1. I am descended from English, German, Dutch, and Canadian stock; going back even further mostly from Nordic lands. Both of my family lines have been in North America for over twelve generations. I am a descendant of Midwest WASP mentalities, and suppressed Viking urges.

2. I am the oldest of four siblings, all 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 new and adventurous things.

4. I am forever trying to flatten my stomach. Fat chance of that, literally and figuratively.

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

6. In my blog I refer to my nearly thirty-year-long spouse as “Someone”. 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, especially bourbon. No rubbish types!

9. I also love opera. My favorites are “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, trained in Jungian psychology.

12.  I have an appetence for fustian words. My desire to learn and use exotic words is insatiable. I

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. It now contains the collar of my beloved dog Harper, who died last year at sixteen years old.

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 books going at all times.

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

20. I sign ASL fair. I speak some German and I am (still) learning Spanish.

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

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

23. I’ve been at the same job since 2005, can you imagine?

24. I am perfectly content to be at home and alone and manage the house, which I refer to in my blog as La Casa de Spo. It has an east wing, a west wing, and is occasionally haunted by a ghost whom I have named Henrik.

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 do some things right handed. And I can’t throw a ball with either.

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

28.  Nearly every morning I send out a good morning greeting to friends and family in the form of a homemade meme.

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 to distraction: 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 I post it for everyone to oh and ah.

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 innards are not liking this. Oh the pain.

35. I’ve kept a paper journal since 1978.

36. I subscribe to dozens and dozens of podcasts,

37. I adore the works of Dickens and Ibsen.

37 1/2. I still have to look up how to spell calendar.