Now, perhaps you'd like to meet the family:

First, here am I. 3rd generation southern California native (Oceanside High, class of '69), audio recording engineer with experience in disk mastering (cutting lacquers ... you know, for those old flat black things?), CD premastering, multitrack and live recording, music and commercial production. Musician ('cellist, vocalist, and conductor), copy writer, editor, voice talent, and former broadcast engineer. Now the proud owner of Studio B, Ltd., an audio recording facility specializing in spoken word, long form A/V scoring and production, and classical music recording and editing. Studio B is located in Omaha, Nebraska (4844 Hamilton, to be exact, ph. 402-455-3000), though we keep house across the wide Missouri in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Next, my wife of more than two decades, Nina. Formerly a teacher of music in grades K-12, she has now gravitated toward disability issues, being just short of teaching endorsements in Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Special Education. Born in Alaska, she grew up in central Nebraska (Kearney High, class of '71), attended Kearney State, with a degree from University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She currently holds the position of Family Partner, working hand in hand with the departments of Education and Social Services for the state of Nebraska to bring a parent's perspective to the task of providing services to families of developmentally disabled children. This interest in disability issues (on both of our parts, I might add) was precipitated by the birth of....

...our older daughter. Moira was born in 1980 with mental retardation and serious congenital heart defects resulting from Down Syndrome. We are pleased to report that her heart has been fully repaired following four open heart and numerous lesser proceedures. The retardation, of course ... barring some unforseeable and miraculous breakthrough ... is a lifelong condition with which we live on a daily basis, though it's never been as awful as we once feared. If you're curious what life with Moira and Down Syndrome is like, I've written a few personal observations and anecdotes. We've been strong proponents of support groups as a result of our early experiences with Moira's diagnosis.

Finally, here's our youngest, Chelsea, the artist of the clan. She has demonstrated the capability of visualizing three dimensions better than I can two, and has since she was a wee tyke. At three years old, while most kids were struggling with crayoned stick figures on Big Chief tablets, Chelsea was cutting up reams of colored construction paper and taping together the most outrageous 3D sculptures. Her passions are cats and bones, both of which are abundant on her grandparents' ranch a few hours distant.