Who the Heck is this Melanie Person?

And Who's Mike?


Melanie	Melanie & Mike	Our son

Some recommended links:

University of St. Thomas

University of Michigan Meteorology

Old and Old-Fashioned Roses

Tennessee Walking Horses

Sea Kayaking in SF Area

The Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation

Cambridgeshire, England

Stevie Ray Vaughan

My poetry/prose/short stories

Take Our Word for It

So you want to know something about the shadowy Melanie?

I created the entire Eclecticity web site from scratch. It's been around since 1994, at various URLs and in various states of disrepair. Most of the sections of the site contain fairly static information; the exceptions are the Babylon 5 site, which has been woefully neglected (e-mail me if you're interested in inheriting it), and the Take Our Word for It site, which now takes up most of my (and my husband Mike's) time, though we love every minute of it.

Speaking of my husband, we met via this web site! I had been running The Logical World of Etymology weekly column for about two years when we began corresponding via e-mail about etymology, Mike having come across the site. Our pen-palship escalated, and we arranged to meet (we were half a continent apart). The rest happened in fairy-tale fashion, and here we are, collaborating on the web site that brought us together.

Mike is working on getting his own web page posted, and once he does I'll add a link here. Meantime, see his biographical information.

I have a degree in meteorology and a rich liberal arts background. I've studied language, etymology and related topics for years, along with history (especially of the British Isles and American Indians/Native Americans) and literature, not to mention music. A more detailed biography is here. Mike and I are also proud cat custodians. See my cat blog, The Ivan and Boo Chronicles.

I think the links listed to the left will tell you a lot more about me than I could, so have a browse.

I do have a couple of claims to fame, however, which are so absurd that I figured I'd mention them:

Max Bacon, lead singer of the rock band GTR, wrote me a personal, anecdotal letter.

I'm B.J. Thomas' ("Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head") third cousin twice removed, or something like that.

I am the host in a humorous (well, supposedly) 1/2-hour videotaped program done for the Texas State Bar Continuing Legal Education program.

I've presented the weather at a local television station.

My family was granted lands in Cambridgeshire, England by William the Conqueror (and I wanna know what HAPPENED to 'em!). They acquired additional estates at Kirtling in Somerset, England, and in the 15th century they acquired Botalock in Cornwall, England. A member of another branch of the family was a witness at Berwick, Scotland in 1275. I had some ancestors in Wales, as well, though we only know about the ones who were there in the 17th century.

Placido Domingo once kissed me on the cheek.

My dad used to work with the brother of one of the members of Asleep at the Wheel (and someone sent me a good Asleep at the Wheel link but I can't find it...).

My uncle is a cinematographer who has worked on several major films and also on the Lonesome Dove miniseries.

My cousin Mark Bramhall's cousin is Doyle Bramhall, talented and famous Texas drummer/musician and the great man who taught Stevie Ray Vaughan how to sing and who collaborated with Vaughan on many of his best compositions!
I went to high school (I haven't found a WWW link for my high school, yet) with Melinda French, wife of that Microsoft gazillionaire, Bill Gates. Hi, Melinda! She was nice, by the way, and I'm not saying that in homage to the Microsoft Empire.
Finally, I have written some poetry/prose/short stories and, get this, I've NEVER had any of these particular items published! (Though that is about to change...).

Well, that's probably enough. I don't want you falling asleep and incurring a huge Internet connect bill or anything.

According to this turnstile, you are visitor number since December 10, 1995.