My name is Toby.

After being active on social media with over 1,000 friends (and yes, I knew every one of them), I started the process of removing Facebook from my life in 2019. Why? Read this entry for my reasons.

I write on several blogs. To see my latest posts, click here.

To those of you who don’t know me, a little bit about me:

• I love travel and languages. I have lived abroad twice, was fluent in German, and have studied Swedish, American Sign Language (ASL), Vietnamese, and Japanese.
• I’m an occasional blogger. I have blogged extensively about my travels to Japan and my family history. I have also blogged a little bit about my extraordinary experience as an exchange university student in the former East Germany.
• I am an enthusiastic participant and booster of karaoke. I used to be a hater. Here’s the story how I evolved. Through the pandemic I hosted over 50 online karaoke partiea. I have a blog dedicated to how to host karaoke online. In January, 2021, two local TV stations aired stories about my parties.
• I am a musician and play multiple instruments. My primary instrument is the viola (yes, I enjoy viola jokes and have probably heard and retold any you know) and have been performing with the Newport Symphony for over 20 years and occasionally perform with the Oregon East Symphony. If you are interested in seeing me perform, here is my performance schedule.
• I am a frequent and passionate donor of blood platelets. If you would like to help people battling cancer or leukemia, or help those who are undergoing major surgeries, consider donating platelets!

Welcome! I hope you enjoy what you see here.

You are welcome to forward, share, or post anything you see here if you are so moved. I ask only that you post the link or include full attribution.