9,496 days ago, on October 4th, 1979 at 8:42 PM Eastern Time, angels both cried and serenaded one of their own. A gift was given to the world. I was born.

I was blessed with two beautiful parents and, a little while later, a sister. An angelic mother put up with three days of labor before she finally said, "just get this thing out of me!". Forceps were the answer which resulted in a funny egg-shaped, alien-looking head for the first few days of life. I ended up getting snipped (sob). Last I heard, they used the skin to help 17 burn victims.

I have lived a good life. A big extended family, many first cousins around my age, and a gorgeous show-stopper of a sister who reminds me who the brains in the family are. I have resided, for a year or more, in six different states; so I have had the pleasure of experiencing many localities, each with their own quirks, special words and phrases, and beliefs. As a result my speaking accent is a weird conglomeration of southern/mid-west/Pittsburghese. Kind of glad that I have the mid-west accent because I believe that it sounds the cleanest. Luck has blessed me further by removing me from my birthplace area of Boston, Massachusetts, so I don't have to suffer with the infantile-like, nasal-sounding drone common to that locale.

I was given a good healthy body and have been lucky enough to never break a bone, get stitches, or even get a bee sting. All remarkable considering the many stupid and potentially life threatening situations I put myself through when I was young teenager (think jumping off of fifty foot barge peers, train-hopping onto moving trains, crossing 200 foot tall trestles that are half mile across, and jumping off of high rocky outposts into water below). Wish I didn't have a "chicken-chest", but...I'll gladly and happily accept what I do have. Not like I have much choice in the matter.

Two beautiful parents and a sister, a healthy body, and residing in the richest and freest nation in the world - I have won life's lottery.

**Was just having fun and giving you a peek into who I am. In the end, I'm really just a crusty ol' (soon to be old) bastard. Thanks for reading.