Christian's Biography ...and other silly tid-bits

As before, I'll start with the arcana and demographics: 

Born January 24, 1962. That makes me an Aquarius, moon in Virgo, if your into that sort of thing. I'm also an INTP/INFP if you're into that, and I'm a "3" with a "4" wing if you follow Enneagrams. Hmmm, I guess I'm also the kind of guy who always fills out personality tests. 

I'm currently living in a historic district of Long Beach, California with my wife, Lisa. We love it here in our1920’s Spanish Bungalow. Gotta love the architecture from this era.

Both of us are California natives. I grew up deep in the heart of Orange County, California in a town called Tustin, granted an odd place for a new wave, intellectual punk-rocker to grow up, but there were a few of us (look for tales of the Ghost Tours of Tustin in future pages)

I’ve lived in California for most of my life, except for a six-month period when my family moved to Florida (my father was a Disney Subcontractor working on Walt Disney World). That and going to college at Oberlin, a small liberal arts school in Ohio, where I majored in Philosophy and Communication Studies. For some strange reason, even though it's been 15 years since I graduated I still haven't landed that Corporate Philosopher position. 

Instead I work for Southern California Edison in the rather arcane world of "Records Management." Remember the closing scene of Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom? Well, this is me in my version of it: 

This is a position that can only exist in a bureaucracy. It's so esoteric that it's a natural fit for a philosopher like me (Click at your own risk on any links in the above paragraph). Needless to say, my career doesn't define me a bit-except that it does provide the steady source of income that lets me do the things that do define me.

Like everyone else, I am still a wannabe writer/creative person using this media as my vanity press. Hey, I gotta start somewhere.

Okay, as an intellectual with literary aspirations it should be no surprise that my interests fall into several Aesthetic categories:

• Books-love to read as well as write.

Music-Born on the cusp between Boomer and GenX, I grew up as one of those New Wave Intellectual Punk Rockers so there's a soft spot in my heart for such folks as the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Talking Heads, and yes, even Devo. My tastes though are much more eclectic. I was raised on classical, love jazz, especially the blues, and am downright fanatic about 1930's-esq cabaret performers such as Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich, and their contemporaries Patricia Kaas, and Ute Lempur. Oh, and did I mention Brazilian Samba? Argentine Tangos? Juju and Rai from Africa? I even like Indian film music. Needless to say Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW, my local public radio stations is my favorite music program. 

Art-I'll toss the broad definition out for this one and include Museums, traditional Dance and Theater performance, Performance Art, and all other forms of creative expression. Yes, I certainly do mean all that funky stuff where people are driven out into the desert to watch machines destroy themselves, or anything by the NEA 4, or even the stuff my 4 year old could do (if I had one).

Cocktails, and other culinary arts-Well, while I enjoy the culinary alchemy of the kitchen the emphasis here is on the cocktails--so click at your own risk.  I certainly am a lover of the traditional bar, Martinis, Manhattans, Gimlets, etc. and my European background gives me a great appreciation for Cognacs, Schnapps', Calvados, Eau de Vies and Apéritifs of all types, including all those wonderful concoctions of herbs, fruits, and grasses distilled by monks in remote villages. I eagerly await peace in former Yugoslavia so I can get a decent bottle of Slivovitz!

Travel-Hmmm how did this non-aesthetic get in here? Needless to say there is the beauty of nature that can be found in any national park, the art and architecture of other people and other place, the culinary creativity of foreign cuisine, but there is also the joy of seeing something new, experiencing history, the smell of the meat department at KDW department store in Berlin, loosing one's self in the maze of Venice, winding along California's north coast, off-roading in the Honda, feeling the density of the air in the Amazon basin....I could go on, but I've got vacations to plan! 

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