Patrick Baxter Dragon was born in Northampton, MA on August 25, 1983. He currently has two Bachelor's degrees from UMASS/Amherst, in three majors: Mathematics, Physics, and Astrophysics. Don't ask how they're divided - even the registrar can't seem to figure that one out.
Patrick's father, George Dragon, was born in Morristown, NJ. George has resided almost all his life in the Pioneer Valley, mostly between Northampton and Hadley. George works at UMASS as a HVAC Technical Specialist. He does an engineer's work for half the pay. 
Patrick's mother, Jean Baxter, was born in Hartford, CT (I think). Jean spent the plurality of her childhood growing up in Manchester, CT and has resided in the happy valley for almost 30 years. She has a Bachelor's degree from Cornell in Art History. She is now a Production Manager for Five College Dance, Inc. She teaches people how to lead. 
Patrick's sister, Emma Dragon, was also born in Northampton. She has an Associate's degree in psychology from Holyoke Community College and is currently attending nursing school. Emma currently lives in Manchester, CT with her fiance, Dave. Dave is studying to work as a paramedic.
Patrick's humble narrator is, of course...Patrick! So I'll continue in first person. People call me Pat, or Pat Dragon (for effect). I'm good at math. I like rock climbing, hiking, canoeing, swimming, martial arts, gardening, gaming, school, and cuddling. I've studied many forms of martial arts and dance, including Baguazhang, Tae Kwon Do, and a little Capoeira. I've taken several modern dance courses at UMASS, and have performed in an undergraduate dance thesis and a faculty dance piece. I've also taken a wide variety of classes, including "Drugs and Society", Quantum Mechanics, and five courses in German. I enjoy studying language, physical, visual, and written art, and anything else that tickles my brain.
I'm really excited to be starting graduate school here in Davis, fall 2006. It's scary and new, but really like a big Northampton. I expect the heat may kill me. If it doesn't, I hope to leave Davis after I'm done with (at least one of) my PhD work(s). If I can work out the monetary hurdles, I'd like to set up a sustainable farmstead back in the happy valley which I call home. Right now (summer, 2006), I've got almost a quarter-acre of vegetables that the philanthropist Dennis Pipczynski is letting me use, free of charge! It's wonderfully rewarding work.
6 Months Later...
The heat hasn't killed me yet! I've survived my first quarter of grad-school and passed my Prelims! I miss home a lot... But the Math dept. here is really tight, what with games night, trivia night, analysis parties, and the like. It's going to be a good half-decade or so.
