, commiserate or excoriate to your heart's content.
Next, since the world seems to be creating online identities to match (or enhance) their real-world selves, you'll find my
digital analogues over in MySpace and Tribe. Someday, this kind of online persona is going to be a legal requirement. Until then, here's to being "findable" by long-lost
friends and creative stalkers.
I post most often at Space.com's online community (their message boards) under the appropriate name of Ordinary_Guy. More recently, I've been poking around on the "Absolute Write" forums. Typically, you'll find me posting on the genre pages (thriller or SF), but if you'd like, you can just start out
with my profile, scroll down and crawl into my head with the "Find all posts by Ordinary_Guy" link.
Or... sometimes I post at The Fuselage (the LOST) site, also as "Ordinary_Guy". It really depends on whether the season is currently active and how I felt about the last episode...
I have been seen over at the Pyrate Pub, especially in its early days... though when it got popular, I'll admit I faded away.
You can still find traces of me there, but the easiest thing to do is just look at the profile of The Touring Gentleman and go from there.
Just to overwhelm your online forum sensibilities, I also have profiles over at Red vs. Blue, Inside Mac Games, CivFanatics and BioWare as well. All fairly good reflections of how I waste my time between writing projects.
Be wary, though: there are plenty of "Ordinary Guys" out there that have nothing to do with this ordinary guy, so confirm
who you're talking to before you invite anybody over for beer and brats.
Expect to see more musings, doodlings and trivial updates to my low-key life.
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