About Me

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Equipment List: I've always liked the section of album liner notes where the band talks about what kind of equipment they used to make the record. Here's my version.

• Pens: I write in longhand a lot, so I like to use the right pen. Some of my favorites are Montblanc, Fisher (the space pen people!), and Waterman and Parker, who don't appear to have websites.
• Paper: I've been using yellow pads and steno pads from Ampad. I'm a big fan of Moleskine notebooks, too.
• Computer: My desktop computer runs Windows 98, with Word for Windows 95 as my word processor (still!). I recently got an iBook also, and I've been using it more and more.

Cool Writers

• P.G. Wodehouse: Creator of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves. Unbelievably funny, with an amazing gift for using the English language.
• Daniel Pinkwater: There's no doubt that he's been a big influence on me. If you like my stuff, you might like Pinkwater even more.
• William Sleator: Author of Interstellar Pig, which just blew me away.
• John Bellairs: Great books about sorcerers, spirits, and the mysterious. I still read them over and over. Here's another good site.
• H.P. Lovecraft: Spooky things in New England. Just plain terrifying.
• M.R. James: Classic ghost stories. One of my new favorites.

General Fun Stuff

• B-Movies: They're old. They're cheesy. Love them.
• Floaty Pens: Art you can write with. I have a jar of these on my desk. Okay, two jars.
• Old Computer Games: The classics and, well, the bad ones. (Note: This site produces a lot of pop-ups.)
• Library Book Sales: Used books for cheap. A great way to discover new authors without dropping a lot of cash. You can stock up on the classics, too.
• The game of Go: A fascinating game that I remain resolutely bad at.
• Historic American Buildings Survey: Photos and diagrams of architecture from around the country. If you're a nut about old buildings, as I am, you can spend hours here.
• Build Your Own Chicago: Build tiny replicas of Chicago landmarks. Come on, how could you not love this?