It's always a tough call deciding what to put in an about page. And there doesn't seem to be a consensus opinion about what the typical about page should include. The author of one website I visit takes a minimalist approach and offers nothing that isn't on his drivers license (along with a bit of commentary about each of those things). Others seem more inclined to writing novella-length histories of themselves. Both approaches have some appeal, of course, but I decided to take a more scientific approach.

I read twenty-six weblogs on a daily basis, not including this one. Of those twenty-six weblogs, fourteen have something similar to about pages. I analyzed all fourteen of those about pages, and found that they included nineteen general categories of information. Those categories are: name, birthplace, vital statistics (hair color, eye color, sex, height, etc.), books, music, education, television, movies, fashion, age, location, sports, general interests, health, ethnicity, work, pets, significant others, and why they are blogging. Based on my research, all about pages can be described by some combination of these categories.

But what is the best combination of these categories. Again, my research indicated that the most important categories (those with more than two blogs offering information from that category) are: name, birthplace, vitals, books, music, education, fashion, age, location, general interests, and work. So these must be the things that weblog readers are most interested in knowing about weblog authors. So it makes sense that I offer you some information about these subjects.

Name: David Warner

Birthplace: St. Louis, MO (actually, I was born at St. John's Mercy, which is in St. Louis County, but this approximation will do.)

Vitals: Blond hair, blue eyes, male, about 6 feet tall.

Books: I've read quite a few of them. But if I had to make one recommendation, I'd say The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. As my roommates can attest, a good way to get me riled up is to mention The Great Gatsby, by Hemingway's contermporary, F. Scott Fitzgerald. That is a dumb, dumb book, and there is no reason that it should be part of every high school English Lit. curriculm instead of something by Hemingway. I'm guessing high school faculty are afraid of the more advanced sexuality of Hemingway's books. Having a discussion about Jake's war injury and how it has kept him from living the happy life with Brett might be a bit awkward for some teachers. But that's a discussion we'll have to have another time.

Music: Give any "Fountains of Wayne" CD a spin. You'll like it.

Education: I spent some time at Washington University in St. Louis (as the place is officially called) and managed to get a degree (well, two degrees) in Computer Science.

Fashion: At work I wear suits. At home I don't.

Age: 23

Location: I live in St. Louis, in what is called the "Historic DeBaliviere Neighborhood," with two roommates: michael, who occasionally posts to -273, and chris, who you can find at the festival.

General Interests: Books, computers, television, movies, music.

Work: I'm a Software Engineer working in St. Louis.