It seems I've always been in the right place at the right time.

I've been involved with computers ever since I was five. My father had a Heathkit computer that I doted over. By eight, I was BBSing and meeting people online. By the time college came around, it was 1993.

My introduction to the web was at the very early stages of the web.

It became a serious hobby.

By the next year, I was teaching a beginner HTML class in my dorm to incoming freshman. I was one of the first hundred or so people on campus with a personal website. However, I was a serious botanist, determined to graduate in less than four years and have a career in systematics (that is, the identification and classification of plants). Then my path changed in early 1996.

I met Dr. Richard Crang.

Meeting him gave me a new direction. I no longer wanted to trek in the forests of South America. I had found something that I was not just good at, but something I enjoyed doing as well. I would have enjoyed being a full-time botanist and I'm good at botany, but there is such an appeal to making my hobby by career. Botany is not my hobby -- it's what I decided to study because I had to. I don't do it outside of class or study. Web development on the other hand...

I hope that I never tire of it.

In March 1999, I was made a Digital Diva. I've been perusing the beautiful websites of Digital Divas for a long time, learning from their technique and their layout and design. I knew I was in the presence of Something Good(tm), and I would be a fool to not take advantage of it. After I purchased my own domain, [woolgathering], I set about creating a look and feel that I would be proud of. Something that spoke of who I am and what I do. It took several months and several redesigns, but I hit it. I discovered something that spoke of me and to me.

After I hit paydirt with my web design and several months of developing meaningful content, I felt confident enough to apply to Digital Diva... and this is the result of it. Needless to say, I am very proud to be a member of such amazing talent -- to be thought of as one of the best. By being a Digital Diva, I am part of an environment where my skills will grow through the mutual sharing of knowledge and talent. Also, I get to know the webmistresses behind such great sites better. My creative energy has been fostered through the relationships I've had with extremely creative and interesting people; being a part of Digital Diva will help that process.

I bring to the Divas extremely strong HTML coding skills. I live and breathe HTML and design HTML tables in my sleep (Notepad is my friend). My CSS knowledge is incomplete, being deficient in correct application of the technology that I know well. Programming, I'm skilled in JavaScript and DHTML, with LotusScript and Domino knowledge that I only foster at work. My layout skills are slowly improving, although it seems that I find it hard to slip away from the generally minimalistic style I demonstrate. Graphics are my weak point and I often go through several iterations of graphics before getting something pleasing.

What is [woolgathering]?
[woolgathering] is a site which serves as a central, unifying hub for my personal daydreams and ideas. It's my thoughts made tangible through the medium of the web. It contains my writing (in the form of an online journal and essays), my linkware graphics, my photographs, and my artwork. It's my woolgatherings. Exploring me through these avenues are far more valuable than any description I can give on this single page. Go on. Begin.