Started on a whim, this will probably fade quickly through indifference and inattention. I have no driving reason to maintain a blog, know that I'm going to be forever second-guessing myself, limiting information, and it's likely a monumental conceit to imagine that anything I have to offer here will be of any interest to anyone with whom I don't already have a correspondence. I'll only promise not to lie about anything, but I'm not going to spill every detail of my life.
As I put as much in the sign-in info, I'm fine with telling you my name's Mike Norton. There are probably only a few thousand or so of us in the U.S. Michael's such a dreadfully common name, and oh so many people entered new regions adopting new names which simply declared they were "from the North." My grandfather once advised my mother not to look back too many generations lest she find a horse thief or something equally unsavory. Of course, that was the Palmer side. Who knows what was going on on the Norton side? I haven't even kept up with my living relations, but then again, my experience has been that the dead are generally more interesting companions.
No, I'm not a mortician nor a necrophile. It's simply that the issues of the dead are static. They also don't expect birthday and Christmas presents if one acknowledges them. I suspect you knew all that, but one never knows who's reading these things, nor how much they've had to drink.
I have a horribly-neglected website, where I probably should have created this... but that would beg a refreshing of the entire site, and I'm not up to it.
I will note a few links, though.
Aside from about a year and a half I took off last millennia (hey, it's a fun reference and we should take advantage of our placement in time) I've been a member of Legends APA since 1989. It's a comic book centered collection of print zines. That's where most of what might end up in a blog or on a website actually goes. It's where most of it will continue to go, even if I make a habit of this blog.
Also, while I don't know her, Winnie popped up in the comments of a friend's blog, which happened to hit me at just the right time to see me start something here.
Let's see... I've already mentioned being into comic books - a hobby stretching back to about 1968, though my collection goes back farther than that. I'm not the same fan I was 15 years ago, but comics aren't the same game - some aspects for better, many for the worse - either. My interests range from science & tech to history, and an eclectic mix of other items (as I'm sure each of you would say about yourself) as time and circumstance dictate. Catch me on a good day and I'll be both glib and able to discuss a variety of subjects in great depth and detail. Pick another time and I'll find I have little to say. It could be that I'm moody, or that I'm simply not naturally gregarious. I've never gone clubbing, bar-hopping, or whatever it might be called these days, and my most pleasant New Year's Eves have been passed quietly, reading, writing, or working on something that interested me at the time. I'm not a party-type guy.
I'm married (it'll be 19 years in just a few months), have two sons, and am the lab director for a consulting engineering company. I'll be turning 43 this April, and I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. What I am is simply what I stumbled into.
Entirely too much of my time in the past year's been taken up with little bits of comics-related plastic called Heroclix. It's a strategy/combat game based on comic book characters. I received a couple promotional clix at the Wizardworld comics convention in Chicago in 2002. That was July. I'm not a gamer, but the appeal of a game based on characters, many of whom were practically childhood friends, slowly worked on me, and by September I started to buy into both the Marvel and the then newly-launched DC sets. From there it just snowballed.
Let's see... while most of my life since I hit voting age I've registered as an Independent, I'm currently registered as a Democrat. What the Bush administration is doing to this country and its future is appalling. My expectation is that we'll be suffering through a second term of the weaving of a welcome mat for Armageddon.
(I'll pause to note that, as an agnostic with strong atheistic leanings, I'm not referring to any prophesied event that I believe in, but am simply saying that those in power appear to believe in such things.)
I haven't given up hope, however. While I'm lukewarm at best towards most of the runners in the Democratic primary race, the only one in the lot who scares me more than Dubya is Joe Lieberman - who would do pretty much all the same things that Bush is doing already, along with reaching down into our lives to micromanage details. If the primaries in Pennsylvania were to be held soon - say, at a reasonable time such as this upcoming Tuesday - I'd vote for Howard Dean. As it is, Dean'll probably been nudged out of this race by the time the end of April rolls around and we get to make a choice. I can deal with Kerry if he remains the anointed one, but I'm already chafing under the usual, political process of compromise.
Not in the least interested in professional sports, it's nearly Monday and I have no idea - nor do I care - who won the Superbowl. I only know who was playing because I'm right outside of Philadelphia, and with the Eagles getting within one game of going this year it was impossible to completely avoid hearing about it.
I'm beginning to bore myself, so I'll end this here. Besides, I'm curious to see what the completed layout looks like.
