About Katin

Katin (at right) hangin' with Rich Ferguson

I'm a systems guy, and I love bridging systems together. Connecting high-tech and high-touch together just thrills me for some reason, and my choice of hobbies reflects that.

I like hobbies:

Language & Linguistics

Codes, ciphers, lyrics, constructed languages, sign language (ASL), and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). I like exploring the linguistic structures of social concepts like trust, friendship, emotions and flow.

In high school I took 3 years of Latin, 1 year of German and 1 year of French. I didn't like French. I've home-studied Russian. I don't speak Klingon but I'm learning Na'vi (from the movie Avatar). I have done work constructing my own languages for various purposes.

Cool resources for learning about linguistics include:
The Wikipedia entry for Linguistics
The Linguist List, a rich resource of information, posts and links.
MIT's free online courses in Linguistics & Philosophy

Radio & Electronics

Old-time radio programs as well as old-time radios (1950's-1970's). I like building radios and fiddling with electronics. CB radios, HAM radios, old tube radios and hand-wound coils and crystal sets.

Magic & Card Collecting

I'm just a hobby-level performer with a few card tricks. I like writing stories and patter to go along with effects. There are some pretty cool decks of cards available these days.

Games & Puzzles

Board games, strategy games, card games, computer games, video games, miniatures games and role-playing games. I've designed games for computer play and table play, and I used to write video games professionally. I like doing puzzles and I create puzzles, both paper and physical-object types.

Books, Movies, Scripts & Music

These are the light that reflects the form of the world, the human race and our societies. I love books and reading. I have several friends that work in the film industry, and I get a charge from learning about film-making, the craft of acting and special effects technology. I was involved in community theater for 20 years in all kinds of roles and titles. I was in a couple of rock bands and have done music and audio production professionally. Music history is fun for me.

Second Life & Virtual Worlds

I build in-world environments, scripted objects, experiential learning sets, booths and displays and anything needed for fun projects and role play. I explore and I'm an in-world tour guide. Come meet me in-world; my avatar's name is Kalisten VanDornan.

Philosophy & Sociology

I've studied Ken Wilber's Integral Theory and many of the books surrounding that, the Generations theories and books by Neil Howe and William Strauss, and ontological studies in the lineage of Humberto Maturana, Fernando Flores, and Richard Strozzi-Heckler.

Currency & Exchange Systems

The ultimate high-touch-high-tech bridge, money and currency systems. I work on these at a hobby level right now, mostly from a linguistics-systems view and how to embed great exchange systems into software.

Some say I'm a xenophile.

My favorite place: Montaña de Oro

For work, I'm an association manager, web developer and skills trainer. See my professional blogs and web sites for information in those industries. For due diligence folks, you may be interested in my page of statements.

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