About Christopher

I'm an LJ addict — click here to read my journal!

I was born in Houston, Texas on June 2, 1976. We moved to Tucson, Arizona when I was very small, and then we moved north to the high desert of Flagstaff, Arizona when I was 4. I lived there for many years, growing up, finishing grade school and then high school, and a bit of community college. This lasted until I was 21, when I packed the few things I owned into a U-Haul and, hitching it to the back of my little truck, drove to Cleveland.

I moved to Cleveland to start a new life with a man I met on the Internet. Brian and I were together for almost three years. Our parting has become amicable and we still email each other now and again.

I moved to Philadelphia over Easter weekend in 2001 to be with the man I became engaged to in February of that year. Ron and I were married in a small ceremony on October 6, with his mother, my parents, and many of our friends and family in attendance.

We live together in a rowhouse in South Philly and I hear and say the words "I love you" probably 50 times a day. I don't know if I could ask for anything better than that.

HOME

I really like Philadelphia. I'm always a little surprised by how much I enjoy living in the city, especially as I grew up in a relatively rural setting. Philly is never boring, though, and our circle of friends makes it an especially good place to live. There are those who denigrate Philadelphia ("Philthadelphia", etc.) but the present reality is that, despite definite pockets of squalor like you'd find in any city, and a spate of violence that has made national headlines, Philly is a great place. (Except for the weather, but I'm a desert boy and kinda picky!)

WORK

I work at the University of Pennsylvania in the Office of College Houses and Academic Services. I'm the webmaster and am the assistant of our Associate Director of Communications. Most of my duties revolve around graphic design, an area in which I have no formal training but which has held my interest since I was a kid. I design and produce vast quantities of print and multimedia materials for the department, and I love my job!

SCHOOL

I am an alumnus of Penn as well; I I received my BA in Religious Studies (with a concentration in History and Tradition,) Magna Cum Laude (go me!) in December 2006. I have also begun graduate studies; I'm a candidate for a Master of Liberal Arts degree at Penn. The MLA is a self-designed curriculum; my focus is on religion and gender/sexuality, with an emphasis on the evolving relationship of gender and sexuality to new religious movements (NRMs). I am certain that this will be a real career boost, allowing me to become a billionaire by the age of 40.

RELIGION

Since childhood, I have been a person of faith. For a brief look at my spiritual journey, click here.

I'm a Dedicant of Ár nDraíocht Féin, A Druid Fellowship, Inc., a neo-pagan faith community dedicated to creating "our own Druidry": a modern, ethical, sane religion based on the ancient Pagan faiths of the Indo-European peoples. I am the grove organizer for Spiral Spirit Protogrove, ADF, a fledgling Philadelphia-area congregation of that organization.

PLAY

SCA

I've been an active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism since 1994, and most of my hobbies revolve around medieval recreation. I am a calligrapher and illuminator , and I used to fence. I once fought heavy and was even squired at one time, but I regained some sense. I occasionally threaten to lose my mind again, having gone so far as to buy elbow and knee cops to start re-making some armor. If I'm smart, I will continue to procrastinate.

I also enjoy sewing — or at least I enjoy it when I'm not ready to tear my hair out over the tricky bits. My interests in history tend to center around the Tudor era — my particular interest is in the English Reformation — and some of my clothing tends toward a "Henry VIII" fashion sensibility. I think I look better in that era's clothing than I do in any other clothing, including my modern ones. It helped that the fashion leader (Henry) was a big guy! Plus, I get to wear a codpiece. Who could resist?

More and more these days, though, I have grown lazy and decadent and switched to mid-late 14th century French/English fashions; tunics and hosen are much easier to make and wear! I generally dress as authentically as I can for that period; it turns out wool and linen are about ten times more comfortable in hot weather than cotton, and period underwear are both comfortable and not overly inconvenient. I am particularly interested in the tournament culture of that period.

By virtue of my marriage I am also a member of House Urso. Camp Urso has been a presence at Pennsic War for 9 years now, and has grown from a tiny encampment of 5 people to an expected attendance of around 30 this year. We're a Bluefeather (gay)-friendly encampment as about half the campers (and almost all of the Household) are Bluefeathers, and we are particularly known as being a camp for those of the Bearish persuasion.

I am also a member of the Barbarian Freehold Alliance, but am currently holdless as I have moved to the East, which is pretty much Barbarian-free. I was initiated into the Freehold by the then-heads of Brigid's Hold.

SQUARE DANCE

I am a member of the Independence Squares, a gay and lesbian square-dance club in Philadelphia. We're members of the IAGSDC, an umbrella organization for gay square dance clubs around the world. I dance at the lowest level of difficulty, the "Mainstream" level, and am now learning to dance at the "Plus" level. It's been a great way to have fun and be active!

OTHER

I enjoy studying languages and religion, and like to play around with computers and the Internet. I've been online since 1989, which is more than half of my life. My online obsession in the 21st century has been LiveJournal, where I spend way too much time keeping up to date with all my friends, many of whom I've met in person.

I speak Esperanto, the most widely-spoken constructed language on Earth. I started learning it in 1988 and, much like Arnold J. Rimmer, still have trouble getting all the words right. I read Biblical Hebrew thanks to my BA work. I have studied many other languages to some extent as well; another area of interest is Ojibwe (my mother is a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles band of Lake Superior Chippewa), and I am slowly studying Welsh and Irish for religous purposes.

I enjoy all types of music, but have a special place in my heart for the work of Howard Jones.

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last updated November 9, 2008