Hmm, let's see. Well, I like pie. Some pie. Ok, I like lemon meringue pie and that's about it. But cake. Now THERE'S something I can get into. Chocolate cake. Cheese cake. Pound cake. Hell, I'm hungry now. At any rate, I've been writing now for a little over eight years (about five years horribly, and the rest passably), and it all started with my site (shut down for the time being) way back before any one but serious IT geeks ever used the word 'Web log' which, sadly, graduated to 'blog'. I write for the same reason that I play the guitar and breathe: I have to. If I didn't, I think something in my brain would sort of just crack open and reveal every little embarrassing thing I hide so well. I'm ecstatic Helium started up because, frankly, I think it would just embarrass my folks if Playboy were the only place willing to publish me.

My passion is ...

Music, reading, writing, movies, good television, reptiles

I know too much about ...

Worry

My parents always told me ...

This too shall pass

My childhood ambition ...

Become a rock star

My favorite memory ...

My cat Buddy

Why I write ...

I have to

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

A lot

My first job ...

Baggin' groceries!

Arts & Humanities > History (Other) Commentary: Why history matters

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You'll never catch me at a RenFest. I don't mingle with high society, literati, historians or college professors. I look, more or less, like I should be on stage with a guitar in my hands. In point of fact I do, at times, get on a stage and hammer out power chords and blues riffs. I get together with friends on occasion and drink beer and we talk about movies and women.

But I have somewhat of a fascination, if not an obsession, with Rome. With her history, the men and women that made her great (and not so great), why she grew so quickly and fell so hard. With everything that was the Rom...

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