I’ll never be that skinny again! I’ve been playing guitar since I
was 10 years old. You would think that after that many years I would
be pretty good huh? I get by. I live by the old school of guitar
playing: Two fingers and three strings is really all you need to
play rock & roll, but I have some songs that get pretty complicated.
I have never claimed to be a good singer OR a good guitar player. I
suppose my love of music has been just enough, along with what
little talent I do have, to keep me going.
The bands that I played in through the years were all pretty good,
but Zaharas was my favorite. All we played were original songs.
After we played at a club and showed them what we could do, the next
time we played there the owners raised the admission price to see
us. I suppose we were pretty good, as well as a novelty for playing
all original tunes. I have not played with anyone else since around
1982, but I still practice and record my songs whenever possible. I
now have more than 40 songs recorded and on CDs as well as a
Christmas CD of old favorites, and a couple of Gospel songs.
Even though I liked the band Zaharas the best, it
was not the best sounding band that I ever had. You can see some
photos and read a bit about the music here:
Photo and Music Gallery
Besides playing one of my many guitars, I love to read. I like
westerns, science fiction, horror, and a good novel every now and
then. The Martian series and the Venus series by E.R. Burroughs are
great. Another author whose work I like is Ann McCaffrey. She writes
the Pern Series. I also try to read at least one newspaper each day.
I like to watch professional baseball, a few professional football
games, and college basketball (when the tournaments get started), as
well as a few series that come on throughout the week. I watch TV
with an antenna that I made, and I can pick up over 20 unique
channels.
I am a fan of the Carolina Panthers, and Washington Redskins as far
as football goes.
When baseball season rolls around, I will watch Atlanta first and
any other game second. (Baseball is my favorite sport.)
I pull for any North Carolina team or ACC team in the NCAA, or NIT
Basketball Tournaments.
I quit school in the 10th grade so I could go out with my friends
and have a good time. Homer’s Pool Room in downtown Hickory was
where you could find us most Friday and Saturday nights. We also
went to the drive-in theaters every once in an while. Before we got
to the Drive-In, we would stop at a place called "The 15 Cent Burger
House" and buy enough burgers and fries to feed a small army. My
friends and I worked all week and had fun on the weekends.
But along with that good time came a lot of hard work. I decided
many years later to get an education so I could use my head and let
someone else do the hard work for a change. It took 12 years, a lot
of hard work and sweat, and a tremendous amount of perseverance, but
I have now earned an Associate’s Degree from Catawba Valley
Community College, a Bachelor’s Degree from Western Illinois
University, and finally finished up with a Master’s Degree in
Management from Pfeiffer University.
I always wanted a college education; I just got sidetracked for
about 20 years.
I believe in honesty, doing what it takes to get the job done,
sharing any knowledge so the job can be done right, and helping
others whenever I can. I also believe that one is never too young or
old to learn something new. Therefore, I have dedicated my life to
learning as much about as many things as I can. I am not an expert
on too much of anything, but I know a heck of a lot about a lot of
things!
Remember to always ask “Why”.
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