Quick Links

• How to find me
• Volunteer Adult Literacy
• California Political Analysis
• Amateur Radio
• Other Interests
• Personal Information
• Related web sites
• Steve's Favorites

Volunteer Adult Literacy

For years I've been active in volunteer literacy in Orange County teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Our clientele has typically been adult immigrants who needed to learn English to speak with their kid's teacher, make a doctor's appointment, or get a better job to support their families. This has been remarkably rewarding work, and I taught two evenings a week from 1992 until 2000.

I no longer teach students myself, but I'm still involved in Literacy leadership:

Board Member, Orange County Literacy Council

We meet quarterly to guide the direction of the Council, which covers literacy in roughly half of Orange County. I've been involved in OCLC management in various capacities (past President and Treasurer and long-time board member) since 1992.

Member of Program Committee, California Literacy

This committee meets to provide California Literacy - the coordinator for volunteer literacy in the state - with guidance on how they can best serve local programs. I've been on this committee since early 2001.

Tutor Trainer

I've not been formally certified as a trainer, but I've trained many dozens of volunteers, both for the literacy council and for Catholic Charities of Orange County.

California Political Analysis

I've been described as a "flaming libertarian", and before each election I write up an analysis of the California ballot propositions describing my vote and the rationale behind. I used to do this via email to friends but found that the web was a perfect vehicle for this kind of thing.

Steve's California Election Analysis

Amateur Radio/Shortware Listening

I've been a licensed radio amateur since 1979 with General class license KA8CMY. I've not been on the air in years, but I still listen to shortwave radio regularly. Long-time favorites are HCJB in Quito, Ecuador and Radio Havana Cuba.

I've also done a fair amount of medium-wave (regular AM radio) DXing and have more than 200 stations from my home location in Southern California. I hope to create a web-based system for maintaining all the medium-wave stations I can find and allow others to input this data too: The "Internet Radio DataBase". Time will tell if I ever get to it.

Other Interests

Amateur Ornithology

Ever since I grew up in rural Ohio, I've been working with wild birds and hand taming them. With patience, many backyard birds can be trained to take food from your hand, and it's breathtaking to see a beautiful scrub jay swoop down from a telephone pole and land on your hand. Such a Western Scrub Jay is sitting on my hand in the picture to the right (click for larger image).

It's very peaceful to sit on the back porch for a few hours with a glass of wine, a good book, and a tub of waxworms with birds coming and going.

Personal Information

• About my logo
• Born 7 August 1962 in San Diego California
• Three brothers (Michael, Jeffrey, Alan) and one sister (Marcina)
• B.S. Degree in Math/Computer Science (1989) Kent State University, Kent Ohio

My license plate:

Related Web Sites

• www.florida-morons.com - Florida election humor (very dated, but still funny)

• www.ocliteracy.org - The Orange County Literacy Council.

About this web site

[Home] Stephen J. Friedl Software Consultant Tustin, California USA