My Life So Far...

Under construction!
You might call it a work in progress.

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BACKGROUND: I was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1965. I grew up on a farm near a small town. We moved to Scottsdale, Arizona in my seventh grade year. I attended college at the University of Arizona. I have a BA in Economics and a BS in Physics. I liked physics and became a member of Sigma Pi Sigma, but the existential and ultimately spiritual questions of life were even more interesting. To me it was more significant use of time to serve others rather than labor to leave footnotes in a physics journal. In college I became a member of the non-denominational "church of Christ." I found that church group to be filled with a lot of good and truly wonderful people. It blessed my life to get to participate in missions work in Glasgow, Scotland, on the campus of The University of Arizona, and in Tomsk, Siberia. I became a Roman Catholic in 2004 because I kept studying history and became disenchanted with the hermeneutical approach called sola scriptura. I also was very impressed by the focus on holiness and the incredible theology of suffering developed by the Catholic Church. For a decade I served clients by working as an Investment Advisor starting at Smith Barney in 1997 and then with another broker dealer. Now I'm focused on music and writing.. I'm married to a wonderful woman named Stephanie who is a fantastic musician and my best friend. We live in Tucson, Arizona. I am the Pipe Major of the Seven Pipers Scottish Society Pipe Band. I teach the bag pipes and really enjoy my students. I also play fiddle and sing. I'm a Tenor. I've sung opera and classical music with Arizona Opera, Catalina Chamber Orchestra, and in Rome, Italy. I like to write. I'm working on some new ideas both on and off paper...the music of life rolls on. Fortuna's wheel just keeps spinning.

SOME NOTIONS I THINK ABOUT OFTEN.

I believe very much that this is an imperfect world filled with flawed people...and that if you expect frustrations every five minutes or so you'll never be disappointed.

I'm striving in life in my own imperfect way to steer clear of the things, behaviors, thoughts, and people that diminish my spirit and lead me in the direction of being only a theoretical musician or writer.

I believe that the decision to be joyful and grateful belongs to me. I remember an old man on his deathbed in hospital in Glasgow who loved the expression: "life may not be all you want but it's all you got...so stick a geranium in your hat and be happy."

Sometimes I blog about and you can see that by clicking my picture above...

SOME CHESTNUTS FROM THE PAST:

View some pictures from some of our travels to London and Scotland with my pipe band to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships, August, 1999.

I've been hired to pipe at some interesting venues all over Southern Arizona. I piped at the Main Library downtown, in the shadow of that big red sculpture, to promote the local Celtic festival.

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Photo by David Sanders, The Arizona Daily Star, Wednesday, 11/3/1999

Remembering my piping teacher in Glasgow, the beloved Duncan Johnstone, King of Musical Piping, who passed away on Saturday, November 13, 1999.

Visit an Online Memorial
for Bill and Pauline Don Carlos