Hi, I'm Jaellon.

I currently live in southeast Idaho. In fact, I was born and raised in southeast Idaho, in a small town of about 500 people (750 in the greater metropolitan area ). I now live in Idaho Falls (about 55000 people), and work as a software engineer. My occupation is reflected in my choice of avatar, Wally from the comic strip Dilbert, who happens to be my (tongue-in-cheek) hero.

I'm 29 years old, going on 30 ( ), and have a wife and 3 daughters. I'm Christian, and am the scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America troop that is sponsored by my local church. Ethnically, I'm roughly 1/2 English, 1/4 German, and 1/4 Danish, with a smattering of other European nations thrown in.

I consider myself most closely aligned with the libertarians, but am not a member of that party. I wanted to participate in the libertarian debate, though, so I declared myself as such. On economic matters, I'm very free-market oriented, even a Capitalist, with the opinion that government should only be involved in protecting rights, enforcing contracts, and representing the people when it comes to foreign affairs. On social issues, I'm fairly conservative, but don't think the Republican platform quite has it right. On environmental issues, I'm up in the air. I hear so much rhetoric from organizations on both sides of the fence, every one with an agenda unrelated to the environment, that I really have no firm opinion one way or the other.

I've travelled a little bit. I lived in South Africa for a couple years, and Botswana for a couple months. I've also been to Great Britain (my return flight layover in London ), and Canada. I would really like to visit Denmark someday, since my surname comes from my Danish ancestors.

I like to play computer games, as long as they aren't too violent or crude. I especially like a good board game. My favorites right now are Robo Rally and Ticket to Ride. I don't care much for TV, so I don't have cable or satellite. I like a good movie (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc.), but would rather not sit and watch a mediocre one. I like a good book, especially Robert Jordan's fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, even though it's 10 books long and still growing.

I like 80's pop and rock music, but can go for music from other decades. I'm pretty picky about what Country music I listen to, and have little interest in Hip/Hop, R&B, or Rap.

I originally chose this handle, Jaellon, when I was signing up for an email account. All the cool characters from my favorite books had already been used (surprise) and I didn't want a "1" (or more likely something in the 1000s) appended to my name. So I picked a cool-sounding name from a book I hadn't read (Jael) and attached "lon" to it, with a tip of the hat to Allanon from Terry Brooks' Shannara series.

Imagine my dismay when I discovered my name being used elsewhere. I'm not sure who claimed it first but...
ezboard.com - not me
theoryland.com - is me
Jaellon Trading Company - not me
Czech-Hungarian Union leader Ludwig Jaellon - not me
newsbackup.com - apparently me (it's my post), but I don't remember posting there

Oh, and I like making "lightsabers" out of PVC pipe and pool noodles. My five-year old daughter is getting pretty good.

Ha! Jordan's gypping you too, huh?

I just borrow them from friends or check them out at the library.

Between him and Terry Brooks it really isn't feasible to buy.

..and hardback?

Forget about it.

Have you gotten in touch with your inner Asimov?

Whereabouts have you been in Canada?

Well I started out buying the Wheel of Time in paperback...and they all fell to pieces like I'd run them through the washing machine.

I've read a little of Asimov, one of the Norby books (I don't remember which one) and also The Martian Way. Asimov is currently somewhere on my proposed reading list if I ever get to more than a little bit of it Which ones would you recommend?

As a kid, my family went up to Waterton/Glacier parks for a vacation.

I also travelled up to Calgary via Montana as part of a High School Band tour when I was a Freshman.

The good thing about Asimov is that is all freely available in library seeing as it's so... seasoned.

..but you wouldn't notice the age one bit one you get into the book.

You made an excellent choice with "The Martian May" it's probably my favorite Asimov short story.

I would recommend:
I, Robot: nothing like that so-called "film adaptation" this is actually a collection of short story full of humor and some actually interesting characters.

Foundation and all of it many sequels and prequels: Start with the first of course, but if you like it (and you will) you'll end up reading the rest.

This is Asimov's flagship series and well worth the read.

Magic: A collection of Asimov's horribly funny fantasy work. He's known for his more serious sci-fi. The fantasy he clearly did for fun

Arguably Asimov's best story (and my personal favourite) is called "Prince Delightful and the Flameless Dragon" which can be found in Magic. Definitely worth a read.

How was Botswana? I've wanted to visit there for a while now.

What ages are your little girls? My boys (3 and 7) like lightsabers, too.

Turnea and UltimateJoe, I will definitely read those. If they are of the same quality as the Martian Way, which I really enjoyed, then I will probably like them too. Thanks for the info.

Hot! I was there during the southern hemisphere winter (May-Aug '97), but it was still incredibly hot, averaging a high of about 100 degrees. It mostly consists of the Kalahari desert, with small cities and villages on its northern and eastern borders. Gaborone, the capital city, is a fairly nice city of about 200,000, but it is fairly small geographically, so that you can walk from one end to the other in a little over an hour. I found that out the hard way when I got my compass points mixed up and ended up on the other side of town than where I was supposed to be (and was subsequently dubbed Christopher Columbus by the guy who was with me).

My girls are 5 (just starting Kindergarten), 3 (wishing she could go to Kindergarten), and 6 months (no idea about Kindergarten). I've found the best way to pick a fight with my five-year old is to grab a saber and yell, "I'm going to get your sister!" She's very protective, and without fail will snatch one up and come beat the tar out of me.