Joie de Vivre

Thanksgiving, NC, 2010

I am an artist living with my family in Baltimore, Maryland. I launched this site in 2001 and its purpose is to document and reinforce the good and positive thing in my life.

Quickies

Favorite Quote
Pessimism robs ordinary people of their power
Hobbies
Yoga, skateboarding, roller derby, swearing
Derby Name
James Bondage — 007: Chesapeake Roller Derby
Patronus
My spirit animal is a raccoon
Authors
Murakami, Orwell, Pratchett, Gaimen, Rowling, so many others
Pets
a hedgehog, several guinea pigs, a cockatiel, a parakeet, all outdoor raccoons
Obsessions
OCD, Death, Watertowers, shoes, raccoons, metaphysics
Myers-Briggs
INFP. Happiest at home
Ocular
Strong preference for blue
Beverage
Cheap coffee, tea [Jasmine, Lapsang Souchong, Green]
Super Power
Ability to grow kick-ass beard almost instantly
Acting Experience
Extra in John Water's Serial Mom
Music
Bill Evans Trio, Monk, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Henry Threadgill
Features
optimist, night owl, productive, loyal, curious, passionate, bright

Work

By day, I happily make Web sites, videos, animations and magic for a large university. At night, I teach other people how to make Web sites at their own universities. I edit technical books and I do freelance work. I use technology to solve problems and I'm quite good at it, if I say so myself. I do say so myself, but I say it only once, in this paragraph. I made a decision long ago to not write about my professional activities on this site. As such, all content, media and opinions on this site are my very own and have no bearing or relationship to any of my employers or clients, past or present.

Speaking

I give talks on blogging, education, Web accessibility, ART and technology. Here are some events where I've presented talks.

Teaching

I've been an adjunct faculty member at the Community College of Baltimore County since late 2005. I've taught combinations of the following: HTML, XHTML, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Photoshop, Flash, SQL, Web standards and Web design.

Music

I studied music as my undergraduate degree. I wrote a thesis on the development of the electric guitar with the generous help of Steve Vai. In addition to doing audio engineering, I've contributed to a number of albums as a drummer, bassist and guitarist. I love punk rock, Be-bop era Jazz and anything interesting. And noisy.

When I graduated from college, I worked as a music buyer for several music stores and a wholesale music distributor while playing drums with Bazooka Joe, Honeypump and Diana Froley. I decided that I didn't actually want to work for a record label or be a touring musician and I took a job as a music therapist at a hospital and nursing home. I learned how to facilitate drumming circles in a variety of populations — adult day care, in a secure psych unit and with dementia patents. This completely changed the way I think about music. I learned that music has, quite literally, the ability to heal. I watched music touch people isolated by their physical and mental impairments and I learned how important the arts are to us as humans. I think that job, more than any other experience, had the biggest influence on me as a person and an artist.

Below: MP3s of my favorite recordings