So ya wanna know more about me, eh?

OK, now isn't this an improvement over the previous photo of me that I had up here?

Currently, I live in Novato, California with my wife Nancy and our 22 year young Siamese cat named Cheri. We've lived in our townhouse here since we bought it in July 1994. Originally from Nebraska, we moved to California in January 1979. After six months of hell living in Daly City, we moved into a San Francisco apartment near Bush and Lyon Streets where we lived for almost ten years. October 1988 we bought our first property, a condominium in San Bruno, which we still own and rent out.

I used to make my living doing computer work, mostly administrative such as spreadsheets, database management, word processing, and the like, but I also did work with the operating system (DOS to Windows 95), set-up, and troubleshooting.

My most recent position was with San Francisco based Red Sail Merchandising/The Corporate Choice, a division of Hyatt Corp. They merged with HA-LO in September 1997 and I left the company at that time.

At present, I work out of my home as an independent distributor of nutritional supplements for USANA, Inc. I cannot begin to tell you what a rewarding lifestyle this is. I have my own little home office complete with fax machine and copier, and my "commute" is about 15 feet down the hall from my bedroom. I can't figure out why everybody would not want to have a "job" like this!

My wife Nancy worked for over 12 years as an office manager for a small CPA firm in San Francisco. Originally Jensen and Roye, it had became Jensen, Lardie and Wood by the time she left in 1997. She then worked in the accounting department at Light Source Computer Images, Inc. located in San Rafael (at the time). The company was acquired in 1997 by X-Rite out of Grandville, Michigan. As you might expect, the downsizing mentality of the bigger fish pretty much eliminated everything that was Light Source, and soon even the name will be history. As is Nancy's position there. However, meanwhile back at the "ranch," she got a  position with Lucas Digital Ltd., specifically, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), also located in San Rafael. They do the Special Effects for many movies, commercials, and other productions, especially including the Star Wars movies. It's a good job with a great company in a fun industry. Many are the perks, including (as you would expect) special movie screenings (we got to see The Phantom Menace before the general public), exclusive logo merchandise (T-shirts, posters, back-packs, and more), and some of the finest company parties we've ever experienced (July 3rd Skywalker Ranch was gorgeous!).

Nancy is also an independent marketing distributor with Melaleuca, America's first and only consumer direct marketing company. Melaleuca makes environmentally friendly products and pharmaceuticals from the Melaleuca alternifolia, a specific species of "tea trees," and the only species with the unique combination of ingredients that delivers true Melaleuca oil. They make excellent products.  Send her email if you would like a catalog or are interested in more information.

We both enjoy hiking in the hills around our home here in Marin County. It has to rank as one of the most beautiful areas to walk and hike this close to such a major urban area. Music is a big part of my life, I played guitar for many years, although not so much lately. My main squeeze is a beautiful wood-grain Fender Stratocaster (circa early 70's vintage) I affectionately named "Helen" and when she's ready to sing, I plug her into a vintage Fender Twin amplifier. I also have a Yamaha FG230 acoustic twelve-string guitar, but until I get the neck adjusted, it's rather difficult to play. In addition, there is a MIDI keyboard (Kawai Super 3D X50-D) next to my computer set-up (wish I had more time to enjoy it). We have a huge record and CD collection, almost any kind of music you can imagine. We don't watch much TV, but when we do, we tend to watch science documentaries, science fiction, especially space shows such as Star Trek (all versions). Although it's hard not to enjoy the effect of a big screen, we rarely go to movies because we can't stand trying to watch a good show with all the distractions of the audience. However, that has changed somewhat since Nancy started work with her latest employer.

For the most part, we don't follow sports too much, except maybe keep an eye on the local teams if they're doing well. Big exception that makes up for it - we both love football. Coming from Nebraska, we naturally follow the Cornhuskers. I've been a fan going all the way back to the early '60's Bob Devaney years. Since moving to San Francisco, the success of the 49er's has made it pretty easy to adopt them as our NFL team of choice.

And of course, we live close to the best wine country in America so we're always happy to enjoy a good bottle of fine wine. As a matter of fact, we live right next door to a vineyard. But that will have to remain a mystery, that is, unless you send me an email.

The only thing I'll mention about our political views or ethics is that we're both avid environmentalists and anti-tobacco.

