About

I got my first computer when I was approximately eleven years old. It was a Radio Shack MC-10. Within a couple of months, the programs I was trying to write (adapted from examples in the piles of books I made my parents buy for me) were too big for the computer's very limited memory. I finally talked my dad into buying me a Radio Shack Tandy 1000.

So it began.

I grew up reading every book about computers that I could get my hands on. I turned every problem I could into a programming problem. I became obsessed with a peg-jumping game - I wrote a simulator so I could further increase my skills without the tedium of resetting the board at the end of every game. I opened my first bank account - I wrote a Visual Basic program to help me balance my checkbook. I developed an interest in cooking - I created an Access database that would combine the ingredients from multiple recipes into one simple shopping list. I began studying Spanish in college - I wrote a program to quiz me on vocabulary words and verb conjugations. I wrote programs to solve logic puzzles, programs to solve math problems, programs to help with my fitness routines, even (honestly!) a program to remind me to get off the computer every now and then and do something other than program...

Becoming a professional programmer was an obvious step for me. I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else! I took my love of creating automated tools into the workplace and jumped at every opportunity to automate processes to save time and make life easier for my coworkers and for my companies' customers. Computers are tools intended to make life easier. If this is not happening, I see it as a problem that needs to be solved. This is why I branched out from programming and also became involved in computer support.

In recent years, my focus has been on development for the web. This has allowed me to improve my graphic design skills (I have been told I am quite a good artist, although previously my experience had involved only charcoal and colored pencils) as well as to expand my programming skills to include web programming.

I view programming as an art. This has led me on a never-ending quest to create the perfect program. While one can argue about the existence of such a thing, I can at least say that my interest in creating the best code I can means that I always create the most efficient, bug-free programs that I possibly can. I don't believe in just throwing something together. When I do something, whether it's a single-page web site or a huge application used by hundreds of people, I do it right from the beginning and don't stop until it's completed according to my high standards.

Take the enthusiasm of young child staying up way past her bedtime trying to force her MC-10 to simulate a Choose Your Own Adventure book and combine that with more than fifteen years of experience creating real-world software applications and you have me. Computers have been a very important part of my life for almost twenty-five years now. I feel very fortunate to be making a good living doing what I love.