in May I returned to seattle from an eight month of solo sailing voyage; six months in the Sea of Cortez and two getting there. the Sea of Cortez was amazing but I came to realize that it would have been better if I had had someone to share it with. that much "alone time" was illuminating.

I don't think much of trying to describe myself (or any human being) in a few words, but here's a meager attempt:

I'm a person who is amused by the world around him. I've travelled some (Europe, Australia, Mexico, Egypt, much of the western US) and intend to travel more. I have mis-spent my youth and wouldn't do it any differently, taught myself to sail and sailed over 5000 miles, taught myself the inner workings of computers and worked at the world's largest software company, installed engines in boats and cars, have never figured out how to turn my brain off, flown an airplane, read far more than is good for me, taught myself to play guitar and [refer to "mis-spent youth"!], and am smart enough to know how smart I'm not. I can be a bit of a clown and highly irreverent once you get to know me; a side-effect of finding the world hilarious, I imagine.

I enjoy hanging out with my friends, good coffee, reading a good book, watching a good movie, watching live music, all the usual suspects. also less usual suspects like sailing, creating things, rowing around a deserted anchorage on a quiet morning, learning strange new things, writing software, crazy-dancing, laughing until my sides hurt, solving problems, snowboarding... yada yada yada

my tastes in music, movies, books etc are diverse and perhaps bizaare to some folks, though I like the "normal" as well as the "not-so normal".

oh, and my name is josh.

and all that tells you absolutely nothing about who I am. write to me and ask me... anything - although I might not answer *anything*! ;).

um, living it? in an enjoyable fashion, hopefully.

many things

what, I'm a mind-reader? hopefully not that I'm a hideous freak.

oh boy. I don't know if I should fill this out. does it make you look like an !#@$% or a <"feminine hygiene product"> to list about a million things? sigh.

food: sushi, pretty much everything else, sushi

music: nomeansno, freddy king, the clash, john coltrane, black sabbath, buffalo daughter, godflesh, liszt, fugazi, dj krush, miles davis, jimi hendrix, the swans, bob dylan, squarepusher, babes in toyland, amon tobin, thelonious monk, autechre, beethoven, the ramones, boards of canada, BDP, butthole surfers, david bowie, daft punk, cypress hill, fluke, a forest mighty black, gipsy kings, dj shadow, the stooges, johnny cash, kid koala, lard, massive attack, kruder and dorfmeister, sasha and digweed, led zeppelin, portishead, mudhoney, public enemy, sonic youth, st germain, underworld, primus, and i'm tired of typing now

books: the subterraneans, journey to the end of the night, one hundred years of solitude, immortality, as I lay dying, black elk speaks, cockpit, post office, light, the painted bird, the heart of darkness, blind date, the book of the new sun, the book of the long sun, the book of the short sun, tales from the underground, gloriana, the dispossesed, the gormenghast books, the long way, crime and punishment, creatures of light and darkness, the trial, nova swing, the dying earth, lord of light, bury my heart at wounded knee, perdido street station, desolation angels, the sirens of titan, love in a time of cholera, the joke, the brothers karamazov, the martian chronicles, war and peace, catch-22, i could go on and on (and usually do)

movies: anything by the coen brothers, martin scorsesi, guy madden, akira kurosawa, david lynch, jim jarmusch etc etc lair of the white worm, I don't want to die on a sunday, visitor q, the cement garden, cool hand luke, pola x, etc etc etc (can you tell I'm getting tired of filling this out?)

well, you asked for it. okay, YOU didn't ask for it, but someone did! they're around here somewhere, I swear...

humor
air
water
food
human interaction
intellectual stimulation
physical activity
okay, I can't count too well, I admit it. since I'm over my quota I'd better just add coffee, books, and things to make fun of

stuff

alive, unless the zombies have got me

that I am the king of the geeks: I've worked at both nintendo and microsoft. or maybe that I spent the nineties playing music in bands and, yes, I had hair down to my ass.

no if, just do it. (I dare you)