Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?

My teenage years were turbulent and adventurous.  I had no small gift of learning to play musical instruments.

I had one of these with the box covered with snake skin. I figured out how to accompany my singing.  I thought my masenko was magical.  In one of the family’s moves my one-stringed music maker disappeared from my life.

List your top 5 grocery store items.

GINGER: 3 kinds of drinks
CARROT: soup, snack, stir-fry, salad
CELERY: sandwiches, soup, stir-fry
ZUCCHINI: stir-fry, vegetable chop-up, soup
APPLE: snack, smoothie, salad

What is one thing you would change about yourself?

The world is in decay.  Silos of self-interest dominate the public conversation.  “I care” can be understood as “you matter”, and both should transcend talk and tasks assigned.  Apathy is now hiding as sectarian zeal waiting to convert the unsuspecting to become warriors for religious or political preferences.  People matter so much that Solomon concluded that all – everything – is vanity.  I absolutely reject every appearance of human apathy and the self-aggrandizement of the heroes of the twenty-first century.  I want to care more about others, and not as a dreamer or fantasizer.

What are your feelings about eating meat?

Rum and raisin ice cream on a grass-fed steak gives me a thrill that may be denied if some extremists have their way.  However I’ll be damned if I’ll become a vegetable, having feelings about what people – me included – have for dinner.  Let the people of Nunavut and Equatorial Africa enjoy their food without emotional input from anyone who does not live in the Arctic or on the equator. 

What will your life be like in three years?

Gee, I think this question will press a lot of bloggers to look into their crystal ball or their hearts to answer.  I suppose some will ask their partners, spouses, and friends to help them say something definitive about three short years from now. I feel like doing all those things.

I am looking at being productive: publishing a couple of books, making a splash with a musical project and travelling to see birds I have not yet seen. Having a wonderful companion with whom I can share that third year from now would be great.  I could be blogging away as if three years changed little or nothing.

What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in?

None.  Nil.  Zero.

Most careers have come to light as passionate and extreme personal choices of busyness which preclude external influences.  All the careers that have sustained me were all restrictive bonds of someone else’s vision.  I assume that there are a precious few careers where the practitioners  practice on their own terms. 

What makes a good neighbor?

When we encounter people with smiles, open doors and a ready handshake or hug we know we are in a great neighborhood.

What principles define how you live?

You could call me an analytic perfectionist,  a committed servant to the people and causes that have attracted me, and a guy with grateful appreciation for life’s gifts.

E .E. defined