Pathfindr

"My mother bore me,
And my father begot me,
in the middle of a storm
So I would wander like a cloud."
- Ayacucho folk song


Welcome to my travel and hobbies page...
My name is Michael Marcotte.
This page originated as my first real attempt at a
home page on the Internet. WBS was the
original host site, and "Pathfindr" was the
logon I etsablished. "Path Seeker" would actually
have been a more fitting choice. There was little else
at the entire web page, than what now appears below.
With the publication of my first novel, I began to use
the page as a publicity and promotional tool, and so
started adding more types of personal information
(Marcotte genealogy, family photos, magazine articles, etc.)
The Genealogy portion has by far outpaced the rest of the
site, but I continue to use all of these pages
to dabble and gain experience with web design and
different aspects of Internet programming.

Although professionally I am a director
of information technology (computer systems),
I might (depending on the occasion) introduce
myself as a writer, author, amateur anthropologist,
sculptor, genealogist or world traveler.
On various other pages at my web site,
you can find more information about
my pursuit of these different areas.
My military occupational specialty was
as a linguist and military police investigator;
I paid for my last year of graduate school
with earnings from my sculptures (a copy of my
western bronze "The Chase" was recently
purchased and presented as a parting gift by
employees of the City of Norman, OK, to the outgoing mayor);
I continuously write and publish magazine
articles, and my debut novel, Gold in the Shadow,
was published in the summer of 2000.
Link to My Main Web Page

In addition to English, I speak French and German, as well as a little Portuguese,
Spanish, Italian and Swahili, and bits and pieces of
a few other languages that I've studied.

One of my greatest passions in life is traveling.
As of 2006, I had made 44 separate trips outside the United States since 1971.
Countries and Territories I have visited outside the United States:
CANADA, MEXICO, FRANCE, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, SPAIN, MONACO, ENGLAND,
AUSTRIA, ITALY, GREECE, DENMARK, SWEDEN, NORWAY, PERU, LUXEMBOURG,
THE NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM, FINLAND, The FORMER SOVIET UNION, EGYPT,
ISRAEL, TURKEY, BAHAMAS, MOROCCO, HONDURAS, KENYA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS,
U.S VIRGIN ISLANDS, PUERTO RICO, BELIZE, BRAZIL, TAHITI/MOOREA/BORA BORA,
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ST. LUCIA, ST. KITTS, ST. MAARTEN
the PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, and COSTA RICA
...with no plans to stop traveling anytime soon!

(I've also visted 38 of the 50 U.S. states.)



HOBBIES:
I very much enjoy SCUBA, snorkeling and beaches in general.
I have a 2nd dan blackbelt in Taekwondo,
and I enjoy sculpting
(even though I haven't made much money at it...)
...view a copy of my western sculpture "The Chase" : Click here

or view some of the pieces from my chess set (only 5 copies exist).

I also enjoy computers, photography, reading,
writing (I've had several magazine articles and one novel published)
and watch a lot of movies.

I have been married 23 years to a gorgeous, brown-eyed brunette (Robin), and
I have two terrific and intelligent children: a thoughtful and creative 12-year-old son,
and an athletic and beautiful 9-year-old daughter.

I like spicy foods and remote, rustic destinations.

Favorite quotes:

(Tao)"Only Kindness Brings Peace."

(Zen) "It is as important to learn,
teach and consider what is NOT, as it is to learn,
teach and consider what IS.
Creativity is the fruit of the UNKNOWN."

"Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid".
(-John Wayne as Sergeant Stryker in The Sands Of Iwo Jima)

"Afflictions color our life. But you choose the color."
(Kayla Unsell, age 10, Ewings Sarcoma cancer patient)

(Matthew 6:22) "...if therefore thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light."

"If you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
~Nietzsche<>


"...the only choice we have is what we do with the time that has been given to us."
(- from the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring)

There will come a time when you believe everything is
finished. That will be the beginning.
~Louis L'Amour


Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring
The Winter Garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To fly--and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing.
~Omar Khayyám

We shall not cease from exploration,
And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
~T.S. Eliot (from "Little Gidding," one of the Four Quartets)

No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face
to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally
getting bewildered as to which may be true.
~Nathaniel Hawthorne

It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving.
~Richard Braunstein

You are a child of the Universe, no less than the moon and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the Universe is unfolding as it should.
~Max Ehrmann

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
~Carl Jung

"There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path"
~Morpheous to Neo in The Matrix.

God made everything out of nothing.
But the nothingness shows through.
~Paul Valery


Nothing in the cry
of cicadas suggests they
are about to die
~Basho (Zen poem reflecting on the difference in living life,
versus starting at some point to wait for death)


Amazon.com Question: "Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
Author (Lemony Snicket) Daniel Handler's Answer: "I would not like to have
dinner with a dead person under any circumstances..."
Amazon.com : "If you could have one superpower what would it be?
Handler: "As far as I know, there is only one superpower: The United States.
But I would most certainly use it differently than it is being used now."


My Top 20 Favorite Movies

Favorite Music (2007)
(requires Itunes)
or click here for non-playable list, sorted more-or-less in order of my preference
.

E-mail Pathfindr/M.Marcotte at

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