About Me
I value people, experiences, places, and ideas, and I live a (materially) simple life. I'm very grateful for the experiences I've had and the independent life I can live today. I love learning and continue to explore any topic that catches my interest. I value where I live, and I'm grateful that I've gotten to know some people here.
Interests
information organization, information connections, car-free living,
simple living,
new urbanism, old urbanism,
freelancing,
Milwaukee, art, theatre, design,
creative writing, poetry, metaphor, fiction, creativity,
conceptual age, psychology, history, online,
computer-mediated communication,
computer science,
mathematics,
genealogy,
communication, rhetoric,
Internet,
World Wide Web,
technology, philosophy, transit
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 Activities
 Web publishing,
digital photography, walking, bicycling,
coffee, thinking, writing, reading, talking, listening, traveling, Socrates Cafe,
 Web414,
 meetup.com,
 upcoming.org,
 yelp
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 Social Net Profiles
 linkedin: professional networking
 facebook: online social networking
 plaxo: contact links
I have these profiles up, but I don't use these as much:
 yahoo
 myspace
hi5
orkut
friendster
Tribe.net
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Current Reading
I'm reading in the area of urban criticim, planning, architecture, cultural geography, history, and demographics for a section of my Web site, People Places.
Favorites from Past Reading
- In Our Time, by Ernest Hemingway
The short story collection that launched Hemingway's writing career.
- The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann
The novel of time perception and a self-contained environment.
- A Short History of the World, by Geoffrey Blainey
A highly-readable, one-volume sketch of human history, highlighting the interplay of settlement patterns with technology and practices (the mastery of fire, meat-eating, agriculture, religions, warfare, government, cities, ocean travel, the printing press, medicine, physics, the steam engine, world wars, atomic power, and space travel).
- Extra Nutty! Even more letters from a nut, by Ted L. Nancy
Ted needs a lot of help with hotel stays, pumpkin odor, Valclav Havel, and loony new store ideas.
- Letters to Yesenin (and) Returning to Earth, by Jim Harrison
- Worldwalk, by Steven M. Newman
Steven Newman walked around the world during 1983-1987. Although his life was threatened, he steadily traversed 24,000 kilometers and faced a vast and intricate mix of beauty, ugliness, evil, and love all at the same time and showed that adaptability, openness, and tenacity can get you far.
- The Sun Also Rises
- A Moveable Feast
- This Side of Paradise
- Cities of the Interior
- The High Cost of Free Parking
- The Book of Nightmares
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Favorite Movies
- The Ice Storm
- Suzanne's Career
- Vertigo
- My Man Godfrey
- The Virgin Suicides
- American Beauty
- The Seventh Continent
- Woman Under the Influence
- The Birds
- Fire Maidens of Outer Space
Favorite Music
ABBA, Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette, Counting Crows, Loreena McKennitt, Mozart, The Decemberists
Favorite TV Shows
I don't have a TV, but I watch online video and DVDs, "The Twilight Zone" (original series), documentaries, old movies, Mystery Science Theater 3000
Favorite Quotes
"In a gentle way, you can shake the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler." -- Albert Einstein
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John December Personal Page
