My name is Mike (known online as morphball and indyvoter), and I'm a 38-year-old IT specialist currently living in Raleigh, North Carolina. I was born in October of 1971 in South Florida, in an area of Miami called Coral Gables. I grew up in a small, Spanish-Mediterranean house built in the 1920's, and lived there with both parents and 2 siblings until around age 22. Afterwards, I resided in several other places in the Coconut Grove and Kendall area over the years (including a restored turn-of-the-century barn, a structure called the "Windmill" by locals, a friend's guest room, and even a small trailer in a family member's front yard). I earned a BBA in Computer Information Systems from the University of Miami, where I also worked as a library assistant, web designer, and system administrator in order to put myself through college. Other schools I attended were Coral Gables Senior High School between 1987-90, Ponce de Leon Jr. High between 1985-1988, GW Carver Middle School between 1984-85, Coral Gables Elementary between 1981-84, GW Carver Elementary between 1980-81, Deerbourne between 1977-80 (...or is it "Deerbourn" or "Deerborn"? No matter, it's now a parking lot), and I clearly remember going to pre-school here around 1976.

I have had a life-long interest (nay, obsession) with art, music, and learning ever since I can remember. As a child, I could often be found doodling on any available surface, loitering at the library or museum, or stargazing in my front yard. As a teen, I tormented family and neighbors with my guitar, harassed pedestrians on a skateboard, developed a fascination with some esoteric Eastern/New Age/Pagan subjects (reincarnation, astral projection, lucid dreaming, etc), and as an adult became heavily interested in computers, technology and 3D.

I moved out of South Florida in the Spring of 2006; I currently work for Duke University, and my future plans involve growing accustomed to a culture lacking bikini-clad beachgoers, Cuban cuisine and art deco, learning from what life throws at me, and building an environmentally-responsible first home with my soul-mate on a large parcel of wooded land.

 

Interests

• Art,
• Lowbrow (Pop Surrealism),
• Photography,
• Maya,
• Linux,
• Traveling,
• Hiking,
• Mountain Biking,
• Technology,
• Astronomy,
• Internet,
• Gaming,
• 70's/80's Punk, Goth & Metal Music,
• Sci-fi , Horror, Supernatural & Fantasy Stories.

 

Favorite Movies

• A Clockwork Orange,
• Conan the Barbarian,
• Dogma,
• Donnie Darko,
• Enter the Dragon,
• Evil Dead II,
• Fight Club,
• The Gods Must Be Crazy,
• Lord of the Rings,
• The Matrix,
• The Lost Boys,
• Pitch Black,
• Return of the Living Dead,
• Serenity,
• Shaun of the Dead,
• Snatch,
• Star Wars.

 

Favorite TV Series

• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
• Dead Like Me,
• Dexter,
• Family Guy,
• Firefly,
• Futurama,
• Ghost Hunters,
• Insomniac,
• Invader Zim,
• Lost,
• Northern Exposure,
• South Park,
• Star Trek OS,
• Star Trek TNG,
• Tales From a Parallel Universe,
• The Twilight Zone (1959-64),
• The West Wing.

 

Favorite Music

• Dead Can Dance,
• Descendents,
• Fear Factory,
• HIM,
• The Hives,
• Misfits,
• Nine Inch Nails,
• Ramones,
• Screeching Weasel,
• Slipknot,
• The Smiths,
• Tool,
• Type O Negative,
• VAST.

 

Favorite Books

• American Gods,
• Anansi Boys,
• Daughter of the Drow,
• Darkly Dreaming Dexter,
• Dearly Devoted Dexter,
• Good Omens,
• The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
• Star Wars: Tales Trilogy (Kevin Anderson),
• Tourist Season,
• The Vampire Chronicles,
• World War Z.

 

Favorite Graphic Novels

• The Books of Magic,
• Hellblazer,
• The Sandman,
• The Savage Sword of Conan,
• Spiderman,
• X-Men.

 

Other Crap I Own

• Apple 60 GB iPod Photo (with protective Contour Design 4G Showcase),
• Casio Exilim EX-Z750,
• Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP,
• UTStarcom PPC-6700,
• OnCourse SiRF star III Bluetooth GPS Receiver,
• Celestron 9.25" SCT,
• Meade ETX-60.

 

Favorite Games

• Neverwinter Nights,
• Dungeon Siege,
• Knights of the Old Republic,
• Orange Box.

 

 

SoHo

My rig is a DIY project built in November of 2007:

• COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution w/ Real Power Pro 1000W PSU
• ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 Motherboard
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz Processor w/ G0 Stepping @3.2GHz
• MSI GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB 384-bit Video Card
• 4GB G.SKILL DDR2 1000 SDRAM
• 2x WD Raptor X 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drives
• WD Caviar 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
• Hauppauge WinTV PVR 350 Video Recorder, TV/FM Tuner Card
• SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner, 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe
• ASUS SATA DVD-ROM Drive DVD-E616A3T
• ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
• 6x Thermaltake A1926 120mm Blue LED Case Fans

The peripherals are two 20.1" Dell 2001FP flat panels on an Ergotron mount, Monsoon M-700 speaker system, Canon Canoscan n1220u, Logitech G7 laser cordless mouse, Saitek Eclipse keyboard, Wacom 6x8 Graphire3 tablet, Logitech cordless Rumblepad 2.

Under the hood:

My 2002 Specialized Hardrock Uno on a trainer (cause it's too damned cold to ride outdoors in January):

And behold my fancy cable management...