I've added the code to allow people to leave comments.
For the moment, if you happen by and want to drop me a line rather than make any comments, you can reach me at miraclo@hotmail.com.
As I put as much in the sign-in info, I'm fine with telling you my name's Mike Norton. There are probably only a few thousand or so of us in the U.S. Michael's such a dreadfully common name, and oh so many people entered new regions adopting new names which simply declared they were "from the North." My grandfather once advised my mother not to look back too many generations lest she find a horse thief or something equally unsavory. Of course, that was the Palmer side. Who knows what was going on on the Norton side? I haven't even kept up with my living relations, but then again, my experience has been that the dead are generally more interesting companions.
No, I'm not a mortician nor a necrophile. It's simply that the issues of the dead are static. They also don't expect birthday and Christmas presents if one acknowledges them. I suspect you knew all that, but one never knows who's reading these things, nor how much they've had to drink.
I have a horribly-neglected website, where I probably should have created this... but that would beg a refreshing of the entire site, and I'm not up to it.
I will note a few links, though.
Aside from about a year and a half I took off last millennia (hey, it's a fun reference and we should take advantage of our placement in time) I've been a member of Legends APA since 1989. It's a comic book centered collection of print zines. That's where most of what might end up in a blog or on a website actually goes. It's where most of it will continue to go, even if I make a habit of this blog.
Also, while I don't know her, Winnie popped up in the comments of a friend's blog, which happened to hit me at just the right time to see me start something here.
Let's see... I've already mentioned being into comic books - a hobby stretching back to about 1968, though my collection goes back farther than that. I'm not the same fan I was 15 years ago, but comics aren't the same game - some aspects for better, many for the worse - either. My interests range from science & tech to history, and an eclectic mix of other items (as I'm sure each of you would say about yourself) as time and circumstance dictate. Catch me on a good day and I'll be both glib and able to discuss a variety of subjects in great depth and detail. Pick another time and I'll find I have little to say. It could be that I'm moody, or that I'm simply not naturally gregarious. I've never gone clubbing, bar-hopping, or whatever it might be called these days, and my most pleasant New Year's Eves have been passed quietly, reading, writing, or working on something that interested me at the time. I'm not a party-type guy.
I'm married (it'll be 19 years in just a few months), have two sons, and am the lab director for a consulting engineering company. I'll be turning 43 this April, and I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. What I am is simply what I stumbled into.
Entirely too much of my time in the past year's been taken up with little bits of comics-related plastic called Heroclix. It's a strategy/combat game based on comic book characters. I received a couple promotional clix at the Wizardworld comics convention in Chicago in 2002. That was July. I'm not a gamer, but the appeal of a game based on characters, many of whom were practically childhood friends, slowly worked on me, and by September I started to buy into both the Marvel and the then newly-launched DC sets. From there it just snowballed.
Let's see... while most of my life since I hit voting age I've registered as an Independent, I'm currently registered as a Democrat. What the Bush administration is doing to this country and its future is appalling. My expectation is that we'll be suffering through a second term of the weaving of a welcome mat for Armageddon.
(I'll pause to note that, as an agnostic with strong atheistic leanings, I'm not referring to any prophesied event that I believe in, but am simply saying that those in power appear to believe in such things.)
I haven't given up hope, however. While I'm lukewarm at best towards most of the runners in the Democratic primary race, the only one in the lot who scares me more than Dubya is Joe Lieberman - who would do pretty much all the same things that Bush is doing already, along with reaching down into our lives to micromanage details. If the primaries in Pennsylvania were to be held soon - say, at a reasonable time such as this upcoming Tuesday - I'd vote for Howard Dean. As it is, Dean'll probably been nudged out of this race by the time the end of April rolls around and we get to make a choice. I can deal with Kerry if he remains the anointed one, but I'm already chafing under the usual, political process of compromise.
Not in the least interested in professional sports, it's nearly Monday and I have no idea - nor do I care - who won the Superbowl. I only know who was playing because I'm right outside of Philadelphia, and with the Eagles getting within one game of going this year it was impossible to completely avoid hearing about it.
I'm beginning to bore myself, so I'll end this here. Besides, I'm curious to see what the completed layout looks like.
I've added the code to allow people to leave comments.
For the moment, if you happen by and want to drop me a line rather than make any comments, you can reach me at miraclo@hotmail.com.
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