The basics:

I'm a 37-year old product manager, currently contracting at Balsam Hill, an artificial Christmas tree manufacturer, and looking for a permanent position. I live in San Francisco (Silver Terrace/Bayview), and have two cats and a bunch of odd hobbies. If you are curious about my professional life, check out my resume.

Bio:

Born in New Jersey, moved to Maryland at age 11. Graduated Wilde Lake High School in 1987 (graduated in three years), and promptly shot off to Stanford for college. After a year, I transferred to Caltech (Dabney House), and got my B.S. in mathematics in 1991. (I was on the Caltech Putnam team in 1991, and helped the team to a top-10 (honorable mention) finish in the most prestigious American math competition--still very proud of that.)

After burning out on mathematics and taking a year off (running a Ben & Jerry's in Hollywood), I went back into professional life as a technical writer/engineering docs manager, then got into project management, which is what I've been doing since 1996. Somewhere in there I got married, but only briefly. To quote a character in the Nero Wolfe mysteries, "I was married once, and what a year THAT was."

In 2002, after getting laid off during the Silicon Valley crash, I decided to go off and see the world, so I packed up all my stuff and spent six months traipsing about Southeast Asia, exploring the world through many different cultures. I backpacked solo through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and India (plus a quick side trip to Myanmar/Burma). While touring, I did a comparative study of Southeast Asian fiber arts/weaving techniques, and looked a bit into AIDS epidemiology in Southeast Asia. I tried a little bit of everything--I ate rats, scorpions, dogs, and beetles, as well as a lot of very tasty Asian food. And I learned to dive; jumped off cliffs; rode elephants; lived with Tibetan cave yogis; and saw the Dalai Lama. And lots of other stuff, but you'll have to check out the travel section to read more.

Oh yeah--somewhere in there I went to Hawaii; which doesn't sound all that interesting, until you see the fantastic lava photos. My shoes were melting!!

In addition to adventure travel (which is only a relatively recent interest), I've done a fair amount of social work...I've worked with survivors of rape, incest, and domestic violence, both with Impact/Prepare (a women's self-defense and empowerment organization in Los Angeles) and the Support Network for Battered Women, a domestic violence agency in Santa Clara County, CA. This tends to be pretty intense stuff...I've written a few essays on my work with survivors, which you can read about in the Writings section.

In addition to cycling and fiber arts (weaving/spinning/etc.), I have a bunch of other hobbies, but they change around a lot. It could be anything from tomato farming to electronics to designing and knitting lace, corporate politics to number theory. I am curious about almost everything...Check out the crafts section for some of my more photogenic hobbies. I also have a really evil sense of humor, which you can check out here. (That's my 1999 manager's cubicle, by the way. In addition to about 800 balloons, it also includes confetti and party favors stuffed into the balloons, plus a 5' wooden stegosaurus skeleton and about 100 golf balls. Never let it be said I didn't enjoy a good joke.) Another fine example of my evil nature is here--it involves naked rugby players and lots of chocolate, so check it out!

If you want to email me, you can do so at . Enjoy!!