Learning everything I can about everything, fighting valiantly against the liberal indoctrination of America, singing/playing/listening to all manner of music, bowling and playing golf (don’t get me wrong, I don’t just play lifetime sports; it’s just tough to round up people these days for pick up games in other sports, like badminton), road-tripping it, being outside doing just about anything, and documenting the glory of the Downriver area before it is brown-housed and box-stored into oblivion. You know what I’m talking about! I’m talking Fort George drive-in, Meijer Thrifty Acres with the grocery aisles each named after a different Downriver city, Southgate shopping center giving you F & M, Woolworth, Sander’s, Montgomery Ward, Harmony House, Winkelmans, Kinney and Thom McAn shoes, Service Merchandise, and a Fotomat!
Music
Being that I am the Human Jukebox, I won't make you, dear reader, read a ridiculously exhaustive list of all of my favorite groups. I am not a music snob; I can appreciate the witty, urbane lyrics of Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, and Young MC equally. I adore all of the talent that came before me (big bands, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, doo-wop groups, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, 50s rock, musical scores and show tunes, and those amazing early 60s when Motown, the Beach Boys, pop/rock/American Bandstand groups, and the Beatles all vied for your attention simultaneously!), but since music is so strongly tied to memory and sentiment, I equally adore the songs of my youth.
I'll readily admit that most of them are not as well-crafted as their predecessors, but you've got to love what they remind you of (just listen to the Bee Gees, Earth, Wind, and Fire, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, KC and the Sunshine Band, the Doobie Brothers, Boston, Captain and Tennille, 70s soul, Bread, ELO, or any disco tune and you are riding in the car to Korvette and Chatham once again!).
If I hear Huey Lewis and the News, a hair band, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, or a one-hit-wonder from the 86-88 era, I'm right back in junior high! And, of course, high school would have been nothing without early 90s Happy Rap (MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, Marky Mark, Salt n Pepa, Rob Base, C & C Music Factory, Technotronic... good times indeed!).
Movies
Everything Turner Classic Movies has to offer! To avoid another exhaustive list, I will simply say my favorite movies tend to fall into the categories of classic Hollywood fare (Gregory Peck, James Stewart, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy/Katherine Hepburn), musicals (especially MGM; Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, June Allyson), and quotable cinema (Billy Madison, I’m Gonna Get You Sucka, Office Space, Team America: World Police, Black Samurai).
Television
Is it cool to say I’ve liked M*A*S*H since I was a kid?
Books
Eats, Shoots & Leaves, The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations, that copy of How to Draw “The Lockhorns” that I borrowed from Callie, and, of course, the book that continues to inspire all of my creative writing and wordsmithery… The Lyrics of Foreigner
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI
Graduated: N/A
Student status: Alumni
Degree: Master's Degree
Major: Super Nintendo
Minor: Bronco Mall Pinball
1996 to 1997
University Of Michigan-Dearborn
Dearborn, MI
Graduated: N/A
Student status: Alumni
Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Major: Elementary education
Minor: Early childhood
1993 to 1996
Roosevelt High School
Wyandotte,Michigan
Graduated: 1993
Student status: Alumni
Clubs: A Cappella Choir, Jazz Band, Marching Band, Drama Club, Varsity Swimming, NHS, YMCA Leaders Club
The Portrait of the Teacher Idealist (eNFj)
The Idealists called Teachers are abstract in their thought and speech, cooperative in their style of achieving goals, and directive and extraverted in their interpersonal relations. Learning in the young has to be beckoned forth, teased out from its hiding place, or, as suggested by the word "education," it has to be "educed." by an individual with educative capabilities. Such a one is the eNFj, thus rightly called the educative mentor or Teacher for short. The Teacher is especially capable of educing or calling forth those inner potentials each learner possesses. Even as children the Teachers may attract a gathering of other children ready to follow their lead in play or work. And they lead without seeming to do so.
Teachers expect the very best of those around them, and this expectation, usually expressed as enthusiastic encouragement, motivates action in others and the desire to live up to their expectations. Teachers have the charming characteristic of taking for granted that their expectations will be met, their implicit commands obeyed, never doubting that people will want to do what they suggest. And, more often than not, people do, because this type has extraordinary charisma.
The Teachers are found in no more than 2 or 3 percent of the population. They like to have things settled and arranged. They prefer to plan both work and social engagements ahead of time and tend to be absolutely reliable in honoring these commitments. At the same time, Teachers are very much at home in complex situations which require the juggling of much data with little pre-planning. An experienced Teacher group leader can dream up, effortlessly, and almost endlessly, activities for groups to engage in, and stimulating roles for members of the group to play. In some Teachers, inspired by the responsiveness of their students or followers, this can amount to genius which other types find hard to emulate. Teachers value harmonious human relations above all else, can handle people with charm and concern, and are usually popular wherever they are. But Teachers are not so much social as educational leaders, interested primarily in the personal growth and development of others, and less in attending to their social needs.
Hmm...
I love the grand city of Wyandotte; chock full o’history and right on the water, too! I adore all things mid-century (Art Deco-mid-sixties); architecture, signage, movies, music, home décor, automobiles, fashions…I just wish I could have been there while it was happening. Left brained?… right brained?… nah, I’m balanced, baby! I thrive on equal portions of academic and creative pursuits. And what, you may ask, gets me through the day? There’s nothing quite like delicious chocolate candy and brewed iced tea… mmm.
Who I'd like to meet: I would say thank you to Jim Henson, Maria Montessori, and Bob Keeshan for sharing their talents with the world. I would also thank the founding fathers, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison for being the pioneers they were.
Being that I am the Human Jukebox, I won't make you, dear reader, read a ridiculously exhaustive list of all of my favorite groups. I am not a music snob; I can appreciate the witty, urbane lyrics of Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, and Young MC equally. I adore all of the talent that came before me (big bands, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, doo-wop groups, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, 50s rock, musical scores and show tunes, and those amazing early 60s when Motown, the Beach Boys, pop/rock/American Bandstand groups, and the Beatles all vied for your attention simultaneously!), but since music is so strongly tied to memory and sentiment, I equally adore the songs of my youth.
I'll readily admit that most of them are not as well-crafted as their predecessors, but you've got to love what they remind you of (just listen to the Bee Gees, Earth, Wind, and Fire, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, KC and the Sunshine Band, the Doobie Brothers, Boston, Captain and Tennille, 70s soul, Bread, ELO, or any disco tune and you are riding in the car to Korvette and Chatham once again!).
If I hear Huey Lewis and the News, a hair band, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, or a one-hit-wonder from the 86-88 era, I'm right back in junior high! And, of course, high school would have been nothing without early 90s Happy Rap (MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, Marky Mark, Salt n Pepa, Rob Base, C & C Music Factory, Technotronic... good times indeed!).
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