{ i am a geek }
I'm not the classic geek, the kind who got bullied in school, rather, I am a renaissance geek. I was a late bloomer in my geekdom. Granted I always had geek tendencies; I was a social butterfly in school, but I always sat on the fence between both popular and sub-popular cultures. I always stuck my nose out for the geeks.
Now I am a geek through and through. Being self employed in the web industry, working from a home office will do that to anyone over time. I am proud to say that I still shower regularly and do not have a neck beard.
{ i write poems }
I have always had a knack for poetry. This ability was affirmed in high school when I was suspended while the literature department frantically searched for the source of this poem, which they were sure was plagiarized from some obscure work of Emily Carr. While the suspension was short lived, their suspicions were something I was not able to shake until the day I left that school.
Today I just write silly poems for my kids. They once resided at wigglywumble.com, my own children's poetry site, but today they all live here.
{ i take pictures }
I started taking and developing black and white photos in my teenage years. I was using my dad's old Praktica then and until the end of high school when I bought a Minolta Maxxum 7000. I have stuck with that system ever since, working my way through the Maxxum 9000, Maxxum 5, Maxxum 7 (two of them), and now the Sony Alpha system (having been bought from Minolta).
After a few years as a pro, I now mainly shoot for fun. Weddings are a lot of fun to photograph but more enjoyable when you only take on about 5 a season.
{ i can cook }
If web work is my job, cooking is my passion. Why I feel the need to be creative in the kitchen after a day of being creative at the computer I will never know. I can say this though, I have been an amateur flavorist from an early age. As early as grade 4 I can recall being called upon by my mother to create the salad dressings. I loved creating tastes from memory and a keen sense of smell. I did then and I still do today.
I rarely go by a book (unless it's baking). I usually just try to synthesis the flavors of a dish I have had at a restaurant with the flavors I have available in my kitchen. To be fair though, my kitchen is heavily stocked with herbs and spices.
{ i play guitar }
I picked up the guitar at 17. Apart from 3 short lessons from which I learned three chords, I have been completely self taught. By 20, my step-father (drummer, flautist and bass player) and I had formed a blues band, me on guitar, him on bass. The line-up changed over the years but the most memorable cast was Sammy "Sambone" on bass, Gavin "Lefty" on keys, "Black" Jack on harp, Rick "Sticks" on drums and me on guitar and vocals.
We recorded a few indy CD's and played a half-dozen gigs a year. It was a good 10 year run, but I couldn't keep up with it. While the other guys were seeing their kids off to college, my family was just getting started. I had to retire for a bit, but I'll be back.
{ i love family }
I love kids, I always have. I have been a baby suck for as long as anyone can remember. That's probably why I have three. I am a mother to my kids, cooking for them, helping with the homework, cleaning their rooms, putting them to bed... My wife certainly appreciates it and it's probably one thing that has made us inseparable after all these years. We have a tight family bond that goes beyond description.
That's definitely for the best because two of our kids are fiery, temperamental red heads with endless supplies of energy and defiance. Without a close partnership with my wife we would both have more grey hair then we do.