Hobbies

Most of my time is spent working - partly because working with computers is also a hobby for me. So even when I'm not earning money doing it, I can be found writing software programs and fiddling with configurations.

I do have a few other hobbies however, that I try to persue when I'm not knee deep in servers and hash tables...

Anime

Sometimes referred to as "Japanimation", in two words anime is described as Japanese animation. That short explaination doesn't do it justice however. Anime has a long and facinating history, but it wasn't until recently that it has really become popular here in the U.S. - despite early imports like Speed Racer and Robotech.

A relative latecomer to the cultish anime following (not to be confused with the current marketing-hype of Pokemon and Dragonball Z), I'm now enjoying the plethora of videos and DVDs that are so simlar to my favorite childhood cartoon - Starblazers.

And I'm very excited to have finally obtained my first anime statuettes (click the pictures to see larger shots); Yuri (right), from the comic and video series Dirty Pair and her partner, Kei (left). Kei and Yuri are Trouble Consultants in a futuristic universe where they get to play with big guns and bigger explosives. They get called in on the really tough (and often strange) jobs and tend to go at their work with gusto, enthusiasm and complete disregard for property ;-)

Thanks so much to my family who gave me the birtheday money that enabled me to finally start my statue collection. And to my boss, who loaned me his digital camera so I could get better shots of them with all of you. If you'd like to get your own Kei & Yuri statuettes, swing by Dreamstrand Comics, near 85th and Greenwood in North Seattle. He's got them on display, so you can see what you're getting before you plunk down your cash. Tell 'im Shawn sent you :-)