You know, its always difficult to try to explain the  wants, desires, phobias, aversions, or amusements of oneself with markings in  the sand.  The true experience is to spend time with a person, but, in its  stead, you have this paltry scratching of words in a somewhat meaningless  attempt to quantify what it is to be beej.  Hmm, now that I think about it,  that shouldnt take too long...

My  birthday is October 9th,  which makes me a Libra, for whatever that™s worth.  I  was born in West Palm  Beach, Florida but moved to Kentucky after an uneventful childhood elsewhere  I spent most  of my early years thereand joined the Marine Corps when I  was 17.  After my End of Active Service I lived in Buffalo, NY for a  short while  before moving to Lexington, KY where I started TerraWare Systems as  a network  design and consultation business.  It later changed into a  not-for-profit organization and produced cutting-edge software for academic  institutes.  I then helped kick-off an ISP and ran the network engineering dept  at Mikrotec Internet  Services (mis.net).  I currently do IP software and  systems architecture engineering for a very progressive Interlocken  company.

Professional   and Academic  Background

I  am currently a student  pursuing my Masters of Science in Computer Science from  Kennedy-Western  University.  My area of concentration in my major is Artificial  Intelligence.   My first academic pursuit was in the area of Psychological  Anthropology and I  while I was in school I also obtained a position on staff in  the Anthropology  deptartment at the University of Kentucky.  I am still very  fond of this field  and hope, maybe one day when I retire, to get back into this  area.  I am a  member of the International Electrical and Electronic Engineers  (IEEE)   organization and I am in two Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)  workgroups  (RADIUS & AAA).  I also hold membership in the American   Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).  I hold an Honorary Doctor of   Divinity from the Universal Life Church, and, at one time, was an ordained  priest (this is a long story best told over coffee or a beer).  I  have also  held a Secret clearance from the Federal Government.

My  primary professional interests lie in the areas of the following sciences and  methodologies: artificial intelligence, computation, learning theory, formal,  symbolic and propositional logic, cognitive psychology, transactional analysis,  affective computing (the study of emotion in AI), nonmonotonic reasoning, game  theory, autoepsitimic logic, psychological anthropology.  If any of these  subjects happen to come up in conversation youll definately have my  attention.

Physical   Characteristics

I  stand 511 and weigh in  between 145 and 155lbs depending on how obsessed I am  with work at the moment.   I have short brown hair and grey/blue eyes.  I am  usually clean shaven, except  when I can get away with not having to shave but  then it takes me weeks to grow anything that you could see from 10 feet away.  I  am of Native American (Cherokee Nation) and Irish decent.

Temperment

According  to the  Meyers-Briggs/Kersey-Bates tests I consistently have been an INTP.  Im  a pretty  laid back kinda guy until something that I hold sacred is threatened  or  violated.  I am very idealistic and ethical while trying to maintain some   realism and pragmatism about it.  I mean, I cant go around challenging people   to duels who violated my honor could I?  Like, this isnt feudal Japan or  anything.

My  humor tends to run from being totally dry, flippant statements and observations  to being patently ludicrous or bitingly sarcastic.  Those who dont know me  could possibly take me for a close-minded, narrow-viewed loozer, but my kind of  comedy and humor style tends to bring out the obsurdity of a subject, while I  seem completely serious about it.  *shrug*

What  I  Like

• Chilly  rooms, thick quilts,  warm fireplaces and a good guitar.
• Writing  portable, robust, extensible software that actually behaves correctly.
• Hiking,  camping, spelunking,  rock climbing, or anything in the woods (except for  hunting, which I am ambivalent about).
• The  UNIX OS!  Ok, I know.  I like Solaris, Digital UNIX, NextStep (yup, sure do!).   UNIX-clones such as Linux and FreeBSD are fun to rip apart the internals (like  CPU process scheduling) and write your own.
• Learning  languages.  I love learning languages.  Oh, I forgot: learning languages  rox!
• high  tech gadgets.
• Musical  interests span the range of available styles and scales, but I really like  €œstory songs€� and tend to listen to alot of folk, bluegrass, classical, classic  rock, electronica, trance, etc.  Because I play accoustic guitar I often listen  to the type of music that I like to play the most:  Gordon Lightfoot, Harry  Chapin,  Sarah McLaughlin, Pachelbel, Mozart, Delibes, Indigo Girls, 311, Bob  Marley, The Pogues, Pink Floyd, Blue Oyster Cult, David Grissman, Old & In  the Way, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden.  I totally love most any indigenous music of  other cultures, as well.
• The  color Hunter Green
• Learning
• I  dont watch TV much, but there are a few shows that I try to catch when I can.   They are Farscape, StarTrek: Voyager, X-Files, Jeopardy, etc.  When flipping  around the stations, as I am prone to do (I spend most of my time working online  so the TV is usually just background noise), I linger on the History, Sci-Fi,  Animal Planet, Discovery, TLC, A&E channels.  Oh, the Cartoon Network is a  must for  proper mental health.
• I  thoroughly enjoy reading and end up reading all kinds of stuff.  I like Anne  Rice, Mercedes Lackey, Pierce Anthony, J.R.R. Tokien (my fav!), Ray Bradbury,  Terry Pratchet.  I read alot of journals and formal texts and textbooks, as  well.
• My  favourite poetry comes from Helen Jackson, T.S. Elliot, Samuel Taylor Coleridge,  and many others.
• Finding  long lost friends and realizing that they will still play a meaningful part in  your life. 
• Playing  old traditional folk pieces at Altzheimer or other retirement/care  centers.
• Jones  the Kat!
• Jay-jay  the Kat!

What  I  Dislike

• Country  music  :-)
• Racist  or close-minded  people
• Pretentious,  non-thinking luddites
• Slow,  inept, and inconsiderate drivers of automobiles.
• Compiler  errors and memory  leaks
• Pushy  members of the  evangelical horde.
• Anyone  who feels theyve learned all they need to know.
• Finding  long lost friends and realizing that the part they were meant to play in your  life has already taken place.  I dont mean to sound too deterministic, here.  :-)
• Stoopid  people (we need breeder laws).
• The  French (but hey, who doesnt?)

Where  Ive  been

I  have always loved to travel  and I made it a point to travel as much as  possible.  Here are  some places Ive been.

• Japan
• Philippines
• Korea
• Diego  Garcia
• Thailand
• Singapore
• Bahrain
• Kenya
• Oman
• Australia
• Hong  Kong
• Tanzania
• China
• Spain
• Panama
• Mexico
• Canada  (is that another country?)
• and  many points in CONUS  (CONtinental US)

Id  love to go back to some of  these places, especially Japan.  I love Japanese  food (I spend way too much on  it here) and find their culture interesting.  Im  working on taking a trip to  England and Ireland and maybe some places in  central and eastern  Europe.