I have been called intense and frightening as well as gentle. I guess that makes me an elastic rock or something. Whatever I am, you're probably better off encountering it in person.
I don't want to have to prioritise my attributes. If you'll be trying to pick me out of a crowd, I suggest that you look for the blonde. This is one of my most striking physical characteristics, along with a small frame and sharp features. Attached to this is a deep voice that I hope speaks sense, no matter what language I'm trying to speak.
People often ask about educational background, so I'll mention that here too. After attending the small Mount Marty College in the US's Yankton, South Dakota (named for the Yankton Sioux people), I meandered off to Cambridge University for post-graduate coursework in social anthropology. Having earned my PhD, I am now in Finland doing various things.

Those things don't say who I am either, of course, though they might give some idea. These include enjoying a thriving live music scene, trying to keep the pages on this site updated, and doing freelance work in intercultural relations, art and logo design, and translation and localisation. The last forms the bulk of my work and consists largely of proofreading and editing - technical manuals, academic papers and theses, stock market releases, advertising material, medical reports, EU documents, end-user licence agreements, and so forth. If you or someone you know might benefit from these skills, please feel free to contact me at this email address:

                       
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I have various interests. I may be a bit of a dabbler, spending my life figuring out what I want to do with myself and enjoying the process along the way, but this has its uses.

Mary Pipolo, known for her direct artistic style and simply titled works, made this pencil drawing shortly after she returned from an art fellowship in Italy. She said the light and shadow are interesting with a subject such as 'Anna Sitting'. Mary herself, with wanderlust and a mischief-tinted sense of social responnsibility, never sat still much.

Art teacher David Kahle spent an afternoon listening to Pink Floyd while trying to capture the colours of someone 'people probably think is colourless until they actually have to mix the colours and find the complexity'. The background was painted as Kahle sat on the South Dakota bluffs. The painting now hangs where my parents have to see it daily.

Also, there might be some pictures here of other people and places. These pictures are here because others have asked me to put them online, and I provide no guarantee that they'll remain here for long.