SWM, 48, Professional, ISO...
If you've reached this page, you must be somewhat curious
about me. Rather than create a table full of links, as I've done on other pages,
this page the is the spot where I can describe myself to the world at large.
It's probably the closest I'll get to what Andy Warhol described as my "fifteen
minutes of fame."
Physical
I'm a 48 year-old caucasian male, 5' 10'' tall, 165 lbs.
I have light brown hair that was shocking blond until I graduated college (must
be something in the water, I guess). I don't drink or smoke, enjoy working out
and jogging, although I'm not an exercise fanatic. I avoid fast-food restaurants,
preferring to cook my own food (although I enjoy eating out at finer eating
establishments often). My culinary tastes run to the exotic; I like Thai food,
Vietnamese Pho, Hungarian paprikas, everything Chinese, and am willing
to sample almost anything!
In fact, if you've never eaten Steak Tartar, which is raw beef with
condiments, you've missed one of life's great pleasures.
Mental
For the past nineteen years I've been
employed in the computer industry in a variety of
positions, from help desk to programmer, to system administrator, to consultant.
I very much enjoy the work I do, harkening to a saying I heard many years ago,
"get a job doing what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
It wasn't always like that. Prior to my career in the computer field, I spent a
number of years in sales and retail management. While I was moderately successful,
I never felt that I was reaching my full potential. Rather than wallow in a
dead-end job, I made a career change that initially reduced my income by $10K per
year, but I've never looked back, and now make more than I think I ever would
have had I stayed.
As a youth I grew up in a Foreign Service family. Every three or four years the
entire family was uprooted, and transplanted to unfamiliar soil. As a result, I
gained the experience of varied cultures and peoples in both Europe and Asia.
Specifically, I lived in Austria, Thailand, Hungary and Germany. It often strikes
me as odd that I've "settled down" and have remained now in the same
location for more than twenty years.
I enjoy the finer things in life. To me, quality products are those which
function well without requiring a lot of knob-twiddling, under-the-hood tinkering,
or frequent trips to the service center. That's why I possess a
Mercedes-Benz automobile, a
Bang & Olufsen
stereo system (with a
Bose Acoustic Wave
radio on the side), and an Apple Macintosh (of
course!).
Emotional
Alas, life doesn't always deal us the perfect hand. I too,
have had my share of "downs." After 17 years of marriage and one
daughter, my wife decided to add our number to the growing divorce rate, and
our paths diverged. That was over nine years ago. It's taken me a lot of
self-searching and growing to reach the point where I am today. I still don't
date (any interested ladies out there?) often. I suppose I am still shy and
fearful of being hurt again.
Spiritual
While I belong to no organized religion, I have come to
believe that there is a Higher Power of some sort. And though it may seem that
the world is fair and just at times, there IS order, and the evil in
the world is of Man's making, not God's. I have decided the best course of action
for myself is to not fight anyone or anything. If I keep my side of the street
clean, the rest of the world will have to fend for itself.
An entire life history on a small web page such as this? There goes my
fifteen minutes of fame. More like 15 seconds... oh
well