I'm a tall, thin computer geek in my mid twenties. I currently work at Case Western Reserve University in the Dental School as an IT Support Specialist, which means I help staff, faculty, and sometimes students with computer-related issues, as well as help maintain our servers and other intrastructure. As time permits, I work on special projects and do some light programming.

Interests

Computer Gaming

I'm a rather large computer gamer, especially when it comes to real time strategy games, although I wouldn't call myself a hard-core gamer. Some of my favorite RTS games include:

• Age of Empires III
  
• Rise of Nations
  
• Risk II
  

Some of my other favorite computer games include:

• World of Warcraft
  
• Assassin's Creed
  
• Fable: The Lost Chapters
  

I play World of Warcraft the most (even though it isn't a real-time startegy game), although I limit it to about 2 or 3 times per week. You can usually find me on my level 80 priest Selomir on the realm of Terenas, although I sometimes level my Death Knight Kurlis. Selomir raids with the guild Service Members Guild, which was a guild started by people in the armed forces, but it branched out and is now a general casual raiding guild.

Other Games

I used to play the collectible card game (CCG) Magic: The Gathering, however I stopped around when the Lorwyn expansion set came out because it was getting too expensive to keep my decks current enough for tournament play. I was a regular local torunament player, first in Extended Format, and latter in Type 2 Format. I considered going back to playing Magic: The Gathering, but discovered that they had drastically changed some of the core rules, mostly for the worst in my opinion.

Now, my only card game playing is done in the form of Euchre, Poker, and other playing card games.

Art

Recently, I picked up a Canon PowerShot 10 megapixel digital camera, and have gotten in to amateur digital photography. You can see some of my work in my Picasa web album. I also recently got a camera tripod for my birthday, and am looking forward to trying that out.

Retro Gadgets

For as tech-savvy and computer-oriented as I am, there are a couple retro items I am fasinated by. One is pocket watches, and I own one. Another is fountain pens, and I also own one of those (a Cross). I also like to travel by train, because it is a good way to enjoy the scenery (or sleep, as I do on my train ride to work), and it is more environmentally friendly than driving.

Political Leanings

I consider myself to be a free-market Socialist, mainly in alignment with the views of Eugene Debs, with two major exceptions. First, I believe in the right to own property. Second, I am more pragmatic. I tend to vote Democrat, because that party actually has a chance of winning, and tends to implement Socialist leaning policies.

Why am I a socialist, you may ask? A car analogy is a good way to explain. When you put gas in you car, you don't want the gas telling your car where to go, you just want it to make it go. I see free market like gas. It is a good feul source, but you don't want it driving your ecenomy.