About Me
Hi there! I'm Orphaeus (he/him). I'm a 28-year-old guy trying to figure out what to do with my life.
I've been several things already: a musician, a teacher (what I went to school for), a hobbyist programmer and game designer, a sort-of data scientist (what I went back to school for), a dungeon master, a conductor (what I went back to school again for), a band director, an online community builder and administrator, a tennis coach, a brother, a son, and a friend, among others. Some of those things I still am, some I am no longer, and some I'm not sure.
I'm interested in a lot of things, so it's hard to summarize what you're likely to see in this space. I can guess that it will include music, games, movies, TV shows, books (hopefully), poetry (mostly others' but sometimes mine), people I admire, things I'm thinking about, mental health challenges, various things from the world of technology, places I've been, pictures I've taken or found (once I upgrade!), art, philosophy, commentary on politics or current events, and anything else random I come across that I want to share with the world. In short: informative things, lovely things, and cool stuff.
For information on what I'm up to right now, see the Now page.
Questions You May Or May Not Have Asked
Why "Orphaeus"? What's that about?
- "In Greek mythology, Orpheus was a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet." I am (or have been) a music teacher, and at some point I decided I wanted a username that reflected that in some way. I think I probably just did an internet search for "mythological greek musicians" and went with the result I liked the best. Pretty anticlimactic, I know. I was also inspired by the main character in Ready Player One, who went by the pseudonym "Parzival", which is an alternate spelling of the name of a character from a different mythology. I decided to add an "A" in the middle of the name "Orpheus" to make it my own. This has had the added benefit of making it much less likely that anyone has already taken my name when I make new internet accounts!
What's the deal with the poem on your home page?
- I really don't know anything about Edwin Markham (at the time of writing, I haven't even read the page I just linked you to), but I know I like that poem. I first encountered it as an epigraph in the book Acts of Faith by Eboo Patel. I had the privilege of speaking with Patel when he came to my university's campus to visit my Religion and Peacebuilding class, and his ideas about pluralism and interfaith work have influenced my worldview ever since. To me, the poem is a concise way of expressing the way I try to live my life, or at least the way I wish I could.
Why does the bottom of your home page say "singing into the silence"?
- For the answer to that, see my first post, "Bricks".
Why do you obsessively add links to everything you write?
- I try to keep in mind that everyone has had different experiences than me and has different knowledge about the world as a result. One person might be surprised to see a link on the initialism "OS", but another may have never heard the term "operating system" before. I want to help people learn! The more people I can get to join each day's lucky 10,000, the better!
What if I have a different question? Or what if I just want to say hi?
- See the contact page! :)
Thanks for being here. I hope you find something of value to you!