User:The.dharma.bum

I live in St. Paul, Minnesota. I grew up in Stillwater, Minnesota. I received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Minnesota in Dec. 2002. I currently work in corporate communications for a large company in Eagan, Minnesota, I do some writing, communications strategy, and a lot of messing around with the corporate portal, which is powered by Plumtree.

Please, leave me a note on my talk page, I enjoy connecting with like-minded folks.

BWCAWiki
I founded and am one of the primary contributors to the BWCAWiki, a wiki about one of my favorite places on Earth, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Writing
I have been blogging at the dharma blog since 10/2004. I write about my experiences in the natural world, wilderness, writing, and life in general. I also post the occasional photograph. I have been half-heartedly working on a novel, most of it posted on there as "The McDonald's Kid." It is around 12,000 words now, but I would like to devote more time and effort to it in 2006 and 2007.

What It Means to Me
I remember when I was a little kid I believed that there had to be somebody in the world who knew everything. Everything. I repeatedly asked my parents who that person was. I couldn't accept that there wasn't such a person. Knowledge seemed finite, school seemed to be a means to learn as much of it as possible.

Anyway, sooner or later I accepted the fact that no such person existed. But, I do believe that with Wikipedia and other Wiki projects, the idea of gathering everything of any importance that we humans know is possible. And beautiful.

Username
My username is an allusion to a favorite novel of mine by Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums, and that book's hero, Japhy Ryder (based on the poet Gary Snyder).

Articles created

 * St. Croix Boom Site
 * Isaac Staples
 * Minnesota Territorial Prison

Articles worked on

 * St. Croix River (Wisconsin-Minnesota)
 * Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway
 * Fly fishing
 * Afton State Park
 * William O' Brien State Park
 * Superior Hiking Trail
 * Jack Kerouac
 * Stillwater, Minnesota

(All my contributions...)