{"id":6,"date":"2024-01-23T04:14:18","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T04:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/reel-digger\/?p=6"},"modified":"2024-01-23T04:43:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T04:43:06","slug":"about-the-author","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/reel-digger\/2024\/01\/23\/about-the-author\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Author"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When writing, I avoid beginnings because they are delicate places, and I never quite know the ending of things until I get there, so my own story starts in the middle.\u00a0 I love learning, and in 1985 I started to study anthropology and biology at Carleton University<\/a>.\u00a0 My head was filled with the writings of Fraser<\/a>, Carlos Castaneda<\/a> and Wade Davis<\/a>, and I had visions of wandering with indigenous peoples and uncovering mystic truths. Instead, I found first year anthropology to be a seemingly endless presentation of soulless kinship diagrams and nutrition studies that didn\u2019t interest me, so, I set aside anthropology and focused my undergraduate studies on biology instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My path to Carleton was not conventional.\u00a0 My father was a military officer, and I grew up in the army.\u00a0 I was born in Germany, and lived in 10 places by the time I was 6.\u00a0 At that time, it was considered that the \u201cfamily served with the soldier\u201d, and my life was one of tradition, unstated rules and strong expectations.\u00a0 I did well in school, but by high school I was bored, and felt like I did not fit in at school or at home.\u00a0 I moved out at age 16, travelled, and returned to Ottawa, where I worked as a medic for the Canadian Forces and at 3 other jobs to support myself during my first year at Carleton.\u00a0 Later, I won military sponsorship to pay my way through school.\u00a0 Three days after I completed the final exams for my undergraduate degree, I was in the woods of New Brunswick, training to be an infantry officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After serving my time in the Forces, I returned to school for graduate studies in molecular genetics and microbial toxicity.\u00a0 With thoughts to becoming a biotechnology entrepreneur, I left my job and graduate studies prior to completion, and instead completed an MBA in Science and Technology at Queens University<\/a> just at the time that the first technology \u201cdot boom\u201d was happening.\u00a0 I ended up at Nortel as a self-taught network designer and business advisor. Along the way, with no planning on my part, I somehow became a specialist in data security.\u00a0 I left Nortel, worked as a security advisor for a bank, and then started my own data security company<\/a>.\u00a0 Creating a company is an artistic endevour, and it has motivated\/harried me for more than 20 years.\u00a0 However, along the way, I realized that I was no longer intellectually challenged by the day-to-day operations, and I returned to anthropology and graduate studies at McMaster<\/a>.\u00a0 I felt a need to intellectually re-connect with people, rather than spending more time on an anonymous network populated by machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My career appears to be a series of unrelated and unplanned moves, but there are some threads connecting my choices. Leading troops in combat, examining a metabolic pathway, or by-passing the security of a complex data system all require a mindset that looks for the holes and cracks that come from understanding a system\u2019s underlying complexity.  I am a vandal, challenged to bend and break complex systems to meet my own requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also love to talk, to present, to inform – all in direct opposition to the fact that I am a huge introvert.\u00a0 I have performed in both dramatic and improv theatre, and even worked as a (somewhat) successful stand-up comedian. \u00a0Lecutres and industry key-note sessions are well received by the audience, but every performance takes a lot of energy and emotional investment from me.\u00a0 Similarily, I have to mentally rehearse what I will say at any social event. And at the end of the night, I have to find a place to be alone, to recharge and bring me back to myself.\u00a0 It\u2019s much easier for me to \u00a0communicate with writing.\u00a0 I have written and published military notes, scientific papers on bacterial toxins<\/a>, and a textbook on advanced penetration testing<\/a>. Presently, I\u2019m working on my first novel, tentatively titled \u201cAnd all my days are trances\u201d (courtesy of Edgar Allan Poe<\/a>);\u00a0 it describes my discovery and coming to terms with the other common thread throughout my life \u2013 ADHD<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until 2 years ago, I suffered from undiagnosed ADHD, which affects my executive decision making abilities: I will sometimes mentally \u201clock\u201d and be unable to complete a task that I know that I must do. Because I have had this condition for so long, I have created my own strategies to organize myself, and overcome challenges and barriers.  I am finally successful at navigating school, work, and my family.  To keep me on my toes, I\u2019m the father to two amazing kids \u2013 one of whom also has ADHD. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When writing, I avoid beginnings because they are delicate places, and I never quite know the ending of things until<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":376,"featured_media":9,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,11,8,10,9,12],"class_list":["post-6","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal","tag-adhd","tag-anthropology","tag-carleton","tag-mcmaster","tag-queens","tag-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nAbout the Author - The Reel Digger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/reel-digger\/2024\/01\/23\/about-the-author\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About the Author - 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