Autobiography

That’s me and my maternal grandfather, George Duerksen (August 23, 1902 - January 11, 1989).

Circa 1970, I read a large number of grade school reading books. One of them had a story in it about a boy who performed various athletic feats. The passage I remember from this book was the boy’s manager saying that his diet was rich in iron, and the boy was getting a part-time job as an anchor.

I was a dedicated rock climber and a sometime ice climber all through the 1980s. I tried to go climbing every weekend, and every holiday.

Here’s why I quit climbing.

Sometime when I was in 7th grade, at Ophelia Parrish Junior High school, a couple of guys that I knew showed me Northeast Missouri State University’s teletypes.

I’ve been on jury duty 3 times, once spring of 1988, another time in 2016, and my favorite, Monday, February 25, 2002.

Here’s an incredible cover of Steely Dan’s My Old School, the enigmatic jazz/rock song from 1973. Happy 50th.

For some reason this winter, I’ve wanted some experiences from my past just one more time.

I believe this is the picture that got me interested in dinosaurs, and from dinosaurs, I became interested in paleontology.

For several years, 2007-2018 perhaps, I would answer any call that reached my cellphone. I wanted to understand the scams, I wanted to know how such hollow, bullshit constructs worked.