Кто я?

I like learning things about people. I like finding out where they're from, what their favorite food is, which movies they could watch over and over and over, what kinds of music keep them going on long drives or help them relax. I like learning how people think or what they believe, even if (as difficult as it can be), whether it's spiritually or culturally or politically.

And because I like learning things about people, maybe you're the same, so maybe this will be fun for you. Worst case scenario, my ego gets fed. Win win.

I'm Steve, a 40-year-old (at the time of this writing) guy living in mid-Missouri working as a journalist, married for 15+ years to a just un-matchably awesome woman named Tamara who teaches high school-level Spanish. No kids for us, just a dog named Bacon who is spoiled rotten but sweeter and kinder than probably 99.9% of living creatures.

My fashion sense has only improved since I met Tamara

I've lived in mid-Missouri my entire life, save a two-year-period at the beginning of my 20's; more on that in a bit. My folks came to Missouri from out west so my dad could go to law school; he ended up working at the University of Missouri law library almost his entire career. Mom stayed home to take care of 7 - SEVEN - kids, of which I was the only boy.

Fun story: for nearly my entire life I believed I was the boy they waited for and tried to have, needing to go through four girls to get to my smiling face, and that the two girls who came later were pleasant surprises. NOPE. Every single kid in my family was planned for EXCEPT ME. I, THE ONLY BOY, WAS THE ACCIDENT. Life-shattering news, that was.*

L to R: Elise, Mom, me, Juli, Beckie. Emily knew this would
come back to haunt her so she wisely abstained.

I got along great with my sisters, generally speaking, and I credit a lot of that to their kindness in not trying to dress me up in girl clothes. Yeah, I played with Barbies but when you're outnumbered by girls...well, that's democracy in action, kids. There was a time where Elise and I ganged up on Beckie and inscribed our books with prohibitions against her even touching them. And there was a time when Beckie and I (she's closest to me in age, older by a little more than a year) feuded hard. But it didn't last super long.

Growing up I got into things that I don't really think are all that surprising. I wanted to be Indiana Jones and Han Solo, an astronaut, a cowboy, and probably dozens of other things at various times. I really got into baseball to the point where that was - and still is - my favorite sport by so many miles. The St. Louis Cardinals are my number one team in the entire universe, but my first favorite player was Don Mattingly with the Yankees, because I had a baseball mitt with his name on it. One time, visiting family in Arizona, my dad called me in from playing outside to watch a Don Mattingly at-bat on TV. I don't remember who the Yankees were playing, but I remember Don didn't do anything exciting.

Yankees are my number two baseball team; blame my dad, who was a Mickey Mantle stan growing up. 

A Cubs win is always bad news (but Wrigley is a great place to visit)

Soccer has become my second favorite sport in recent years, thanks to the dual influence of my friend Luke, who has me all in on Celtic FC in Glasgow, Scotland, and my brother-in-law Joe, who has gotten me on board with Arsenal FC in the English Premier League. Also, St. Louis City SC starts this year and yes I'm going all in on cheering for them.

I like football and basketball just fine, but years of trying to cheer for Mizzou has made me very guarded in my Mizzou sports-related feelings. I never pick them to win in the first round of March Madness anymore. I also like tennis a lot, less now that Roger Federer isn't really playing anymore.

For work, I am a journalist at the NBC News-affiliated station in mid-Missouri, KOMU 8. My title is "news content manager," which is a formal way of saying it's my job to know who on our team is doing what so I can tell other team members that, and to know what's going on so we know what we need to cover. In reality, I do just as much newsroom babysitting/"dad-"ing to the college kids figuring out journalism and life, who are awesome but need reminders to fill up the news car gas tanks or to not forget camera lights at the state capitol. Hey, I was one of those kids once, too.

The joys (and surprises) of live TV (Fall '06)

My side-gig is a blast - I get to announce games for a local high school - football, basketball, baseball, soccer - calling out starting lineups and scoring plays and getting a sideline seat to the fun. I love it.

I'm a Latter-day Saint by way of faith and religion; "Mormon" is the best-known term but we're trying to move away from that. I've been a Latter-day Saint my whole life, just as my parents are and as my grandparents were. My LDS heritage goes back to the beginnings of the church/movement in western Illinois in the first half of the 19th century. Being a Latter-day Saint in Missouri (notorious for expelling the Saints) has been and is interesting, but I'm glad I grew up here and not in Utah. I love my church, I love what it teaches, I love what I've gained from it and I love getting to be a part of it.

Because of my religion, I spent two years in central Russia - Siberia - teaching people about our church and offering service like English practice and moving pianos. SO. MANY. PIANOS. (For those still reading since the beginning, this is the only time I've lived outside mid-Missouri). Getting to know people in Russia and the language and culture was so rewarding. Would that each person could spend six months at least in a new culture learning new things.

Learning things like how to be Grandfather Frost with no beard

I'm a full-on geek. Nerd. Both? Either? I love Star Wars and Tolkien and Star Trek and Marvel and movies and TV and books. All of it. I find joy in animals and food and travel and good movies and talking about any and all of those. But if you're here because you follow me on Twitter, or if you've ever interacted with me at any point, you already knew that. 

That's my nutshell for you. Enough about me, though. Now I want to know:

Кто ты?

Ending on the best possible note: our dog, Bacon

*makes sense, though - I was born right after my dad started law school, that is NOT the ideal time for a kid. Mom has tried to mollify me by saying I was the best baby. It's worked...a little.