The Man Behind the Cluelessness

If you bothered to read this far, I should at least tell you more about myself. My wife is somewhat opposed, due to some incidents in Japan relating to the internet. But with FaceBook and all, I've managed to persuade her a little into letting us open up some, especially for family and friends.

Mentioning FaceBook, you can find me there, as well:

Mike Wrenn's Profile | Create Your Badge
Mike Wrenn's Facebook profile

Sooo . . . I live and work in Japan . . . .

In Japan!?!

Kind of a long story. You see, it started with this beautiful Japanese lady . . . . it was greatly influenced by this extreme need to get away from Americans.

Everybody seemed to think I was headed this way, anyway.

Names and Handles

Names and handles, past and present:

  • Mike
  • cabelo
  • simple_ton
  • carbolade
  • ryn (no longer supported)
  • ishanachandra (no longer supported)

My Various Obsessions

I am currently obsessed with . . . .

  • CSS and web design (definitely a love hate thing)
  • Production Workflows
  • my iTouch (take it as you will, I hold it in my left hand)
  • Macross F

CSS and web design is a necessity born from my work and the fact that the internet is such a pervasive part of all we do today. I love CSS because it is very elegant and precise. I hate it because it was developed by more technically oriented people, and not "artistic types" (designers, animators, writers, and the like)

Production workflows. Baby, this site is a study in production workflow. I have finally figured out how to get DreamWeaver, Coda and Tinderbox working together so that I effectively have a semi-dynamic web site that does not require PHP or MySQL. Within the bounds of my meagre CSS and HTML capabilities, I have complete control over how my website looks and what goes on it. Also, it's faster and easier to update, and the administrative backend is on my desktop . . . NOT the internet. That's important. And my entire job is pretty much defining new and better ways of getting things done. But that's work . . . .

My iTouch does not leave my side. Ever since I put that dreaded Facebook app on there, it practically doesn't leave my hand. More than that, though, it really is a very important part of how I get things done (workflows). I recently lost my bag on a train in Tokyo. I was greatly relieved when I noticed my iTouch wasn't in it. The bag and its contents had more sentimental value, and I got it back intact.

The Macross series . . . watching a pirated copy of the Macross Movie (no subtitles) in Mom's living room right up until I had to go to work as a cashier at Target . . . that was the moment I decided I would learn the Japanese language. How's that for geeky? I will probably post more in the Anime section of this web site.