A little about me...
Date of birth:
4 July 1948
Birth sign:
Cancer
Place of birth:
West Hartlepool, County Durham, England
Children (with my first wife, Fiona):
- Dicon: born June 1968
- Heidi: born November 1969
- Koa: born October, 1972
- Nathaniel: born April 1974
- Maresha: born December 1976
Grandchildren:
ten (as of 2010)
Great-Grandchildren:
two (as of 2010)
Places lived:
Brazil, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Macau, Mexico, Philippines, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, U.S.A
Belief system:
God and Jesus
Skills:
- Music: vocals, guitar and slide guitar, piano
- Writing: song lyrics, fiction, stories for children, poetry
- Art: pastels, watercolours, black ink and brush comic art in the style of Will Eisner and (I try!) Terry and Rachel Dodson
- Haircutting
- Bookbinding
- Cooking
- Comedy(!)
Skills I don't have:
- Swimming
- Riding a bike
- Driving a car
- Playing football and most other sports ... and much, much more!
Languages spoken:
Some Portuguese and a little French
And a stickler for preserving the English language from adulteration. (Namely non-gender specific usage and the 'verbising' of nouns: We 'hotelled' in such and such, 'vacationed' at such and such a place, and so and so 'guested' at such and such a recording session, etc. It is flooding into our language at an alarming pace.)
Values I hold dear:
- Integrity
- Honesty
- Simplicity
- Love
Favourite:
- Foods: Brazilian Feijoiada, Indian and Thai curries, Mediterranean, Mexican, Chinese and Japanese - in fact, almost anything non-British besides good fish and chips!
- Colour: Blue
- Car: Jeep (even though I don't drive!)
- Sport: Badminton
- Painter: William Bougereau
- Movies: Ben Hur, Juno
- Actors: Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins
- Actresses: Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren ;)
- Comedian: Ricky Gervais
- Animals: Birds, sheep, horses, fish
- Drink: Red wine, tequila, Irish whiskey and beer
- Guitarists: Mark Knopfler, Albert King, Otis Rush
- Classical piece: Canon by Pachelbel
- Clothes: Casual; my blue Irish wool sweater, Levi jeans or corduroys.
- Countries: Mexico - Baja California; Brazil - Itaipava, and Ireland
- Location: By the sea
- Books: Elements of Style by W. Strunk and E. B. White; On Writing by Stephen King; Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Gospels and Revelation from the Bible; Searching for Heaven on Earth by David Jeremiah and Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton (an autobiography)