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  • Maker

    About Me

    I make things.
    And I make things better.

    Creating and fixing things is more than just a hobby or a day job for me. It's a compulsion. I spend my days making website designs and building or fixing or enhancing websites. And when I'm not doing this, I make music, and I make pizza, and I write screenplays and stories, and I make toys for my children, and I remodel parts of our house.

    I'm basically a Swiss Army knife: some server management, some front-end, some back-end, some design, some content, a little bit of this, a lot of that.

    HTML / CSS
    javascript / jQuery
    Bootstrap
    WordPress
    Drupal
    React.js
    Copy Editing
    Music Composition
    Music Production
    Pizza-Making
    Screenwriting
    Plumbing
    Woodworking

  • Making

    Things I Do

    Digital

    I work with WordPress a LOT and I try to push its limits. Whether it's decoupling it to push content to multiple places or cramming an installation with custom post types and tens of thousands of custom posts to power a searchable database, I look for ways to get the most out of it as a full-on CMS.

    I'm fortunate to get to swap hats on a regular basis, jumping from DNS management to VPS updates to back-end PHP work to front-end work to presenting technical topics to non-technical listeners.

    Music

    I make music that seeks to sound otherworldly, mysterious, and, in many cases, broken. I create with instruments both real and virtual. I use a lot of effects.

    Generally, the things with vocals and/or beats and/or any kind of recognizable song structure happen under the name Sigerson.

    Things that are longer, ambient, unclassifiable, and stretched to their breaking point live under the name Tautener.

    Writing

    Before I was a developer, I was a magazine writer and copy editor. Oddly enough, copyediting and proofreading are useful foundations for developers, where syntax can be strict and unforgiving and a forgotten semi-colon can bork an entire application.

    Now I focus on creative writing, especially feature film and TV pilot screenplays.

    You can see some of my writing samples in the "Made" section.

    Check out my latest News and Updates here

    Woodworking

    Some kids grew up learning sports from their fathers. I learned about dovetails and mortise-and-tenon joints and birds-eye maple.

  • Made

    Things I've Done

    Digital

    Centofante.com
    Centofante Group

    Built with WordPress, centofante.com is a subscription-based service that provides searchable databases of magazine covers going back more than 20 years, as well as a database of 30,000+ email newsletters. Using the WP JSON API and an external search index, the faceted searches provide nearly instant results using keyword and faceted searches, returning tens of thousands of hits within milliseconds.

    Ericksonliving.com
    Landing Pages

    More WordPress: this time a landing page environment utilizing custom post types and Advanced Custom Fields to create a variety of templates for marketing landing pages. Custom shortcodes and specialized repeater fields can alter content and phone numbers based on a URL parameter. Uses a JSON feed from a separate Drupal site to pull in content.

    CampSonshine.org
    Camp Sonshine

    Yes, WordPress. How'd you know? Some custom fields, some faceted search, some ajax search, and some UI enhancements in the admin area to make it easy for camp staff to update the site.

    TanglewoodConservatories.com
    Tanglewood Conservatories

    This group designs, builds, and installs high-end and absolutely world-class conservatories and greenhouses. I came onboard to make a series of additions and updates to the existing site, plus speeding things up and switching to better hosting.

    Music

    Check out Sigerson music here.

    Check out Tautener here.

    Writing

    Power Schools
    Power Schools

    Baltimore magazine cover story, March 2006, about Charm City's neverending obsession with where you went to school

    Read Power Schools
    Beer Run
    Beer Run

    Going running and drinking beer with the Baltimore-Annapolis Hash House Harriers

    Read Beer Run
    Hog Happy
    Hog Happy

    My profile of legendary Baltimore Colt and barbecue icon, Andy Nelson

    Read Hog Happy
    The Guy's Guide to Baltimore
    The Guy's Guide to Baltimore

    The manliest thing you'll read all day. Note the illustration by the famous Boris Vallejo.

    Read The Guy's Guide
    The Warrior
    The Warrior

    My feature story from September 2006 on Ravens quarterback Steve McNair

    Read The Warrior
    Big Wheels
    Big Wheels

    Sweet gig: I used to write a car review column

    Read Big Wheels

    Miscellany

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    Power Schools
    Power Schools
    Power Schools
    Power Schools
    Power Schools
    Power Schools
    Power Schools
    Power Schools
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    Power Schools
    Power Schools
    Power Schools
    Power Schools
    Power Schools
    Power Schools
Power Schools

This piece was the cover story of the March 2006 issue of Baltimore magazine and it’s an interesting look at an example of a unique local cultural behavior that’s still as rampant as ever. I also threw a bone to those just skimming for names by citing many of the more famous alums of the various schools.

Of course, a not-insignificant portion of the responses were essentially “You guys are morons because you didn’t call [insert alma mater] a Power School!”

Within the office, it was generally considered to have generated more reader feedback, letters to the editor, etc. than any other single story anyone could remember.

Beer Run

I like beer. And I like running. But man is it weird when you combine the two.

And yet, there’s a long, rich history of running and drinking beer and using dirty nicknames for your fellow runners.

This is a story about that.

The Warrior

There was considerable hype about Steve McNair when I wrote this article as our annual Ravens feature story in the September 2006 issue. Of course, he went on to lead the team to a 13-3 record before an ugly playoff loss.

Hog Happy

The Man, The Meat, The Legend: Andy Nelson’s barbecue. It’s so good, we had them cater our wedding rehearsal dinner.

I love that it’s such a tight-knit family affair there. And that Andy Sr. is still there most days, oftentimes plugging away behind the counter.

The Guy's Guide to Baltimore

Yes, the town of Johnny U. and Natty Boh was in desperate need of a Guy's Guide. So I answered the call.

Note the illustration by the legendary Boris Vallejo, reprising his famous National Lampoon's Vacation cover with a Baltimore theme!

Big Wheels

So here's what used to happen: I'd call the special company that loaned out press vehicles and they'd deliver a car to me to drive for a whole week, and then they'd come and pick it up and I'd write a review. And if it was a pickup truck, I'd test the cargo capacity by remodeling my kitchen or something and hauling the debris to the dump.

It was heaven.