About the Author



Hey there!

My name is Chris, and I welcome you to my blog. Hopefully you like the articles and other blurbs I have written over the last few years or so.

Update 2/21/09: 44 Facts about Christopher:

1. Born in Chicago, IL
2. Birthday is July 5th, 1972
3. Resides in Avondale, AZ
4. Married for 7 years as of May 25th, 2009
5. Self-described JOAT-MON (Jack of all trades, master of none)
6. Can play guitar
7. Can play some keyboard/piano
8. Has ability to compose/write music
9. Used to sing; even did a stint in barbershop quartet in high school
10. Wouldn’t trust his voice to save his life now
11. Loves most kinds of music, but primarily listens to Hard Rock and Metal
12. Favorite group: Dream Theater
13. Next favorite: Rush
14. Favorite color: Hunter Green
15. Favorite numbers: 3, 5, 7, 9, 12,15 and multiples of those
16. Also loves anything to do with mathematics
17. Avid iPod user and has three generations of the player
18. Rarely ever seen without his iPod
19. Avid coffee-drinker
20. Loves video games; is choosy in what he plays. Favorite games:

  • “The Legend Of Zelda” series
  • “Sonic” series games
  • any puzzle games; still going through “Myst IV”
  • any breakout games
  • any space shoot-em-ups


  • 21. Is an avid techie; loves learning all about any kind of device or system
    22. Likes to learn web-languages; currently working on basics of PhP
    23. Is the current volunteer webmaster for the Arizona Seed Crackers Society
    24. Currently working on new ASCS blog and site; not finished yet
    25. Has knowledge of “old school” programming languages and systems:

  • BASIC
  • PASCAL
  • C Language
  • MS – IBM/DOS systems (the early versions)



    26. Also dabbles frequently in the UNIX shell commands for Apple’s OS X system
    27. Longest employer tenure is Wal-Mart (17 yrs); still works for them
    28. Longest department tenure: Auditing
    29. Has technical ability and certification in electronic diagnostics and repair…
    30. … But that was years ago. Good enough for basic electronics of today!
    31. Loves cats, birds, rabbits, cavies and other smallish critters.
    32. Has six birds; two budgerigars, three cockatiels and one Eclectus parrot.
    33. Has userpages on MySpace, iLike, Orkut, Twitter and Wikipedia
    34. Loves puzzles, and has recently become an avid speedcuber.
    35. Current best time solving the Cube: 40 sec.
    36. Rarely watch any TV
    37. When watching TV, It’s usually Sci-Fi, Cartoon Network, Discovery or news
    38. Loves food in general; has been known to eat just about anything
    39. However, he hates mushrooms; will eat them in certain dishes, though
    40. Favorite snack: Tortilla chips
    41. Favorite drink: Water
    42. Favorite alcoholic drink: Guinness Draught
    43. Favorite dessert: most chocolate ice creams, especially the chunky kind
    44. Favorite restaurant: P.F. Chang’s; the best price for the quality!

    A little about me: Born and raised in Chicago, IL. Now a resident of Avondale, AZ. My day job involves retail operations/merchandise claims. When I’m not working, my main hobbies are graphic design and web design, and I hope to succeed in my own business doing this. Other hobbies include, but are not limited to: Music (appreciation, theory and application), reading, photography, number theory/mathematics and dipping into other kinds of programming. I also love animals; I grew up around felines, but my wife got me into the avian world as well. Gaming is another hobby, as I’m a Nintendo fanboy. My favorite games are the “Legend of Zelda” series, Super Smash Bros., the Sonic games and I like to play some of the “old-school” shoot-em-ups. (Galaga rocks!)

    Other things about me: I love food… well, who doesn’t? However, I usually can clean my plate, then help myself to what’s left on my wife’s plate as well! I also love to cook, but not to where I’d make it a career :( . I also drink as much coffee as my nerves can handle, but I also try to drink a lot of water and I rarely drink carbonated drinks. I love a good beer; Guinness is my choice, but Corona is ok in a pinch. I can’t stomach most hard liquor, unless it’s in a mixed drink, so no shots for me. I hate calling people on the phone; I don’t know why, but part of it is I’m not a great conversationalist with people I know. On the flip side, I’m usually a ham in a mixed crowd of friends (or family) and strangers; maybe it’s an ego thing! The physical side of me loves to work out, hike and rollerblade… finding the time to do these things is the hard part. I’m a neatfreak in the kitchen, but a slob with paper filing. I like to take long drives or walks and just think, think, think.

    I did mention music appreciation as a hobby, didn’t I? I like most forms of music, but my main favorite is metal. I mainly listen to the progressive, power and melodic sub-genres. My music roots go way back to the classic rock of the 60’s and 70’s, which is my parents influence. I also like classical music, some of the soft modern jazz, new age and trance/goa music (very ethereal, hypnotic form of dance music).

    That’s all I have for now. Maybe I’ll add more later. Or not. You’ll just have to see later…

    Thanks for visiting. Cheers!

    –Christopher :D