Hi folks. Well, if you've come all this way, I might as well tell you a few things about me.

I'm the same Tom L. Daniels that grew up in Hingham Mass until he was 12, and then moved on to Memphis Tennessee and graduated from Messick High School.  From there, I went to college for two years in Middlebury Vermont, followed by two years at CU in Boulder Colorado, eventually graduating with a BA in psychology from The Evergreen State College in Washington.  Not sick of school yet, I finished up with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at SUNY Buffalo in 1995.  I'm currently a licensed psychologist in private practice in Madison Wisconsin (go cheesheads!).  My practice tends to focus on kids and families, but I like to work with a range of people.

And did you know that physicians usurped the title Doctor from academics as a way of gaining respect for a practice that was typified more by quackery and pseudo science than anything else?  Keep that in mind next time someone asks you "are you a real doctor, or just a Ph.D.?"

For Fun

Woodworking.  I've always loved woodworking, but since buying a house in Feb 97 I've had a lot more space to actually pursue this with gusto.  The latest project is a 15' cedar strip kayak that I've been building with my friend Susan for quite a while in the basement. Here's how it's going.  It's been tempting to get totally lost in tools, but the fact that my budget is of a limited size is quite helpful.

Sailing.  I've been racing a J-22 since 1999 with my pals Bob and Michelle on Lake Mendota.  Bob is the captain and boat owner, and in 2001 he  swapped the J in for an Ultimate 20.  Oh.  My.  God.  This boat is a total rocket, and we spent most of that year getting our skills with this new boat up to speed. And here I am on th U-20, looking very sailor-like (that's my friend Steve in the background).

Home.  Home is not just where the heart is, it's where most of your time and sweat is as well, especially if you own a 1930 bungalow.  I remodeled the bathroom in 99, and moved on to the kitchen in late 2000.  It was quite the adventure...completely gutting the thing and starting from the studs. 

Dance.  Ahh, contra dancing.  Fell in love with it in the late 70's and have been dancing off and on ever since.  Of course, we do things a little different here in Wisconsin.  We dance on ice for one thing.

Skiing.  XC that is.  Swimmin' pools, movie stars.   Whoops, wrong TV tune.  Since we've got bupkiss for elevation here in WI, that tends to limit skiing to the cross-country kind.  Here's some photos of a great group of friends that gathered with me in a cold little hunter's cabin in Eagle River over New Year's 2002, and who I am fortunate to still call friends.   It was an awful little place.  And here's another fine group of people at Camp Manitowish (a fantastic YMCA camp with a sauna and climbing wall) in Boulder Junction over the MLK holiday the same year.

Animals.  Awww, wot a fuzzy widdle bunny you are! Who's a fuzzy bunny? WHO's a fuzzy bunny?  Yes, You Are.  This is Attila the Bun, a most wonderful mini lop that I was absentee co-parent of.  He lived happily in DC with Kit until he was almost 12 years old.  He died in her arms in the late summer of 2001, after a slow decline over a year or so.  He was the worlds best bun and I miss him terribly.  Here's a small memorial site.  I adopted Shasta Grrl the Golden / Husky at the ripe old age of 10 recently, and she's about as sweet as they come.

