Just Another 21st Century Psuedo-Geek, Trying to Get Along
My first name starts with a G, my last name starts with Q. Back in 1982, when I first achieved high score on the Pac Man machine at The House of Pizza the game demanded that I enter my initials. I thought I was required to enter my actual initials. Being twelve-years old is hard enough, without all of your peers hassling you for being Mr. GQ. It took about a week after that before I simply chose "Q", and it stuck.

Long before the CDC's youth campaign, my friends had redefined me as a verb: Q, verb, to focus on a subject or technique until achieving mastery. I am notorious for getting "in" to something, doing copious amounts of research, and coming to know more about it than anyone in my peer group in the shortest period of time, and achieve an "Entry Level Expert" ranking. It is a combination of an ability to learn quickly, the talent to transform theory into action, and a love of repitition.

I've Q'd many things in my life, including soccer, Robotron, skateboarding, volleyball, snowboarding, South Park, The Matrix, Disc Golf, Dj'ing, auctioneering, and horse-shoes, to name a few. Often I burn out on a particular subject and move on, or get tired of being stuck at a particular plateau and look for a newer learning curve I can make as steep as possible. A few things have kept me engaged for many, many years, but the others have resulted in a garage full of no-longer used equipment.

I live for mastery, it is part of me, it is something I need to stay sane. I live life with passion, curiosity, a strong desire to learn, and a need to hone a skill. I'm not afraid to fail miserably, but I never take failure lightly. It took over five years before I could think of my last high school wrestling match without visibly flinching. Every time I walk in the kitchen I see a newspaper clipping that tangentally reminds me of the only client that didn't re-hire me this past year, and get pissed.

Did I mention the parts about being a perfectionist, and being my own hardest critic?

A Fine Example: Q, the Dj
I took up spinning records in 2000. It had been a lifelong dream of mine, and I had waited so long to even try it that I was seriously daunted. I became decent at it, landing underground gigs and opening slot honors at a few clubs in town. I spun and recorded many mixes, and uploaded a lot of them to this website. My last Project remains unfinished: The Q Chronicles, Volume 2: Somebunny Dubs You
The last mix I laid down was Somebunny Dubs You -- back in 2004. The second installment in The Q Chronicles, it had a certain amount of dub-influenced breaks in it. For me, dub is about being in the sun listening to music on a hot day, with slow, pulsating basslines that shake your chest cavity and make you smile. I also love the minimalist approach to remixing that dub inspires, as evidenced by the Lumidee remake on this mix. Dub-inspired breaks have long been a staple in my collection, and this mix gets right to them. Load it down, crank it up, and enjoy Indian summer in style!
[download] [track list]

The Latest Mix Archive
Thanks to Fearghal at Orange Design, you can access all of my mixes dating back to 2002. There are six mixes for you to choose from, and all of them are CD-length .mp3s. Enjoy...
[mix: archive]

BookWorm
I'm an avid reader and a rabid recommender of books. When I was five years old my father read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit outloud to me. I was captivated and thoroughly enthralled. As soon as he finished reading, I asked him to read it to me again.

"If you want to read it again, you'll have to learn how to read so you can read it yourself," he said. Within a year I'd read that book, and I've always been thankful for the appreciation of the written word that my parents instilled in me when I was young. I may never get around to writing my first novel, but that won't stop me from telling anyone who will ask, or click on a link, exactly what book I think they should read next.
[free your mind...]