John December Personal Page
Social Nets
See about.me/johndecember
About Me
I value people, experiences, places, and ideas, and I live a (materially) simple life. I'm very grateful for the experiences I've had and the independent life I can live today. I love learning and continue to explore any topic that catches my interest. I value where I live, and I'm grateful that I've gotten to know some people here.
Web publishing,
digital photography, walking, bicycling,
coffee, thinking, writing, reading, talking, listening, traveling
Interests
information organization, information connections, car-free living, simple living, new urbanism, old urbanism, freelancing, Milwaukee, art, theatre, design, creative writing, poetry, metaphor, fiction, creativity, conceptual age, psychology, history, online, computer-mediated communication, computer science, mathematics, genealogy, communication, rhetoric, Internet, World Wide Web, technology, philosophy, transitActivities
Favorite Movies
- The Ice Storm
- The Last Picture Show
- Suzanne's Career
- Vertigo
- American Beauty
- The Virgin Suicides
- My Man Godfrey
- Woman Under the Influence
- The Birds
- Fire Maidens of Outer Space
Favorite Music
ABBA, Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette, Counting Crows, Loreena McKennitt, Mozart, The DecemberistsFavorite TV Shows
I don't have a TV, but I watch online video, "The Twilight Zone" (original series), documentaries, old movies, Mystery Science Theater 3000.Favorite Quotes
"In a gentle way, you can shake the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler." -- Albert Einstein
Reading
I'm reading in the area of urban criticim, planning, architecture, cultural geography, history, and demographics for a section of my Web site, People Places.
Favorites from Past Reading
- In Our Time, by Ernest Hemingway
The short story collection that launched Hemingway's writing career. - A Short History of the World, by Geoffrey Blainey
A highly-readable, one-volume sketch of human history, highlighting the interplay of settlement patterns with technology and practices (the mastery of fire, meat-eating, agriculture, religions, warfare, government, cities, ocean travel, the printing press, medicine, physics, the steam engine, world wars, atomic power, and space travel). - Extra Nutty! Even more letters from a nut, by Ted L. Nancy
Ted needs a lot of help with hotel stays, pumpkin odor, Valclav Havel, and loony new store ideas. - Letters to Yesenin (and) Returning to Earth, by Jim Harrison
- Worldwalk, by Steven M. Newman
Steven Newman walked around the world during 1983-1987. Although his life was threatened, he steadily traversed 24,000 kilometers and faced a vast and intricate mix of beauty, ugliness, evil, and love all at the same time and showed that adaptability, openness, and tenacity can get you far. - The Sun Also Rises
- A Moveable Feast
- This Side of Paradise
- Cities of the Interior
- The High Cost of Free Parking
- The Book of Nightmares