My three primary academic interests, of late [i.e. 2007],
that I try to pursue whenever I have some free time are:

  1. Italian art, roughly around the Renaissance, with a
      primary focus on Brunelleschi, M. Buonarroti,
      Botticelli, Raphael and Bernini -- and to attest to
      this my latest daughter, born March 22, 2006,
      is named "Tesichan" (as in Titian) --
      www.teischan.com.

  2. History and the lives of the popes.

  3. History of Christianity.

Though time and how one can get more out of it still intrigues me I don't, alas, have as much time as I would like to explore it anymore -- especially with Tesichan.

Cathedrals and Abbeys, in particular those in Britain, remain an abiding passion though I now spend less time pursuing this field, than I did in past year, most likely because I haven’t had a chance to go and spend time in the U.K. wondering around cathedrals in awe and abbeys in peace.  Please refer to the ‘Cathedrals and Abbeys’ section of this Web site for pictures and ramblings on this easily captivating topic.

Around 2000, I was becoming quite a buff when it came to the U.S. Civil War and even started writing a children’s book centered around Grant’s exploits leading up to and during Shiloh – which is how the Golden that I got in March 2001 ended up with the name Ulysses [www.wownh.com].  The protagonist in the book was named “Matthew” – which coincidently happens to be the name of my son, who was 8 at that point.  I had trouble finding the right illustrator and getting the necessary funding. This is what page 1 looks like:

Trains and planes still fascinate me and I continue to keep abreast of developments in these fields – as well as trying not to forget too much of all that I learned over the years about train engines and air plane history when these were my primary interests.

Reading is a basic necessity though these days I tend to read just books on art and religion with the occasional novel thrown in for old times sake.

So that is about it.  My interests in life come and go but I do not consider that to be a fault or failing.  I think of it more as mental evolution.  Thank you.