Introduce yourself! Pretend that you are the best friend you've ever had. How would your closest friend describe you to a stranger? The following are introductions to various MWM members, supplied by themselves, by Bob Hofkin, or by one of their good friends. Your Webmasters make absolutely no guarantees or representations about any of these folks - we've duplicated whatever was sent to us, editing basically for libel and words you don't read in the Bible. (Not that we're against unfriendly language per se, you understand; we just want to protect some of the sweet and tender minds that may come visiting. Or even yours.)
Who Are These MWM Types, Anyway? DAVE ARONSON is a software engineer who can actually talk to real humans in person about other things. Back in the days of dialup BBSes, he moderated the Mensa, Mensans_Only, and MWM forums on Fidonet, via his own BBS (originally called TIDMADT, later renamed Air 'n Sun). Now he moderates MWM's original unofficial Yahoo group, littlem. He's not as active in Mensa as he used to be, between spending time elsewhere with his lovely bride Esther (who deigned to marry him in 1998), and Toastmasters (where he is currently an Area Governor). More details are available on his web sites: http://www.davearonson.com/ for work, and http://www.davearonson.net/ for play.
JANE HAUTANEN is a Washington native and a graduate of Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington, Immaculata College in Pennsylvania and the University of Florida. Jane was Immaculata's first Fulbright fellow to the Federal Republic of Germany and now produces Westwood One's "Jim Bohannon Show" and edits the network's "First Light" and "America in the Morning" programs. She is currently trying to decide what to do next with her life. Her e-mail address is jehaut@earthlink.net.
SUE KING continues her lifelong enjoyment of good books, good talk, hiking, gardening, exploring restaurants, and cooking. Her work life (currently, computer security analysis) is fun, but has her struggling to regain her previous, comparatively tranquil state of mild chaos. She considers Mensa to be a great invention and Metropolitan Washington Mensa to be one of the benefits of living in the Washington, DC area.
MARY W. MATTHEWS, former MWM member and "Associate Webmaster Supreme," and her husband gave each other the Internet for Christmas 1995, and she hasn't looked back - she's busy teaching herself about the World Wide Web, HTML, and CGI programming as fast as she can. A writer, editor, and desktop publisher, she remains the only human being who has won any awards for excellence for Capital M since its inception in the mid-1960s. Happily married to Jerry Merchant (q.v.), Mary likes tap-dancing, the cable TV comedy show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", and jokes of all descriptions, and is about halfway to her master's degree in theology. Contact her at wisdom@smart.net, or visit her home page, The Cradle of Wisdom. Mary has now moved to Florida.
FERRIS McCORMICK has been a Mensan for about ten years. His ideal job would be law professor: after twenty years as a math and computer professional, he went back to law school. Ferris hopes never again to work in sales, perhaps because the worst job he has held was product marketing. He likes music, card games, sailing, hiking, role-playing, travel, astronomy, and Indian food. His unusual abilities "all seem normal to me." Ferris says I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia is "must reading" if you want a fairly accurate introduction to the Battered Woman Syndrome. "if I've learned one thing from life, it's to welcome change." (by Bob Hofkin)
CHUCK McELWEE designs spaceships for a living. Fun for Chuck is flying, sky diving, SCUBA, and ham radio. As a result, he has met three presidents, Paul Newman, Jackie Kimberly, Kirby Grant ("Sky King"), and several astronauts. "Astronaut Dave Walker gave me my Gold Wings (a thousand free-falls) at a charity event I jumped into in Orlando in 1980." Chuck has learned not to take life seriously. "I wish I could stop driving on the Beltway." (by Bob Hofkin)
JERRY MERCHANT (a.k.a. The Wisdom Dude), a former MWM member now living in Florida, is a quarter-century veteran of Mensa and has served on the ExComms of Central Florida Mensa, Tampa Bay Mensa, and New Orleans Mensa. He is with Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where (among other duties) he is Program Manager for the Government-wide Commercial Credit Card Program, one of the oldest and largest such programs in the Federal Government and one of the most successful privatization efforts. Jerry may be the only MM who as a newlywed was creamed by his bride at Carnelli. A Deadhead ever since 1966, he is happily married to Mary Matthews, q.v. Contact him at wisdom@smart.net, or visit his home page, The Cradle of Wisdom.
BUD STOLKER, your previous and founding Webmaster, is the president, chief executive officer, and general dogsbody of Landmark Computer Laboratories. Bud has twenty years' experience with computers and knows more about their innards than most doctors know about yours. He works seven days a week, and even harder in his so-called off hours. He's an excellent writer (a recovering pro!), and hopes to do more.
Mild-mannered and subtly witty, he hosts terrific parties when he can be sprung from his dungeon. Contact him at: landmark@landmark.org, or visit the Landmark Computer Labs Web page.
(by Mary Matthews)
RAWLIGH SYBRANT is a recently retired software engineer after 33 years with C&P Telephone/Bell Atlantic/Verizon Communications where he worked on IBM Mainframes and UNIX systems. He now wonders how he ever had time for work! Rawligh assumed the job of MWM Webmaster in January, 2006 after Bud Stolker chose to retire from that position. Rawligh is interested in Fine Art Photography, and a member of the Olney Art Association. He has exhibited his work in numerous area locations, and is on the Sandy Spring Museum's Art Gallery committee. He volunteers at Access Montgomery and has worked in the production of hundreds of local television shows (shown on Comcast channels 19 and 21). He is a member and Past President of the Olney Kiwanis Club. Father of three and grandfather of eight (so far) he has difficulty maintaining the volume of family photos. He is currently taking a series of courses at Montgomery College to gain currency with the latest web design and maintenance techniques. A new Sudoku addict, he has no spare time! But he enjoys attending Mensa functions and conversing with the people there, so he attends them when he can. -- 3/20/06
JIM WALL, a new member, is 62 and single, a college professor currently working on two books. His hobbies include crosswords, tennis, skiing, golf, and trying to get a date. Jim's all-time favorite book is Charles Ferguson's Naked Unto Mine Enemies. "The last good movie I saw was 'Birth of a nation.'" His favorite possession is a quilt made of his old neckties; his favorite vacation, "bumming around Europe." His most admired people include Dave Barry, George Will, and Charles Krauthammer. Jim met Al Gore while dating his (Al's!) sister. His (Jim's) favorite quote: "The greatest arrogance is pretending to comprehend the spirit before mastering the letter" (Goethe). He says, "My greatest achievement has been passing the Mensa exam." (by Bob Hofkin)
Okay, now that you've had a chance to look at some of these biographies, how about introducing yourself? While we're flexible about length, we'd be grateful if you'd keep your introduction to roughly a hundred words. If you write a bio for someone else, please say so, and please make sure we understand that the person you're describing has granted permission to you to send his/her introduction to us. We'll be glad to include either a GIF file or the URL of a GIF file, but please keep them SMALL, or this file will take the devil of a time to load!Send biographies to the MWM Webmaster at littlem_webmaster@yahoo.comm.
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Metropolitan Washington Mensa
Where you are: http://www.mwm.org/membbios.html.
Last edited: December 13, 2007. Version 1.09.
