Several visitors have asked recently if I own a Seven and what my background is, so here's a bit about me...

If you want to read only about the sporty car side of me, click here to the introduction to Sy Kaback's biography pages where you will learn a little about me and how I ended up with a Seven. If you want to know who I am, read on - I promise to keep it short!

I am a graphic designer, employed by Blue Pencil Creative Group. It's a small design firm in Holt, Michigan, a bit south of Lansing, Michigan's Capitol city. Other than being a major automotive town, East Lansing has some notoriety as the home of Michigan State University, where I happen to have attended college (Go State!) I actually live in a small town outside of Lansing: Williamston. Known for the Michigan Brewing Company micro brewery, one stoplight, and a few cows.

I live in a small house with a big yard with my wife of 14 years and two kids just entering their teenage years. When I'm not chasing the kids around to music lessons, football games, scouts, and whatnot, I take a fairly active role in my church, singing in the choir, leading the high school youth group, and sitting on at least one committee. I enjoy music of all sorts, from classical to classic rock with a little George Winston and the like thrown in for good measure. I play a variety of flutes, the violin and I swear one day I'll learn the guitar though I'll never be able to sing and strum two different rhythms! Bagpipes are also on my to do list.

I now have a total of 3 British cars, the Lotus, a 1970 Triumph GT6+, and most recently a 1972 MG Midget. The midget is a rusty non-runner, but it was free! Not exactly certain what I wail be doing with that one! I recently sold my motorcycle which had not run in 12 or so years, a 1976 Kawasaki KH400 two stroke, triple cylinder road bike. The story about it is that my girlfriend at the time loaned me $200 to buy it. We had a good time riding it around for a year or two (I did pay her back!) then we ended up getting married - I figured a girl who'd loan me money to buy a bike couldn't be all bad! Anyway, the kids came along and the bike got parked for too long and began to deteriorate. The money I made off it has gone to have a simple, purpose built car trailer for the Seven.

Weekends often find me "Up North" at my wife's family cottage where we spend our time water-skiing, canoeing, walking our 40 acres of nature trails and generally relaxing. This is often where I get most of my SimpleSevens work done. I only feel a little funny working on a computer in a rustic cottage! If I've done a major web page or multiple pages for you, or if you've read some of my longer pieces, the cottage is where I have developed those.

Winter time is certainly most productive for me as far as SimpleSevens goes, since there's not so much outdoors to keep me busy. Did I mention that my yard is an acre and a half of grass and flower beds with a little stream running through the middle? We spend lots of our summer time working in the yard.

So that's it for me. I'll try not to take so long before the next update!

Cheers,
John Donohoe

September 7, 2003