Digital Nature Photography — In addition to being a freelance journalist, I'm also a freelance photographer. I started shooting digital pictures underwater, capturing images of the many wonderful animals I came across while diving. Later I ventured into land digital photography as well, taking shots of hillsides, forests, hiking trails, the rugged California coast, and more.

Technical Writing & Programming — I began programming for the Web back in 1994. I learned HTML, Perl, PHP, and web design while creating web sites for customers. I also learned the Java™ programming language, and in 2000 began technical writing.

Scuba Diving — I spend many of my weekends diving the Monterey and Carmel bay. California has some of the best diving in the world, and this beautiful coast brings special challenges to underwater photography like nowhere else. The water is cold, but it's worth it. My favorite place to be is in the giant kelp forest, hence the name of this site. Kelp critters hold special appeal for me, and I am often one of them.

Buddhism — The emphasis of Buddhism is compassion for others, and for all to be happy and free of suffering. To walk the Buddhist path is to explore our minds, our intentions, our viewpoints, our selfishness, and our delusions. To be a Buddhist is to work at being mindful, to be present while having respect and compassion for all other beings.

Tarot for Personal Transformation — Most people are familiar with tarot cards, but associate them with gypsies and other fortunetellers. But the real value of these cards lie in personal insights and transformation. Because the cards use the universal language of symbolism, each card contains multiple levels of human experience.