About
I was born and grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri,
which is medium sized city along the banks of the Missouri River. I had a typical mid-Missouri childhood; I played in the woods a lot, went to church,
spent summers at the pool,
and was a Boy Scout, getting my Eagle at fifteen.
My mom's family lived in Jupiter, Florida
and my dad's family lived in
and Cave Springs, Arkansas, so we
would take trips to visit them often. We would also take vacations
floating the rivers of southern Missouri or road trips to the national parks out west.
I was fortunate enough to learn the benefits of traveling at a young age and as an adult,
that drive to seek out new experiences has allowed me to fill my life with an eclectic collection of hobbies.
Over the years, these have included backpacking and camping, traveling, rock climbing,
road and mountain biking, swing dancing, singing opera, playing the banjo, Judo, and golf.
All the while, I have spent time writing and learning history.
I moved to St. Louis, Missouri
after college, and after twelve years there, I moved to Manhattan,
where I currently live, to experience New York and all of its culture. I lived in a great apartment near
Lincoln
Center with my loving girlfriend (now wife), Rebecca, and my affectionate cat, Kashyyyk. I now live in Evergreen, Colorado, with Rebecca and
my two children, Emmett and Audrey.
For pictures of a few trips, check out my Albums. Also, check out my
Blog for my more current ramblings.
Computer Science
My original intent for attending the highly regarded engineering school University of Missouri, Rolla
was to atain an Aerospace Engineering degree and become an astronaut. But, during my second year, I transfered into the Computer
Science department because I as having a much easier time writing computer programs than airfoil formulas. Little did I know during
my graduation in December of 1997 that it was the dawn of the internet age and I was one of the first of a new
breed of software developers.
I moved to St. Louis, Missouri to
start my career, landing my first job at Flight Saftey International writing UNIX C programs to generate 3D CAD files
of airports for their simulators. Over the next 12 years, I grew my skills writing web sites, databases, and Windows
applications for companies such as US Bank, CPI Corp, Site-C, Ameren UE, and the United States Air Force.
The leadership skills I learned as a Boy Scout displayed themselves as I became a lead developer, then a tecnical lead, and then
a development/project manager. Today, I live in Manhattan
working as an IT Consultant working with companies such as ASME
to solve their software development problems and offer sound advice
from my 16 years of experience. Here is my current resume.
Opera
Having had a deep, large and powerful voice, I have always been intrigued by male opera singers. I would listen to
the Il Commendatore scene from Mozart's
opera Don Giovanni repeatedly.
For a brief period of time
while in High School, I sung in my church choir's bass section. But having very limited knowledge of music and no
one to teach me, I quit after only a month or two taking with me only a complex about my singing abilities.
Quite coincidentally, when I moved to New York City many years later I got an apartment near The Juilliard School of Music.
At the time, I had no intention of learning to sing, but fate said otherwise. While playing a game
of Texas Hold'em
at a local Irish pub, I met Joseph Charles. Only a mere week went by before our first lesson after he mentioned he taught singing
and we have met nearly every week since.
The following semester, I signed up for my first class at Juilliard and gone on to add
ear training
in addition to voice. It has been a humbling journey
of learning and practice. I have focused mainly on classical and operatic arias with a peppering of Broadway numbers and
standards for spice. My deep, powerful voice still gets me compliments today, but they are no longer about
the novelity of it, instead they are about its
range and
timbre.
Photography
I took my first photography class at age thirteen and, like many photographers, strive to capture more than mere
"snapshots". I want to show the observer something they've never seen before. To wonder. To react. I want them to
ask questions, questions of the art and questions of themselves.
I feel my most creative work is done in my mind then executed with the camera; I get an idea then use my technical
knowledge to capture it. That being said, I must admit an good amount of my photographs are, as my former mentor,
Stan Trampe, would
say, fantastic accidents!
I have worked both in the studio controlling all aspects of the image and out in the world searching its the unseen
beauty to capture in my lens. Thus, from my collection, you will find imagery from as far away as Madagascar and as
close as my neighbor's house.
All of my photography has been captured with one these cameras: