: About Me

Oddities in my background not too common to the typically socialized modern American have created a versatile intellect that may at times laugh you into dizziness and tears, or bore you to brink of insanity. If who we are as individuals be an integration of experiences together with biological, hereditary induced behavioral predispositions, I have some deliciously queer contributions from both: Both my three parents are bipolar depressive over-sexed Presbyterians; I have 9 sisters and no brothers.

I am native to Michigan (where phonetic American English finds its purest form) but moved to the East Coast a long, long time ago in the vast, distancing past of the last century, when many of you were probably not even born: the early 1980s. Yes, at the ripe old age of 37, what's the use; my life is essentially over - I know...

I joined Helium at the behest of a few friends. I write in large quantities, daily, in Earth Sciences forums, where many works range from dry, purely theoretic discourses, to levity, politics, and finally, the unmitigated frustration and sadness that colorizes the dark melancholic, bereaved and forlorn tragedy of my romantic history. Just look at my photo in this it's-what's-inside-that-counts, meow meow woe-is-me society and you'll see why.

So...I figured, why not; throw some styling and ideas around, bounce off others, get some positive and negative feed-back so as to sculpt a genuinely interesting talent and perhaps even a recognizable writing ability. It is an activity that I enjoy. I have read some of the other bios from other members to get a feel for how folks profile them selves and I must say, in addition to this being among the lengthier, I do agree with what others elucidate is a therapeutic, almost cathartic value there is in the praxis of conscious streaming into written form. It is with great risk, in a culture that paralyzes anyone for any suggestion that intimates a recognition of their own ability, that I state I receive(d) many accolades and encouragements; and so, maybe contributing to other forums is a worth while pursuit.

My passion is ...

Natural sciences and apparently ambivalent beauties

I know too much about ...

...Well, the obvious answer here is nothing, though I suspect that's a used answer

My parents always told me ...

"..To pick the very best one and you are not it!"

My childhood ambition ...

Was to be famous when peers were kind; to be merely accepted when they were not

My favorite memory ...

I do not have one, for to pick would impossibly demean others

Why I write ...

Somewhere between exploring imagination, catharsism, and it being a marvelous facilitator for new ideas, borns the motivation

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

Right now, "The No Asshole Rule", by Robert Sutton; PHD. Tongue in cheek humor meets real sociological study of jerks and their destructive influence in the workplace setting.

My first job ...

Tilling my grandfather's garden for $3, circa 1979

My best moment ...

...is in store

My inspiration ...

Remarkably simplistic if not cliche, and in no particular order: Health; decent salary; hot healthy wife; 2 healthy children

Sciences > Atmosphere & Weather Steam Devils: What they do

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Steam Devils take place because of low level instability over a moisture source. What they do is focus transport of latent heat of evaporation from a warm source to a cool source. They typically take place in the autumn and early winters over bodies of water that contain residual summer heat. They can also occur, in fact quite frequently, just post a summer shower where ample sunshine took place during the forenoon hours. Another name for them is 'steam dogs'. To understand more fully how they work think of micro-tornadoes. They are rotating columns of air, just as in their cousins Dust De...

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