Personal History
I was born in Edina, Missouri at the old Gibson Hospital (which they closed not long afterward... coincidence?) and raised north of Hurdland, Missouri on a farm. I graduated from Knox County High School in 1983, and went to Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) but after almost three years I entered the Air Force. My plan was to finish my degree after I got out, but I never went back, and I have no regrets.
On my discharge from the Air Force after four years, I spent two and a half years working for a now-closed business in Hannibal, Missouri. Dissatisfaction with my boss led me to leave and start my own business, New Century Computers, which I have owned and operated since 1993.
More importantly, after my discharge I got married and eventually had a kid. My wife Tracy is an avid photographer, a hobby I sometimes participate in, and our daughter Taylor works in IT (for another company in a nearby town). She's a true nerd, and proud of it, and so am I.
Of course, you can find me on
Facebook,
but if you want to reach me, my email is a better choice: chris@gonnerman65@gmail.com
My Handle
I'm known as Solomoriah in many, many places on the Internet. Solomoriah is the name of a character I played many years ago in a role-playing game, and also the name of a character in a series of stories I wrote a few years ago, The Adventures of Solo Jones. It is also true that Solomoriah was the name of the shadow-cat in Dave Trampier's Wormy comic series; I had long forgotten the names of the characters in the series (except, of course, for Wormy the dragon) when I started using the name myself.
The Eye
I created the Eye insignia myself; it has a certain Egyptian look to it, I
think. It's something I doodled a few times on paper. I took the best
doodle and scanned it, then retouched it with Inkscape and Gimp to get the
current version, which I've been using as my personal mark ever since.
Basic Fantasy RPG
I'm the principal author and rightsholder for the
Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game. I'm
not going to waste a lot of space on this page explaining it... just click
the link to read more.
Other Game Activities
I'm a long-time member and moderator on the
Dragonsfoot.org forum,
though I don't spend much time there anymore. The
Basic Fantasy forums consume
most of my online game-discussion time.
I also have a website devoted to other game projects not related to BFRPG, called Alderon's Tower.
Motorcycles
I am a motorcyclist, sometimes an ADVer (as seen on the
advrider.com forums),
and a fan of vintage Japanese bikes. I own a 2008 Yamaha TW200, the only
vehicle I ever bought new, as well as a 1980 Honda CB650 and a 1980 Yamaha
XS650. I have a blog
where I write and show pictures of the restoration of the '80's.
Model Rocketry
I'm a model rocketeer, a hobby I got into when I was a kid, "outgrew," then
restarted after I was, well, older. We're called "Born Again Rocketeers",
or BARs. On The Rocketry Forum
and Ye Olde Rocketry Forum,
I'm known as Solomoriah; I'm a moderator on YORF but I'm only
intermittently active these days as the kids I was launching with have all
"outgrown" the hobby. I also have my own
website for my rocketry
projects.
Writing
I also do some writing, mostly fiction. I used to have a Writing.com
account, but I didn't fit in well over there so I dropped out. My first
more or less successful work (as in, I can read it without cringing) is the
Adventures of Solo Jones
stories, mentioned previously. I have an ongoing (somewhat
intermittent) serial about an uncommon sort of superhero titled
Secrets of the Guardians which I
work on in fits and spurts. I've also written a few bits of short fiction
which I plan to post (or repost, in the case of the stories I pulled from
Writing.com) when I get time.
Blogs
I have a handful of blogs I work on from time to time. For my extracurricular programming, I post commentary at my Offensive Programming blog. I created a blog that hasn't seen much use yet for personal stories by myself and my family called Our Stories.
Programming
I am a believer in Open Source software. I have some older packages available on my projects page, including the current "official" version of the Python GD module. I created a Github account recently, mainly for modules that are part of some current business software projects. I'm particularly proud of PollyReports, a compact but fully functional report writing module written in Python.
T-Shirts
I sell a variety of T-shirts and related printed items on
Cafepress.com.
For the convenience of, well, anyone who wants one, I've compiled a
page listing all of them.