Yeah, but what about the real "I" behind Digital "I", my non-cyber self? Digital Graphics may be the main reason I set up this site, and now you know about my musical and other interests, but what about the human being behind all this?

Read on to discover what more about that 'self'...

Contents:

I worked for 'a large Canadian telco' for a shocking number of years (in one of those strange freaks of math, a higher number than my 'real' internal age!), in an office environment that kept me in touch with much that's going on in the converging computer/telecommunications environment. It was an interesting job, and it's amazing to reflect on the changes in the high-tech arena since I first started in the department back in 1990!

I live in a part of Toronto called Riverdale. Before you ask, no, I don't believe I've ever met Archie or Veronica around here!

Although Riverdale, just east of downtown, is the name and setting of a local CBC-produced soap opera, the real Riverdale is much more diverse than that show would ever let on. Sure, many economic levels are represented in this community, but there are also many ethnic enclaves (particularly Chinese, Vietnamese, Greek, and Thai), as well as a sizeable proportion of 'YUPpies & GUPpies' (the latter, of course, being 'Gay Urban Professionals!) Such easygoing diversity makes for an interesting, comfortable lifestyle.

Although I was born in the UK (Christchurch, to be precise - it's a suburb of Bournemouth, on the south coast, across from the Isle of Wight), my parents emigrated when I was but a young lad. An interesting diaspora - all of my living relatives now live in South Africa! As far as I know, I have no surviving relatives left in the United Kingdom...

After renting an apartment for a year in Toronto's west end, my folks bought the house where they still reside, in Orangeville, a small town about 80 km. northwest of Toronto.

I completed both elementary school and high school there, then ventured back down to "the Big Smoke" (another affectionate local term for Toronto) to attend university. After a quiet upbringing during my 'formative teen years' in a small town (population at the time around 3,000), Toronto gave me quite an awakening! (more about that in the next section...)

Nevertheless, in spite of a 'rocky start' to a social life in high school, I ended up having a great time, especially in my last year of high school, and I made friends I thought would stay with me for the rest of my life... Guess what? few did! (our lives do change, don't they...)




I studied at University of Toronto, majoring in Zoology. My main interests were Herpetology and Vertebrate Paleontology (I'm still a dino-nut!), but I rounded out my studies with courses in astronomy, philosophy, the history of science, and even, yes, a course in Science Fiction! Being such a huge institution with a downtown campus, U of T is divided up into not only different faculties, but also different colleges, each with its own tradition and focus.

I was fortunate enough to select New College (paradoxically, oldest of the 'new' generation of colleges at U of T, it is named after New College Oxford). New College was the first of the colleges to embrace the 'multi-faculty' concept, so I shared my residence with students of Art and Literature, as well as students of the 'professional' faculties, such as Engineering, Pharmacy, Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry etc. This is probably where I originally learned the value and stimulus provided by a diverse environment.

I flourished there, and strangely, the more I did on an extracurricular basis (Student Council, musical theatre, College Admin Council), the better I did academically!

University was a great time of my life. Values I learned there, I still hold dear, and I made friends I thought would stay with me for the rest of my life... Guess what? This time, some did!




Hmm, let me think about that... What else could I tell you that wouldn't bore you to tears?

How about, "The High Points of my Life (so far...)"

• Climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro (and me an asthmatic, and all...), sipping champagne at sunrise atop Gilman's Point
• SCUBA-Diving at the Great Barrier Reef...
• Riding on horseback down the narrow gorge known as the siq in Jordan, then unexpectedly bursting into the open for my first view of Petra, "...the rose red city half as old as time..."
• Sitting alone in perfect silence on an outcrop in the Nevada desert, watching the sun set, knowing I was the only human for miles around...
• Sitting with someone special on a dune in the Arabian desert, watching the moon rise, knowing we were the only humans for miles around...
• Watching the launch of STS-3 from the Press Stands, feeling the thunder of the shuttle launch in every cell of my body - as close to a religious experience as I'm ever likely to experience...

After all, as I said back on the Home Page, my life is a work in progress...