Hello, my name is Eric and this website is dedicated primarily to my playing with and learning about Javascript. Secondarily, it is intended for showing off some of the things that I have designed. Each page is dedicated to a different project, most of which are under ongoning construction. I would love to give Daniel Shiffman at The Coding Train a shout out as his series and book The Nature of Code have been great inspirations.
So why is this website here?
Just for fun. I use programming as a creative outlet and enjoy trying to implement new ideas, using new techniques and languages. I was a bit late to the game; finally learning for-loops during my junior year of undergraduate work at Brandeis University, but have taught myself to code over the past few years. I have gone through a few phases in my coding career - first, I was a Stata (statistical language used mainly by academics) junkie often answering questions on Stack Overflow about local macros. Then, while working at the Fed, I began playing with R and Matlab because they are a bit more flexible, but found Python to be the best experience out of the bunch. Currently I do most of my coding at work in SQL for querrying databases and Python for data science. I picked up Javascript somewhere along the way in my free time and have done all of the coding for this site in JS, HTML, and CSS.
And who are you? This is supposed to be an about me right?
Hi again, my name is Eric, I am from Massachusetts and went to Brandeis University for my undergraduate studies in Economics and Math. After graduating, I worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston as a Research Assistant for a couple of years and enjoyed the benefits of an academic environment that is friendly to me pursuing coding knowledge. I then breifly pursued an economics PhD before transitioning to a data analysis role at Care.com where I was having fun avoiding SQL and thinking about incremental premiums. Currently, I am making a further career move to either software development or the nonprofit sector.
That's nice, but who ARE you?
Great question, me! Here's some rapid fire influences: I look up to Patreon for allowing creators to make a living doing what they love. People who ran cross country in high school are my favorite. I do my best to be an ally and enjoy smashing the patriarchy. Some of my most pure moments have been on a snowbard. My favorite cities (so far) are Bergen and Vancouver. I have, on a number of occasions, tried to teach myself the piano and failed quietly. I have collected ways to say I love you in nine different languages from friends. I look up to Lupe Fiasco. I prefer REI. I am fine with the fact that I will never be a good dancer. I enjoy enjoying sunsets and the occasional sunrise. I love traveling but don't care for simply checking countries off a list. I wish I liked cooking more. I proudly donate to ProPublica, UNHCR, and Snap Judgement. I am a big fan of dogs, especially ones with wolf-ears who like to play. My first paycheck was spent on an Indo board and a trainer kite. Bamboo plams are the way to go for indoor plants and red morning glories for outside. Highest on my list of subjects that I want to learn more about are geology, meteorology, combinatorics, topology, and ecology. I am energized by Adventure Time's bright outlook. I prefer the Van der Grinten projection's beauty and am humbled by the privilege of exploring our blue dot.
And finally, some unsolicited recommendations
Three apps that I think everyone should take a peek at are:
- GeoGebra AR (awesome math visualizations)
- Alto's Adventure (pure beauty and clean design, Fiest, Gris, and Machinarium also fit in here)
- Gris (powerful story and beautiful visuals
I also read quite a bit and if you're wondering, I recommend four books and four books only.
Peter Høeg's The Elephant Keepers' Children.
Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
E.E. Cummings' The Enormous Room.
Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist.
I recommend them in that order but love them all equally myself.
I feel like that was probably too much, but, stranger on the internet, I am who I am and I'm not embarassed to tell you I love to dance even though I don't do it well.