Important People from/in My Life

My Wife, Mai. Who knew that I would met my future wife while she was traveling in America on business. The first night I met her I knew she was special. Smart, upbeat, similar values. As time went on it all built and built. She is a hard-core, adventurous, intelligent, honest, educated, kind, unpretentious, person of similar values and a compatible temperament. I am lucky to have her in my life as a partner in day to day living, thinking, playing, and adventuring.  

Friends: I could go on and on about my friends and perhaps sometime I will make a more detailed review of them. But I will say some things and mention a few by name. Over time different people have waxed and waned in my life in terms of closeness and influence. During High School my friend Matt was my closest friend and confidant and we cooperated on so many exciting and cool projects and adventures, even into college. During high school, my friends Nels and Jared were largely responsible for giving my a social life that I found stimulating and meaningful and exposing me to music and adventure that would go on to shape my personal identity. In college, I was still friends with all of those people, but my friend Mike really stepped up and taught me a lot of interesting and meaningful life lessons about enjoying life, and being bold and brave and not living in fear to the extent I sometimes found myself. It's all a sliding scale in that I wouldn't say I caught up to Mike, but he helped me move in that direction. However, I must mention two friends that have been there for most all my life: Chris, & Chris. My friend Chris has opened me up to technical and mechanical knowledge and expertise levels I may have not otherwise known existed. He has been a partner and companion on so many adventures and humorous anecdotes. I appreciate his kindness and good will towards all and his unflappable positive attitude, his independence, self-reliance, and upbeat nature. My other friend Chris has been a companion in so many theater of the mind adventures. From role playing games to table top games. He is one of the funniest, self-deprecating and humble, good,  and principled people I have ever met. Moreover, he has helped me and continues to help me try to understand the nature of reality and the truth of spirituality. Finally, I will mention newer friends Herb and Sara. They are wonderful people in many regards. Sara is social and thoughtful and as a professor of religion has a lot to say about theoretical ideas I really enjoy. She keeps up on "woke" culture which is interesting, but along with her husband Herb, they are really into geek culture which I appreciate even more! Herb is her husband. I also want to thank them for having a baby girl only 3 months after ours, what a great way to bring us closer and give our kids an instant friend. There are many other friends I will have to document in the future: Eric, Maria, etc...

Girls/Girlfriends: I have dated a few different girls in my life. Some of the greatest times, and learning experiences has come from these relationships. Some of my greatest sorrows and regrets (both things I have done and didn't do) have come from past relationships as well. I would wish to say thank you to all the girls from my life who have given my amazing experiences and life lessons that I have treasured and learned from. I wish to say sorry for all the times I didn't act like I wish I had. 

I hope someday to find out what happened to Catherine "Cat" Wilson, she came and went so fast in and out of my life (timing).  I will always treasure my past girlfriend and life-long friend Emily, my first serious love. I will always regret not treating Amber better I didn't handle that well, and she was a good and awesome person. No girl though, has had a bigger impact on my life than Shoko Yamada. Some of happiest times in my life and by far the biggest tragedy of my life revolves around this relationship. I hope she's happy and loved wherever she is. I am still working through that break-up even after all these years. And even though I didn't handle that relationship well at times, the love I had for her is hard to put into words... 

My teachers: While so many teachers have said, done, and taught meaningful and interesting things in my life, there area  few who stand out.:

Diane Dowler.  A teacher from Buena H.S. who I had for sociology and U.S. history my junior year. The most hopeful, thoughtful and interesting teacher I had. She has great outline notes that I kept and used later in college for reference and later again for setting up my own sociology class that I teach. I was honored and lucky to have her as my "master teacher" when I was a student teacher. 

Roger Hengler. The first "challenge the system" teacher I ever had. He talked with conviction, passion and was an iconoclast in ways I found appealing and convincing. 

Steve Branam. My sophomore biology teacher. There are teachers who seem to know not so much, even about their subject, and those that know a lot and then there's the Mr. Branam type. So knowable and intelligent. So interesting.  He was the first teacher that inspired me to know and learn more and more, particularly in the sciences. 

Mark Glover. It seems that as you get older you start to be less influenced by teachers as your personality and ideas are more settled. That being said, I met one of the most influential people in my life, Mark Glover at Ventura College. He looked and dressed so strangely, and yet seemed so intelligent and interesting. More than that he was the first person in my life to start talking about UFOs in a serious way. I asked him for a book to read about such perplexing topic and he sent me in the direction of Project Blue book and Jacques Vallee.  Finally, Tom McCambridge. Dr. McCambridge was a professor of education at Cal Lutheran and the only one that really left an impression on me as someone who fed my mind and "soul" about what teaching is about and why it matters. He talked frankly about teaching in some ways that were meaningful and stayed away from some of the almost useless theory education school was so full of at the time. My good friend Maria and I took him to lunch years later.