graduated from the international baccalaureate program. memories revise and fade over time, but still it was nuts: ~125 started, ~100 made it to the end after 4 years, only ~75 passed. so did I.
attended college at lehigh university, studied under some great minds. left early, mostly because, of all the things I had learned thus far, moderation and balance were not among them.
my dad wrote me a letter shortly before he died. his last words have become an inspiration to me in life. that's gotta count for something.
into philosophy, music, math, geekery, martial arts and literature. books are rad -- leave behind the jungle outside, turn towards the one within. taoism is the most likely box for my belief system, but I've always been an outside-the-box kind of guy.
tend greatly towards rational analysis and introspection, intimidating some people, inspiring and motivating others. empathy is an undervalued trait in leaders, underestimation the most common mistake made in any battle. these days they don't see me coming. even when they do.
happiest when deconstructing the world around me.
believe the entire universe is one incomprehensibly complex, self-replicating pattern machine: atoms, molecules, chemistry, physics, biology, evolution, behaviour, consciousness, psychology, sociology, politics, economics -- patterns built upon patterns of patterns, borne from patterns, giving rise to patterns. every concept in the universe has finite, game theoretical constraints that define its parameters for existence, temporal state and directional transition. understanding these constraints makes it possible to change the game. note however that our continued failure to fully comprehend them shouldn't necessarily imply simple governance by magical superbeings.
worked as everything from a construction worker to a teacher to an executive, and a few interesting jobs in between. haven't been around as long as some folks, but man I've sure seen a lot.
written a lot of software, papers, and started a few companies. the entrepreneur in me is difficult to restrain, so I enjoy taking advisory roles and lending my own knowledge and experiences.
yearn to backpack, travel, and experience new things. exposure encourages positive progression, self-reliance necessitates strength and courage. failure can often be as valuable as success.
of course the difficulty with knowledge is that knowing something makes you susceptible to its influence. but the world in general could benefit greatly from an improved propogation of better information. though it might eventually kill us all.
two-wheeled now. and loving it.
also back to studying aikido. oh yes, at long last, this is for me.
recently recovered from back surgery on my L5S1. post-op said "possible risk of future mechanical failure". guess I was wrong about being invincible. dammit.
as fate would have it, aug 26th I was hit by a white ford bronco and run over by a maroon SUV (both split). no broken bones, no torn muscles, just bruises, and even then not many. was walking the 28th, back to work the 30th. fear.
and to further mock me, my disc reherniated. possible risk indeed. june 29th '06 I am getting a dynesis: dynamic stabilization of a disc. sure beats a spinal fusion. or a swift kick to the face.
fuck.
