I contract with Microsoft, right now as a technical writer for Xbox. (Before this I worked in broadcasting; I always said that I was preserving my amateur status as a computer geek for the Olympics. Guess I've gone pro.) I've lived in Seattle for more than 13 years now, but I grew up in central California.

I love board games. Really, I've always loved games of all sorts...I had my first Monopoly set when I was 8 or so, and the collection has only grown since then. A few years ago I discovered European-style board games, like Settlers of Catan, Puerto Rico and such, and found out that there are groups of people around here who gather to play them, and it's been great.

What have I been playing? Well, my current favorites include Notre Dame, F.I.T.S., Dominion, Stone Age, and Tichu, the greatest card game in the known universe. :) Oh, and I'll play damned near any party game on the planet: Time's Up, Scattergories, Pictionary, anything where you have to communicate something indirectly to your teammate(s), I'm there. If a professional Password league ever starts up, I'll quit my job.

I've loved video games from Day One, pretty much, particularly the classics. I won't bore you with details, but right now, I have a Wii and an Xbox 360 hooked up to my TV, and I usually carry my Nintendo DS with me. I was into rhythm games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band before either of those existed. :)

I'm also into cooking...I've always loved to cook, but living on my own has brought me to realize that my mom is an INCREDIBLE cook, and taught me well. Good Eats is one of my favorite shows on television, and I've had the honor of meeting the master, Alton Brown, in person on two occasions now. (I have all of his books, three of 'em signed. Phear.)

I watch a lot of TV, and I am shameless in doing so: yes, I watch reality shows. I've been a fan of game shows since I was *this* high, too. (Really, why hide it?)

I'm also a big hockey fan (go Sharks!). Fell in love with the game when I was in college and the San Jose Sharks were just moving into their new arena on the other side of downtown San Jose. I try to get down there every year for the first couple of home games. Also, I serve as the public address announcer for the Seattle Women's Hockey Club annual benefit. It's a lot of fun.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a geek. And I'm fine with being a geek; everyone should be. I am addicted to this never-ending stream of information called the Internet, enough so that I get the snappies if I'm away from it too long. (I just like being connected and having that flow of input; it's probably a lot like how a smoker feels.) If I'm not at one of my computers, I generally either have my cellphone, my Kindle Fire, or my WiFi-enabled iPod Touch within arms reach.

Why'm I here? Well, right now I'm between things. But I've made friends here and like staying in touch with them, and would like to make more friends, and just see how it goes.

(Would you like to know more? A really good way to do it would be to take a stroll over to http://fredsmythe.com.)

Pining for the fjords.

Talking. Making people laugh. Writing. I'd like to think I'm a pretty good cook.

My voice. People often hear me before they see me.

Books: I realized recently that I read a lot more nonfiction than fiction. I particularly like browsing through cookbooks, and I finally got around to reading Alton's Feasting On Asphalt, which I was pleased to discover was a better book than it was a TV series. Right now I'm going through Anthony Bourdain's books.

Movies: I'm not very indie, I'm afraid. Caddyshack, Stripes, and Ghostbusters are three of my favorites. Someone once pointed out that I must really like Bill Murray since he's in all three, and I'd never made that connection before that moment. So maybe I should see Lost In Translation and become more indie.

Music: I grew up in the 80's. I apparently never grew *out* of them, though. Duran Duran, Def Leppard (and some other hair rock, but especially Leppard), Dead Or Alive, Thompson Twins, Culture Club...you get the idea.

Food: Wow. I suppose Asian is my favorite cuisine, if I was forced to choose, with Mexican close behind. Indian's up there, too. But I'm really open to new culinary ideas (after growing up as an impossibly fussy eater) and I'll try pretty much anything.

This is kind of a silly question, really, because ultimately, if it were life and death, I could live without anything. It might suck, but I could live. But, playing along:

A computer with high-speed Internet access. TiVo. A Tichu deck. Some kind of video game, be it my Xbox 360 or my Nintendo DS. My iPod.

Nothing in particular. My brain tends to flit from one subject to the next. It's kinda distracting sometimes.

Playing board games with my friends.

The game show thing. A friend of mine (who is also a game-show geek) said "Everyone should be an expert about something." Well, there's mine.

...you play Jeopardy! out loud.