Who is behind Cthulhu Coffee? Ted

Ted and Melissa met in 1996 at Minicon 31, the year before the Pump Monkey Project appeared. Since then, they kept running into each other at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Minicon, and parties until they became er, um, close friends.

Ted was traveling with Melissa to Utah in March, 1999, when Melissa was inspired with the idea for the Cthulhu Coffee Project. He scribbled down ideas as she drove, including a rough sketch of the logo. As the months until CONvergence dwindled into days, he provided hoardes of slogan ideas to Melissa, who catalogued them and turned them into the signs and buttons. He also provided a slew of supporting information for research: old Call of Call of Cthulhu gaming manuals, web links, trips to Uncle Hugo's bookstore, viewings of the Re-Animator movies, and, of course, copies of H. P. Lovecraft's short stories.

Ted contributed in all aspects of the room party at CONvergence 2 and 3, and is also planning to be part of Cthulhu Coffee's presence at Diversicon this August along with Melissa.

Here's Ted's take on his own life:

Born in LaGrange, Illinois at the tail-end of the baby boom, Ted grew up with a taste for rock, classical, and big-band music. Of course, that led directly to his one musical instrument, the shakuhachi (Japanese flute). The youngest of six brothers, the natural Hungarian talent for being sneaky quickly blossomed into a reflex of self-preservation. In a temporary fit of insanity (stupid dice...), he fell in love and moved to Minneapolis in 1991. One year later found him single, but stubbornly refusing to leave (despite the best efforts of those nice young men in their nice white suits). He has an unshaking belief that 'no good deed goes unpunished', but still can't stop himself.

*ZAP* -- D'oh!

*ZAP* -- D'oh! It's gotta give me a peanut one of these times!

*ZAP* -- D'oh!

Currently, he lives in Golden Valley, with a cabin in Spread Eagle, WI (no jokes please, he's heard them all) and mountain land in Glen Vista, CO. He spends weekends at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, and performs weddings as Reverend of the Universal Life Church. He's devoted to his children, Buford, Jago, Lobo and Kelsey (all big dogs), Rinzai and Hopkins (iguanas), and Sally (boa constrictor). And yes, he still picks up stuffed animals on the highway.

[Web Minion's note: Ted is an accomplished web minion himself, and his work can be found at Oak RIng.]