The Personal Side
My name is David Morenus, and I am a MWMG (Married White Male Geek).
To erase all doubt, here is my
Geek Code (v3.12):
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GCS
d+(-) s: a
C++++$ UA++$ P- L E- W++ N+ o- K-? w++ O+ M+@ V
PS+ PE+ Y+ PGP+
t+ 5- X- R- tv b++ DI++++ D G+
e++ h r++ y++*
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
I am into rock climbing (top rope), ballroom/latin/tango dancing,
rollerblading, sightseeing, and reading. I enjoy experiencing a creatively
designed space, a good movie, an interesting conversation. I am fascinated
by world history and culture, and by the evolution of complex systems.
I took piano lessons for 13 years as a child; now I enjoy playing MIDI keyboards.
I amuse myself drawing, diagramming and designing things, concrete or abstract.
At least, that was me until I got married and had a baby. Now I do dad stuff. Commute. Lug home vittles. Sit in front of a computer.
I may get some pictures up here eventually, but I've been promising that for 15 years now.
Recently, I have been practising my piano, the Brambach baby grand my mother bought some decades ago.
(more)
First, I brushed up my old classical pieces by Chopin, Beethoven, Lizst, Debussy, Grieg,
DeFalla, Khachaturian, Copland, and Lecuona.
Then, I tried pop. I got sheet music for Motown soul, Elton John, and Ray Charles. Most were too simple, but
a handful were good, particularly "Baby Grand", by Billy Joel with Ray Charles.
Finally, I wanted to learn jazz. My old friend Marc Solomon once advised me to avoid a standard school style,
and I am classically trained, not an improviser, so I decided to begin at the beginning, learning from
sheet music transcriptions of early jazz piano performances.
I had already started with ragtime, so I moved into Harlem Stride with Eubie Blake, James P. Johnson, and Willy "The Lion" Smith,
but I was especially drawn to "Fats" Waller.
Fats played at 150 MPH, but each individual chord still sounds great crawling along at 2 MPH.
By contrast, there is no point messing with "Jelly Roll" Morton's music until you can sight-read it at a reasonble speed.
It just does not work one note at a time.
So far, the two virtuoso Stride pieces I have worked up to performance level are
The Charleston Rag, by Eubie Blake, and African Ripples, by Fats Waller.
Now I am moving on to Teddy Wilson, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and some George Gershwin.
I find that the music of "Duke" Ellington or Dave Brubeck is less virtuosic, but very elegantly composed.
I am mibbling at the edges of Art Tatum; I admire his ability but don't really enjoy his early output.
Actually the first transcription I bought was "Oscar Peterson, Note for Note." I tried it but had to abort.
It may be "note for note", but note by note, it is inpenetrable and interminable. Like "Jelly Roll" Morton, it has to be read
with at least a little speed, which I can do now, so I'm circling back to it.
I am a Pocahontas
descendant. She was my great- great- great- great- great- great- great-
great- great- grandmother, on my father's side of the family.
To be fair to my mother's side of the family, I am also a
Mayflower descendant,
and I have an ancestor who threw tea into Boston Harbor at the Party.
Family and Friends
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The Professional Side
Software Developer
- Java (J2EE, JSP, servlet, portlet, Swing), JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, Ada, C, SQL, XML, HTML, CSS
- Networked 3-tier data-driven architecture ...or... Real Time, Simulations, C4ISR, CBT
- Object-oriented Analysis, Prototype, Design, Code and Test
- Cleared TS/SCI with full scope.
- 25 years experience
Web design, illustration, video, sound effects, music
- Finished pages and graphics to your specifications
- Can edit or produce original artwork, music, audio, video, graphic elements.
- Experienced with Adobe Photoshop, Flash, GIMP, Corel, Sony Vegas, Roland Sonar, Audacity.
- Skilled pianist/musician - synthesizers, keyboards, sound production.
My Resumé
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