The first thing you should know about me is that I’m from Kansas. I’m not proud or ashamed of that fact, but it colors a lot of who I am.  I don’t think I’m typically Kansan, whatever that means, nor representative of the type of people from around these parts.  But they say to write what you know, and Kansas and its people are mostly what I know.

I’m the first person to ever go to college in my family.  I graduated from a small liberal arts college at the turn of the century–a proud achievement for me.

I’m an old school geek who cut his teeth on D&D.  I played my first game as Dorwick Silverblade the elf before I could read or write properly. My dungeon master kept my character sheet for me in the early days.   Today, I play video games, role-playing games, board games, and any other kind of game you can think of, but role-playing games will always be closest to my heart.  I’m totally capable of maintaining my own sheets these days.  More often, I like to run the game than be a player, but I’ve spent time on both sides of the screen.

I read (and used to write) science fiction, My wife and I see all the big comic book movies (sometimes just to complain about them with friends).  I like serious, well-made movies that explore the depths of the human experience, but my tastes were set for life when I saw Star Wars for the first time.

It took me nearly forty years, but I’m unapologetic about being geeky.  It’s far too late to stop now.

Another important aspect of who I am is that I love nature and biology almost as much as I love giant monsters and impossible aliens.  My idea of a good vacation is to head deep into a rainforest with a camera and spend the day taking pictures of real creatures that look like impossible aliens.

Because I hate the human capacity to destroy its environment, I’m an environmentalist.  I wish we could see past our own limited lifespans and to truly plan for the future of our descendants.  I wish we valued the life of ecosystems as much as our own, and that we would cease failing to understand the interdependence of all life on this planet.  I’m pessimistic about our chances on the planet, but I’ve been wrong before, and on these things, I like being wrong.

I travel when I can, I used to write slightly more often than that, and most days I build websites for authors, role-playing games, and publishers.  Sometimes I take pictures along the way, but I don’t do that very often because I become obsessed when I do.

I spend entirely too much time on social media.  I aspire to do great things with the time I have left on this planet. I aspire to be the best Dad I know how to my son.  Who knows; I may one day need a kidney, and he’s my best shot.

So I guess that’s me.  Drop me a line some time and tell me about yourself.