Who
I like to brag about being a third generation native of Colorado. My Grandad was born in Meeker and my Dad was born in Oak Creek. I grew up in Lakewood, a suburb west of Denver. Living only an hours drive from the Continental Divide I have been spoiled by good ski conditions. I started downhill skiing when I was seven. My favorite place to ski is probably Loveland, with Mary Jane a very close second. I now live in Boulder which makes Eldora a compelling choice when there's fresh snow.
For you open source geeks, I'm a Turbine family committer. Though I've been decidedly silent on those projects lately. At first I was cranking for a deadline at PlanetCAD. We nailed that deadline. Shortly thereafter I was laid off. Since then I've been job hunting, bloghopping, and polishing this site.
I started practicing Aikido in 1989. My training has been interrupted a couple times by travel and injury and most recently by wedding plans. I tested for shodan (1st degree black belt) in April 1999. When I got started at the CU Aikido Club, I had no idea how lucky I was. The club is lead by students of Boulder Aikikai which is an exceptional place to train. For fellow aikidoka, people tell me I take pretty good ukemi.
On August 10th, 2002 I married Sarah Cleary. I cannot express the depth of my love for her. And since I'm no match for any of the Poets for describing love, I'll resist the urge to bore you with bad poetry. :-) I met her and got to know her through swing dancing. I'm a reasonably good lindy hopper (real men let go just before five), but I haven't been dancing regularly in a couple years. I was one of the founders of CSDN. I didn't have the time it deserved and left it in much better hands shortly after its inception.
I describe some of my professional accomplishments on my resume. Since I'm not limited for space here, I can say a little more about my time as a research assistant. Largely because of an idea I had for an animated encyclopedia, I was invited to spend a semester in Toronto essentially as an apprentice to Dr. Kim Veltman. While there I created an animation to explain a vanishing point which knocked his socks off and lead to a five month stay in Siena, Italy and another semester in Toronto the following year.
I've always got a list of projects simmering in the back of my mind. Regrettably few of them ever make it to the foreground.
I still play DnD with some friends from high school once or twice a month.
I like to think of my grandfathers as archetypes that have influenced my character. My Grandad was a mountain man. I don't really know all the specifics, but he trapped beaver and worked as a game warden by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. I remember him as very soft spoken, but a great story teller. He generally didn't say much, but if you could get him going, he could really spin a tale. He and his wife were both renowned marksmen.
My Grandpa was an inventor. His most notable inventions were the first pre-mixed soda fountain, and an insulated coffee pitcher which is now commonplace in restaurants like Denny's, Perkins, IHOP and so on. He was fairly wealthy for a time, while his soda fountain sold wherever Coke went in Europe. Later he lost his fortune on another invention. Uncle Bob reports that Grandpa had an opportunity to work on some early computers, but he didn't understand them and declined. I remember him continually pacing, cooking up some new idea.
Edit: You might be looking for another Eric Dobbs