WoodCop: Scraps: My Brother Chris

My Brother, Chris
Dedicated 9/2/2005

      This page is dedicated to my brother, Chris, because without him this website would probably not exist. Not only was Chris the original designer of this site, but he was also responsible for the name "WoodCop". Therefore, it seems only fitting and proper that I officially acknowledge him somewhere on my website.

      When I began creating my website it was basically just a way to help promote my woodworking side business. At the time I did not know anything about HMTL or website design. Chris, on the other hand, has an extensive background with computers and has had his own personal website since long before we began creating mine.

Check out Chris' website!
      I ended up relying heavily on Chris for help designing, building and maintaining my site. Initially he did everything; I would simply email him some text and a few photos and he would add it to the website for me. After the first two years or so, however, the website had grown and so had my interest in web design. So, with Chris' help, I took over the maintenance of the site in the summer of 2003. Now we each maintain our own sites and that gives us even one more hobby in common.

      Chris and I share many hobbies besides web design -- woodworking and photography, to name just two. Not only do we each enjoy these activities, we also enjoy sharing them and discussing them with each other. I think that our mutual appreciation for these interests and, even more so, our ability to discuss them with each other, truly inspires each of us to continue to learn more and improve our skills in these areas. And having someone to share the hobbies with also makes them much more enjoyable.

      My conversations with Chris are often extremely rambling and will jump from topic to topic in a way that most other people would probably view as disjointed and confusing. We call these our "stream of consciousness" conversations. We often reference previous discusssion topics or each other's previous comments in order to lead into some new topic. Many people do this. But Chris and I have done this so much, and in such a skipping-around manner, that we can shortcut directly past the first (and usually the second and third...) reference to arrive at the new idea. For example, one of us may reference something (a joke, a quote, a phrase, etc.) that, for purposes of this explanation, we will call "Item A". Both Chris and I know that in previous discussions "Item A" led us to "Item B", "Item B" led us to "Item C", and so on. Okay, now here's the interesting part. Chris and I will frequently jump from "Item A" to "Item E" -- without explanation. Anyone listening to us would have no idea how "A" led us to "E" but, to Chris and I, this verbal quantum leap makes perfect sense. (And it saves time.)

The photo below is of my brother, Chris, hiking in Red Rock Canyon outside Las Vegas, NV. I took three separate photos of him with this eventual panorama in mind. Chris actually assembled this panorama himself once I sent him the photos.

Click on the photo above to see a larger image!
      Chris is also one of the smartest people I know. His depth of knowledge on a wide variety of subjects is astounding. He can design, fix or build just about anything. And even if he can't build it himself, he can almost always explain how it was built and how it works. Admittedly, this can be maddening at times -- like when you have been listening to him explain how some contraption works for 10 straight minutes and then you say to yourself, "You know, this is kind of interesting... but I only asked him a yes or no question!!" Nonetheless, I appreciate his insights and I am glad to have him to turn to for help on a variety of subjects.

      Chris has helped me broaden my knowledge in many areas. Our discussions are sometimes carefree and silly, and sometimes deep and introspective. But they are always interesting and enjoyable and, more often than not, inspiring. So, it is with all of this in mind that I dedicate this page to my brother, Chris. He is a man whose intelligence I respect, whose kinship I honor and whose friendship I cherish.

      Thanks bro.