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It's me - Philadelphia-born, Cranston-raised, Providence-educated, California-initiated, New-York-hardened, Sam. Such extreme vanity is only approachable with extreme ridiculousness. Anything goes.  I am a member of the Tregar clan of Cranston, RI. At some point in the past we had some foreign assignations, but these days we're American Jews in the classic liberal-Reform style. I've married into the Ruggieros of North Providence, RI by way of my wife Kristen Tregar née Reiff (also a numerous bunch). Kristen and I have a few pets. I'll leave it up to her as-yet-unpublished website to detail them. In brief - we've got 2 cats, Merry and Pippin, 2 mice, Bella and Willy,1 rat, Nicodemus, 1 rabbit, Gabriel, 1 snake, Boss and 1 horse, Rhiannon. How about that? Black and White Photography: When I get a chance I like to print pictures at a darkroom rental place in Manhattan. You can see some of the results in the Art section of this site. I learned what I know in high school and during my time at Deep Springs where Michael Smith was temporarily teaching. Muay Thai : I train under Ajan Coban Lookchaomaesaitong at a martial arts studio in Manhattan - Chau's Martial Arts Center. I recommend Thai Boxing to any martial artist that wants to develop real fighting skills. I've studied a number of different styles - Jui-Jitsu, Ving Tsun and Jeet Kun Do. All are fine styles but none provided the crucial ingredient of full-contact training. It's also a rather effective way to get in shape. Novels: On the subway, on the can, before bed... If only I was a bit faster at it! These days I favor Japanese authors (in translation!) - Kenzaburo Oe, Yasunari Kawabata, Kobo Abe, Osamu Dazai. I wish I hadn't already read everything that's been translated. Science Fiction is almost exhausted for me - I'll still read an undiscovered Brunner, Lem or P.K. Dick but I'm not actively chewing it up like I once did. Of course the classics still own my soul - Tolkein chief among them, Heinlein close behind. Ondatje, Brautigan, Rushdie, Pynchon - all excellent. The French are always waiting for me when nothing else will do - Breton, Aragon, Céline (guiltily) and anything else in that vein. Poetry: What once I wrote, now I mostly read. Paul Celan sits on the top of my stacks. Appolinaire is a constant companion. Tennyson is close behind. An odd group, but I don't seem to need much more. An occasional whiff of William Carlos Williams... Bass: I pretend to play the bass. I own a real bassitar - a converted 1960s Silvertone archtop guitar refitted with bass tuners and pickups. I real E-bay find. Well, it was until it started falling apart anyway. Gardening: I somehow managed to become the caretaker of a small Japanese-style garden. I try to keep all the plants from dying at once. WORK
I work as a Perl programmer for About.com. You'll have to ask me for my resume to get the full scoop. I baulk at giving out that much personal information on an internet first-date.
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