So now that you know a little about us, let me give you a brief history of my life:

I was born in Oskaloosa, Iowa on September 10, 1953, the first of five children - two boys and three girls. My father, W.T. Israel, was born in Florida and raised in Georgia, my mother, Anna B. Louthan, was born in Chicago, but raised mostly in Nebraska (with a few years in Virginia). They met while at Vennard College, a Bible college in University Park, Iowa (near Oskaloosa) and were married on August 9, 1952.

Shortly after I was born, we moved to Waterloo, Iowa which is where I have my earliest memories. My father, who was in the Salvation Army at the time, became a minister in the Methodist Church (now United Methodist). Just about the time I was three years old, we left Iowa for good and moved to Nebraska. Over the next 15 years, we would move several more times. We lived in: Palmer, Nebraska (1956-61); Benkleman, Nebraska (1961-64); Milford, Nebraska (1964-71) where I graduated from high school in 1971; and Cozad, Nebraska (1971) literally days after my graduation.

In the fall of 1971 I enrolled at Vennard College in University Park, Iowa, really a part of Oskaloosa, about 60 miles southeast of Des Moines. It was the college my parents had attended and wanted me to at least go there for one year. I had no better alternative at the time so I did. But I wasn't cut out for that environment and barely made it through the school year there. Returning to Cozad, I worked and lived at home until September 1973.

I had met Nancy Artz in June that year. She was born and raised in Elwood, Nebraska, a small town in the south central part of the state, not far from Cozad. When she went away to college in Hastings, Nebraska, I followed, got an apartment in town, and a job at the local Musicland Store. In March 1974 I moved to Lincoln where Nancy and I lived after our marriage on June 23, 1974. We stayed in Lincoln for about five more years. Nancy worked for the University of Nebraska in the accounting department for most of those five years. I worked at various jobs - an office clerk at Gregg Electric Company, drove a cab, and ended up as the delivery truck driver for Nebraska Litho Company until we moved to the West Coast. Also, during the school year 1975-76, I was a full time student at the University, the same campus where Nancy was working. Quite convenient!

I played guitar and loved music (still do of course). So in early 1977 I decided I wanted to move to California where there was a lot more going on in the music business. We decided upon San Francisco because I was interested in a funky little music school at Fort Mason named Blue Bear School of American Music.

We finally managed to move out West in January 1979 and I immediately enrolled in Blue Bear. It was only a three month schedule but I met lots of helpful people. In December that year, I started working at the newly re-opened Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco. The Golden Gate had quite a history behind it and some of the top names in show business have performed there over the years. It was remodeled back to its original style in the late seventies and began to show Broadway Musical productions. I was the Assistant Manager of Golden Gate Concessions for the next ten years. During that time I was able to see some of the best shows ever and mingle with some of the stars. I'll never forget the Christmas party with Richard Burton between the matinee and evening shows of Camelot.

Throughout the early eighties, I played guitar in a number of local bands, everything from country to old rock and roll. In 1984 and 1985 I took classes at San Francisco State University in the Music Recording Industry Certificate Program then did internship at Starlight Studios in Richmond, California (same studio where "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" was recorded, among others).

My long stint at the Golden Gate Theatre ended in January 1990. But back in February 1989, I had started working for KDFC-FM radio station (102.1) in San Francisco. My most memorable experience at that job was ducking under a desk and riding out the monstrous 7.1 Loma Prieta Earthquake on October 17, 1989. Things were falling off the walls and I thought the building was going to shake apart!

After leaving KDFC in the summer of 1990, I worked a number of places as a "temp." My favorite was with Polaris Aircraft Leasing Company located on the top floor (40th) of Embarcadero Four (high rise building in downtown San Francisco). That has to be one of the most sought after office locations in the city, what with the breathtaking panoramic view it affords. I was there throughout most of 1993.

In September 1993, as soon as my job with Polaris ended, I started another temp job, this time at Red Sail Merchandising. Within three months, I became a permanent employee where I stayed until September 25, 1997 as mentioned at the beginning of this narrative.

My future goals are to establish financial security and independence while avoiding the dead end of working for someone else. Yeah yeah, that's what everybody wants I know. But I'm on the verge of doing it and when I do, the sky's the limit!