My interests are wide and varied. When someone asks me what I like to do, or what my hobbies are, I have a hard time narrowing it down to just a couple of things. This is just a quick listing of what I do for fun and in my spare time. I have given sports and travel their own sections of the site here, so I will let that speak for itself.

Cars

With my dad being a mechanic, I grew up around cars and have developed a love for them. Anything with wheels and an engine will turn my head, although I dream about owning a Corvette. Preferably either a red 1957 convertible or a dark blue 1976 Stingray.

Alan Jackson wrote in a song that his first love was an older woman, talking about a 1955 Thunderbird. I guess I have always been partial to younger women myself. My first car and the real love of my life was a 1991 Chevy Beretta that I affectionately called Rhetta (real creative huh?). She got me through 9 years and close to 60,000 miles of memories, both good and bad. Now I am the proud owner of a 2001 Monte Carlo. If you see this in your rearview mirror, it may well be me.

Genealogy

Anyone that gets to know me finds out quickly that my family is the most important thing in my life. I am definitely a product of my bloodlines. My mother's family is deeply southern rooted, while my dad's family came from England and Scotland in the early 20th century. I like to say that is where I got my attitude and temperament from. I am brutally honest and refuse to pull punches. Those traits have to come from the Confederate soldier and the Scottish highlander that runs through my veins.

I got really interested in genealogy over the summer of 2001 and have since spent a good bit of time tracing my family tree. In certain lineages I have been able to trace my ancestors back eleven and twelve generations. My father's family was English, my dad being the first generation born in the United States. Although I can only trace dad's Bryce bloodline back to about the 1830s, we know that the family line came to Durham, England, from Scotland and goes back in Scotland to the MacFarlane clan. On my mother's side, I am a deeply rooted southerner. My sixth great grandfather on mom's side was born in Virginia around 1705. I am able to claim the status of a Son of Confederate Veterans. My great great grandfather, Francis Franklin Gann, was a 2nd Lieutenant, Company E, 1st Regiment (Galt's Regiment), Georgia State Line Cobb/Fulton County "State Rights Guards" (Stovall's Brigade), Confederate States of America Army. He was wounded in the Battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864. The wound was suffered as the company attacked the enemy works at the Troup Hurt House. They captured DeGress's Battery (1st Illinois Light Artillery, Battery H), which had been "playing havoc" in the Confederate lines.

I am currently researching Bryce, Waggitt, Gann and Bedell lines. If you have any information, especially about the Bedell's of Knox County, Indiana, I would love to hear from you.

Music

I grew up in a home filled with music, and for that I will always be grateful. I was exposed to music from the time I was a little baby, and it wasn't just one type of music either. My parents were just as likely to be listening to Marvin Gaye, Buddy Holly, The Beach Boys or The Everly Brothers as they were Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, The Statler Brothers or Bob Wills. I credit this musical background with my wide taste in music today. I admit that I like country and classic southern rock more than anything else, but I listen to anything and everything from classical to hip hop.

Unfortunately my musical ability pretty much ends at listening to it. In middle school I tried to teach myself piano and was making a little progress, but then high school and other pursuits came calling and I put the keyboard away and never went back to it. I have also tried to teach myself guitar, but with little luck. Unfortunately my short stubby fingers aren't really suited for bending the strings. I can pick out a few things - the intro to Sweet Home Alabama and other redneck licks - but I am in awe of my friends who can sit and play for hours and make it sound right.

Photography

I am most definitely a shutterbug; pretty much everywhere I go, I have a camera with me. I have photos I've taken scattered all over this website, so feel free to look around and critique my work. Usually I shoot with either a Fuji 35mm film camera or an Olympus C-700 digital, with my dive pictures taken with a Kodak one time use underwater camera.