Hi. I'm Bill Evans. I live in downtown Mariposa, California, about 40 miles from the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite National Park, with my wife Susan.

I'm not rich and therefore retired; I'm retired and therefore poor. It's a choice I've never regretted. I figure I have about 30 years left, and time's a-wastin'.

And waste it I do. I spend too much time on the web. You can take your browser to other stuff I like by going here.

I also dabble in (or "dabble into", as the priceless Christine O'Donnell said about witchcraft) all the programming I wanted to do in my spare time, but never had spare time to do. I'm currently reorganizing my computer files so they're available and useful when (not if) someday something bad happens to my computers. This process is rather like clearing out the house of a dead relative, but more interesting because I'm encountering the ghosts of my past selves.

I also spend time in the yard. I'm growing California poppies the old-fashioned way: weeding out everything that's not poppy. I'll never catch up completely.

I also bake bread, the terrible kind that's bad for you: GOWB (good old white bread); see my recipe here. I also make two kinds of cookie: mint chocolate chip (recipe here) and oatmeal with M&Ms (recipe here), and of course I remove the blue M&Ms, which are evil.

I also devotedly tease Susan, and take everything she says strictly literally. She puts up with me, fortunately.

I also like to read. You can see my microreviews here.

I don't spend anywhere near enough time hiking.

I'm a fairly progressive Democrat. My leftwingitude is alloyed with a more relaxed attitude toward guns than many liberals have. It is also alloyed with an approach to the abortion / pro-life / pro-choice question that's complex enough and unsettled enough to piss off just about everybody.

I'm a (heterodox, but not heretical) Catholic.

As you may have observed by reading this page, the only correct way to finish a sentence mid-paragraph when using a monospace font is to follow that sentence with two spaces, not one. Also, be advised that the Oxford comma is the only way to go (though some differ).

You can reach me at wje@acm.org. My phone number's in the book, but I don't suffer infelicitously ringing telephones gladly; email me first and we'll work out the details. When it comes to handling phone calls, a little LISP (the programming language) goes a long way.