View from Gaviota Peak, southeast into Santa Barbara Channel; my house is in the picture, but too far away to see. As my small kingdom takes up less than a pixel in this photograph, so any contribution I make to Wikipedia is just a tiny part of the whole.
Long-term Wikipedian, who has been with the project since April 4, 2004. The longest I've ever stuck with anything on the internet. Sometimes it's fun; sometimes, not. Main difference between now and then is then I thought I knew more than I actually did. Finishing a doctorate can give you the idea you know more than you do. Reality and humility come in unequal doses, as time hurries by, but come they do, if you let them in the door. Back in 2004 you could just write what you knew in those vast empty spaces longing to be filled. That is true no more. Make sure you have sources, and don't write if you don't understand what you are writing!
I'm mainly a content contributor, although I do other things, including maintenance, since I'm an administrator. Here's a list of articles I've written; sometime in early 2010 the number passed 600. I've written a few things outside of mainspace as well, such as my observations on behavior here on Wikipedia, and some general thoughts.
When I discovered Wikipedia I was immediately enthusiastic. The possibilities of the project for growth, for visibility, for quality, and for its contributors the possibility of just having fun, for any intellectual person who likes to write and happens to have some extra time, were enormous; indeed it was one of the first places I had ever found on the Internet that didn't feel like another few electronic acres of wasteland. I've been here now for over twelve years, and I'm still writing. It's usually a pleasure, at least the writing and editing aspects of the project. Some may think I'm nuts for spending so much time writing an encyclopedia, but I tell you it's exciting to see one's articles shoot to the top of Google rankings shortly after their creation. Not only do I find it exciting, but I increasingly find it to be my duty, as someone having a specific expertise, to put accurate, readable, and well-sourced information into that top Google position.
Master's and doctorate are in music composition, with a minor in music theory; undergraduate majors in both music and geology; seven years of teaching undergraduate and graduate students in music theory, music history, orchestration, ear-training, sight-singing, composition, counterpoint, repertoire, and various other subjects; violinist, pianist, and most recently, thereminist; former editor of a music research journal; moderately obscure composer. Most of my teaching experience is in the classroom, but I have also tutored and taught small groups and individuals.
After leaving academia, for reasons with which I will not bore you, I have increasingly become a musicologist; I have always been fascinated with history, musical trends, the interactions of people and places and ideas; I love figuring things out, and tormenting uninterested friends and relatives with more details about Renaissance Ferrara or Padua or Venice than they can stand. Long ago I learned to recognize that glazed-over look of people who have listened politely for a moment too long, so now I have thankfully discovered Wikipedia. I am here because it gives me an outlet for everything I learned in school, and still love. Here I can share, and if other people can make use of what I write, that makes me happy.
Out of the big university, and being unenamored of a life of poverty and struggle as one of thousands of unemployable people with advanced degrees in a humanities field, I acquired some competence in a few more practical areas of endeavor. I manage a large group of technical people in a huge company. It's very different from studying music, but I'll say this for formally studying music: it gives you discipline, and doggedness in tackling tough problems. Those qualities are more valuable in a corporate setting than you might think.
Occasionally you might catch me writing about the energy industry, history, geography, earth sciences, literature, investing, and a few other things, but for the most part I only do this as a break from writing about music.
My credentials and experience are real and verifiable, to those with a need to know, although at this time I prefer to edit anonymously.
