I’ve been a software engineer in one form or another for 25+ years. Coming from humble beginnings as an aspiring comic book artist, I got my start as a Flash Animator at an ad agency. I dove deep into learning ActionScript and got my first taste of programming, and was immediately hooked.
In those early days, I built “rich interactive apps” for brands like KFC, Taco Bell and Circuit City during the golden age of Flash. After Steve Jobs killed my tech platform of choice, I got on the HTML5 and responsive web design bandwagon. I created some viral open source projects like Scrollorama, BigVideo and Responsivator.
I left agency life to join a startup as their first full-time developer hire. After helping scale that business until it was acquired, I've continued to work as a Staff Software Engineer (and sometimes Engineering Manager) at mission-driven tech companies like GiveSmart, Community Brands and now VEG, ER for Pets.
I live in the suburbs of Chicago with my amazing wife and our two boys. In my spare time, I like to create stuff for fun, like experimental web apps, novels, screenplays and other random stuff that pretty much no one ever sees except for me. I also like to camp, cook and ponder the nature of the universe.
My job is also my hobby. I keep myself busy with many various side projects, always learning and creating for fun.
My code has been featured in...
CSS Tricks | Hacker News | Awwwards | Webmonkey | JavaScript Weekly | Frontend Focus | Codrops | Wired | Web Tools Weekly | The JavaScript Show | Unheap | The Next Web | Impressive Webs | Think Vitamin | sfist | jquer.in | The Verge | The Treehouse Show | Tuts+ | DailyJS | Web Resources Depot | Codehum | instantShift | Web Resources Depot | Award-Winning Websites
I've gotten the chance to speak at...
Front End Camp | Techweek Chicago | Prototype Camp | CHIHTML5