: About Me

Hi. My name is Bill Barrows and I write under either that name or the name William Beal (my first and middle names). I am 62 years of age, as of January 3rd, 2008, so that makes me one of the first Baby-Boomers.

I am retired from the formal workplace and spent much of my career in manufacturing management, employed by a number of the largest semiconductor makers in Silicon Valley. That said, however, I'll tell you I'm no uber-geek, more a people manager/motivator.

I'm ecstatically happily married to the most beautiful, kind and loving woman in the world, Betty, Princess of Quitealot. She is the princess and I am her frog. This year we will celebrate ten years of marital harmony.

In college I was a journalism major and feature columnist for "Woodberries", my alma mater's bi-weekly newspaper. I have worked as a professional copywriter and have contributed a ton of articles to various volunteer organization newsletters over the years.

I am fairly curious and detail oriented (but not a..l about it) and have a variety of interests. I am open to writing assignments of pretty much any nature.

My passion is ...

My wife, Betty; my daughter, Mara and my 2 2/3 grandchildren.

I know too much about ...

Way too many things (I ususally get most of the questions on Jeopardy).

My parents always told me ...

A good boy would know what to do.

My childhood ambition ...

To be a medical doctor.

My favorite memory ...

The first time Betty and I visited a dahlia farm; newly in love, strolling arm in arm amid forty acres of full-blooming color, like a living afgan.

Why I write ...

Because there's a visceral, as well as intelectual, satisfaction in it; and (probably) because I'm an opinionated cuss. Too, there's a challenge in putting some creation together and being recognized for having done something well.

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

Reading: "The Intention Experiment" By Lynne McTaggart; Watching: PBS; Jeopardy; and Are You Smarter Than A Fith Grader? Listening to: The Montreal Symphony play Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition".

My first job ...

Working for my Dad, delivering The Los Angeles Examiner newspaper.

My best moment ...

Close reaching in my sailboat under full sail, with the rail well down; dancing on a sea studded with white horses and a dazzling cerulean and cummulus sky overhead.

My inspiration ...

My Reiki master, Vivi Khamkeo.

Health & Fitness > Health Risks Common muscle diseases

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Struggling onward, one painful, unsteady step at a time, at least he is still walking on his own for now, albeit encumbered by leg braces and crutches. The tragedy is particularly poignant, however, because he is only ten years old, not aged. In two years he will almost certainly be confined to a wheel chair. He is not expected to live through his twenties. He is one of approximately 300,000 Americans afflicted with Muscular Dystrophy, part of a group of musculoskeletal diseases that affect people of all ages and both sexes. Common muscle diseases include a variety of dystrophies, myalgias...

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