I graduated from Duke University in 1984 with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, one semester shy of an Electrical Engineering degree. I worked as a software developer from 1982 until 1999 when I left my job as a software developer at Sirsi to become a massage school administrator and to begin my private massage therapy practice.
I sing professionally, appearing in the North American debut of Francesco Cavalli's La Didone in the Washington D.C. Baroque Festival, and have sung with Apollo's Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra since 2005 for concerts, tours and recordings. I have also sung here in Huntsville with Vox Angelica, a five-voice a capella ensemble, with the Zefiro Series, a non-profit Baroque production company dedicated to bringing quality Baroque music to the Huntsville area, and have performed the tenor solos in two Bach Cantatas with the Huntsville Master Chorale.
In bodywork, I am a Licensed Massage Therapist and a Licensed Massage Therapy Instructor in the state of Alabama and have taught at two massage schools where I have authored and edited massage texts and have created massage therapy curricula. I love teaching, and specialize in the teaching of musculoskeletal anatomy.
In 2015 I completed a 147 hour certification to become a Systemic and Family Systems Constellations Facilitator. Constellations work is incredibly effective, and there is nothing like it. I offer monthly constellations workshops.
I am a shamanic healing practitioner and have worked with shamanic teachers from many traditions and from two continents.
Being a true Gemini, I love everything, and I have a shallow knowledge of it all. My truest and most abiding love is finding out how things work and troubleshooting problems. This served me well in the engineering and software worlds (did I say I was only one semester shy of an Electrical Engineering degree? No? Well, the course, Physics of Semiconductors did me in, alas, and I transferred into the Arts and Sciences school to ultimately get that CS degree), and serves me equally well in the field of massage. I always want to know why. I think that is what's behind my total love of anatomy and Kinesiology, the way that our bodies move. Bodies are wondrously complex things, and I never tire of working with them and divining their secrets.
My summer jobs have been just as varied as my interests:
- in 1979 I was a research assistant at Florida State University
working with an electron accelerator (an ancient 2 MeV Van de Graaf
thing complete with cool-o control panels), for which project we were
working to optimize electrostatic precipitators that are now routinely
used in coal-burning power plants to reduce H2SOx particulate emissions.
And it was fun, too!
- in 1980 I worked in the pharmacy I had worked in during High School as a pharmacy tech
- in 1982 I was on the installation crew of our church's new tracker
pipe organ, since I was just hanging around taking pictures of the
install ...
- in 1983 the same company hired me to work on the installation crew of the largest tracker pipe organ at that time in the US at the University of Texas at Austin in the Bates Recital Hall. That was a dream summer! I mitered pipes, got to make some of the pipes from scratch, rolling out the lead and forming the pipes; I had a hand in installing every facet of the instrument, did the voicing for the Ruekpositiv, and did the entire rough tuning myself. What a blast!
- 1984 saw me as a singing waiter at the now-defunct Farm House Restaurant. I was the first (and possibly only) second-generation Farm House waiter, my Father having worked for them in the summers when he was in college. Oy. What a job. Worked like a dog. Gave me good incentive to stay in college.
As a big boy, my summers have consisted of musical instruction at the Baroque Performance Institute, and most recently at the Vancouver Baroque Festival in breathtakingly beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia.
I speak basic German and broken Dutch and Spanish, am learning French, can pronounce Italian, and I know a few words of Japanese and Chinese. I'm a fantastic mimic; when I travel abroad, I can pick up the sound and inflection of a language so well that when I speak, people think I'm native.
I've gotten good reviews for my singing from the Cleveland Plain Dealer for my work as Evangelist and soloist in the Baroque Performance Institute's production of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio.
I love cool lamps and also love inventing new ways of bringing light to a room. I've got a studio full of unique lamps that my husband made for me out of driftwood.
Just like Black Elk, I believe that the circle is the most perfect shape. I believe that it is one of the most holy shapes, too. To me the circle reaffirms that we're all connected; that all things are part of a whole.
Five is my favorite number.
I've hiked portions of the Appalachian trail, taken multiple-day overnight bike trips, and have SCUBA dived in the Florida Keys and in her fresh-water Springs. At one time I could free-dive to about 45 feet and hold my breath underwater for about two minutes.
I approach life with the attitude that everyone is my friend. Sometimes I have to reassess. But not usually.
I'm an avid reader and love movies, especially funny ones. Violence, confrontation and jump-out-and-go-BOO makes me ill.
I've travelled in Germany, Czech Republic, France, Peru and England, and have spent a month in Austria when I was twelve and just learning German. I've shopped at Caron's chic boutique in Paris for perfume. And was amazed at the subtleties of scent! And they really do pour it out of that urn for you.
I've done a lot of applications programming in my day. I've built large-scale SQL database applications. I think SQL is pretty cool as a mathematical abstraction and tool, but rather unpredictable in terms of server resource requirements. I feel the same way about Ethernet: it works fine until it doesn't. Indeterminate, unpredictable throughput. Token-ring, now there's a fabulous, predictable, graciously-degrading network architecture! Except when the token falls out.
I've designed and installed very large scale token-ring networks that interface with SNA mainframe networks. On very, very young PC hardware. Where I had to hard-wire interrupts and memory locations for the software drivers. For 150+, differently-configured machines. Yehah.
I TCP/IP. I was once a Novell CNE. I grok communications.
In my massage room, I've talked to clients about rocket engineering, laser-sighting, CMOS settings for computers, acoustic vibration/damage problems to high-pressure pumps on orbital vehicles, satellites, telemetry, architecture, glass-blowing, art, language, and travel. I am a shamanic practitioner.
I'm not your typical massage therapist.
Click here to experience the magic.
