All right, who is this Marnen person anyway?
Glad you asked! I’m a composer, musician, and computer geek originally from the New York area. I’m currently a graduate student in the Contemporary Improvisation program at New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts; like many other Boston-area graduate students, I live in the nearby city of Somerville. I do music (performance, composition, and engraving) and Web development professionally, as well as various other computer-related things from time to time (non-Web programming, Web design, network support,…). If you’re interested in hiring me, you might want to look at my résumés (either for music or programming). I have also done a bit of work with computer animation; there will be samples of that here at some point.
Besides music, animation, and computer stuff, my interests include:
- Genealogy. I’m currently working on my family history; more about that as I get it done. Eventually, I hope to have my family tree on this website. I’m using a wonderful program called Reunion, from Leister Productions.
- Heraldry, or the study of coats of arms. A really fascinating topic; Heraldica is a good place to look for more information.
- Languages. I’m especially into constructed languages; in addition to various natural languages (English [duh], French, German, Russian, Japanese,…) , I speak Esperanto and Klingon.
- Medieval reenactment. Since 1998, I’ve been involved with the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group that recreates the Middle Ages (600-1600 CE) as they "should have happened," generally with a great deal of historical authenticity. My persona in the Society is named Ze’ev ben ‘Arye. He’s a Jew from Egypt, ca. 950 CE, but has somehow found himself in a place called the Barony of Concordia of the Snows, located in the East Kingdom.
- Skiing. Yes, I ski, both cross-country and downhill, and have done for about 18 years. No, I’ve never broken a bone or been otherwise seriously injured in my life. Any other questions?
- Cycling. I love to go on extended cycling trips, though I don’t often get the chance. I’d like to start hiking and backpacking too, but no time yet…
- Folk dancing. I am an avid English and contra dancer (go to the Country Dance & Song Society website if you don’t know what I’m talking about). I play and dance with Pokingbrook Morris Dancers of Albany, New York; I was also the musician for Hat City Morris of Danbury, Connecticut, when that team was active. I also play a great deal of music for folk dancing; see my music page for more on that.
- Sex and sexuality. Instead of saying much here, this topic will have its own page (that way, people who aren’t interested don’t have to see it, and overzealous filtering software won’t block everything else).
As this site expands, some of these interests will undoubtedly have their own pages. Meanwhile, you’ll just have to be content with these little teasers! ;>
![[Made on a Mac]](/images/madeonamac20050720.gif){kind=small}