Introduction

I wanted to introduce myself... I always feel strange jumping into a discussion when I haven't even explained who I am. :)

I'm Scott! I've been divorced for about 2.5 years. My older two sons are 13 and 15, and they live in Monmouth (near Salem) with their mom. My 13-year-old lived with me for 2 months during the summer, which was really awesome. I see the older boys infrequently 'cause they're involved in sports and dances and girls and all kinds of dad-trumping activities. They spend about 1 weekend each month with me.

My younger 3 sons live with their mom in Milwaukie, not too far from downtown Portland. They are 6, 8 and 9. I see them at least every other weekend, and during the summer it's usually every weekend. I also have 'em from 4 to 9:30 every Wednesday while their mom takes some classes from PCC.

My boys are my life. I sometimes worry that I'm too caught up in 'em... I have no idea how I'd function without little people to be a Dad for. If I didn't have to work full-time I'd probably adopt a new youngster, 'cause Nathan's six now and I really miss having a toddler.

I'm really busy with work & parenting, and any remaining time is quickly gobbled up.

I practice 3+ nights each week with Kazum (www.kazum.org), a local acrobatic dance & stunt troup. We usually perform a few times a month around the Portland area, though we've also ranged as far as Sacramento California (for the 2008 Lightning in a Bottle event). We perform at the Oregon Country Fair each year, which is a total blast.

I grew up in a tiny little farming town in the High Uintah Mountains of northeastern Utah. Tabiona is smaller than virtually anything anyone's ever heard of... my graduating class had 5 seniors. Yeah, I'm a Mormon, though I'm ashamed to say that I'm not very active other than when my kids are with me (which is usually). I was the quintessential outcast nerd as a kid (though I was lucky enough not to have glasses). I have a sister who's 5 years younger than me, and my dad's previous marriage provided just over half a dozen older half-siblings.

My parents divorced when I was 15 and my mom, sister and I moved to Logan, Utah... a college town organized around Utah State University. I graduated High School and began attending the University, where I was a cheerleader. That was really fun.

I got married & dropped out of school to work full-time and be a dad. After 2 sons and a few years of struggling we finally threw in the towel, though. She moved to Monmouth to go to school and have more kids, and a few months later I moved to Portland to be near my sons. I've loved living here ever since.

I remarried fairly quickly, and had 3 more sons. I know, but hey, I'm Mormon. Again, things were rocky and difficult in the marriage. We both learned a lot, and I swear it sometimes seems like I've spent more time working with marriage counselors than I've spent working jobs. We separated for a few months, then reconciled for 2 final years of desperate effort... but about 2.5 years ago it finally became clear that despite all of our best efforts we weren't gonna be able to pull things together. :(

I dated a wonderful woman for a few months after the divorce, but I was too messed up to be in any position for a long-term relationship. Since then (about 1.5 years) I've worked hard to avoid dating. For me, this means letting my natural dorkiness assert itself so that no woman looks at me twice. :) I've worked hard on learning how to be happy on my own and I am pleased with that decision despite the inherent loneliness.

I spend my time with my kids whenever possible. I play guitar & sing to 'em every night. We camp as much as we can during the non-drizzly months. We love the coast and the mountains, and we take frequent and boisterous walks through the nearby nature park. I coach them in gymnastics & acrobatics - Jeremy is quite pleased with his Cupie... I need to get a picture of it and post it here. I have a severe tickling problem but we all work on it together and I think we're making progress. We play video games together sometimes - Rock Band is the current favorite, though Battle for Wesnoth is difficult for them to leave alone for long. They can sing the lyrics to many of my favorite songs, from Rush to John Denver to my current favorite song - Play With Me by Extreme.

When the boys aren't about, I am usually either practicing or spending time with dear friends. I'm very close to the 2 girls in Kazum, and I love the chance to hang out with them outside of practice. People often assume we're dating, but they're way too much like my little sisters for me to see 'em that way any more. That also helps me steer clear of dating... people tend to assume that if I'm not sleeping with the two hot little contortionist girls I must be gay.

I have a few other close friends, but they drink a lot and party whenever possible and that's just not my thing.

One night a week I release my thinly-veiled inner Geek and role-play with online friends (most of whom I've never met). For those to whom the name "Gygax" inspires a moment of appreciative melencholy, I DM a 3.5e campaign via an online text platform (an overhauled MUD) in a homebrew setting I've been fleshing out for 5 or 6 years now.

My Geekery also manifests via miniature terrain, structures and figurines. Picture model railroad stuff minus the trains, and with substantially more orcs and elves... that's the tops of my kitchen cupboards.

When I have time to myself I sometimes play games... strategy for the most part. Civ, Starcraft, stuff like that. I'm not into MMORPGs at all, though a buddy of mine keeps trying to convince me to help him build one and I'm kind of going along with it 'cause I love designing characters and backstory for games.

I also write, usually in association with my RPing. I read sometimes, but not nearly as voluminously as when I was a kid. My favorite authors are Card, King, and Jordan. Yeah, more geekery, I know. *sigh* I'm hopeless.

Oh, and I got 2 kittens about 2 months ago, and I love 'em dearly despite the volume of catfood they convert to solidified reek.

That's me in a (very spammy) nutshell.