I’m a fervent believer in the Oxford comma.
What can I say? Punctuation matters, even if it means I sound like an asshole in a text message because I end my sentences with a period.
Sorry, not sorry, Gen Z! (And no, I’m not mad at you.)
My favorite word is petrichor, but I also enjoy words like tawdry, befuddled, proclivity, nasty. and tinkerpoodling. I also like pie-making, aromatherapy, photography, being a middle child, and bathrobes… not to mention I'm the crazy Chicagoan who loves winter.
I always tend to root for the underdog, and I have an irrational fear of condiments, cold dark water, serpents, and killer, killer whales, but it's best not to talk about that.
I’m a published writer. My first book, Thirty-Six Hours of Self-Imposed Exile, was published in 2010 to absolute acclaim (by my father). Told from a first-person point-of-view, where the main character has neither an identified name nor gender, this is a story about what it means to be alive. Sure, it’s a little flower-y in some of the prose, but I was 25 and overly-idealistic at the time. Having recently read it after 15 years had passed – no matter how much I may have changed, I also realized I am who I am… and there’s comfort in that.
You can find my book on Amazon if you’re curious.
I’ve also contributed to BOXY, an LGBTQ food journal, as a freelance writer and photographer.
I’m also very passionate about food, wine and cocktails - owing to a previous career in fine dining. In addition to being a front server for some of our nation’s best chefs, I was also a wine consultant and occasional sommelier. I used this knowledge to educate and entertain during the pandemic with a virtual wine pairing and cocktail class.
As an open and proud gay man, DE&I efforts are important to me in the workplace. In 2019, I helped concept, facilitate and lead discussion for a Pride Film Festival at my place of employment. Afterward, we kept the film discussions going as a smaller internal film group of creatives and strategists.
