I was born on July 2nd, at Mather AFB hospital in California's central valley. For most of my life, I lived in California, in the suburbs around Sacramento. In 1997, I moved to Tucson, a city in southern Arizona where I reside to this day.

What's it like in Tucson, Arizona?: Hot!! And dry, and dusty. This region is known as "high desert", the landscape around here features lots of palm trees and cacti. Tucson is surrounded by mountains to the north, east, and west, with smaller foothills to the south. For most of the year, it's sunny, warm, and dry with very little rain. Our rainy season is in the summer, usually starting in late June, and typically ending in early September. This period is called "the southwestern monsoon", and is something locals look foward to as it brings cooling rains and spectacular electrical displays. The Southern Arizona area is a haven for lightning photographers from all over for this reason. You can see some of my personal storm pics here. Occasionally in the colder months, snow falls on the desert floor enough to stick. This makes for some beautiful sights, especially when the huge saguaro cacti are dusted with snow.

My familiar, companion, and guardian:

Yes, he watches television.

Favorite Foods: I love Chinese food! I consider myself a connoisseur of pot stickers, and can't resist Mongolian BBQ or Teppan Yaki. I also enjoy some good Japanese and Korean food. I am a ravenous carnivore, I delight in gobbling down a nice, juicy, rare steak. I love BBQ, steaks, chicken, ribs, hot links, hamburgers, hot dogs, and just about anything else that can be BBQ'd. I love a good bit of beef jerky, my favorite being peppered beef jerky from Jack Links. I think shellfish is delicious, especially crab legs, lobster, and shrimp, as well as mucsles, clams, scallops, and crawfish. My favorite fruits are bananas, grapes, peaches, strawberries, and plums. With veggies, I prefer them raw, and will rarely eat cooked vegetables. I enjoy carrots(raw only), corn on the cob, artichokes, potatoes, avocados, spinach, asparagus(preferably lightly steamed, cooled, and dipped in mayo), and green onions. I love garlic on a lot of things, a good bagel with cream cheese, fig newtons, granola bars, a good crunchy pickle, mushrooms, cashews, almonds, edamame(soy beans), and pierogies! I also like beans, especially lima beans and ham. I love a good breakfast of scrambled eggs (with lots of pepper on them), hash browns, and sausage. Yogurt sprinkled with either granola or wheat germ is something I like as a breakfast or snack. Cold cereal is another favorite of mine. My favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip. My favorite desert type foods are cheesecake, ice cream cake, tapioca or butterscotch pudding, root beer floats, strawberry or chocolate shakes, ice cream sandwhiches, popscicles, snow cones/shaved ice, gellato, and frozen yogurt. Foods I don't like: Cheese, milk, cooked and mushy vegetables, gravy, butter/margarine, blubbery fat in my meat, overly sweet things like cakes with too much frosting, eggplant, soggy bread products (like hot dog/hamburger buns, toast, etc), olives, cottage cheese, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, artificial sweetners, humus, bellpeppers, sandwhiches/burgers with too many ingrediants, heavy cream sauces, yams/sweet potatoes, and sushi that isn't fresh to name a few.

Things I like to do/hobbies: I enjoy artistic things like drawing, painting, and sculpting. I do a lot of counted cross stitch as well. I like to play card and board games like Uno, Yahtzee, Trivial Pursuit, Clue, Dominos, Rummicube, Huggermugger, and lots of other games. As I grew up with video games, that's another favorite way to relax and pass the time. I prefer mainly action/adventure or platformers. Amoung my favorite titles are Jak & Daxter(trilogy), Ratchet & Clank(series), Sly Cooper(series), Drakan-The Ancients Gates, Zelda(whole series), Spyro, Ghost Recon, and SOCOM. I read a lot, usually fantasy/scifi, mystery, and thrillers. I love the Harry Potter books/movies, Jane Lindskold's Firekeeper series, Victoria Laurie's books, Brian Jacques Redwall books, and Fred Saberhagen's Dracula series just to name a few. I don't often watch TV, but my favorite TV shows include comedies such as South Park, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Oblongs, Ren & Stimpy, and Reno 911. I also like older shows such as Leave it to Beaver, Mr. Ed, The Munsters, and Andy Griffith. Sherlock Holmes(Granada series) is another big favorite of mine. I've been a fan of the old Hammer horror films since I was 13/14, my favorites being Christopher Lee's Dracula and Peter Cushing's Frankenstein. As far as outdoor activites go, I like hiking, walking, swimming, playing frisbee or badminton, picnicing, taking my dog to the park to play, and storm watching & photography. I love movies, though I have just too many favorites and it would take me pages to list them all. I love music of course, I mainly listen to classic rock, some heavy rock, alternative, "adult contemporary", blues, swing, and oldies.

Dislikes: stupid people, rudeness, racism/prejudice, ignorance, "chat speak", zealots/extremists, most politicians on both sides, lawyers, people who blame somebody else whenever something bad happens, rabid anti-smoking people, censorship, people who lack a sense of humor, people who have too many children, and people who dislike things....wait...what?

Fears: Spiders(daddy long legs in particular), worms, drowning, the ocean, and mirrors in a dark room.

Zodiac Sign: Cancer    Chinese Zodiac: Cock

What's a Barguest?: Barguest is one of the many names given to phantom black dogs, who are seen most often throughout the UK, but also haunts most areas of the world including the USA. The spelling I am familiar with is Barguest, but phantom black dogs go by numerous names including; Barghest, Barghaist, Barn-ghaist, Bargtjest, Shuck, Black Shuck, Old Shuck, Old Shock, Shucky dog, the Shug Monster, Skriker, Striker, Trash, Guytrash, Gwytrash, Gwyllgi, Gallytrot, Galley trot, Hairy Jack, Hooter, Padfoot, Grim, Scarfe, Muckle Black Tyke, Moddey Dhoo, Mauthe Dog, Yeth, Skeff, Choin Dubh, Gurt Dog, Cappel, Wish Hound, Cwn Annwn, Tchico, and Tchen Bodu.

