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This is where my modesty shines
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Out of the classroom (no, college professors don't just sleep in their coffins when they are not in class, in spite of what you may have heard) I enjoy reading. I read mostly mysteries (Joan Hess's novels about Maggody, Arkansas, are my current favorites, but I also like the Amanda Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters and the Gregor Demarkian novels by Jane Haddam), but I've been hooked by Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. I don't read Star Trek novels much any more, but I've discovered the "Last Templar" series by Michael Jecks (first novel named The Last Templar, not to be confused with a made-for-TV movie of the same name which was a badly written rip-off of The DaVinci Code) and (for a humorous take on murder and mayhem in South Florida) Karl Hiaasen. I also spend lots of time playing and working on my computer, traveling and sight-seeing with my wife, and some occasional gardening in the summer. I also love roller coasters--a commodity in short supply here in the Northwest. Cedar Park in Sandusky, OH, and Kings Island near my home town of Cincinnati have the best I've been on. You didn't click on the hyperlink to roller coasters, did you? Go on back and do it, now!
In addition to tinkering with the department's computers and spending entirely too much time surfing the web, I am the resident Trekker here. If you wish to boldly go where many have gone before (a visit to my office--Wilson Hall 337) you can confirm this assertion for yourself. Yes, I've seen all the episodes of ST, STNG, DS-9, and all 11 movies. My opinion of the movies? All the even numbered ones are good, with 4 (Whales) still the best, although 8 (First Contact) was close. The odd numbered ones are variable with number 5 proving that William Shatner can't direct, either. I just never got into Voyager. ENTERPRISE with Scott Bakula was very well done. I absolutely loved the new movie with the young Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest. I hope it will inspire an even newer generation! Since it is making a starship load of money, Paramount is already working on a sequel. It's not dead, Jim!
Burma, my wonderful wife, researches and writes with me on all our projects and is the main instigator of our movement into mathematics. She was the lead author of our most recent joint publication, "Finger Numbers in the Greco-Roman World and the Early Middle Ages," published in Isis (brag brag brag--this is as pretentious as this is going to get!). Her background is math; and she is a private tutor (and is great at it, too!), in addition to doing research with me and making the best baklava this side of Athens. Ferengi (aliens who look a lot like Ross Perot, but are cuter and have more endearing personalities) have been known to try to steal her recipe!
We have a beautiful and talented daughter, Elizabeth, who graduated magna cum laude in mathematics from Western Washington University in 1997 and received her masters in math in 1999, also from WWU (hey, are we proud parents, or what?). She's a frequent web surfer and loves roller coasters (as does her dad). She's really interested in meteorology and grumped a lot because we don't have really good thunderstorms (and practically no tornados) in Eastern Washington. So she ran away to the UK! She currently lives in Cardiff, Wales. We wished she lived a little closer, but at least we can take really neat vacations! Our adopted Greek son Yannis (not to be confused with Yanni--he doesn't play the piano) is a Harvard graduate and a research chemist (more obnoxious pride bubbling up) who has moved to Belgium. Seems none of our offspring want to live near us--hmmm, maybe it's time to start using deodorant!
Both my wife and I have become "parrot heads." We've discovered Jimmy Buffett and managed to get to four concerts in the last several years. Detroit in 2001 and Portland area in 2002, 2004, 2005. Three were in large indoor arenas. Another in a great new facility in Vancouver, WA. Jimmy often plays at huge outdoor settings, but we aren't really up to heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and porta-potties. For those of you who don't know, Jimmy is an excellent showman, interacts with the audience as if we were in a small night club, and seems to have more fun than anyone else at the concert. Parrot heads dress up in fantastic and outrageous costumes (my lei, parrot hat, and tropical shirt barely made me look "conservative"). The concerts are actually huge sing-alongs as most know the songs by heart and enthusiastically join in. The most popular song in the repertoire is "Let's Get Drunk..." (you have to know the song to understand). Needless to say, we had an absolute blast at both concerts and hope to go again this coming year. I wonder what the chances are of Jimmy playing WAZZU? Let's see, where's that snowball?
Most recently, we have acquired a vacation and ultimately retirement home in Spokane. A bit farther to the North (with more snow) but at least there are a lot more cultural activities and a great deal more shopping than Pullman. In addition, we don't go out of state just to buy some supplies at Wal*Mart. And if we don't want to shop at Wal*Mart, we can choose from a few hundred other stores, or stock up for the next millennium at Costco!
FYI: Sarek is Spock's father, from Vulcan. Ambassador to Earth, he married Amanda Grayson , who subsequently became Spock's mother. Vulcans long ago found that their strong emotions threatened to tear their society apart, and as a result adopted the philosophy of Surak which repressed emotion and stressed logic as the basis for all thought and behavior. Highly intelligent, tolerant of others (a basic tenet of their civilization is IDIC: appreciation of the Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations of the sentient beings of the galaxy), and peace-loving, Vulcans are among the leaders of the United Federation of Planets. We'd all like to think we are much like Vulcans, but face it, most of humanity bears a strong resemblance either to Klingons or Ferengi.
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