Zachary's bio:
Myself described in about 400 words. That seems like an absurdly small number to encapsulate the eclectic mix of fun, happiness, heartache, worry, fear, thrill, excitement, hope, aggression, frustration, pleasure, pride, patience, joy and love that I have been so lucky to enjoy over the course of 25 years. In all probability, I’ll have one hell of a time composing the last 50 of those words. I’ve never been a very calm guy. I learned how to sit still, but it required seventeen years of classroom confinement (Ohio public/Ithaca College) and I never really did get very good at it. I simply have to be doing something at all times. In school I doodled, filling every margin of every page. In most cases my best art classes were history, math, and science. Now that I’m an “adult”, out and about in the working man’s world, the constant flood of information and byte sized bits of absurdist entertainment that the internet provides keep me grounded in the otherwise impenetrable monotony of my job. In most other cases I am moving as much as possible. I run, I swim; I bike a lot (almost everyday to and from work). I play drums and guitar, paint, draw, and sculpt. I read as much as I can, mostly online articles/blogs – because it’s my job - comic books as often as possible – because I’m a huge nerd – and novels when I have months of uninterrupted solitude [en: never]. I worked construction jobs as a teenager because the mall seemed a scary tomb of blind commercialism and excess. I love to be out doors, harboring a life long obsession with the study of wildlife, so I invariably love to camp, hike, and rock climb. I can play soccer but am mediocre at best. I suck pretty badly at all other sports requiring any coordination. And I LOVE film top to bottom (writing, shooting, editing, watching). I really just do not deal well with being bored. So there I sat at my desk at work watching one of the endless progression of online cat videos – the new gold standard in plebian entertainment – when my beautiful girlfriend asks me if I want to go on a two month bike ride with her across the US building affordable houses along the way. “I’m sorry”, I ask, “could you repeat that in my good ear?” I get to combine several of my favorite activities on a daily basis while being physically active AND helping to alleviate some of the massive housing issues we have in this country? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. “Yes”, I offer, “ I believe I can be persuaded.” “Well Brad” (our mutual friend) “ just got back from this years trip and said it was one of the most profound experiences of his life. So I think we should see if we can do it,” my girlfriend very calmly informs me. Sold. Turns out I need four hundred and ninety eight words.
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