I am a writer, editor, and recovering academic. I was trained as a cultural critic, and my fields of credentialed expertise are modern culture (including literary modernism, early cinema, and theories of modernism and modernity), the history of the novel, film theory and history, and literary and cultural theory. I have secondary training in philosophy, and I tend to approach cultural studies from a philosophical background—while looking at philosophy through the eyes of a critic. Some of my academic writing is posted here; if you find it interesting or useful, drop me a line to let me know.
In addition to my formal training, I have accumulated genuine (albeit informal) expertise in several other fields, most notably constitutional law and gourmet food, and I am a consumer/connoisseur/critic of all types of culture, from TV to drama to comic books to fine art. My blog is an eclectic mix of commentary on whichever of these I feel like talking about at the moment.
Finally, I have been a Scottish Country dancer for more than seventeen years, and I am currently the chair of the San Gabriel Valley Branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. You will find in the "Dances" section of this site a few of the Scottish Country dances I have choreographed.