I have always liked home pages where the person takes the time to introduce him/herself to me. I
sometimes like to think of home pages as being a way to meet people (not
as good as being introduced in person, but it will do). So it is only appropriate
for me to introduce myself to you.
So just who is Doug Flummer?
That is sometimes difficult to answer. I am a person of many different
facets, and each one of them reveals a slightly different aspect of my
personality. Maybe I should start by discussing the vital statistics.
Physical Characteristics
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Age: 30; Birthday:
September 22, 1968 (last day of summer or first day of fall, depending
upon the year). Birthplace: Herrin, Illinois
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Height: 6' 2 1/2" - When
I was younger, I always wanted to be taller. I come from a basketball
town, and I love to play basketball. I always played better in the
paint than I did on the perimeter, but you have to be a bit taller to really
be good at that. But I am the tallest in my family (outside of my
uncle Jim Rossiter), so I guess that I did alright.
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Weight: 190
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Hair: Brown, very curly.
When my hair grows out, it grows into a natural afro, with slightly looser
curls (see picture to my right). I hate that look, and through my experience with the Army,
I discovered the joys of short hair. Sor almost 10 years I had my head shaved into
an Army "high and tight" about once every two months, and I generally enjoy having my hair extremely close like that. Not only do I like the way it looks on me, but it also cuts
down on my shampoo spending, and makes for quicker showers (which is good,
since I always seem to be running late). The only problem with it is that
I cannot afford to consistently keep it cut at that level. A minor
difficulty.
My Family
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My mother divorced my father, and married Jim Flummer when I was 4. They divorced when I was 12, and
she is now married to Ernie Browning. My father died in 1983 without my
ever having met him, and I refer to Jim as Dad. I consider myself blessed
to have a close relationship with my family. I regularly exchange email
with Dad, and I consider Mom to be my best friend as well as my mother.
Mom and Ernie now live in Florida, one block from my Grandparents, Gloria
and Milton (Dad's parents, whom I also love dearly, live here in Carbondale).
Johann and I went down to visit them over Christmas this past year, and
we had a whale of a time. I also have my aunt Judy and her husband, Jim
Rossiter, who live here in town, as does her son Rob, who works as a computer
technician for a local chain of hospitals. My other cousin, Beth, is married
to a wonderful guy named Mike Fender, and they live with their son Micah
up near Normal, Il. You add other in-laws (Ernie has a huge family), and
the result is a great family that has no shortage of love.
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I do have a live-in companion.
His name is Johann, and his hobbies include wrestling, hide and seek, playing
with ropes, playing with various insects, "conversing" with birds, supervising
me in the shower, interupting me when I am working on my computer, and
cuddling with me whenever possible, and on some occasions when it is neither
possible or convenient. He is a cat (breed unknown), and we share an appartment
on the north side of town.
My Heritage
My grandfather Henderson's parents
came to America from Scotland in 1916, shortly before my Grandfather was
born. I have always been very proud of my Scottish descent. Whenever I
finally marry, I have long planned of wearing my family kilt at the wedding,
my future wife willing. I love the sound of bagpipes, and would love to
learn how to play them if I ever get the opportunity. The background on
this page is the ancient version of the Henderson clan tartan, and the
badge that you see at right is the Henderson clan badge, which I have at
home and wear upon occasion. Both of these images I obtained from one of
two Henderson Clan pages that I have found, the one sponsored by the Gathering
of the Clans.
Any description of me would
be incomplete without a mention of my Army experience, which completely
changed the direction of my life. I joined the Army in November of 1986,
and after serving time at Fort Dix, Fort Monmouth, and Fort Sill, I was
stationed in Augsburg, Germany from
August 1987 to October of 1989. I was a Cannon Fire Direction Specialist
with C Btry, 2-77 Field Artillery, part of VII Corps. I was not the best
soldier in the world, but I did my best, and by the end of my tour, I had
been promoted to the rank of E-4 Specialist, which I consider to be an
achievement. I really enjoyed my time in Germany, and I would go back in
a second (as a civilian) if the opportunity ever came up. I loved the German
people, I loved the German countryside, and I found Augsburg to be a wonderful
place to live. I still dream about it occasionally. Because of all this,
I believe that serving in the military (naturally I am partial to the Army)
can be a positive experience for many (not all) people if they make the
most of the opportunity.
