When most people at work get to meet me, they think of me as a mild-mannered teacher of sorts, but in reality I’m living a secret life of moonlighting as a novelist. I wrote my first novel in 2007, a work about a man traveling the world to escape the boredom of his nine to five, and his struggles with persistent mental illness. My second novel was written in 2009, and details the response of nursing home staff to the rise of zombies in the United States, and how they handle having patients that need their help, how they balance it with their family needs.

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The greatest people are often multifaceted, and I will briefly explore two shining facets of me here, one physical, the other mental. I’ve been told I have beautiful eyes, and here is why. My eyes are blue, but there are specks of gold that form halos around the pupils. Occasionally they look green because of the flecks catching the light.  My best mental characteristic is my curious nature, and willingness to investigate various things in life.  Due to my curiosity, I’ve spent quite a bit of time studying varied disciplines and opening my personal world. Nothing like a curious man with eyes of blue-gold.

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Every day when I rise from bed, I look forward to ending the fast that I began eight hours prior. Because I enjoy breakfast so, I like to rise early to take the time to make breakfast worth it’s while. I wake up a half hour before I take my shower in order to make eggs, toast, and cut up some fruit. I usually have several varieties of fruit available and choose something based on how I feel that day. What tops this all off is that I usually cover the eggs in hot sauce, and I find the spice of it really helps to wake me up.

Last weekend was spent getting out to clubs with my girlfriend to see some music and be delighted by covers of David Bowie songs. I’m already a huge fan of David Bowie and his music, so being able to hear local musicians putting their own spins on his classics was seriously enjoyable. Add to that the company of my always lovely girlfriend, and a fun new club to see this music in, and one has the recipe for a winning weekend experience. The music was wonderful and kept me singing along.

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Athletic competitions and the stuff that go along with them lead to terrible societal ills, and show horrible priorities in our wider society, and as such, I think we place undue emphasis on them. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate sports, I merely think that we as a society put way too much thought and effort into them. Too much money is payed out to people for injuring themselves on the playing field and entertaining us. By showing these priorities, we don’t properly pay those who educate and discover, instead paying teams of young men and women to play with a ball.

There’s nothing quite like getting up in the morning, looking out of your window, and seeing the sunrise on the city line. A light breakfast at the hotel, then off to the markets until early afternoon, having a brunch and an early-afternoon snack at the vendors. Maybe Chinatown, or Little India for the evening, then into the heart of the city to enjoy the night-life.  It’s 8,000 miles from my home, and yet the times I’ve visited it’s always felt like a place I could spend years exploring, and never be bored. The people are welcoming, and the city is packed. It’s a bustling, active metropolis.

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I am a bit of a nerd. If I had $1000 to spend at any store, I’d spend it at Frys. For that sum, I could build a new computer, buy an additional monitor, and get the drives for the Network Storage system I’ve been eyeing. I spend most of my life working at my computer, so having it be fast, responsive, and stable is a must. By upgrading my computer, I would be able to be more productive in my video editing, more creative in audio production, and more entertained in my gaming. After all, who doesn’t like pretty visual effects and big explosions?

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Not every job I’ve worked has been in technology, but all my favorites have. I started doing video editing work when I was 14, though I didn’t start charging for it until I turned 20. When I was 17, I took a job working as a host at an Indian restaurant, which taught me both patience, and that I wasn’t particularly good at being a host at a restaurant. Simultaneous to the job as a host, I took a job working Helpdesk at a University. They never had much work, so I got bored, and moved to a helpdesk job at a robotics firm. 4 years later I’m head of social media, and one of the core Network Administrators for the company. Being paid to spend hours on Facebook and Twitter? Delightful.

If I could vacation anywhere, it would be Germany. My family is German, and I’ve grown up speaking and living like a German, but I’ve only spent a week there in the entirety of my life. However, everything I know of the culture, the food, and the people tells me it’s a place I would love to spend more time. The fresh bread from the bakeries in the morning, the crisp mountain air (depending on where you are, obviously), the common European meeting of old architecture and new, all of it makes me want to go there, be it for a weekend, a week, a month, or a lifetime.

There are many things that people do not know about me. There are things in my life I do not want to talk about. Sexual molestation is one of them. I was only 8 years old when a family friend molested me in a closet. The person was a close family friend, a boy in high school, high honor student and was about to go to college. I really looked up to him and I really liked him. He invited me to play a game of hide and seek, and it turned very ugly. After the incident, he told me to keep it a secret and I knew it was wrong, but I did. I never told my parents, I thought I would be in trouble. Looking back, I wish I had told someone what happened to me but alas, the past is the past.  I am not sure what has become of that boy, but I hope he is remorseful of his actions.

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