NOW 

I live on Bainbridge Island in a small, rustic straw-bale home that my wife Marilyn built. We share our home with our dog Lewis and a continually evolving number of chickens (current count ~12). Marilyn is the kindest, most patient person I know (ask me how I know). She’s also brilliant, very handy, and charmingly goofy. Lewis is the cutest, sweetest, bestest dog in the whole world. Hagrid, our rooster, is sweet and chivalrous, and hens Jane and Ramona are the matriarcs. We have a large garden, grow and can our own food, have a composting toilet, and heat our home with a masonry stove. At the same time, we can’t turn on a light without asking Siri first and we drive a Tesla. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ While these details confuse some, it makes perfect sense for us.

THEN

I was born in North Carolina and spent the first 35 years of my life there. Some of my best qualities stem from growing up in the south, like my warmth and friendliness, hard work ethic, and deviled eggs* recipe.

* Boil eggs, peel, slice in half. Remove yolks and press through a potato ricer. Mix pressed yolks with a scoop (official measurement) of Duke’s mayo, blob (precisely) of French’s mustard, salt, pepper. Put in Ziploc bag, make a small cut at the bottom corner, pipe into egg whites. Take a two-finger pinch of paprika and lightly dust tops of eggs (do not shake it on, that’s too much).

WORK

I’ve had a wonderful, thrilling career so far and I kind of always feel like I’m just getting started. Right now, I am designer and researcher for a small research center at Harvard. Before that, I was a PhD student and instructor at the University of Washington. Before that, I designed experiences for science museums. And before THAT, I worked as a web developer for Duke University, a web agency, and a couple of smallish businesses.

Years ago, I read the Annie Dillard quote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.” That quote reflects my relationship with work. It’s one of the most important and rewarding things I do with my life. It’s a place I spend most of my time, where I learn and grow, connect with others, and find meaning.

PLAY

My inner age is and always has been approximately 43-years-old, so my version of “play” has been a bit… cerebral for most of my life. For example, some of my favorite things to do are drinking coffee, journaling before dawn, solving impossible sudokus, cooking soups, rearranging furniture, reading about productivity, and spending time with people that I absolutely adore.

I also quite like running errands, especially grocery shopping.