Don Cyoti is a non de plume I've used at various times over the years, usually to guard my secret identity until I can reach a phone booth and whip out my cape. I don't necessarily tilt at windmills but have drunk some of the most deliciously pure and cold water of my life after stopping on horseback in a pasture in South Texas on a hot summer day.  I've howled at the moon a time or two in a younger day and would be willing to again if truth became dare.

 

I had an Uncle Buddy who we always said was a Miscellaneous Man, he collected people and junk, a trader by nature, who could see profit in trading a perfectly good gelding for a second hand refrigerator.  We always said he saw opportunities where others saw no connection at all. 

 

I believe I've inherited the Miscellaneous Man mantle from Uncle Buddy. I am interested in a wealth of things. And I tend to read white space better than the writing on the wall.

 

I once wrote sports for a living, but now live vicariously through the Yankees, Tennessee Titans, Texas Tech Red Raiders and Vanderbilt. I once covered soccer in college but it never took and the same goes for hockey. The only ice in Texas when we were growing up was in our tea. 

 

I love country music but not what's on the radio now, mine is now called Americana and they won't play it on Sirius/XM.  Hank Williams didn't write my life, but I tried to follow Kris Kristofferson's recipe and look how that turned out. I like to quote singers & songwriters so be prepared. 

 

I love Comic Book heroes but was a DC guy rather than Marvel so I'm not as invested in all big budget movies these days.  Thor & The SIlver Surfer were the only Marvel guys I liked growing up. I love matinee movies, especially in the middle of the week when I feel like I'm stealing time, and I've been known to watch anything in black and white, especially Bogart or The Duke.

 

I don't talk or argue politics or religion with anyone, I'm too middle of the road on both. I tend to agree with the Armadillos and have the tire tracks across my back to prove it.

 

I realized what a dream I never knew I had eight years ago when I started teaching at Union University.  I guess if you jump out of the boat like Peter sometimes you end up walking with some divine help.  Working with adults who have gone back to get a degree that may be on their bucket list has turned out to be a dream for me and a lot of fun.  The best thing about it is developing a relationship with someone working on their own dream.  That said, this experience has made me admire even more those who teach elementary, middle & high school students. I have an easier time because my students are there by choice.

 

I am a golfer though I started too late in life to make the tour and inconsistency is the only constant in my game. I confess I play better alone than with my son as he hits the ball so far I tend to swing too hard to compensate for the 20 years and five inches in height.  Plus, when you play alone the second guy takes shots for you.

 

I love computers and technology and have fashioned a fair living on the fringes of that world for the last 30 years.   I have professional letters after my name that don't mean much in the grand scheme.  I'm a geek I guess.

 

I used to fish but my waders dry rotted and I can't afford to keep up with my buddies with their Orvis rods as most of my athletic dollars goes to golf.  I've also noticed as I've aged my ADHD has intensified and I don't have the patience to pay Poseidon.  However, I don't get outside in nature enough so maybe fishing needs to make a comeback.

 

I've loved one woman in my life and am lucky enough to still be married to her. I thought I loved others when I was younger but those turned out to be like the water mirages you see in the distance on the highway in summer, not water or love at all. 

 

I'm a Texan, but I'll never live there again.  I'll be buried in Tennessee I suppose because that's where home & family reside.  But part of my heart still lies on the Devil's Backbone ridge in the Hill Country or a highway between San Angelo & Lubbock that's straight as a pistol shot where I once got an old Chevelle up to 115.  It also lies with all the family buried in the native soil singing the Hometown Hymns. 

 

I wanted to be a cowboy when I was young, but my older brother, who was a cowboy by profession, said I had to go to college. I intended to be a writer and have written articles, stories and songs over the years, some published, some not. I was never a good networker so I never got rich or famous.  I told myself I would write for me when I got into my 60s.  Now that I've reached that milestone, I don't seem to have a story in mind.  But there's a whole lotta world out there I want to talk about and I'll do it here.

 

I meant to be a Hero, but instead I'm a Legend in my own Mind. 

 

I'm Michael Hallmark and I've evolved into an old man.  Not sure how it happened.  Just days and nights stacked up in a row.  I created this site because I think we Old Men are underserved and that's not a question of whether we're sober or not.

 

                          My front tracks are bound for a cold water well

                          My back tracks are covered in snow

                                                         -- Willie Nelson