I haven't finished the bio and faq pages, and I'm still in the process of moving the shoutbox to its own guestbook page.

Meanwhile, here are a few juicy biographical snippets about me...

I don't look like this...

...anymore, but it's a reasonable approximation.

(My hair is a good deal less New Romantic looking nowadays, for example)

I do still play the cello, though.

I make a mean pot of Texas chili.

I work as a database architect / programmer / web designer. It pays the bills.

On my own time, I take pictures, do smelly things in the dark room, write (poetry & plays, mostly), dance, make music, read, and do smelly (hopefully a good kind of smelly) things in the kitchen.

I'm also in the process of taking up kendo, which appeals to me precisely because of its absolute uselessness as a self-defense mechanism (who, after all, carries a bamboo stick everywhere they go?), and because the armor looks cool.

And I need the exercise, both mental and physical.

I'm planning to do improv comedy classes later in the summer, and go to a photo workshop at either the Maine Photographic Workshops or Santa Fe Workshops.

I like to throw parties with bizarre themes.

I subject my friends to strange movies.

I am a romantic and an idealist at heart, but I wear cynical armor because it looks cool and keeps world events from beating me to a pulp with a splintery bamboo stick.

The world is full of beauty and cruelty, both of which are fascinating when seen from a respectable distance, and both of which threaten to overwhelm me if I get too close.

Silly me, I get too close all the time anyway. I may never learn, and I consider that a good thing.