A Little About Me

I just read Elana Johnson's blog post in which she tells the readers a bit about herself (she admits she got the idea from Ali Cross's blog), and I thought it wasn't a bad idea since I had never really done this myself. Perhaps no one is interested, but who knows?

So, a little about me...

I grew up in Arizona. I've been shy all my life, and perhaps even antisocial. I love being social, actually, but only with people that I really connect with. Small talk drives me nuts. I became passionate early on with both reading and music, but when I was 8 I discovered soccer and was completely in love. I was better at it than at anything else that mattered to me at the time. My brothers convinced me to join a baseball league one year, where as the starting pitcher I won every game and we won the championship, but it just wasn't my thing. I loved soccer and did very well at it. At the age of 16 a scout tried to convince my mom to let me sign for a pro team in Mexico City, but she wouldn't allow it.

Since there was no soccer in college at the time I finished high school, I suddenly had nothing to do. So, I started up three new hobbies -- guitar, basketball, and chess. I still love all of them, but when I shattered my left hand playing football in Beijing I could no longer fret properly, so guitar is pretty much out now. Chess became the thing I was best at, and it changed my life. I had been studying computer engineering in college, but since all the best chess grandmasters were from the Soviet Union, I switched my major (after 3.5 years!) to Russian Studies. Talk about changing one's life!

This led to me taking a job with the US State Department after graduation and going to work at the embassy in Moscow. This still ranks as my favorite time in life. I arrived in October, 1993, just as the coup attempt failed, with the tanks blasting away the Russian Parliament (which is right across the street from the embassy). Russia was a mess, but it was exciting there. I met so many fantastic people, including the two who remain my best friends to this day. I got to play chess against some great players, such as world champions Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Vladimir Kramnik, and British champ Nigel Short.

Me against Garry Kasparov

We weren't allowed to date Russians for the first two years I was in Moscow, so social activity was limited. I traveled a bit with friends, the highlight being a trip to London to see Pink Floyd and Stone Temple Pilots in a couple of fantastic concerts. When they finally changed the rules and allowed us to date Russians, I was introduced to the amazing woman who became my wife. We're still perfect for each other fifteen years and two sons later.

In 1997 I went back to the states since we were about to have our first child. I got a job as an IT consultant for Compuware Corporation in Phoenix. It was a great company that treated me better than any other ever has, but I got bored with living in the US after the excitement of life overseas, so in 2001 I applied to go back to the Foreign Service. 2001 turned into a high point in my life, as I tied for first place in the US Amateur Chess Championships in Tucson with an undefeated score.

Zagreb, Croatia

After a year of training in Washington, we moved to Zagreb, Croatia. I can't speak much about my job online, so I'll just say that it is great to get a chance to travel around. The US is so large and far away from most other countries that it is nice to be in Europe where so many other great countries are nearby. In 2004 we moved to Beijing, China, which was an interesting and odd experience. Three years there was more than enough. While there I finally took up writing. I had always been good at writing in school, but I never thought I would actually get around to really writing a book.

At the Great Wall

In 2007 we got to move to a fascinating place -- Reykjavik, Iceland. I heartily recommend that everyone experience at least one New Year's celebration there, as they have the best fireworks display in the world. I finished my first book there, incorporating some of the flavor of where I was living, and we moved on to Baku, Azerbaijan in 2009.

I thought I would get to play chess again here in Baku, since three of the top 15 players in the world are from here, as well as this being the birthplace of Garry Kasparov, but I haven't been able to play at all here. The highlight so far was a vacation to London to see Green Day and Pearl Jam in concert. I've started my second book, but it is slow going as I keep procrastinating too much. The best news, though, is that we are heading for the gorgeous city of Budapest next summer for a three year tour. I already know the chess is great there, since I played in a tournament there in 2003, and the beauty of the city should be conducive to writing.

Have I bored you all enough? Did anyone actually get this far? Any questions?