* Long obsessed with studying, reading, and mountain tops, at 14 I walked alone 500 miles in the Appalachians, then another 500 miles alone when I was 15, and still another 1000 miles alone when I was 16.

* I Left home and school and hitchhiked West when I was 17.

* When I was 19 years old I spent 45 days walking alone in the Bob Marshall. That set the pace for everything that followed: I've never been intimidated by wilderness, solitude or ambitious plans. I also appreciate the rewards that come from listening and shared stories; I appreciate people in ways that only someone who has been long alone can.

* I started programming computers as a kid when it was about as financially rewarding as knowing how to fix lawnmowers; I started coding because I loved it. I think I have used about 30 different computer language to make money. I also know a lot about digital electronics, geochemistry, ceramics, entomology, literature, playing music, writing, photography, chess, teaching, and raising kids. When I was 12 years old I learned morse code and got a ham radio license and stayed awake many nights listening for distant call signs. When I was 20 I built a laser (liquid dye, pulsing) after reading an article in Scientific American.

* I also like writing short stories and published a lot of them a long time ago. Some in what were once high paying magazines. I like words and what they can do.

* I left high school early, but I have a college degree. I worked for two years as a faculty research assistant for the Oceanography department at Oregon State University, and spent a few months on a ship in the south pacific. Other than those two jobs all my technical jobs where I have worked for other people have sucked-shit. Thus I started building my own companies.

* I really enjoy building things that work well.

* Before the Internet (back when programmers could only make a living if they agreed to wear ties and work in cubes), I was a dishwasher, cook, waiter, truck-driver, general laborer, farm hand, nail-pounding carpenter, writer, cattle ranch-hand,musician, carpet installer (the second worst job I ever had), oil-field worker in Sydney, Montana, copy writer for ad agency (the worst), hay bucker, technician in a computer store (also very bad), and a firewood cutter (the best)-- and all the time dreaming of where to go next.... * I haven't outgrown the enthusiasm for what surprises me. * I am not looking for any kind of employment, however I like being part of fantastic ideas and will consider investing in or becoming involved with truly surprising and great projects. Contact me if you are working on such a thing and think I would be a good fit.