Another Gather Birthday: Ron Hall.

Today is a very special birthday celebration, for our wonderful Gatherite, Ron Hall.  He has been an active member of gather and group moderator since August 31.2005.   Ron has made my job easy by providing his own story which I hereby present.

In 1997 I married the former Miss Janie Duerre. We have no children. I live in St. Paul, Minnesota and I can't let it go at that. My home town is the marvelous Ouray, Colorado.
 
I've been a fundraising researcher and federal grant writer for public radio for the past 15 years. I also have a small business I'll mention later.

At work I had a problem of my emails being far too literary. Everyone communicates in text message speak these days. I've shortened my responses to a couple of paragraphs. No, I have not been published, unless of course, you count Gather.
 
My dad wrote, so I suppose there was some influence there. Really though, I was just a lonely kid in a small town, and writing gave me an outlet to say the things you'd say to a therapist (little kids in small towns don't get to see therapists, you see).
 
I love to buy and sell used merchandise, so I haunt yard sales a lot. I also buy old bottles which Jane and I take back to my mom's shop in Colorado every summer - bottles and warm shirts - the tourists can't get enough of them.
 
I love hiking in the mountains, which Janie graciously tolerates even though she can't come along. I also love to cook, which has been a delight to any woman who has spent any time with me. I also know how to sew and build houses, which only adds to my spouse appeal. I've been playing guitar since I was 11, and in those 38 years I've written 6 songs I'm happy with. I really, really need to get off my but and find people who want to record those songs. I know they're out there but I've allowed myself to be busy with work (a sad excuse if you ask me).
 
My pet peeves include: a) A person afraid to say, "I don't know" and thus comes up with something absurd that others then take as gospel and build a strategy around. Such a person will also say, "Everything is under control, and it isn't costing us anything", even though that couldn't be further from the truth. b) The raping of our nation for the enrichment of a few con artist fear mongers.
 
See b) paragraph above. I also regret the great loss of talent that stems from people who don't pursue that which they do best (here I gripe at myself as much as the next guy). We have a society that rewards playing it safe, and does not encourage a person to take the risk of what Joseph Campbell called "following their bliss."
 

Some important events in my life:

a) I once happened upon roadkill, a deer that had been lying by the side of the road for so long a patch of lush grass had grown up where its belly was. It was a spiritual awakening, and I have ever since felt absolutely at home in this wonderful world.

b) I was cornered by Jane in the coffee shop.

c) Every year my workplace holds an employee cabaret, where people play music for one another. It is the only place I perform. I don't know if they know that, or have any idea how important that little function is to me.

d) And then there's Gather. I've found more support here than anywhere, or I should say only Jane has believed in me as much or more than my Gather network.

A thing I would like to that I have not already done would be this:

Hank Williams would walk up to a jukebox in a truckstop and put in a quarter and play Ray Price (or whoever), and turn around and loudly proclaim, "He's singin' my song!" I want to hear Eric Clapton sing Easy on the Eyes. It's absolutely his kind of song.

A Memorable birthday:

Oh dear. Okay. I woke up 100 miles away from home, at college, no real friends around. At 10 a.m. I said to hell with it. I hitchhiked back home and rounded up some friends to go up in the mountains and roll boulders. Kid's, don't roll boulders. It's a blast, but please don't.

A Birthday wish I would like to come true:

It would be the Star Trek ideal. Technology allows everyone to do what they do best, and everyone turns to those things where they are most productive, instead of doing what will make them their next meal. Everyone is so excited about this that they don't care whether they get paid, and before long productivity has exploded to the point where being hungry or dying from curable diseases is no longer happening. You asked for a wish. I'm much more pessimistic if you ask me what I think will really happen.
 read and comment and you can gain more points. Please post the link here:

A Link to my work:

I've created a group so anyone can create an index to their writings. The name of the group is Map to Our Posts. I keep my map up to date, and you can too (shameless I know). My map is located at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976748162

Favourite Song for my birthday celebration:

Oh, the greatest musician ever, Ray Charles, would have to sing Bye Bye Love (and leave the needle on the record so we also hear You Don't Know Me).

 Carol, you're the best, and this that you do is one of the crown jewels at Gather.

Thank you Ron, for producing your own birthday celebration and leaving me with very little to do; unfortunately I do not think Janelle has been on gather lately to put it up for you.  But there may be birthday club members that are willing to do it.

Happy birthday Ron from all your friends at gather, we hope we have made your day a memorial one.

Note to the birthday club members.  If you have not yet submitted your birthday dates to me please to so.  I need to prepare well enough in advance. Furthemore, when I send you the questions to do your celebration I need to have them back, at least one day prior to your birthday.

Carol Roach: winterose.gather.com

The birthday Club: