Finally settled in Portland, ME, I kicked around Boston and Martha's Vineyard doing seasonal jobs during the mid-2000s. After walking away from a career as a high school English teacher in 2001, I found work in a Maine boatyard and accrued "sea time" towards a launch driver's license (think: water taxi). Eventually, in 2003 I joined my father on the Vineyard and began a 4-year summertime stint as a launch captain, becoming manager of Old Port Launch in Edgartown after only one season on the job. During the off-season months I dabbled in carpentry, freelance writing, and joined a friend, John McBreen, in Boston running a small website management firm (www.designapps.com).
After 4 years of moving around and tasting brief (again, seasonal) successes, I said goodbye to the gorgeous waters and pricey bars of the Vineyard and committed to writing website copy for DesignApps. After a year and a half, I returned to Portland to pursue a freelance writing career.
For three years I was a carpenter by day and writer by night. Recently, due to the downturn in the economy, my days as a carpenter have been seldom, and I have been given the 'freedom of time' to pursue my true passion--writing. I am currently the author of The White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs (www.nelma.org), the Portland Film Examiner, and a go-to 'writer guy' for various small companies around the country, including Translators, Inc. and Shift5 Studio. I have recently re-teamed with John McBreen to start an Internet Marketing blog e-InfoActive.com.