Here’s a few biographical nuggets about me.
I was born on Elvis Presley’s last birthday. Now I live in Las Vegas.
I’ve been a professional travel writer for more than half my life. My first book was accepted for publication before I was old enough to legally drive. I parlayed a genre-defining Las Vegas travel guide into a career as a gaming industry insider, helping leading Las Vegas casinos promote themselves via direct mail, email marketing and social media channels. See my writing and marketing portfolio.
I graduated from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce in May 1999, after focusing my studies on marketing and management. I kind of always hated school, but I have a voracious appetite for self-directed learning.
I ran the marketing department for a small software company in northern Virginia for nearly five successful years. While living in the DC metro area, I also performed as a DJ at many of the legendary now-defunct clubs of the city, such as Nation and the Edge. I played progressive trance when I first started DJing in 1998 but quickly transitioned into deep house and achieved quite a bit of skill and notoriety before losing interest in DJing.
I left Virginia in May 2006 and have never looked back. I now work as a relationship marketing executive for a leading gaming company. I write direct mail, email campaigns and web content for all of our customers. I also analyze market and industry trends and conditions and prepare reports and strategy documents. Find out more about my career by reading my resumé and reviewing my portfolio.
I have two younger brothers in New Jersey and a cat named Triana, staring jealously at my laptop.
I love good eating and I’m equal opportunity about it, going equally bananas for James Beard nominated chefs and sackfuls of White Castle. (In fact, I’d usually opt for the White Castle.) I am fiercely allergic to dairy. It sucks about as much as you’d imagine. I sometimes eat pizza and cheesesteaks anyway. Read reviews of restaurants, meals and other food-related stuff here (coming soon).
I also play video games, but these days mostly just Rock Band. I have a massive library of songs. Find out more about my entertainment habits plus reviews of movies, music, television and video games here.
I post sporadically on Twitter and blog here and at swina.com, but I’m trying to get better about it. You can use the links at the top right to get in touch with me via any of the usual social networks.
I hope to add more social features to my website as time goes on, but bear with me – this burst of productivity on it this weekend is the first love it’s seen in years.
