All About Me

Here are the vital statistics.  I am 27, 5'11", 180 lbs, brown hair, blue eyes, of mixed European descent, in pretty good muscular shape but lacking the ripped abs, and quite the eligible bachelor.  I went to Princeton, work with computers, drive two cars, live in a penthouse apartment, write my own electronic music, and read literature and particle physics in my spare time.  In the future I would like to get laser eye surgery, start a software company, drive race cars, and be at the forefront of the revolution in computational technology that will remake society and change what it means to be human.

Now for the details.  Warning: lots of boring text ahead.  There is an exciting car picture further down.

I was a molecular biology major in college (Princeton '95), and I used to work as a technical consultant at Formal Systems, Inc. (now Pedagogue Solutions), then I was a consultant with Coretech Consulting Group, Inc., which evolved into a stint in the MIS department at Comcast Cellular, which company was then acquired by Southerwestern Bell and led to my joining PlanSponsorExchange (now InvestorForce). I've done a whole pile of different things at InvestorForce, from team management to configuration management to coding to trying to manage vendors to arguing with the CTO a lot.  On the side I produce underground techno in my home studio, although frankly I'm more than a bit bored with it now.  Been there, done that.  I think it would be more exciting to race Formula 1 cars, and anyway one doesn't have much time on the side when one works 60 to 80 hours a week in the pursuit of dot-com riches.

My undergraduate thesis was on the origin of evolutionary constraints, an examination and rebuke of the more extreme theories put forth by proponents of structuralism in biology, like anybody cares at this point. At Formal Systems I used to do basically everything associated with interactive media, whether that was low-level programming, content authoring, interface design, project administration and client liason work, etc. etc. etc. They were none too pleased to see me leave. They were, after all, the interactive media experts! If you needed an assembly-language binary encryption scheme, that would have been me. If you needed an ISDN line hooked up to a router for your LAN, well, that would have been me too. Now I have to admit I like doing more "actual applications," as opposed to mostly training and presentation materials, and it's nice to work in an environment where project management is more than approving layouts and guessing at prices. It's also nice to be back at a startup where project management involves getting things done!!  What a concept--although the concept seems to losing out to the traditional technology-us-versus-business-them highly documented and process-driven project management I've seen at larger companies.   At any rate, this should allow me to move to Phase IV of my Plan for Total World Domination (acquire capital through grossly overvalued stock options).  Phase V will probably be "start my own technology company" since my goal of finding a manager in the corporate world that I can truly respect at an intellectual levels seems to grow more difficult as the years pass.

My musical interests these days place more emphasis on spacey, experimental ambient and electronic soundscapes, and increasingly less on the repititive, boring, sound-alike techno which fills the clubs of the world. Of course, I've put out my little share of that as well, though hopefully it avoids most of those negative attributes.  As I said before, been there, done that.  I bought one of those cool Roland electronic drum kits, so now I can become the funky drummer instead (without waking up my neighbors).

Aside from doing music, I also lift weights, play volleyball when I can, watch sports (especially hockey), Star Trek, South Park, Friends, etc., play mind-numbing PC games (Tribes and Aliens vs. Predator being the latest n' greatest) and read up on philosophy, particle physics, or whatever else I happen to want at the moment.  I play my share of Half-Life, Tribes, and Quake III on the Internet, which allows me let off some frustrations by being a complete jerk and killing hundreds of people every hour.  Watch out if you catch me "in the zone" on one of those insane railgun servers, I used to enjoy beating people with low pings (now I have DSL).  Oh, and cars.  I like cars, and I like my current cars: 1996 Brilliant Black Mazda Miata (in the picture) and a 1999 Metallic Forest Green Toyota RAV4-L. I am trying to decide whether the next one will be a Mercedes-Benz SLK320, BMW Z3 or M3 convertible, Porsche Boxster, or the Honda S2000 roadster.  Maybe even a Corvette, stereotypes of gold-chained dorks be damned.  I won't be buying another one for a while, as I thought it might be an idea to have the ability to drive in the winter without fearing for my life every second, hence the RAV4 and the subsequent monthly payments.  I also need a house, preferably with a pool, and a multi-car garage for these toys.  Maybe I'll trade in my synthesizers for the down payment on one of the above.

I also like to travel to warm, sunny places with palm trees, beaches, and rainforests, preferably south of Guatemala, but I haven't done much of this at all lately. Once in a while I wonder what life would be like if I had stuck to my original plan of collecting large exotic beetles in the Amazon basin.  Maybe I will make my Internet millions and go back to it.  As for vacation... um... well, actually I forget what that is exactly.  Something about taking time off?  Doesn't ring a bell.

In case you've detected some kind of pattern here--volleyball, convertible, computer expertise, sunny climes--it's true, I would like to eventually end up in a nice tropical location where the trade winds blow gently all year, preferably with a beachfront house, Land Rover/Porsche/Lexus in the driveway, and volleyball court on the sand.  Drop me a line or take a look at my resume. I am always on the lookout for the next great opportunity, although, to be honest, it looks like I've found one that will be hard to beat.   Oh, and I'm also single, which is another good reason to send me some email!  This only applies to approximately 51% of you.  For the guys, may I suggest the Flyers page instead.

Check out my lists page for some more tidbits about me.