I have a lot of hobbies and interests that I thought I'd share with you here.
Where it's appropriate I'll post a link to sites that I find interesting relating to the topic.

If you have a similar interest and know of other sites I and others would be interested in, please post a note on the bulletin board.

First I would like to say that balance in life is really good for mental health and although I consider music my primary hobby as well as profession it's good to develop other interests to get involved in. It's not only fun, but you learn things that broaden your scope as a human being, as well as add variety to your life which keeps even the most tedious tasks feeling fresh.

To begin with I'm on the road a lot, so spending time with my family is a main hobby and source of joy for me. I enjoy dinners, concerts, movies, tv and such with both my wife and son. With my wife or alone I've developed a love for gardening, especially pruning trees and bushes (which is like sculpting w/nature), and home beautification projects.

With my son I like to bike ride, roller blade, play baseball, basketball, swim and especially (for him!) play video games. We also have become big fans of the WWF and I made big points at home when I came off the road last year with an autograph from Stone Cold Steve Austin after running into him on a plane!

I have three wonderful dogs that are a source of great enjoyment in my life. They are a Doberman Pincer, a Rottweiler and a Mini-Pincer. Taking walks, throwing a ball or just hanging out with them is so much fun.

(dog pic coming soon!)

For my own personal hobbies I like to read (especially on the road). Lately I've read some Hemingway, but I also like biographies about people I find influential. I like reading about music and composers, artists, dancer-choreographers, philosophy and psychology, and mythology. I'm fond of the poetry of T.S.Elliot, William Butler Yeats and William Blake among others.

I'm also interested in architecture and design, and I've read about a lot of my favorites and collected a few pieces of furniture they've designed.

(furniture pic coming soon!)

I collect vintage writing instruments (fountain pens, mechanical pencils, ink bottles, old advertisements, and even the boxes, display cases and trays they were sold in). I have two old Sheaffer displays (one from the '20s and one from the '30s) filled with Sheaffer, Waterman, Parker, Wahl-Eversharp, Conklin, Pelikan, Montblanc, Swan, Conway Stewart and more, dating from ca.1900 to the '50s.
When I'm on the road I stop at antique stores and check for pens.
I'm fascinated with the different shapes, sizes, colors, designs and mechanical innovations. I write with a lot of them regularly, and if they need it, I repair and restore them.

(pen pic coming soon!)

Here are my favorite pen websites, some of which my "fountain pen guru" friends own and operate:

BerlinerPen.com
FinePensOnLine.com
Nibs
FountainPenHospital.com

If you ever want to send me a gift, get me an old fountain pen!!!!

I also collect percussion instruments from around the world (but this is space prohibitive-unlike pens!) I hope to start to take pictures of them and create a page on the website so you can see some of the more interesting ones.

From time to time I write "stream of consciousness" poetry which I've used at times as spoken word in musical compositions. I write one word at a time not knowing where the next word will take me and some fascinating imagery usually comes up. And always when I read it back it seems to speak to me in symbols and give a pretty accurate representation of my current psychological state.

I fool around with art(drawing/painting) as well. I use magic markers because my style is fast and paint and other media don't seem to keep up and give me the variety of line I want. My work ia always completely abstract, but not unlike a "Rorschach Ink Blot" people always read something into it. I've put them on my cd covers, and the liner notes of Missing Persons "Rhyme & Reason". I hope to get some on the Gallery page soon.

OK guys-don't get envious , but i just had one of the best days of my life! There is an artist outside this little town we played last nite named asa brandt who is one of the innovators of swedish studio glass (which means she not only designs but "blows" as well!!!)-ok, her son plays in a Django Reinhart band with one of the guys who's driving us around! So-we go out to her studio/factory/museum/cafe (by the way the food was impeccable-to say nothing of the architecture) and they set it up so Wayne and I get a crash course in glass blowing and she helps us to make our own pieces!!