The Craftsman Behind the Bench
Hi, I’m Michael! 👋
I am a creator, an educator, and a front-end developer passionate about empowering everyday folks to thrive in the digital world.
I am 71 years old, a husband, a father of seven homeschooled children, and a man of about eight different careers—including spending 18 years overseas as a missionary and teaching English in Taiwan. I have spent a lifetime learning how to use what I have, exactly where I am, to help the common man.
🔌 The Electronics Foundation
My technical journey started deeply in the analytical world. I graduated from Electronics Engineering Technology at Fanshawe College in London, ON, Canada, in 1996 and earned my certification as an Applied Science Technologist from OACETT shortly thereafter.
During my time in college, one of my instructors told me something that permanently burned into my brain:
Quote
“Never implement in hardware what you can implement in software.”
That single sentence is the ultimate craftsman’s rule. It is why I fell completely in love with web design. On a digital screen, software gives us a raw, infinite canvas where we can build, test, and innovate without limits.
🎸 Merging Tech with Heart
When I am not studying digital design, you can usually find me working with my hands. I love building and finishing Fender Telecaster guitars from raw kits—sanding the grain, feeling the wood, and rubbing the oil finish by hand.
When you finish a guitar, you realize you can’t just mechanically follow a corporate manual. You have to listen to the unique grain of the wood.
Digital color theory behaves exactly the same way. Over the years, I discovered that true digital empowerment doesn’t come from memorizing cold math or dry hex codes. It comes from building a deep visual muscle memory and a genuine intuition for how light behaves on our screens.
If I can illuminate your path with better strategies, simple techniques, and a safe space to learn through trial and error, that is the ultimate reward for me.
🛠️ Welcome to the Workshop
My typing skills might have a few rough edges, and there will definitely be some sawdust on our floors here. But that is the mark of an authentic human workshop.
Whether you are trying to make your personal blog stand out, designing a business layout, or just trying to overcome a hurdle that has you stuck, I built this space for you. Let’s pull up a chair, roll up our sleeves, and figure it out together as true peers.