I am originally from the U.S. One of my main activities is running. I completed the 2001 Montgomery County Marathon in the Parks and the 2010 Tokyo Marathon. I encourage everyone to complete a marathon once as it is an incredible feeling of accomplishment. Due to chronic knee pain, in May 2011 I started transitioning to minimalist running. I completed the switch in about three months and now no longer do heel-toe running. My knee pain has, so far, just about disappeared. Recently, I started participating in triathlons, so I also swim and cycle. If you're not doing so already, please, get out of the house and challenge yourself. You might be surprised at how great it feels.
I've been editing Wikipedia with an account since January 2006. As the list below shows, I used to work mainly on military history or Japan-related articles. The entries in the "to do" list below are articles that I plan on trying to take to Featured Article (FA)-level status, if they aren't there already. I don't mean to imply any ownership over these articles. I have listed most of the reference books in my possession on this page.
That being said, I'm generally disillusioned with Wikipedia. On the one hand, I have found the site to be a powerful tool for making information publicly and readily available (such as this article, which I started and have kept regularly updated) and as an invaluable online bibliography in a large variety of topics. Unfortunately, however, the project suffers from some serious problems, such as its biographies of living people being used for attacks on their subjects and activist ownership in certain topic areas. In addition, Wikipedia's administration has proven itself time and time again to be a complete shambles which, under its current system and culture, sees little hope of ever being rectified. Furthermore, the Wikimedia Foundation has so far shown a conspicuous lack of leadership in mitigating Wikipedia's and Wikimedia Commons' numerous governance issues.
For more discussion on these and other topics, please check out Wikipediocracy, which is an Internet blog and forum dedicated to discussing Wikipedia, but is independent of and not sponsored by Wikipedia or the Wikimedia Foundation. I am a trustee of that site.
On 28 May 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Vermouth, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that vermouth was originally consumed as a medicinal drink, but is now popular as a cocktail ingredient? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
On November 26, 2009, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Eurasian Land Bridge, which you created or substantially expanded. You are welcome to check how many hits your article got while on the front page (here's how) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
On August 19, 2009, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article 1941 Harvard-Navy lacrosse game, which you created or substantially expanded. You are welcome to check how many hits your article got while on the front page (here's how) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
On May 16, 2009, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Tainan Air Group, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
On 27 August, 2008, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article James Dalton II, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
On 8 May, 2008, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Tadayoshi Sano, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
On 16 July, 2008, In the news was updated with a news item that involved the article(s) Battle of Wanat, which you created or substantially updated. If you know of another interesting news item involving a recently created or updated article, then please suggest it on the In the news candidates page.
For your massive contributions to Wikipedia's coverage of the Pacific Theater of World War II, I hereby bestow upon you the Military history WikiProject Distinguished Service Award. Kirill Lokshin 22:47, 27 June 2006 (UTC)This motivated barnstar is given to Cla68 for his tireless contirbutions to Wikipedia's coverage of the Pacific Theater of World War II and US Navy and Marine Corps history. Presented by Looper5920 18 November 2006
The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
For helping me with the copyedit of Aleksandr Vasilevsky, this RAK Star for you! :) Grafikm(AutoGRAF) 18:52, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
The Working Man's Barnstar
I hereby award this barnstar for your efforts in tirelessly researching references for the Japanese war crimes article. Keep up the good work! John Smith's 16:56, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
The Featured Article Medal
What??? 5 FAs and still not having this one? That's a major oversight! -- Grafikm(AutoGRAF) 00:16, 13 August 2006 (UTC)
Pacific Theatre, 1941-45 Barnstar
For sustained, solid research and editing, in adding references to many Pacific War articles. Grant65 | Talk 06:20, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
For the constant stream of FA's. Keep it up! James086Talk | Contribs 13:09, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
By the order of the coordinators of the Military history WikiProject, you are hereby awarded the WikiChevrons with Oak Leaves in recognition of your many valuable contributions to military history articles, and, in particular, your leading role in the creation of numerous featured articles on the topic of the Pacific Theater of World War II. For the coordinators, Kirill Lokshin 01:39, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
I have awarded you this medal for your work in helping to reduce the backlog during the Good Article Candidates Backlog Elmination Drive. You reviewed five or more articles during the drive, which helped to contribute to the large decrease in the backlog. If you have the time, please continue to review articles to help make sure the backlog does not jump back up to what it was. Good job and happy editing! Nehrams2020 06:16, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
In recognition of your courageous acts and concerned words. Risker 02:30, 4 December 2007 (UTC)
In gratitude for your coordination services to the Military history WikiProject, from August 2007 to February 2008, please accept this barnstar.--ROGER DAVIEStalk 18:10, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
I, Dragon695, hereby present you the Defender of the Wiki Barnstar in recognition of your taking on the thankless task of seeing that our policies are applied in a fair and equitable manner, regardless of whether the person is a sinner or a saint. Let the inspiring words of Sir Winston Churchill help to guide your way:
“
...never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
By order of the Members of the Military History WikiProject, for your "extensive contributions to Featured Articles related to the Pacific Front of World War II, including the construction of a massive 18-article complete featured topic on the Guadalcanal Campaign", I award you this Silver Wiki. --ROGER DAVIEStalk 03:35, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
For your oustanding efforts during Operation Trailblazer, culminating in the 2009 Featured Topic nomination for the Iowa-class battleships, the passage of which resulted in the first ever Wikipedia Featured Topic concerning ships exclusively, I herby present you with The Teamwork Barnstar. Thanks for all of your help, this is as much your Featured Topic as it is mine. TomStar81 (Talk) 22:19, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
For writing articles that appeared in the American Journalism Review article Wikipedia in the Newsroom I hereby present you with The Press Barnstar. To date, you are exactly the second user to have received this barnstar, so live it up and, as always, keep up the good work! TomStar81 (Talk) 07:43, 5 March 2009 (UTC)
For your work on various WWII FAs, particularly the excellent example it sets for others in thoroughly researching many different sources and covering all viewpoints and differences in sources. YellowMonkey (cricket calendar poll!) paid editing=POV 07:53, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
For consistently upholding standards of civility on AGW pages, and helping to bring this essential quality out in others. Jprw (talk) 07:10, 14 March 2010 (UTC)
For all of your staggeringly valuable assistance with finding photos of the Kongo class battlecruisers during the rewrites of the various article associated with the topic. Your help is hugely appreciated! Cam(Chat)(Prof) 15:11, 14 September 2010 (UTC)
Keep track of upcoming reviews. Just copy and paste {{WPMILHIST Review alerts}} to your user space
The Purple Barnstar
Your good-faith efforts to make Wikipedia a more neutral site where biographies of living people reflect a balanced view on their subjects regardless of their political or ideological convictions, have made you a target of numerous uncivil attacks. Please accept this barnstar in recognition of your hard work, your honesty, and integrity. DracoE 15:56, 13 July 2011 (UTC)
A long overdue barnstar, for your attention and vigilance in relation to advocacy issues in Wikipedia, and championing fair play. JN466 17:15, 17 October 2011 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Diplomacy
I hereby award Cla68 this Barnstar of Diplomacy for his awesome and brave effort to resolve the WP:V Truth/Verifiability dispute! Dreadstar☥ 01:14, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