My Faith
I
have been a born again Christian since I was 6 years old, and I attend
the Carbondale First Assembly of God, located on the corner of Willow and
Almond streets (which happens to be the church that I was baptized in 22
years ago, although I had moved around several times since then). It is
not so important for me to attend a church with a lot of people, nor is
it important for me to be seen at church, as being a Christian is not a
social activity. In this time of political correctness, New Age philosophies,
and confusion about what we are, what we believe, and why we are here,
I find Christianity to be the only reasonable answer to the questions that
many people ask. I have not come to these conclusions because my parents
taught me that way, but rather because I searched my soul and came to those
conclusions for myself. I look at the way things are (the state of Nature,
the manner in which the human body was created, the path that my life has
taken, etc.), and I cannot see how anyone can reasonably think that there
is no God. I also find that many of the rules that so many people rebel
against are simply logical. Just think - would there be so many sexually
transmitted diseases if we all avoided fornication and adultery? Think
of the personal and family problems that we could avoid if we followed
Paul's advice about drunkards?
My Hobbies and Tastes
Hobbies
There are several activities
that I am very passionate about. It could be an understatement to call
these activities "hobbies", but whatever you want to call them, they are
the things that I like to do.
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Music: It should be obvious
to you, if you have seen some of the material that I feature on this site,
that I really enjoy music. So I am not going to waste time here by discussing
my musical tastes. I will say that, in addition to listening to a variety
of music, I have been blessed with the opportunity to perform in a variety
of situations. I have played saxophone since I was 11, and I started playing
in church when I was 15. I play by ear, meaning that I can sit in with
a band and play what they are playing, and be able to anticipate what to
play and improvise based on that. Over time, I developed a style that is
inspired by the playing of Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, although I
make no pretensions of being half as good as those legendary saxmen. I
find playing music to be a rewarding pasttime, and at one time I thought
that I would be making it my career. I will confess, though, that raw talent
cannot be turned into a career without plenty of practice, and I have never
been good at locking myself in a room and practicing. I am happy, though,
with being able to play in church with the worship music, and in fact I
find that very fufilling.
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Dancing: Along with the
manner in which I play music, dancing is one of the ways in which my personality
seems to contradict itself. Generally, I tend to be painfully shy in social
situations, a trait that I have struggled with ever since childhood. It's
not that I am not friendly, nor is it that I don't like people, but I do
not mix and mingle well. Let's say that I am by no means a good party person,
as I tend to be the wallflower. But put me in a dance hall with a live
band playing in a real grove, and I will dance like a whirling dervish.
I am a regular at Carbondale's own Hangar 9, where you will frequently
see me getting hot and sweaty to some of the hardest playing bands in the
Midwest (I have been going there for so long that the owners know me by
sight), and I will occasionally go up to St. Louis to see an exceptional
event (the last one was Helmet, Quicksand and Orange 9mm back in November
of 95 - 96 and 97 were mainly bummer years, and it looks like I am going to be very busy in 1998). I love mosh pits (I
have a huge advantage in them since I never drink alcohol), but I also
love to dance "normally" as well - moshing has it's place. I only dance
freestyle, although I enjoy slowdancing if and when I get the chance (that
happens rarely, maybe six or seven times since I graduated from High School),
and I would love to learn ballroom dancing (very romantic, done in tuxes)
and traditional Celtic dancing.
I
can't stand line dancing, since I like to think of dancing as an expression
of my individuality, and where does line dancing fit in with that? (Also,
listen to the music normally line danced to, such as the Macarena - when
I saw Al Gore doing the Macarena, that helped me decide not to vote Democratic
during the 1996 Presidential Election! *grin*) It always strikes me as being odd that a person like
me, a person who could be at a party for hours without speaking to a soul
unless I happen to know someone there, could let myself go so freely on
a dance floor. Naturally, as is befitting my wallflower style of flirting,
I always leave alone. You can't have everything, can you?
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Computers: I got started
with computers while in high school, a computer class taught on Macintoshes.
While in the Army, I worked on a military firing computer system, which
required little knowledge of computers, but it did help me learn to type
on keyboards. While I was in college, I had some more experience with Macs
in the College of Education Microcomputer Lab. Of course, when I hired
on with Information Technology, my main mission then was to run the printers
in a mainframe system, which requires no PC knowledge. Yet, somehow, I
have ended up becoming rather handy with IBM-compatable computers. Today,
I do enough on computers to have one of my own.
