Who’s the Neon Tapir?

I write computer programs for a living. I bring a strong test-driven and domain-driven design ethic to my work. I do my work in multiple language like C#, ASP.NET MVC, PowerShell and SQL, because I’ve found different languages suit different problems. I thrive in an agile environment, am a certified Scrum master, and have catalyzed the adoption and dispersion of Scrum and Lean practices at a number of companies. I excel at creating technical communities of practice: leading book clubs, brown bag lunch sessions and mentoring junior programmers. My résumé is available upon request.

Over the course of my life, I have studied several languages: German, Mandarin Chinese, French, Spanish, Esperanto, to name a few. Maybe it’s my mathematics bent, but I’m continually fascinated by the whole idea that I can smack some blocks with my fingers, the hammering form glyphs, and you, who might be half a world away, can discover something about what I’m thinking. Or, that I can whisper and be heard a thousand miles away. Language is so powerful, and technology just magnifies its effect a thousandfold. A googlefold.

I hold a second degree black belt (II Dan) with the United States Taekwon-Do Federation, though I don’t train actively these days. I’m looking for a physical activity that’s more gentle on my body. I do enjoy hiking, geocaching and playing backyard sports with the kids.

I play many board and card games. These days, Settlers of Catan, Power Grid, Dominion, Forbidden Island, and Pandemic are perennial favorites. I was a demo rabbit for Looney Labs games at local conventions.

I enjoy tabletop roleplaying games, too. I have been a gamemaster for over 30 years, though I’ve been dormant as of late. My last big campaign was set in the Firefly/Serenity universe, and it used FATE as presented in Spirit of the Century for its game rules. That gaming group that consisted of a dozen folks, some of which I’d known for a long time and others I only know through gaming.

The nickname “neon tapir” came from a meme game on LiveJournal a long time ago when I was tiring of my old nickname. While I adore tapirs and think the nickname evokes a bit of a cyberpunk feel, I feel like it’s time for a change. I haven’t yet hit upon the right one, though, so “neontapir” endures.

Please toss a comment into a post and say hi! Do let me know who you are, what you liked, and what you’d like to see! You can also get a hold of me on Twitter, where I am @ChuckDurfee.

This blog is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license, which essentially means you can share and adapt my work, as long as you acknowledge that it is indeed my work. Common sense, no?