Music

Michelle Shocked. Honest, don't pass up an opportunity to see her if you get the chance.   Her shows have the feel of a tent revival mixed with both tender and absolutely raucous rock and roll.  And she's just a damn nice person who has been transformed.   She is in love with being alive.  
Louise Taylor.  A recent find (thank you Kenn from Deep Grooves Records).  A singer-songwriter  who moves effortlessly between the styles of Bonnie Raitt, Nancy Griffith, and Susan Tedeschi.  She recently introduced me to the music of
Joe Henry.  I just know the album "Scar" (his latest).   Rolling Stone panned it, but I thought it was brilliant.  Ornette Coleman provides some wonderful tenor sax work on the album.  At times, it's reminiscent of
Arto Lindsay, an American who grew up in Brazil.  His music can be intense, passionate, both Brazilian and experimental.  Sometimes it's quite strange.
Peter Mulvey.  Local Milwaukeean, now living in Boston.  Excellent lyrics that make me want to live his life, and percussive guitar playing make him a real favorite at the Cafe Carp and other intimate venues. 
Geoffrey Oryema.  Out on Peter Gabriel's Real World label, I'd recommend Beat the Border and Exile first.  A WOMAD festival regular, his music blends his Ugandan background with pop influences.  It isn't every day you hear a song complaining that a boy's sister buys cheap perfume at the market  instead of food for the family.
Ali Farka Toure.  Amazing African guitar player from Mali.  A farmer by trade, and a man of huge integrity.
Dar Williams.  Oh man, this woman just makes me happy to be alive to hear her.  She reminds me that neighbors and community take work, and make your life rich.  She's a great storyteller.
Jan Garbarek.  Ok, the only album I have of his is "Officium" with The Hilliard Ensemble.  This is what you get when you mix improvised soprano and tenor sax with polyphonic choral chanting (Gregorian and otherwise).  It is achingly beautiful.
Terry Callier.  His 1998 album "Time Peace" is refreshingly more mature than most anything you hear on the radio.
La Bottine Souriante.  Woah.  These guys (all 9 of 'em) from QuÈbec play traditional folk tunes with a 4 piece horn section and will make you leap out of your seat.  The fill stadiums in Montreal.  Miss them at your peril.
Ani DiFranco.  What can I say?  She's a folk punk babe who has found a way to be wide open about herself without falling into the trap of being a histrionic twit (OK, OK,  Alanais' second album was much much better).  With at least fifteen albums released on her own label before 30 years of age, I'd say she's doing ok. At the request of Kit, I should mention that we used to live next door to her manager when we lived in Buffalo.  Oooh, if only my head had been shaved at the time...
Meredith Monk.  Oddball, haunting, compelling, unlistenable at times.
My Bloody Valentine.  No albums since "Loveless" approximately eight years ago.  Loveless is truly one of a kind.  I have never heard such a compelling juxtaposition of wall-of-noise and hauntingly beautiful (and completely indecipherable) singing before or since. 
Bruce Cockburn.  Another musician with huge amounts of character.  And I can only dream of playing guitar as well as he does.
Reptile Palace Orchestra.  Face it, you haven't seen Balkan Lounge Funk until you've witnessed the Reptiles turn a room of ordinary people into a seething mass of Macedonian line dancers.  They're local to Madison, and practice across the street from my house.  They play gigs around the area, but since they all have Real Jobs too, they don't go on the road too far from home.  Pity.

Recent Reading

The Holy Man by Susan Trott.  Kind of a modern Canterbury Tales set in a more Eastern venue.  Witty, gentle, profound.  Short chapters perfect for reading to your sweetie before bed. 
Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott.  Ann is a funny, smart, intensely self-aware and equally neurotic woman who writes about writing better than anyone I've ever seen.
Harry Potter, just finished the 4th book.  I haven't had this much fun since reading Tolkein or Victor Appleton's Tom Swift Jr. series.
Good Omens, and Neverwhere.  The first by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, and the second by Neil himself.  Neil wrote the graphic novel series "Sandman," an adventure in itself.  Anyway, Good Omens is a great fun roller coaster ride of a book about the apocalypse, while Neverwhere has much more of Neil's dark side showing.  Both are tough to put down.

Furniture Making Techniques by David Charlesworth.  This guy is Britain's Norm Abrams, but he's a far better craftsman and really knows how to do precise joinery.  The book is lushly photographed and makes me want to get right into the shop. 
The Kitchen Idea Book by Joane Kellar Bouknight,  Kitchen Design by Pamela Korewjo, and Building Traditional Kitchen Cabinets by Jim Tolpin.  The first is a kind of kitchen wet dream book, the second is dull and practical, and the third is more for the craftsman.  A nice trio to help with my project.
Practical Design Solutions and Strategies, a collection of Fine Woodworking articles on furniture making.  A nice grouping of information from an excellent magazine.  Very helpful for a dresser project I've recently been commissioned to do.

Game Theory, A Nontechnical Introduction, by Morton Davis.  A good intro book to a complex topic.  Some folks in my field are thinking of using game theory as a way to convince judges, lawmakers, and parents that the standard ways of thinking about custody are inherently flawed and lead by design to an increase in conflict between the ex-spouses. 

I am Jane's Uvula by Olga Ugologgola.  The finest in Reader's Digest fare.

 
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