Profile

I'm a award-winning photographer, whose work has appeared in places like the Smithsonian, the Center for Fine Art Photography and the LA Center for Digital Art. I've been an artist-in-residence at Petrified Forest National Park, as well as on-board residencies on MS Fram in West Greenland (2010) and Svalbard (2011).

I have a separate photography blog, named PhotograBlog, on that web site where I discuss photography in more detail.

I enjoy teaching photography as well. I give photo workshops, classes, and am also available for photographic coaching.

In a past life a software developer, and produced software that shipped in tens of millions of spelling devices, millions of cable television set-top boxes, and perhaps over a hundred million touchpads. None of that made me as famous, however, as the Incomparable, Mysterious, Synaptics MoodPad. I am the inventor or co-inventor listed on five US patents, ranging in topics from neural networks to electronic dictionaries to credit card fraud detection.

I am a member of Kibo's Secret Club 91.

I also have a degree in Mathematics from Caltech, and an Erdös Number of 4, through the Evil Dr. John Platt. (You could argue 2 over beer, as I created and prepared a series of graphs used in an edition of a book written by Robert McElece, but I don't believe that formally counts.)

I am the creator of sites about polyamory-related books, a listing of poly-friendly professionals, and a cocreator of God Hates Shrimp, an idea which was Savage Love's web site of the week, referenced by Mark Morford, was used to counterprotest the Rev. Fred Phelps in New Paltz, New York, put on the cover of the Stranger in Seattle, netted me interviews in newspapers, six radio interviews...

I'm polyamorous.

I do post adult material on this journal, sometimes unfiltered, but sometimes sexual material with sexual detail may be posted to a particular friends filter I call "sex tmi". That filter is strictly opt-in only, but you are welcome to opt-in if you are interested, or ask me if you'd like to know more. You are welcome, even encouraged, to opt into this filter by sending me email or commenting on this poll.

Despite that filter, I still frequently post adult material to this journal unfiltered, underage viewers should not proceed. This warning is made in voluntary cooperation with LiveJournal's request for such statements.

Ignorance of your culture is not to be considered cool. --The Residents The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. --Dick Feynman To us, a slut is a person of any gender who has the courage to lead life according to the radical proposition that sex is nice and pleasure is good for you. --Easton and Liszt, from the Ethical Slut Let's nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. --Ripley (Aliens) An interesting thing has happened since San Francisco started granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples: my marriage is just fine! --Wil Wheaton (2004) Some mathematicians called Constructivists don't believe in the Axiom of Choice. They only prove boring theorems, though, so we ignore them. --Michael Aschbacher

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people --Amendment IX, US Constitution When a person places the proper value on freedom, there is nothing under the sun that he will not do to acquire that freedom. Whenever you hear a man saying he wants freedom, but in the next breath he is going to tell you what he won’t do to get it, or what he doesn’t believe in doing in order to get it, he doesn’t believe in freedom. A man who believes in freedom will do anything under the sun to acquire or preserve his freedom. --Malcolm X I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. --Thomas Jefferson Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have. --Penn Jilette Do one thing everyday that scares you. --Eleanor Roosevelt

The most interesting quotes I've heard about me, for better or worse:

You are threat [sic] to the continued existence of the human race. But that is an oversimplification. --Some doctor in the LA area, via email after reading some site of mine or another.

In fact, if I ever run a business, I would probably be well advised to appropriate your love life for my profit. --?

Dumbass --Shirley Phelps-Roper

Warning Labels

For those of you who are just meeting me, my politics are not straight party line, left-leaning but with strange libertarian-leaning moments, and are often considered extremist. My most recent political screed, before the break, is While We Wait, People Die, you can find a few general discussions of my politics in the memories as well.) Moreover, on 27 May 2009 I've asked that folks who treat GLBT individuals as "less than equal" and work to make them less in the eyes of the law fuck off and die, or at least not friend this journal.