Patience above! I haven’t updated this page in ages! (last update was in 2020). Mind! The basic things about Urs Truly haven’t altered (much) but fun facts go in and out of vogue.  Here’s a few new ones with the the best chestnuts still in place. 

1. I am descended from English, German, Dutch, and Canadian stock; If I go back even further they call stem from Nordic lands.  Both of the family lines have been in North America for over 12 generations. I am a descendant of WASP mentalities, Midwest neuroticism, and suppressed Viking urges.

2. I am the oldest of four brothers. I have five niblings.

3. I am continually trying to better myself, either through learning (I am big on podcasts and books) or trying things new and adventurous.

4. I am forever trying to flatten my stomach. Still no luck as of 2022.

5. My favorite philosophy is stoicism. I strive to apply its teachings in all I do.

6. My spouse David is well over four feet. In my blog I refer to him at “Someone” to protect his privacy.   This is a tribute to Alice Thomas Ellis, one of my favorite authors.

7. Tea is my drink of choice  – I love it so !!

8. My other favorite libation is whiskey: scotch, whisky, bourbon etc. I like good stuff, no rubbish types!

9. I love the opera. My favorites: “Dialogues of the Carmelites”; “Salome”; “Peter Grimes”; “The Ring Cycle”.

10. Gustav Mahler and I share a birthday.

11. I am a psychiatrist A.K.A a shrink. I am a Jungian in my psychological approach to patients and to Life in general.

12.  I have an appetence for fustian words. My desire to learn and use exotic words is insatiable. In my blog entries I practice new ones I’ve collected along the way.

13. I live in Phoenix, Arizona; since 2005. I originate from Michigan.

14. I am well over four feet.

15. I have a little treasure chest of mementos such as a key to my one and only house, and the collars of my two cats, Tiberius and Claudius.

16. I despise folks who are certain of themselves when they are merely inveterate in their beliefs.

17. My fears: tarantulas, angry crowds, nuclear weapons, malpractice suits, and heights.

18. I love reading; I have a few things going at all times.

19. If I could I would eat pasta in some form every day.

20. I sign ASL fair. I speak German somewhat better. I am learning Spanish.

21. Here are some of my favorite things: thunderstorms, a good back scratch, hot water, noodles, and rolling down grass hills – in a way.

22. I have a tic in the L shoulder; at times I shout out expletives.

23. I’ve been at the same job since 2005.

24. I am perfectly content to be at home, alone, and manage a house.

25.  I go in and out of being a practicing Catholic, depending on my outrage by it all.

26. I am left handed, but I can do most things right handed if needs be.

27.  When something is disagreeable to me, I say ‘Sooner I’d eat rats at Tewkesbury than….”

28.  I will probably be one of the last people to stop wearing a mask in public.

29. Hallowe’en is my favorite holiday; I start celebrating it on 1 October. Hallowe’en is not a holiday, it is a lifestyle.

30. What drives me crazy: ignorance, rudeness, drivers on cell-phones, and thems who don’t return their shopping carts to their proper receptacles.

31. I make Hawaiian-style shirts. I call them Spo-shirts. When I make one it shows up in my posts.

32. If I talk too fast I begin to stutter.

33.  I have no objection to abstinence so long as it does not harm anybody.

34. I like hot and spicy food and I put hot sauce on nearly everything. As I age my stomach doesn’t like this as much as my palate.

35. I’ve kept a paper journal since 1978. At least that is the earliest year of the ones I still have.

36. I subscribe to dozens and dozens of podcasts for I am insatiable about learning things. See #3.

37. I adore the works of Dickens and Ibsen.

37 1/2. I still can’t spell calendar !