I have always had a habit of collecting new hobbies. It started with music. First piano, then saxophone and singing, then bassoon, and finally organ. First classical, then a cappella men’s quartets, then jazz and everything in between.

As I got older and moved to Washington, I added photography. At first, it sounded like a cheap and easy way to decorate my house. I was wrong. It was neither cheap nor easy. I researched and bought new gear and adopted new techniques, such as timelapses, 360-degree photography, and milky-way photography. It provided me with so many fulfilling experiences as I searched for the next beautiful location.

In order to find those locations, I had to start hiking! That, of course, bled into backpacking.

To quench my thirst after a long hike, I had to start brewing my own wine (a bit unsuccessfully), beer, ginger beer, cider, and make my own refreshing, flavored sparkling water.

And, of course, hiking made me hungry, so I started diving into smoking meats and cheeses, and improving my skills at making pizzas in a pizza oven.

I briefly dabbled in mountain biking, though I mostly dabbled in crashing.

When I got married, I learned how to make bath bombs, and have started making my own crafts with sublimation. I started learning woodworking so I could make my wife garden beds and other items.

As my son got older, and especially now that my daughter is old enough, I revisited a hobby I had as a kid and started skiing again.

Now that I play regularly for a church, I have started digitizing my music library and exploring the worlds of Hauptwerk and other audio programs.

And now, I am learning how to start my own website!

Over the years, I have realized that my main, overall hobby is learning new skills. I love reading about them, watching videos on how to do them, and then trying to put it all together. I plan for this website to be an exploration of many of my hobbies and hope that you enjoy exploring them with me!