Male

About a year ago I went to Hong-Kong for the 1st time, and I want to go back soon.
In June 2008, I am going to Thailand, two of the Philipine Islands and Japan.

I've been to BurningMan two times, but missed the last two, AND I hope to go this year (08).

I grew up in Chicago, own a condo there, and have lived most of my life there. About five years ago I moved to LA (for work) where I lived until I moved to NY a little over a year ago (again for work) where I lived for a year and now I am traveling a lot... but most of the time I am in LA... at least until May.

I try to be a balanced realist: that is I try to see the glass as "half full" *and* "half empty" (I try to see beyond our dualistic world). One of my mottos is: "Moderation in all things, including moderation." Moderation in moderation means that sometimes it pays off to work hard & life is more fun if you "party hard" once in a while (but not too often).

I have friends all over the world who I sometimes visit, and email often (between visits).

I enjoy: good food, talking with friends, riding my motorcycle (a Honda CBR1000F), reading good books, playing chess and go, listening to music, good movies, going to dance/night clubs, hiking in the mountains. I want to go Sky-diving again as it was almost as much of an adrenaline rush as driving my bike down the 110 at 140mph; and yes, the CHiP has asked me not to do this... twice now... but I am kinda addicted to it (the feeling/sensation/adrenaline).

I have also gone rock climbing a few times and I want to go more!
I bought my own climbing harness, equipment & ropes; however
- I have not yet purchesed climbing shoes. Do you have any recomendations?

Twice in my past I joined a rock-band and went with them from LA to SF, Portland, Vancouver BC, and back to Seattle. I am pretty sure I will never do that again, however I have been talking to Jim Marcus of PulseBlack about joining their team... but that is a slightly different story, I think.

I am interested in many things (see list) but Zen and the "powers"/abilities of the human mind, AI, Quantum physics, geometry, the game of go (aka baduk or wei-chi), cutting edge tech, computers & cybernetics are some of my favorite interests.

Here is a quote that sums up how I often feel about life:
"Bittersweet: She said she usually cried at least once each day not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful & life was so short." (c) 2000 by Brian Andreas