I bought a Dell Pentium
133 (a more powerful version of the Dell that we have at work) with a 1.6
gig hard drive, 16 mg of RAM, and a 15" monitor. The monitor may be small,
but I have been quite happy with the performance of the machine. My favorite
software includes Quicken and Lotus Notes. I
have both Microsoft Office 95 and Lotus Smartsuite (an upgrade to Office
97 may be in the works someday), although I have found myself using Office 95 more and more as time has gone on. I am also a dedicated Netscape Communicator user, although I did install IE 4.1 on Mom's machine last Christmas (I am looking forward to seeing what Netscape does with version 5.0. Also, if you are a fan of the Monty Python troupe, you
should do what I have done and Pythonize your desktop with A Complete Waste
of Time.
Tastes
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Movies/TV - It's hard
to say what the best recent movie is that I have seen, especially since
I have not been in a theater in more than a year, but outside of Braveheart
(the last time I was in a theater, with good reason), the last really recent
good movie that I have seen is maybe Apollo 13. I like a good comedy.
Something that makes you laugh so hard it hurts while not necessarily being
stupid or inane. Really good stuff like that doesn't come around every
day, you know. I also have a huge taste for classics - you know, Cary Grant,
Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, David Niven, Jimmy Cagney, Katherine Hepburn,
Myrna Loy, Claudette Colbert (rip), etc. They just don't make them like
they used to! Before I leave this topic, I should mention a few of the
current actresses that I *ahem* adore, in no particular order: Mary Louise
Parker (ok, I am watching one of her's right now), Molly Ringwald (so I'm
a diehard!), Cybil Shepherd and her entire female cast under the age of
45, and a few Friends. I don't get to watch much on the tele, though, since
I work through primetime.
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Food: As much as I take
risks in music, I am the exact opposite with food. My Mother, as good a
mom as she always has been, has never been a good cook (and she is the
first to admit it - now that she is married to a retired chef, she does
not have to worry about it anymore). To make matters worse, my cooking
skills are limited, although from time to time I make quite an effort (I
have made apple pies from scratch for office Thanksgiving parties to much
success). I grew up being very picky about what food I do and don't like.
I am not as picky as I once was, but there are certain foods that I tend
to lean on as standbys, for better or worse (why change something that
works?). Here is a list of some favorites:
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Pasta - I love fettuccine,
but I am developing a big taste for linguine, which I have been making
myself (something of an achievement for me).
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Pizza - Mom and Dad started
me on pepperoni pizzas when I was four, and that has turned into a life-long
affection. Naturally, I stick with pepperoni, with occasional mushrooms.
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Shrimp/Lobster - I generally
don't care for seafood, but I absolutely adore the members of the mollusk
family. Shrimp is easy enough to come by, but crab and lobster are delicacies
that I rarely am able to enjoy.
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Chocolate - Need I say
more?
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Liquid Refreshment -
I drink lots of fruit juices. One of the best tasting drinks that I have
ever had was banana juice, which was served in the clubs in Germany along
with cherry juice (also very good) when I was there. Unfortunately, I have
not found an equivalent here in the states, so I do lots of grape juice,
with occasional lemonade and apple juice. As for sodas, Coke is the real
thing. I do not drink anything alcoholic, not just because of religious
reasons (that would be enough), but also because I cannot stand the taste
or the smell, and I have seen first hand the harm that it does to people.
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Clothes - When I am casual,
it is usually jeans (Levis only) and a t-shirt. But I love to dress up,
and I love nothing more than to wear a good suit that looks sharp. It is
sad that current fashion trends are leaning towards more conservative suits,
as I have seen some lovely double breasted suits in pastel colors in years
gone by, and I have one in a bright purple that I wear frequently. I also
wear black suits, and I am looking at maybe something in gray in the near
future. I like all my clothes, suits and otherwise, to be loose fitting,
often to the point of baggy. I like my ties to be silk with a picturesque
pattern, usually something floral (absolutely no paisley). I have several
ties from Ducks Unlimited (yes, the conservation group) that I swear by.
Basically, I have always said that I like suits that look good under a
saxophone.
My Goals in Life
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