Family

While it may not seem very smart to tell potential employers and clients that my family comes first, there is no point in denying it: family does come first for me. That being said, I do try to maintain a healthy home/work life balance.

Writing

My father imagined an amazing and well-developed science-fiction world for a series of books he was unable to complete before he passed away. It turns out that I inherited some writing ability, too, and I am working on bringing his world to market. The Worlds of Dave W. Murray will be a collection of series that take place both on our planet and in his imaginary world. I have been busy editing his unfinished works, and I've started developing and writing original stories that will tie-in and enrich his worlds with exciting new possibilities.
In addition to science fiction, I have written a variety of texts, developed course materials, and done technical writing and documentation work. I also proofread and edit for another author who has written several New York Times bestsellers.

When writing, I mostly use Microsoft Word to do my writing, but sometimes I use Google Docs or Adobe InDesign. I know there is more specialized software out there for certain industries (screenwriting, for example), but Word and Docs are sufficient for most of my needs.

Youth Programs

I am a volunteer leader in the Boy Scouts of America (which is co-ed now, so it is usually referred to simply as the BSA). I have worked with youth ranging from first grade (Lion Cub Scouts) to 20 years old (Venturing and Sea Scouts). I am a registered leader in both the Golden Empire Council (covering the northern central and eastern parts of California) and the Los Padres Council (covering San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties). I feel that BSA program is so vital to helping youth grow and mature in ways that they cannot in school or academic sports. It helps them build resilience and a sense of achievement that is very different from anything most other youth experience.
I am also a firm believer in the value of academic sports. I became very active in the Inderkum High School wrestling team, and became a certified Academic Coach to assist the team and its other coaches. The important thing is for those involved to remember that these are student athletes. Programs like this supplement and expand on the lessons learned in school, but education must still come first.
I am also planning to take on a more active role in my church's youth program for junior and senior high school students. Having helped raise three youth (my two nephews and my niece), I am committed to helping raise a community of children who become responsible, capable, passionate, and ethical adults.

Graphic and Web Design & Information Technology

I started doing graphic design work professionally in the 1990s. I mostly moved from that into information technology, where I became a Microsoft Certified System Engineer and earned several other I.T. certifications.
Still the graphic and Web design was a recurring and enjoyable part of my work. What I really want to do is combine my eye and passion for design with my skills and love for computers in a creative and collaborative way. I can easily see myself working behind the scenes on a gripping feature film or at a theme park, developing an exciting and thrilling visitor experience.
Unlike many people who work in the I.T. field, I am very much a "people-person", and I love communicating with them and sharing ideas. Creativity is a key characteristic that I crave. Whether it is spitballing ideas for a new website or helping a company design a better business network, the sharing of ideas and working toward a common goal is something I am very passionate about.

When it comes to Web development, I prefer using Adobe Dreamweaver (if I am designing a site from scratch) and Mobirise or WordPress (if I am looking for rapid setup and easy maintenance). For media galleries, Piwigo is an amazing platform that is improved steadily over the years. For Web languages, I am most comfortable in PHP (as well as HTML, XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript, of course). I also program in C++ and my degree is in Java, though in both cases, my education has ignored GUI programming and the associated frameworks. I started programming in BASIC, Pascal, and Perl, but have not used them in many years. I also dabble in Microsoft Visual Basic, VBA, DOS, Power Shell, and Linux shell scripts.

Mixed & Multimedia Artist

Did you see one of my drawings, photographs, or videos posted somewhere? My gallery has many you probably haven't seen. I have many more images that I still need to upload.
I am familiar with and have used most of the Adobe Creative Suite product line over the years, though I have only scratched the surface in most of the programs compared to what they are capable of doing with more experience and training.

My go-to programs for art and graphic design are:
· Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for raster and vector drawing;
· Adobe Photoshop and Light Room Classic along with Google Photos for photo editing;
· Adobe Premiere and Audition for video and audio editing;
· Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word and Publisher for desktop publishing; and finally,
· I have used Corel Painter, but even with a tablet, I find the interface awkward, and I prefer to use real media like acrylic paint, colored and graphite pencils, or charcoal.