I'll tell you who Zero Dean is...

Ok, wait. This whole referring to myself in the 3rd person isn't gonna work. It's not what Zero Dean would do! I mean, *coff*, it's not what I would do...unless I was just totally messing with you. ;)

So, who am I or what makes me, me? Tough question. I'm lots of things to lots of people. Let's start with this...

Whatever I do, I try to have a positive impact.

Cheesy, I know. But it's true, so let's just run with it.

So does trying to be a "good guy" mean I'm some kind of pushover?

YES!

No wait...I meant no. Yes, definitely no. Not a pushover. ;)

And if you smiled there, good. I think life is best experienced with a healthy sense of humor. So I don't take things too seriously. That includes myself, life, and crickets (I mean seriously...have you ever taken a realy close look at crickets?)

I like to travel, write & have adventures. And lately I've been doing all of those a lot... which is super cool.

And it is my intention to live a "remarkable" life. And that's something I am taking an active role in right now.

You could say I tend to think a little different. I often prefer choose the roads less traveled in life (or make my own) on purpose (and sometimes not on purpose.)

I'm still pretty much fascinated by everything... how things work, where they came from, how they came to be, history, science, art, communication, relationships, technology, literature...

Yes, that does, in fact make me a big ol' nerd. Or geek. Or whatever you want to call it. I'm hesitate to say "smart person", but you know what I mean. And whatever you want to call it, I'm cool with that.

And if you're a big ol' nerd (or geek also), awesome. I like you already.

So anyway...

Life isn't a dress rehearsal. That's one of the things I keep in mind on a daily basis. I'd rather take calculated risks & make mistakes than always live within my comfort zone.

And I'm a "dreamer". Some people see dirt where I see a sandbox.

I still look up at the stars in absolute awe.

I strongly believe the world is beautiful place filled with amazing people & I think the good exponentially exceeds the bad. That's what I see.

I don't care about money (except for the "freedoms" it provides) or possessions either (other than for what they allow me to accomplish). I don't live life trying to be like anyone other than myself.

Life, for me, is not about "having more", "keeping up", or "trying to impress". To me, self-worth is only genuinely effective when it comes from within.

And while I like to tick boxes (checklists are fun -- so is bubble wrap!), boxes are not something I fit into very well (or nutshells either), so I'm not very well defined by what I do.

I can probably most appropriately be described as an open-minded, free-thinking, adventurous, stereotype-defying, creative person with a positive attitude and a thirst for knowledge.

Oh... I grew up in Maine, but I've lived & worked all over. New England, Australia, Baltimore/DC, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Las Vegas (to name a few places).

What else...

Well, I consider myself a "jack-of-all-trades", but a master of none (though some seem to think I'm pretty good at photography.)

I don't think I'm particularly good looking (but I've got "charisma", as they say), I probably wouldn't make a very good "celebrity", and I'm not an actor. Putting my face online always makes me cringe (but I'm getting better about it). There are days I feel like a complete idiot and not a day goes by that I don't question what I'm doing. And I'm probably too old for any of this to be considered "normal behavior".

But I've been called "charming" & "genuine". Most people seem to like me. And sometimes I'm funny. I'm an optimist, I don't judge people or take things too seriously, and I have a zest for life.

I seem to have a knack for being around when interesting things happen. So maybe that's enough.

My actual "story" is pretty complicated, but if you have the time & interest, you can read more about me & what I'm doing by browsing this site (see about me & my backstory).

Some Career History...

I formerly worked at Rockstar Games as a Senior Environment Artist on Red Dead Redemption.

I also worked at Big Huge Games on Rise of Nations as a 3D Artist.

Even though I've mainly been in computer gaming, my ties to the 3D/CG/FX industry run pretty deep.

I also worked as a professional photographer in Baltimore, Washington DC, and Los Angeles.

And I used to make websites for a living (but this site is just based on Joomla and I'm mainly using a template to make things easy to manage).

I like to write, travel, meet people, and have adventures.

This section contains way more than you could possibly want to know about a guy with a number for a name.

And yet, I'm going to tell you anyway! :)

See below...