User:Markewilliams

I began doing batik in the fifth grade (standard three) in South Africa. I went on to explore Ukrainian egg dyeing, a similar wax resist dyeing technique for eggs, my father-in-law's father hailing from Minsk, Belorussia, near Ukraine.

I am a psychotherapist living in Vermont, USA. I hold a masters degree from Vermont College in Psychology and Religion, and a bachelors from USNY in Psychology and Sociology. I am also pursuing investments in rental housing, buying distressed property and rehabilitating it. My hobbies include amateur standup, blogging, screenwriting and filmmaking. I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian sect by missionary parents, graduating (matriculating) high school in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the apartheid era. This resulted in my interest in peace and justice around the world. My Canadian wife and I administer a website that supports people who have left hard line fundamentalist sects.

My wife and I home schooled (or unschooled) our two children, during which time we also had the pleasure of occasionally caring for two of the great-great-great-great-great-grandsons of Johann Sebastian Bach, one of whom is now a cinematographer and the other a grower of specialty hops. My son divides his time between Vermont and Brooklyn, and invests in rental housing, and my daughter is a visual merchandiser working in Boston for Ben & jerry's, Staples, Nike, Seventh Generation, Burton Snowboards, and many others.

My son was introduced to David William Perlman (Poppa Neutrino), the first person to sail across the Atlantic Ocean on a homemade raft made of discarded materials. Poppa Neutrino never held a traditional job, finding ways to support himself and his families by busking as a musical family, and building shelters and rafts on public waterways.

My nephew, Dr. Daniel K. Williams, wrote a book on the history of the rise and fall of the Christian Right: God's Own Party, and more recently, "Defenders of the Unborn", a history of those who opposed abortion. Up until 50 years ago, those who opposed abortion were liberals, progressives and African-Americans, because they were worried abortion was aimed at reducing the population of poor people, especially minorities.