Welcome to Kevin Daniel's Page!
Boo!!! This is my 2017 state id photo AKA
"angry old white man"
Get off my lawn!
Biography /
Hobbies / Favorite Sites
April 19 2018. I retired on 1 February 2018. I've
only used my alarm clock once in the past three months for an
appointment to take my cat to the vet. Sweet. Enjoying not having
a schedule, not having to be anywhere at a certain time (yawn,
scratch). Taking my time every morning doing my chores and my
morning yoga and workout. Haven't missed any workouts. What used
to be crammed into about 90 minutes in the morning before
corporate bondage (AKA werk) sometimes takes twice as long now, as
my new speed is "moseying". I just go to bed when I feel tired and
have a sleep timer that wakes me up 8 hours after I set it, just
before the Sandman (now a welcomed friend!) comes. Not really a
timer, just a white noise video that stops after 8 hours.
Sometimes I wake up when it stops. If I wake up and it is still
playing, I go back to sleep. My body seems to like going to bed
between midnight and 1 am and getting up 8 hours later. Other than
that, I go to thrift shops, do genealogy research, write, hike,
shoot at the range at least once a week and do whatever I feel
like doing. Lost the beard as I realized the only reason I grew it
was to avoid the time it takes to shave. Now I take my time,
working lather up in my shaving mug, getting it just right on my
face, slowly shaving and enjoying the experience. Haven't timed a
shave... I've been taking drives on the old two lane back roads,
avoiding the Interstate, exploring alternate routes to my favorite
places and just bopping around. I could get used to this! No
intention of doing volunteer work, part time work, etc., in the
forseeable future. I think my hair is growing back! Call me Mr.
Bum.
18 July 2018. See above! Still in moseying mode, sometimes
sub-moseying mode... I now know all of the thrift shops in about a
70 mile radius. I've only driven on the Interstate four or five
times, mostly to make short hops from one old two lane road to
another old two lane road. Been posting thrift shop finds to the
Collectors Weekly web site. My biggest score so far was probably a
Hedley Waycott oil painting that I paid $8 for that is worth
100-200 times more than that. I like treasure hunting! I am also
enjoying complete lack of accoutability to anyone or anything, not
having a schedule, not knowing what day it is (that is a bit of a
lie as I have a different workout for each day of the week, but
MonWedFri and TueThursSat are similar, so I just have to remember
what I did yesterday. Sunday is a wildcard workout after I do my
core stuff). Still haven't missed a workout! My hair is definitely
growing back!
26 November 2018. Rude awakening! I had to use my alarm clock for
the second time since retiring. Oh the humanity! I have had to be
at a certain place at a certain time five times since I retired.
That's five times too many! Still keeping track of what day it is
by which workout to do. I did eventually miss one workout. I think
I have managed to kick my thrift shop habit before being killed in
my own home by an avalanche of cool stuff. Time will tell.
Shooting once a month, now. Still hiking. I've been doing a bit of
genealogy research, when I feel like it. I'm working on writing a
new book on the Daniel family. I've not yet been tempted to do any
volunteer work (my tme is valuable) or seek part time employment
(I don't need to). Who needs socialization!? I'll revisit all of
this on the first anniversary of my rebirth. Feeling really happy
and enjoying life. Don't have to waste time on people who aren't
worth wasting time on. Yay! The only way it could possibly be
better would be if Donald Trump would pull his head out of his ass
and stop screwing with the return on my investments. Hoping he
will be "one and done Don". Tillerson was right, he is a mow-ron.
19 February 2019. Missed posting on the one year anniversary of my
freedom. Oh well! Thought about it, but, (belch, fart) didn't get
around to it. Nothing remarkable to report. Now not sure where my alarm clock is. Kicked
my thrift store habit and just puttering around and doing what I
feel like doing and not doing anything I don't feel like doing.
That's MR. Lazy Bum to you!
- U.S. Army veteran.
- Education stuff
- Myers
Briggs INTJ, link1,
link2,
link3. In
case you wonder why I am the way I am (Its not my fault!)
- Genealogy stuff
- Project manager for the Hostetter DNA Project.
- Update
to my book, Thomas Daniel of Colonial Virginia and Eight
Generations of His Descendants
- Don't look for me on social media, I dropped
FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc., when I retired. My friends know where to find me!
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- My 136 year old Victorian house.
- Motorcycling,
Motorcycle Safety Foundation ex-instructor.
- Genealogy, author of several books, public speaker for
DNA research and genealogy.
- Exercise, yoga, running, jumping rope, walking,
bicycling, hiking, snowshoeing,
etc.
- I have an appreciation for boxing and other martial
arts. I am just an observer these days but studied several
styles over a couple of decades. This study was my
introduction to the concept of seeking balance in life,
which has had a major impact on my life in the most positive
way. Styles formally studied:
- Isshinryu Karate, while living in Okinawa.
- Wing Chun Kung Fu, while living in Thailand.
- Kenpo Karate, while living in Seattle.
- Combat rifle and pistol shooting.
- I have been practicing Hatha and Kundalini Yoga for
over a decade, now. I like to mix things up and am doing
Kripalu Vinyasa Flow yoga, Kundalini yoga, and an
occasional session of power yoga. I enjoy exploring the
various styles of yoga. Each has it's own special benefit. I
practice daily.
- Live theater, especially Shakespeare in out of period
settings and Gilbert & Sullivan, but also any well done
play.
- Jim Jarmousch movies are pretty cool. I like well made
movies of any genre.
- Early acoustic Blues, Jazz, Swing, and Big Band music.
Some of my favorite artists are Mississippi John Hurt, Son
House, Billie Holiday, Lead Belly, Bessie Smith, Johnny
Shines, Charlie Patton, Memphis Minnie, Big Bill Broonzy,
Charlie Akers and more. Also like Django Reinhardt, Fats
Waller, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, early Louis
Armstrong......
- I enjoy classical music, especially piano and violin
concertos and sonatas. Glenn Gould is on my play list.
Pearl has a great set of Artur Schnabel performing
Beethoven's sonatas, and also Ignaz Friedman's performances.
Pretty cool. I have collections of Vladomir Horowitz's
performances and Wanda Landowska's harpsichord and piano
performances. Always in style! Sibelius, Bach, Tchaikovsky,
and Chopin are getting more play time in my home lately. I
spend a modest amount of time keeping up on current music in
several genres and anything from any period that piques my
interest.
- I have a large factory art glass collection:
Westmoreland, Fenton, Kemple, Imperial, Viking, Pilgrim,
etc., and also some local art glass studios.
- I am a recovering thrift shop and Netflix addict.
- Art collecting and art history research. I once
corresponded with an Australian collector who described
himself as an "art tragic" due to his need to collect. I can
stop collecting any time I want to....
- My art collection web site.
- My lost artists blog.
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THATS
ALL
FOLKS!!