I grew up on Chicago's North Shore, studied percussion with Slingerland's master teacher, Jake Jerger, pursued a degree in jazz performance at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, and played drums professionally in the Midwest for a decade. I've since earned a master's degree in computer-assisted language learning and have worked for several decades as a technical writer and trainer for software development companies. My obsession with music and drumming, however, is unabated. I am especially interested in R&B recordings of the 50s and the rapidly evolving world music scene. I live with my very own rocket scientist (my wife, Susan)just south of the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, Arizona, where we enjoy digital imaging, classic English novels, science fiction films, hiking, meditation, and Indian cooking, as well as one brown dog as big as Beowulf and an arm full or two of rescued cats. Following a rock climbing accident, I've had to abandon my trapdrum set, but I can see clearly now conga drums and tablas on my horizon.