Hobbies

Playing tuba
Ever since I was thirteen years old, playing the tuba has been a very important part of my life. I played throughout high school, making several honor bands, including four years in the Mississippi Lions All-State Band. Upon graduating high school I continued my studies at Mississippi State University, where I played in the Famous Maroon Marching Band, the symphonic band, the wind ensemble, the brass quintet, the orchestra, and the basketball pep band. Playing in these groups gave me the opportunity to see many football and basketball games, a couple of bowl games, and the NCAA Final Four tournament in 1996. I currently perform with the Columbia Community Concert Band, a group of approximately 80 amateur musicians that performs around six concerts a year. I also play with a 15-member traditional German band called Die Lustigen Musikanten (The Happy Musicians); The Original Five Points Wild Irish Band, a fun concert/marching/whatever band (see my photos from our trip to Ireland); the Excalibur Brass Quintet; a USC faculty/staff brass quintet; TubaIV, a tuba-euphonium quartet; and my church orchestra. I play a Cerveny 5-valve CC tuba with a Perantucci PT-24+ mouthpiece. Here is a photo of me practicting at home, here is a photo of me performing with Die Lustigen Musikanten, and here is a photo of the CCCB tuba section.

Collecting coffee mugs
I have around 60 coffee mugs, mostly personally acquired from places that I have been.

Photographing post offices
I find that photographing post offices provides a neat record of places that I've visited. I also really dig old post office buildings. The new ones all look the same, but the old ones were all unique and had a lot of character. As of May 2010 I've photographed around 525 of them, covering 17 states and 4 countries; you can view them here.

Visiting national parks and collecting passport stamps
You can view scans of my passport pages. I currently have 27 stamps.

Reading
My favorite fiction author is Stephen King; I own and have read 39 of his novels. Other fiction authors I like include John Grisham (fellow Mississippian and Mississippi State University alumnus) and Caleb Carr. I also enjoy nonfiction books dealing with subjects such as motorcycling, history, investing, mathematics, and physics. I am currently reading Just After Sunset by Stephen King.

Programming and other computer tinkering
I enjoy fiddling with computers in general, but my favorite activity is developing database-driven websites; check out some sites that I have developed.

Volunteering at my local Ronald McDonald House
We provide a home away from home for families with children being treated at our local hospitals. I do a little bit of everything, including cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, performing office tasks, and doing handyman work.

Cross Stitch
Watching my girlfriend cross stitch, I developed a curiosity in it, so she gave me a kit for Christmas one year and taught me how to do it. It turns out that I really enjoy it and find it very calming and therapeutic. Here's a photo of that first kit. I've now completed three others: a motorcycle racer banked into a turn, a Christmas stocking depicting pair of cardinals in a holly tree, and a pair of doves that I gave to my mother for her first anniversary with her new husband.

Copyright © 2006-2010 Payne Seal