Salutations: a little bit about me

On this page: Elements | Essentials | Media | Visuals

 

Elements

 

Introduction

Nom de plume: Crimson Halo

Geography: located in sunny Kamloops, BC, Canada. We get a wide variety of weather here, and some years it's been known to go from semi-arid to semi-Arctic and back.

Familial: single and not looking, hardworking parent to two wonderful children aged five and eight, on good terms with the relatives, and interested in exploring family lineage and history.

Pets: one very affectionate Turkish Angora cat that loves to grab objects from my electronics parts storage and make her own kitty toys.

 

 

Essentials

 

Education

Primary: Saint Ann's Academy (1988 – 1995).

Secondary: John Peterson Secondary (1996 – 2000).

Post-secondary: BA entry at Thompson Rivers University (2005); graduate of the Digital Art and Design program (2001 – 2003) at the same location.

 

Horizons

Military: active member of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps between 1995 and 2001, completed my tenure with a final rank of Chief Petty Officer Second Class. Trades courses attended during the period included Basic Sail (1996), Boatswain (1997), National Tall Ships Deployment (1997), Marksmanship Qualification (1998 and 1999), Practical Leadership (1998) and paid employment in HMCS Quadra Technical Services (1999, 2000). Regularly attended corps on-boards, extracurricular training, adventure training expeditions, leadership development and seamanship events.

Computing: I have strong professional experience (5+ years) in customer relationship management focused information technology. This includes helpdesk operations, triage, conflict resolution, team development, and hardware/software repair. My previous accomplishments include an award for excellence in client relations.

I'm also self-taught in various other aspects of computer operations including hardware, software, and networking solutions, with some exposure to open source initiatives. I've also been using the Internet since 1996 and have established a comfortable niche here, with many positive experiences and a lot of useful information gained.

Artistic pursuits: there are many means of expression that strike my interest, ranging from drawing to sculpture to digital art and beyond. I routinely tend to incorporate science, power tools, metalwork and mechanical design into my work. I have a fondness for photography, well-crafted stationery equipment and fine penmanship. I've taken every photo course our local university has offered. I'm also interested in theatre and stagecraft, and I've done some independent work running my own Halloween haunted house events, including prop and lighting design.

Writing: I'm an avid writer, and whether it's poetry or political commentary, I enjoy keeping up on my work as much (and as often) as possible. It's one of the reasons why I run this domain.

 

Desire

What I'm looking for in life: creativity, fun, knowledge, humour, free-spiritedness, learning, and expanding one's understanding. Spontaneity, stability, spirituality, critical thinking, and exploration are also crucial parts of life, and each has their place in it.

In friendships: I place a high value on one's integrity, trust, willingness to share, and their dedication to longevity of connection. Quality, not quantity. Depth, not fleetingness. Respect out of appreciation.

 

 

Media

 

Music

The flow of music has been a soundtrack for my life for as long as I can remember. My interests span a variety of genres and lean toward styles that are more introspective, emotive, and melodic. A full list of the bands I listen to can be found here. Be warned, it's long!

 

Anime

I've had exposure to a few of the legions of manga and anime franchises out there, probably not nearly as much as some people I know, but here are a few of my favourites. Each is linked to its respective Wikipedia article for your convenience and further reading:

666 Satan, Appleseed, Fullmetal Alchemist, Dot Hack, Hellsing Ultimate, Last Exile, Trigun

 

Film

There are probably too many to name here, so let's just say I'm heavily into sci-fi, horror, documentaries, action, and fantasy. Here are some of the movies which caught my attention over time:

127 Hours, 300, Alice in Wonderland, Alien, Amélie, American History X, Apollo 13, Austin Powers, Back to the Future, Battle for Haditha, Beetlejuice, Behind Enemy Lines, Black Sheep, Black Swan, Bridge on the River Kwai, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Brothers Grimm, City of Ember, Con Air, Critters, Dead Alive, Dead Snow, Dead Wood, Die Hard, Dirty Harry, Down Periscope, Edward Scissorhands, Endhiran, Enemy at the Gates, Eraser, Event Horizon, Evil Dead, Friday the 13th, From Hell, Full Metal Jacket, Gangs of New York, Goodfellas, Green Zone, Harold and Kumar, Harry Potter, Hocus Pocus, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Hood 2 Hood: The Blockumentary, Hunt for Red October, Iron Man, Ironclad, Itty Bitty Titty Committee, Kill Bill, Kingdom of Heaven, Land of the Dead, Law Abiding Citizen, Lethal Weapon, Little Monsters, Lord of the Rings, Lord of War, Matrix, McHale's Navy, Mekhong Full Moon Party, My Bloody Valentine, Nailgun Massacre, Neverwhere, Nightmare on Elm Street, No One Knows About Persian Cats, Ocean's Eleven, Once Upon a Time in High School, Outpost, Philadelphia Experiment, Pig Hunt, Pirates of the Caribbean, Planet Terror, Police Academy, Predator, Prince of Persia, Public Enemies, Pump Up The Volume, Quarantine, Real Genius, Red Baron, Red Cliff, Red Dawn, Red Planet, Resident Evil, Return of the Living Dead, Riddick, Riki-Oh, Shadow Company, Sleepy Hollow, Source Code, Star Wars, Star Trek, Starship Troopers, Super Troopers, Surrogates, Talvisota, Terminator, The Cat From Outer Space, The Great Outdoors, The Hurt Locker, The Rock, The Sniper, The Stuff, The Untouchables, They Live, Total Recall, Tremors, Trick Or Treat, V For Vendetta, Valkyrie, Versus, Wanted, Waterworld, Windtalkers, Wizard of Oz, XxX, Zombieland

 

Television

When it comes to TV, I'm big on educational content. I also love storytelling that intertwines meandering and unexpected plot lines with intense drama, discovery, action, science, and exploration of the human psyche. There are some truly masterful writers out there, and their shows are definitely worth watching. Here are some of my top picks:

Breaking Bad, Dexter, House MD, How It's Made, Mythbusters, Nature, Penn and Teller: Bullshit!, Rescue Me, Star Trek DS9, Star Trek Enterprise, Star Trek Voyager, True Blood

 

Gaming

Immersive storytelling, action, adventure, puzzle, and sci-fi are most of what really grabs my attention here. What makes a game truly great is when it comes with good replayability and many different paths for a character to take.

Some titles worth exploring:

Baldur's Gate, Castle of the Winds, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Dark Messiah, Diablo, Fallout, Half-Life, Icewind Dale, King's Quest Mask of Eternity, Mass Effect, Modern Warfare 2 & Black Ops, Neverwinter Nights, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Starcraft 2, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars Republic Commando, Total Annihilation, Unreal Tournament, Wolfenstein, Worms 3D

There's also an insanely long lost of vintage console and DOS games I'll be sharing here in the future, but that's something for another time.

 

Reading

Things wouldn't be the same without a decent book collection! Thankfully, electronic formats pretty much makes it possible to have your own library at home these days. A few longstanding favourites of mine are Fire and Ice by Paul Garrison, Plum Island by Nelson Demille, War of the Rats by David Robbins, and Long John Silver by Björn Larssen.

 

 

Visuals

 

[ future entry -- will be added shortly]