When it came to this page I had two options - I could either bore you to death with a long-winded self-important drone of mundane stuff, or just pick out the juicy bits that most people seem to ask about.  I decided to be nice and just give you the juicy bits.


                               
My Life in a Nutshell


The first love of my life was science.  I was educated in many places, due to a fluctuating income and the roaming life of a soldier (yes I served in the Armed Forces).  I eventually settled into the field of Molecular Biology.  It was a lifestyle I relished - the day-to-day challenges, the epiphanies when something wondrous was revealed.  Times change, and now I wear many hats, none of which go with a labcoat.  C'est la vie.

I also had a stint racing bicycles.  I did not particularly enjoy it, but it was a necessary thing to do.  Part of that "don't knock it until you've tried it" bit.  I found that I enjoyed the endorphin rush of long-distance cycling much more than the adrenaline dumps of a race aftermath.   It took a nasty spill and a broken collar-bone for me to come to my senses.  Now it makes me wonder how many brain cells I have destroyed through lack of oxygen.  Which leads to another topic close to my heart.

I am a member of Arkansas Mensa, and darn-tootin' proud of it.  It means I take standardized tests very well under pressure, but that doesn't amount to a hill of beans to anyone else except other Mensa people.  Truth be told, they are the first friends that I made when I moved to Arkansas.  And a long strange trip that has been.  Through the Mensa group, I have met people who challenge my mettle.  One thing about Mensans is that somebody will always have something to say, whether the subject be as mind-boggling as popping in and out of space-time loci, or as earthy as experiences in a chinese whorehouse.

Health and happiness.  Such as we generally wish for those around us.  I have been engaged in a sport that is like no other - live blade dueling.  Happiness, yes, in the form of friends, travel (exhibitions), and an adrenaline rush like no other. There is nothing like that sudden rush that kicks everything into high gear, sort of like playing a video game, except it's with real metal weapons.  Live blade dueling is unchoreographed swordplay, nothing like that stuff you see on tv.  We are really trying to hit each other.  In my case, it is with replicas of period weapons from the early 1600's, with blunted tip and edge.  We also wear little or no armor.  I am a member of Colonel Walter Buttler's Dragoons , a historical reenactment group that strives to portray life in a mercerary camp during the Thirty Years' War.  We travel and do exhibitions, we also host live blade competitions.  Please check the links to see us in action. 

Living in Arkansas has really changed my life.  I had decided that I did not want to spend 3+ hours a day commuting, so that meant that I would have to change careers.  So I did, and have found other passions to fill the void.  My constant friends and companions are my birds, more specifically, my chickens.  I have some who live in the house with me, some who live in a fenced yard, and some of the hardier ones who roam the property.  People bring their chickens into their homes for different reasons.  Some people bring them inside when they are injured or sick.  Others do it for the sheer joy of their companionship.  If they wear a diaper, they are no messier than the average dog.  They are affectionate and smart, have needs and wants like any other housepet. 

I have also started a new business as of 2002:  http://www.chickendiapers.com  The business has since expanded to include other pet items.  The chickendiaper business is altruistic in intent. Costs are deliberately kept low to entice people into bringing their birds into their homes, with the hope that the birds will charm their humans into more careful consideration of what they purchase at the supermarket.  Factory birds at the supermarket, whether slated for meat or eggs, have a horrific and very short life and a gruesome death.   Don't get me wrong - I am as carnivorous as they come.  But it is within my power to choose to eat a creature that has had a happy healthy life before meeting its demise.

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