The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

Some of the better-known black dogs are the Barghest of Yorkshire and Black Shuck of East Anglia.

Various other forms are recorded in folklore:

 England
In Lancashire the spectre-hound is called Gytrash, Trash, Striker or Shriker.
The Drummer of Tedworth sometimes manifested itself as a huge black dog.
In Tring, Hertfordshire, a fierce-looking black hound with red eyes is said to haunt the middle of the road in the area where the gibbet once stood. Locally it is known as Lean Dog, and is the spirit of a chimney sweep executed for murder. When approached, the lean dog sinks into the ground.
The Gurt Dog of Somerset is an example of a benevolent dog. It was said that mothers would allow their children to play unsupervised on the Quantock Hills because they believed that the Gurt Dog would protect them. It would also accompany lone travellers in the area, acting as a protector and guide.
The Black Dog of Winchester.
Padfoot of Wakefield.
A black dog has been said to haunt the Newgate Prison for over 400 years, appearing before executions. According to legend, in 1596, a man named Scholler was sent to the prison for witchcraft, but was killed and eaten by starving prisoners before he was given a trial. The dog was said to appear soon after, and although the terrified men killed their guards and escaped, the beast is said to have hunted down and exacted revenge upon each murderer.[citation needed]
One has been said to have been Corsham in Wiltshire on April 28th 2008
Ghost Dog of Oldbury.

 Channel Islands and Isle of Man
In the Isle of Man it is styled Mauthe Dhoog, or Moddey Dhoo (black dog in Manx). It is said to haunt the environs of Peel Castle. People believe that anyone who sees the dog will die soon after the encounter with the dog. It is mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in The Lay of the Last Minstrel--
"For he was speechless, ghastly, wan
Like him of whom the Story ran
Who spoke the spectre hound in Man."
In the Channel Island of Guernsey, there are two named dogs. One, Tchico (Tchi-coh two Norman words for dog, whence cur), is headless, and is supposed to be the phantom of a past Bailiff of Guernsey, Gaultier de la Salle, who was hanged for falsely accusing one of his vassals. The other dog is known as Bodu or tchen Bodu (tchen being dog in Dgèrnésiais). His appearance, usually in the Clos du Valle, foretells death of the viewer or someone close to him. There are also numerous other unnamed apparitions, usually associated with placenames derived from bête (beast).
In Jersey folklore, the Black Dog of Death is also called the Tchico, but a related belief in the Tchian d'Bouôlé (Black Dog of Bouley) tells of a phantom dog whose appearance presages storms. The story is believed to have been encouraged by smugglers who wanted to discourage nocturnal movements by people who might witness the movement of contraband.
On mainland Normandy, the dog is referred to as the Rongeur d'Os (bone-gnawer).

 Wales
In Wales its counterpart was the gwyllgi, the "Dog of Darkness", a frightful apparition of a mastiff with baleful breath and blazing red eyes. Also related are the spectral Cŵn Annwn, connected with the otherworld realm of Annwn referred to in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi and elsewhere; however they are described as being dazzling white rather than black in the medieval text.

 Cornwall
A black dog appears in Penzance harbour as a foreteller of someone's death. The victim is the only one who can the see the dog, who is described as Labrador Retriever sized, but not actually of this breed.
Shony is a Cornish ghost-dog whose appearance heralded a storm.

 USA
In the U.S.A. a twin set of black dogs is said to roam the country sides of north middle Tennessee near the county of Macon. Legend has it that two black puppies were adopted by a cruel farmer who was so evil that the Devil would not allow him to enter Hell, but gave him the job of hunting down unsuspecting travellers after the stroke of midnight. Some stories state that death is quick; others say that death will fall days, months, or years (this last is considered a catch-all) after viewing the demonic beasts. Others say that death may not follow at all, but something "bad" will happen to someone close to those who set eyes on the twin hounds. Lastly, some stories skip the evil farmer and claim the hound to have multiple heads and is, in reality, Cerberus the hound who guards the gates of hell. This story may have been made-up to fit the satanic claims that some have made about the county.
The Black Dog of the Hanging Hills of Meriden, Connecticut is unique in that it does not take the guise of a large, fearsome hound. Instead, it appears as a small, sad black dog. The Black Dog of the Hanging Hills leaves no footprints and makes no sound, even when it appears to be barking happily or howling. It also appears to enjoy human company, somewhat ironically. Seeing the Black Dog of the Hanging Hills once is supposedly good luck, twice is bad luck and three times means death.
Packs of black dogs with glowing yellow eyes are rumored to prowl U.S. Route 666, slashing the tires of passing motorists with their sharp teeth.
Along Sweet Hollow Road on Long Island, NY, there is said to be a black dog apparition that walks on its hind legs and has glowing red eyes. Making eye contact with it is supposed to cause death within a month.
2 black dogs inhabit highway 97 from Madras Oregon to Sunriver Oregon

 Latin America
Black dogs with fiery eyes are reported throughout Latin America from Mexico to Argentina under a variety of names including the Perro Negro (Spanish for Black Dog), Nahual (Mexico), Huay Chivo (Mexico), Cadejo (Central America), Familiar (Argentina) and Lobison (Argentina). They are usually said to be either incarnations of the Devil or a shape-changing sorcerer.
There were also recent reports of a huge black dog with flaming red eyes roaming the southeastern Brazil coast, haunting and scaring people. However, there were no reports of any kind of physical harm caused by it