who: Steven Jarvis

where: I live in Northwest Arkansas with my wife and young son.

when: I’m a native Arkansan, and I grew up in Batesville and Newport before heading for the hills in Fayetteville. I’ve also lived in Mississippi and (briefly) Alabama. I attended college at: Arkansas College (now Lyon College), Hendrix College, University of Arkansas, University of Arkansas – Little Rock, University of Mississippi, University of Arkansas School of Law. I’m an over-educated under-achiever (B.A. English/Creative Writing, graduate work in English and American Lit, M.A. Southern Studies, J.D. Law). I have worked as a: cook, disc jockey, dishwasher, fly tier, reporter, editor, lawyer, web designer + developer, and editor again. I’m not sure what’s next.

interests.

• outdoorsing: flyfishing, canoeing, hiking, camping, exploring with my son
• Scouting. The Boy just started Cub Scouts, and so have I.
• music. I play guitar, bass, clawhammer banjo (poorly) and now ukulele, which is a blast.
• design (esp. Modern and Mid Century Modern, graphic design, and web/interaction design).
• role playing games (esp. Burning Wheel).
• LEGO
• Apple Computer and the Macintosh (and the iPhone).
• reading (fiction: esp. Science Fiction, spy/espionage thrillers; non-fiction: food, nature and science writing, etc.; Comics: mostly indie)

food.

Anything fresh, whole, local, organic, good. Japanese (esp. sushi). Chinese. Southern/Home Cookin’/Soul Food.

music.

Historically, my favorite music is 80s and 90s alternative (back when it was called “College Rock”), but I also listen to a lot of real Soul, classic metal, surf (classic and new), real country, indie pop, and electronic music, such as: Al Green, Boards of Canada, Booker T. and the MGs, The Church, Curtis Mayfield, Elvis Costello, Guadalcanal Diary, Guster, Hüsker Dü, Iron Maiden, Jack Johnson, The Jayhawks, Joe Jackson, Lyle Lovett, Marvin Gaye, Minisystem, the Ocean Blue, the Orange Peels, the Pernice Brothers, the Police, the Postal Service, R.E.M., the Smithereens, the Smiths, Tangerine Dream, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Tycho, Ulrich Schnauss, the Wallflowers, Wisp, and lots of others on a random, rotating basis.

books/fiction.

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, Microserfs by Douglas Coupland, Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner, The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons, Neuromancer (and most of the others, too) by William Gibson, A Heart to the Hawks by Don Moser, The Watch: stories by Rick Bass, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle.

movies.

Blade Runner; Ronin; the Bourne trilogy; Lost in Translation; Jaws; Star Wars; That Thing You Do!; Blue Velvet; Sideways; Juno; Indian Summer.

television.

Dexter, Burn Notice, The Closer, My Boys, Entourage, True Blood, Battlestar Galactica,Firefly (RIP), The Sandbaggers (great British spy show from late 70s/early 80s)

five random things about me:

1. I can roll a kayak.
2. I can make a cheesecake from scratch (and a good one, too).
3. I taught myself to read at the age of three.
4. I do everything left-handed except play golf (which I suck at).
5. I once dined with a past president (Jimmy Carter) and a future president (Bill Clinton) at the same time.

updated: 2010.02.21