We've all seen biographies like this:

. . . born in England and emigrated to the United States when he was six months old . . . earned a degree in Computer Science . . . first paid, published article in 1987 . . . book about using the Internet was published in 1994 . . . ran a small Internet company . . . offers a unique combination of technical and creative skills . . ."

And so on. Biographies like this are great for "about the author" book pages, but they really don't tell you a lot about what makes someone tick, what intrigues or excites them. The hard thing for me, writing about myself, is to crystallize those things into a few words that capture the essence of who I am. So that's exactly what I decided to do: pick five words that describe what I'm all about and why.

My five words are:
Creativity
Curiosity
Fitness
Service
&
Drive

Creativity. My creative energies manifests itself in many ways. From writing to sculpture, carpentry to dancing, and even in computer programming or studying biology, I find myself inspired to create things.

Curiosity. I am naturally curious about how the world works. It's one of the reasons I became a writer. Writing allows me to record what I have seen and learned, and helps me organize and better understand the things I have studied.

Fitness. At age 47 I still stretch out most every morning and try to do something active every day. That can mean working out with weights, bicycling, or hiking to a mountain top. Being active and staying fit is very important to me.

Service. I believe that part of my calling in life is to help others. I have volunteered for homeless shelters, environmental clean-ups, and for the Red Cross, where I teach CPR and other health classes.

Drive. Call it drive, call it discipline, but I keep moving, keep working on the things I enjoy and value. My drive kind of defines one thing I'm really lousy at: sitting still. I'm a lousy couch potato.

There is one more thing that defines who I am. It is not a quality within me, but the person at my side. She is what I love most of all, my wife Lynne. She is the woman I look forward to exploring new places and activities with, the woman I think of when I close my eyes and smile.