Notebook of Sand

Contents

Contact: jnm@rubberpaw.com

Curriculum Vitae

• Recent Publications
• Recent Projects
• Conferences & Speaking
"Comparing Spatial Hypertext Collections"
  ACM Hypertext '09
"Archiving and Sharing Your Tinderbox"
  Tinderbox Weekend London '09
"The Electronic Nature of Future Literatures"
  Literary Studies Now, Apr '09
"The World University Project"
  St. John's Col. Cambridge, Feb '09
"Ethical Explanations,"
  The New Knowledge Forge, Jun '08
Lecture, Cambridge University
  Tragedy in E-Lit, Nov '07
Hypertext '07: Tragedy in E-Lit
Host for Tinderbox Cambridge '07
Keynote: Dickinson State Uni Conf
Upper Midwest NCHC'07: Speaker
eNarrative 6: Creative Nonfiction
HT'05: "Philadelphia Fullerine"
  Nelson award winning paper
NCHC '05:
 Nurturing Independent Scholarship
Riddick Practicum:
  Building Meeting Good Will
NCHC '04:
  Philadelphia Fullerine
  Lecture on American Studies
WWW@10: Nonfiction on the Web
NCHC '03: Parliamentary Procedure
ELL '03 -- Gawain Superstar
• (a)Musing (ad)Dictions:

Ideas. Tools. Art. Build --not buy. What works, what doesn't. Enjoy new media and software aesthetics at Tekka.

Theodore Gray (The Magic Black Box)

Faith, Life, Art, Academics. Sermons from my family away from home: Eden Chapel!

My other home: The Cambridge Union Society (in 2007, I designed our [Fresher's Guide])

The Economist daily news analysis

Global Higher Ed blog

• Hypertext/Writing

Writing the Living Web

Chief Scientist of Eastgate Systems, hypertext expert Mark Bernstein. (Electronic) Literature, cooking, art, etc.

Fabulous game reviews at playthisthing.

• Stats

Chapter I: Born. Lived. Died.

There is a Chapter II.

Locale: Lancaster County Pa, USA

Lineage: Guatemala

Religion: My faith is the primary focus of my life, influencing each part of me. I have been forgiven, cleansed, and empowered by Jesus Christ. Without him, I am a very thoughtful, competent idiot. With him, I am all I need to be, all I could ever hope for. I oppose institutional religious stagnation, but getting together with others is a good idea. God is real. Jesus Christ is his Son, and the Bible is true. Faith is not human effort. It's human choice. I try to be the most listening, understanding, and generous person I can.

Interests: Anything I can learn. Training and experience in new media, computer science, anglophone literature, education, parliamentary debate, democratic procedure, sculpture, and trumpet performance. Next: applied & computational linguistics, probably.

Education: Private school K-3. Home educated 4-12. Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Elizabethtown College in Jan 2006. As the 2006 Davies-Jackson Scholar, I studied English at St. John's College, Cambridge University from 2006 - 2008.

Memberships: Eden Baptist, Cambridge Union Society, ACM, AIP, GPA.

Alum of the Elizabethtown College Honors Program, sponsored by the Hershey Company.

High School Interests

(written in April, 2002, sitting on a bench at Elizabethtown College, enjoying the creative inspiration of the beautiful campus while I worked on my application to Patrick Henry College. That day, I chose to attend Elizabethtown instead)

I am interested in anything that is interesting. Eclecticity seeps into my brain much more easily than the thunderingly similar data of a single concentrated topic area. Though I tend to gravitate towards computer, science, and math information, I will just as likely find an article on a political, religious, or historical topic just as interesting as an article on how astronauts keep their Coke fizzy in space or a book on how public key encryption works.

My interests are gauged by how much time I spend in each of them. I spend time on my personal relationship with Christ (greatest interest), computing, writing, performing trumpet, and cycling, in order.

Though I do not spend most of my daily time actively engaging in monastic exercises of personal study and reflection, or even in what would popularly be considered religious activity, I have determined to mold my entire life, moment by moment, in a way that is pleasing to God. This is my greatest interest.

The second-most done activity in my life is computing, as it is currently my job. I do try to spend some time off the clock exercising this interest, but if allowed free in the wild, it would probably take third place to the next interest: writing.

I enjoy writing very much. My writing topics and style tend to match my eclecticity, though I enjoy the role of an essayist-poet most of all. I have written many instructional articles, though I have lately stayed away from them due to my over-exercise of that area of writing. I enjoy poetry, and while few poets ever put bread on the table and write substantial amounts of poetry, I am not motivated by anything primarily for money and find poetry an expressive way to communicate things that prose is unable to.

I have played the trumpet since the end of third grade and have become fairly accomplished at it. Music is important to me, and I find the practicing every day to be a satisfying relaxation.

When I have time to ride my bicycle, I do. At one point, I used to actively train and race, when I came out of obesity and worked more diligently on my physique than I am now. I still train, but you won't see me win any of the informal meets each Tuesday any more. But cycling provides another extra physical relaxation, despite the intensity of exertion, and I always feel refreshed, relaxed, and motivated after a good ride.

I can never tell when I will be interested in something. But that is what makes life an interesting hodgepodge of many facts, experiences, activities, and lessons.

A random scriptural musing from the archive:
[On a Soul Journey]:-: [Isaiah 40:28-31 ]
Vicki says: Taken from a soul journey this morning… what an awesome reminder of God’s strength, power and majesty!
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.