ABSTRACT
My parents, like most parents, hoped that I would be unexceptional. All they really wanted me to be was a good christian and a good husband. I'm delighted to say that they've been bitterly disappointed; disappointing my parents was, for the five years or so that I continued to notice them, one of my chief pleasures. Nevertheless, given some of the eccentricities my parents engaged in, it's really not all that surprising where I ended up. You might say I was well prepared for a life at the margins of society. A few examples:
I do not recall ever sleeping in a bed as a child. In fact, the first time I regularly used one was when I went off to college. Oh, when I first moved into my own bedroom (age four? five?) there was a bed in there, formerly used by my brother Jim, but I was already sleeping out on the lawn, in a sleeping bag, with my dad and older brothers (just like the big boys! Woof!). After a year or two, to make more space, I moved the bed out.
