JoeB

about me

I live around Pittsburgh PA.. a land-locked ocean junkie. I'm an IT manager but yearn to be an artisan. I've grown up and moved around the north-east USA, Ohio, Kentucky, Long Island, Pittsburgh, progressing through the ranks of Information Technology. I've always loved networking and Unix administration.

Love to cook, read, stained glass, home brewing, music, and I like to collect bamboo flutes.

I love to travel and had the pleasure at one job to visit Italy, Ireland, England, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, and several countries in South America repeatedly. I loved to seek out the small local restaurants and try new foods. Blessed with a keen sense of direction, I would try to get lost in a new city then enjoy the adventure of finding my way back and seeing the sites along the way.

I also love the ocean and swimming is a passion. I swim at least 3-4 times a week as a member of the local YMCA Masters Swim team and to stay in shape for an annual surfing vacation in the Outer Banks. I'm not much of a wave shredder but give me a week of nice clean long-board waves and I'm in heaven.

I love to cook. I love to cook for people and wow them with new tastes and foods they've never experienced before. A fun Saturday for me is a day of cooking in preparation for a perfectly timed and executed dinner for friends. I can't count the number of times I've spent far too much money and way too many hours preparing a meal, just to do my best to hide both of those aspects (out of embarrassment!) and pull off a meal that appears to have taken an hour to throw together. I think I like to cook even more than I like to eat, but it is close.

Favorite Foods:

I love Thai.. and a correctly grilled steak is one of life's greatest treasures. I love cheese, sushi, Asian style noodles, Chocolate, Mexican (the real stuff, not that gringo slop), Italian, Chinese (the real stuff, not that gwailo slop), Brazilian, Columbian, Cajun, BBQ (Texas Brisket and North Carolina Pulled Pork)

http://