About Us and This Site

That's me. Or more properly, that is I. I'm the administrator and primary author of this site. I've recently turned 37 and less recently undergone a painful separation from my wife of 14 years (and concomitant loss of who I thought was a good friend). I've been employed as a professional computer geek in various capacities for most of the last ten years or so, and I'm generally a happy guy. I'm much happier now that Suzette is in my life. <lie>I have few strong opinions about anything, I never sweat the small stuff, and I am among the most humble people I have ever met.</lie>

I met Suzette through HotOrNot.com when I, frankly, wasn't looking for anything of substance. I had finally adjusted to the single life and I had a busy social calendar that week. Then she blew me away. We met in person, and within about a month of our meeting online, she had quit her job, moved out of her house, and moved up to Charlotte to be close to me. A month sounds pretty short, but for my part, I wish she could have done it faster.

Rick is my firstborn. He will be starting high school just a few days before he turns 14 in August. We have our disagreements from time to time, of course—can anyone always agree with a teenager?—but I'm very proud of him. He plays clarinet in the school band, taught himself to play saxophone this summer, ran track, did the Scouts thing for a while, draws cartoons and caricatures, etc., etc., etc. I won't embarass the poor kid (too much, I hope) by talking about his social life, but his camp counselor referred to him as the "pimp-daddy." I'm sure I'm too old to really know what that means.

Squid is my second son, and he's always beaten a different drummer. He turned 11 this summer and will start middle school this Fall. He's following his elder brother into the band—except that he's playing <ugh> a brass instrument— but I'm sure he'll do well. "Thinking outside the box" is a concept Ed discovered on his own: his approach to life has shown a great deal of vision, not all of which has lead away from the more difficult paths. My kinda kid. He also spent his later elementary school years involved in drama and singing, and if there's a spectacle to be made of oneself, he'll do it.

Emma is my socialite. I have yet to see her in a crowd of people she isn't controlling. She's beautiful, friendly, smart, funny, charming, and just generally has social skills that I've never even dared imagine I would be able to develop. She turned 9 this summer and will be going into 4th grade this Fall. <lie>As her father, I am immune to her charms. She is completely unable to manipulate me in any way, shape, or form.</lie>

Michael is my only Winter child—born in November—so he'll be going into 1st grade this year even though he'll be turning 7 soon. He had the nickname "Rerun" for the first few years of his life because—although he was much easier to get along with—he was so much like his eldest brother. He's becoming his own person, though. He's at least as smart as any of them, socially successful with his own approach, and has an interesting sense of humor. Think about Fozzie Bear meeting Dennis Miller on Sesame Street, and you won't be too far off.

Sofia is, simply put, the perfect pet. She's an apricot toy poodle, about 5 years old, and has never met a stranger. No shedding, fewer bad smells than most of the kids, and so long as you pet her, give her a snack once in a while, and let her sleep in the same bed as a person, she's happy. She was completely spoiled as a puppy, but since she's had a litter of her own, she will usually allow us to let her feet touch the ground.

Grampy and Granny—my parents—are local, and could eventually end up with their own authorships on the blog. My sister, Kathryn, lives and works in Wytheville, Virginia, and she may show up here eventually as well. Other friends and extended family are welcome to join the crowd, so if this goes really well, it could get noisy.