PERSONAL INFORMATION

(home)

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES

Favorite COLOR
YELLOW (since the age of two years; goes well with my sunny disposition)
Favorite SEASON FALL (the air is crisp, the humidity is gone, and the world is full of promise)
Favorite BEVERAGE ORANGE-PINEAPPLE-APPLE JUICE (hold the pulp, please)
Favorite HISTORICAL FIGURE LEONARDO Da VINCI (the ultimate Renaissance Man)
Favorite PRODUCT APPLE COMPUTER (I currently own an iMac, MacBook Pro, iPod Touch, ...well, you get the idea)
Favorite VEHICLES LAMBORGHINIs! But I drive HONDAS (I currently own 2 CR-Vs. When it comes to cars I am very practical and boring because they are expensive and depreciate too fast. Hondas are very reliable and have a high resale value. Enough said.)
Favorite SPORTS TEAM U. of MICHIGAN FOOTBALL - GO BLUE!
Favorite JUNK FOOD Those ORANGE HOSTESS CUPCAKES.
Favorite WOMAN LILY, MY WIFE (of course)

MY HOBBIES

  • Hiking/walking
  • Kayaking
  • Drawing
  • Film viewing
  • Singing
  • Computing
  • Teasing my wife
  • Playing with my son
  • Traveling
  • Bicycling

Singing a Chinese song, namely, "Tian Mi Mi"at a performance for the Chinese New Year

"Aren't we supposed to be in the water, dad?"

MY FAMILY

  • Wife: Lily
  • Son: Ethan

Ethan with Grandpa

My son, Ethan

(2 years old in photo)

My lovely wife, Lily

(She works as a conference interpreter/translator: English to Chinese, Chinese to English)

21 THINGS to HELP YOU BETTER UNDERSTAND ME:

 

  1. P.K. is not only my initials but also stands for "Preacher's Kid"(translation: lifetime of therapy)
  2. I am still becoming the person I most want to be.
  3. My brothers and I all have biblical names: Paul Andrew, Philip Joel, and Jonathan James (mandatory for all preacher's kids. If you do NOT have a biblical name, you are not REALLY a preacher's kid. You may think you are. But you are not).
  4. I am a "LEFTY", or left-handed. Please note that August 13 is International Left Handers Day. Feel free to remember me with a card or small gift. For information on famous people who were left-handers, click HERE.
  5. I am the youngest of three boys (yes, as kids we beat on each other as do all brothers).
  6. My former college roommate is now my brother-in-law (ah, the surprises in life).
  7. I have a perfectionistic streak (see "preacher's kid" above; this comes in handy as an author).
  8. I like to joke around (teasing my wife is one of the biggest joys in my life. Yes, it's pathetic.)
  9. I suffer from tinnitus (anybody else hear that buzzing sound? No?! Uh-oh ...).
  10. Did you hear that I am partially deaf in my right ear? (what? Could you repeat that, please?).
  11. If not for my left eye, I would have perfect vision.
  12. My mother's side of the family is Swedish and father's is German. I blame the German side for most of my negative traits and the preacher's kid thing for all the rest. (see a pattern here?)
  13. My surname, "Krieger", can be translated from German as "warrior" or "brave" though I am not a militant kind of guy.
  14. I was a happy kid who liked to draw, imagine, and listen to music (still do!).
  15. I am not easy to categorize - I have my scientific, analytical side as well as my artistic side
  16. My son speaks better Mandarin Chinese than I do (I'm so ashamed!).
  17. In 8th grade I starred in "Hooper and Looper and their Friend that Got Crushed By the Moving Van" (the girl I was on stage with forgot her lines).
  18. I was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
  19. I was on the track team in high school (ran mile, 2 mile) but wasn't very good.
  20. From age 16 - 19, I worked as a dishwasher, busboy, and waiter at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor/Restaurant (yes, I can still say all the jingles. They are permanently burned into my brain. For those of you who remember this place, as a waiter I once caught one of my customers cheating while devouring a "Pig's Trough" or double banana split. He was supposed to eat it by himself in order to earn a little ribbon as a prize. Instead, his buddies helped him eat it. As a result, I pretended I was going to award him the ribbon, but tore it in half at the last minute after explaining to the entire restaurant that I caught him cheating. No tip off that table but my co-workers laughed themselves silly.)
  21. I can play the guitar.

SAMPLES of MY ARTWORK

CLICK HERE!

LEONARDO da VINCI: the Ultimate Renaissance Man.

Here are some links to learn more about this amazing person

MY TRAVELS, SO FAR

"Human beings are more alike than unalike, and what is true anywhere is true everywhere, yet I encourage travel to as many destinations as possible for the sake of education as well as pleasure"

- Maya Angelou

 

IN ASIA

  • China (I lived and worked in Beijing for one year and traveled to many different cities: Tianjin, Hong Kong, Taiyuan, Qingdao, Chengdu, Datong, Nanjing, Kunming, Hefei, Guilin, Xi'an, Guangzhou, and Wuhan)
  • Tokyo, Japan (okay, it was just a layover at Narita airport but it still counts!)

IN EUROPE

  • England (London)
  • Scotland (Edinburgh, the Highlands, Oban)
  • France (Paris, Chartres, Versailles)
  • Greece (Athens, Olympia)
  • Italy (Rome, Vatican City, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Verona, Tuscan countryside)

IN CANADA

  • Ontario (Windsor, Sarnia, London, Toronto, Niagara Falls)
  • British Columbia (Vancouver, Victoria, Vancouver Island)
  • Alberta (Calgary, Banff, Jasper, Canadian Rocky Mountains)
  • Quebec (Montreal)

IN THE UNITED STATES

  • Michigan (almost everywhere at one time or another)
  • California (Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Placerville, Berkeley)
  • Colorado (Denver, Boulder, Rocky Mountains)
  • Nevada (Las Vegas)
  • New York (New York City)
  • Missouri (St. Louis)
  • Florida (Miami, Orlando, Tampa Bay)
  • Washington (Seattle, Stevenson, Skamania lodge, Columbia river gorge)
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Ohio (Columbus, Sandusky, Cincinnati)
  • Texas (Austin, San Antonio)
  • Wisconsin (Madison, Milwaukee)
  • Arizona (Phoenix, Tucson, Mt. Lemon, Saguaro Nat'l Park, Sonora Desert Museum, Chiricahua mountains)
  • Illinois (Chicago, Joliet)
  • Indiana (Indianapolis)
  • North Carolina (Charlotte, Chapel Hill)
  • Hawaii (Kona, Hilo, Honolulu, Volcano Nat'l Park, Pearl Harbor, Hanauma Bay, Hana)
  • Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
  • Montana (Bozeman, Kalispell, Glacier National Park)
  • Wyoming (Jackson Hole, Grand Teton Nat'l Park, Yellowstone Nat'l Park)
  • Vermont (Stowe, Montpelier, Franconia Notch)
  • Maryland (Baltimore)
  • Virginia (Richmond)
  • New Jersey (Princeton)
  • Louisiana (New Orleans)
  • Georgia (Atlanta, Stone Mountain)
  • Oregon (Portland, Pacific coastline, Columbia river gorge, Mt. Hood)
  • Kentucky (Covington)
  • Minnesota (Minneapolis)
  • New Hampshire (Portsmouth)
  • Maine (Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore island)
  • New Mexico (Albuquerque, Sandia Peak, Santa Fe)

 

IN MEXICO

  • Cancun
  • Tulum
  • Xcaret