Amiga personal computers have been a passion of mine since I first used my cousin Mary Ellen's Amiga 1000 in 1989. A couple months later I bought my first Amiga the Amiga 500. Amiga Inc launched a new website May 15, 1998. I'm now enthusiastically using my copy of Amiga OS 3.5! and the extensions from Boing Bag #1 and #2a, what you PeeCee folks might call Service Packs:) My next upgrade is the newly released Amiga OS 3.9! Technical difficulties caused me to purchase a Win2k box until the New stuff from Amiga is out and I tell you the more I use it the more I miss my Amiga and the more I loath Windows :-) It won't be long now until Amiga Os 4.0 PPC is released!!! They're projecting second quarter 2002 as well as new hardware called AmigaOne from a third party :-)
This is an interest I didn't really take seriously until late in 1998 when I upgraded my computer so I had enough power to run emulators fast enough to make things fun. My major interest is game machine emulators for NES, SNES, Genesis, Mastergear, Gamegear, N64, Gameboy, and the great arcade machine emulator MAME. I'm somewhat interested in computer emulation, but I don't have anything other than a simple IBM-compatible emulator that can run DOS applications. I will soon be setting up a registered 68k Mac emulator (Fusion) and IBM-compatible emulator (PCx). The Mac emulation should be faster than any real 68k-based Mac made by Apple. The IBM-compatible emulation might be ok for running Win3.11 (Win95/98 would probably be really SLOW!).
Animals have been an interest of mine as long as I can remember. I've had pets of all shapes and sizes. I currently have ferrets, cats, A 29gal freshwater fish/plant aquarium, a 75gal marine reef tank, a cockatiel, a white toy poodle, and an African Grey parrot. My home used to be known as the "Zoo" a few years ago when I had many more animals around! I really need to improve my marine tank... future plans include mega-more lighting and more powerheads for more water circulation. My water quality and lighting sucks at the moment.
HORTICULTURE (Indoor/Outdoor)
I've been told I have two green thumbs:) Plants are another of my life long enjoyments. I have many house plants and cacti and a few outdoor flowerbeds with many plants. Houseplant favs: Dwarf Banana, Jade Tree, Aloe Vera, Golden Barrel Cactus, Fishhook Barrel Cactus, Orange Tree (homegrown from a seed). Outdoor favs: Peony, Bearded Iris, Weeping Willow, Green Ice Miniature Rose, Snowball Bush, Paper White Birch, Mimosa Tree. This just scratches the surface of my favorites that I actually have. :) It's time to bring in my houseplants before they get frosted!
READING
I've always liked books, but I didn't always enjoy reading them. Late into elementary school is when reading became a big thing for me. I read all 20 of Walter Farley's "Black Stallion Series" at least twice (but I haven't read the 21st book yet). My favorite authors currently are Anne McCaffrey and Anne Rice. I really need to read the 4th Vampire novel... I bought it but haven't get into a reading mood lately.
SCIENCE FICTION
Another life long favorite is sci-fi whether it be books, magazines, TV series, or movies. Some favorites are Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, Pern (Anne McCaffrey series), Lost in Space, War of the Worlds, etc. Wouldn't you know the new Star Trek serie starts and there is no UPN affiliate here :-( Luckily I have been able to watch the first 8 episodes of Enterprise on tape thanks to a friend who had a tape of those episodes. I like the series and now I am waiting for another tape to watch or for my cable company to give us the UPN Network when we get our new upgraded system sometime in the near future.
INTERNET
I have a homepage... of course the Internet is an interest! I got my first taste of the Internet at Eastern Kentucky University in the early 90's on a VAX mini-computer system. Since that time Internet access has come to my home where I use my Amiga for everything to connect to my ISP. We can get DSL services in London now, but I can not afford the price of DSL... maybe when the cable company gets their next upgrade finished sometime this year they will ofer Cable modem access (the local paper said they planned too).
ART
Art has played a part in my life since early in my childhood. I've always drawn things and everyone always told me how good I was. Because of my grandmother's influence I majored in Art at EKU. I've enjoyed going to the Cincinnati Art Museum on several occasions. I'm currently looking for a teaching position... or any job for that matter... education is not my primary career goal any more. If you check my Art Page you will see a few new pieces I have added recently.
TRAVEL
I love to travel. My travels haven't been far or many in number, but I enjoy seeing other places. Much of my time on weekends is spent on the road going to see my friends usually in state. I have been to New Orleans, LA - Virginia Beach, VA - Columbus, OH - St. Louis, Missouri - Charleston, W.VA - Nashville, TN - Knoxville, TN - Jackson, Mississippi - Pensacola Beach, FL - Key West, FL (NYE2002) and a few other places in-between:) I'd like to travel more in the USA and eventually internationally, especially Europe.
MUSIC
I love almost all styles of music. Some of my favorites are pop, rock, dance, disco, and instrumental. Some of my favorite artists are Michael W. Smith, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Cher, Garth Brooks, Queen, Vanessa Mae, and ABBA. My musical interest is very varied as you can see. My college roommate Chuck said I had no taste... what does he know? :)
MOVIES
Some of my favorites movies are Jurassic Park, Titanic (1997), The Fifth Element, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Star Trek (All of them), Lost in Space, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Star Wars (trilogy), Independance Day, Working Girl, Mary Poppins, Ladyhawke, Auntie Mame, and many more... Moulin Rouge was awesome!
TELEVISION
Some of my favorites past and present are Golden Girls, ER, Star Trek TNG, Star Trek Voyager, Babylon 5, Roseanne, The Beverly Hillbillies, Little House on the Prairie, Xena, Hercules, X-Files, Forever Knight, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, I Dream of Jeanie, BeWitched, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, Smurfs, Friday the 13th: the series, The Outer Limits, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Andromeda, and many many more....
Editor's Note
Marion's website not only is one of the Biggest personal databases of Amiga links, But also contains a lot of his Art work. Certainly Not to be missed.
Marions Artwork Examples
Check out Marions excellent site (recommended) Here :-
http://home.earthlink.net/~amiscorp/AmigaConnexion.html
