A bit about me
I'm 40 years old and I've lived and worked in Edinburgh since 1997. I was born in Manchester, where I lived until I was 21. I then spent the next six years or so studying and working in Sheffield. This time was broken by (among other things) spending a couple of semesters at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee from '90-91. I then lived for a couple of years in Bristol before moving to Edinburgh. I've worked for Heriot-Watt and Napier and Edinburgh University, worked as a freelance web developer for a while, and now I work for the National Library of Scotland.
You'll find my interests are pretty much reflected in this site, but for the record include photography, music, cinema, art, architecture and design. I am also bit of an electronic gadget freak and I like Apple computers, wasting time on the Internet, even reading the odd book when the mood strikes.
It's always great to get email, so whether you have some comments or suggestions about this web site, or just fancy an e-chat, please feel free to contact me at the following email address: chris@cjo.info.
You find photos on the self photos page, and below is one of those "favourite things" things :-)
Favourites
Food: Haagen Daz Rasberry sorbet, Bobby's Coconut Cakes, Italian, Japanese (I love a good noodle restaurant), north African, Spanish, French.
Music: Long term favs include Joni Mitchell, Dead Can Dance, Kirsty MacColl, Tarnation, Kate Bush, REM, Fangoria, The Trashcan Sinatras, Mary Margret O'Hara, Gus Gus, Rufus Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright, Turin Brakes, Shea Sega, The Reindeer Section, Elbow and Frou Frou/Imogen Heap. See the music section for more about what I'm listening to at the moment.
Actors: Kevin Spacey, Stephen Dorf, John Cusack, Bruce Willis, Jude law, Mitch Pileggi, Paterson Joseph
Actresses: Kathy Burke, Miranda Ricardson, Christina Ricci
Movies: Sleepy Hollow, Fifth Element, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Shrek, The Opposite of Sex, Rosemary's Baby, North By Northwest, Wonder Boys, Ripley's Game, Perfume. See the cinema section for more.
Books: My reading tends to come in fits and starts. I enjoy SF, e.g. Brian Aldiss and David Wingrove, gay stuff such as David Leavit, escapist fantasy stuff like Philip Pullman, and other stuff like Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, Perfume by Patrick Suskind and Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
Places I have visited and enjoyed: Paris, Prague, Krakow, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid, Salamnca, Siguenza, Toledo, Cuenca, Granada, Gothenburg, New York, Chicago, Amsterdam. (I tend to be a city person rather than a beech person when it comes to holidays.)
Places I would like to visit but haven't: Iceland, Finland, Italy, northern Spain, Lisbon, San Francisco, Boston