Welcome to the autobiographical html page by and about Jeremy Kayes. I'm your host, Jeremy Kayes. I am writing this page to be the definitive guide to who I am.
This web site does not update very often, but this one does.
My full name is Jeremy Patrick Kayes. My real name is Jer.
I was born in 1978. I'm about 5'10" and somewhere around 160 lbs. I have light brown hair that I used to be notorious about leaving unkempt but as meeting clients became part of my job I've gotten better about keeping it clean-cut. I'm in pretty good shape. I dress casual - I'm not too stylish but I can co-ordinate well enough. I kinda like looking good.
I'm an extremely creative person. I write, I draw and I dream up new ideas constantly. I enjoy making things like web sites and comic books, the former of those two being my livelihood. I have many artistic ventures that I haven't finished. I have a few that I have.
I love playing outside more than staying inside, though I probably spend more time inside than out. I love creative people - my closest friends are all very creative. I keep my friends very close because I love feeling like I'm part of a tribe. I play violin and have a cat named Zilla.
I'm single, and pretty content that way at the moment.
I am a freelance web developer. I started my career as a designer, then learned to code websites. Though I can design web sites and I can build fully dynamic data driven applications, I usually get hired to write HTML/CSS. This is because mixing both design and technical skills makes me really good at connecting the two.
I am a Red Cross volunteer. I am on two teams in King County: Disaster Action Team (DAT) and Mass Care (Sheltering). On the DAT team, I am occasionally called to visit the scene of a fire to help those effected with immediate needs, usually just making sure they have a safe place to stay until the situation is resolved. On the Mass Care team, I help open temporary shelters in the case of apartment fires, floods or earthquakes. So far, I have only worked at shelters for apartment fires, though I participate in drills to be ready should an earthquake hit Seattle.
In May of 2011, I participated in my first Red Cross national deployment to assist with disaster relief efforts response to tornadoes in Alabama. My main role was filling out paperwork on effected individuals, though over the course of two weeks, I performed many other tasks, as needed. Going to Alabama with the Red Cross was a proper adventure - the kind you read about in books.
I love working with the Red Cross. I intend to be an active volunteer for the rest of my life.
Skiing is my favorite thing to do in the world. I have been on skis since I was 5 and over the decades I have become very good at it. I have almost no fear on the mountain - though I am occasionally hesitant about taking jumps. I wipe out once in a while, usually taking a difficult run much too fast. I love my helmet, it has kept me out of the hospital more than once.
I ski way too fast. Fortunately, I have really good safety gear. I couldn't possibly ski without my helmet. I ride my bindings at seven. I could probably ride them tighter and pull off more difficult terrain, but I prefer my skis to come off a bit easier to protect my knees. About once per season I have a wipeout that would put me in the hospital if not for my helmet and ability to chill out and ragdoll down the slope until I come to a complete stop. The longest such skid was about 50 yards down Triple-Sixty Face at Snoqualmie Central. I really wish I got that crash on tape.
I like to draw. I worked very hard to develop my own comic-style artwork and I still feel like I can push it farther. I have a fair few ideas for comic stories and several dozen characters. The Elves of Iax is my oldest and most developed idea and continues to be a sort of driving force for my creativity. In 2007 I self-published a 20 page comic introducing The Elves of Iax story. Of everything I've ever done in my life, this is the achievement I am the most proud of.
I play more video games than I'd like. I find it hard to confess how much I love them. It is a guilty hobby - often when I have spent time with a video game I wish I had instead spent it drawing or playing outside. However, I consider video games to be the richest form of art ever conceived by humans. A video game incorporates aspects of writing, music, visual art and interactivity to create an intricately woven multimedia tapestry. No other art-form in the world combines so much to create a single work.
Though I love video games, I am very picky about the games I chose to play. There is a long list of games that I respect but don't enjoy. Usually I don't even pick up a game unless it is still being mentioned about a year after its release.
In 1999, I built a website with the help of my friends to showcase our artwork as a team. A couple years later, I used my developing knowledge of PHP and MySQL to make a dynamically updatable website to post comics and writings on. I shared this site with my closest friends and even enjoyed a brief but exciting period of internet fame. Today, the site doesn't get too much traffic and we barely ever think to update it, but we keep it alive all the same. It is our tree-fort and we refuse to tear it down.
In 2005, I registered "Studio Splurd" as a sole proprietorship in Washington State. I currently make my living with this business, both building websites and publishing comic books.
I love martial arts. Though I don't practice them regularly, I had the great fortune to study Capoeira Angola under the legendary Cobra Mansa while I lived in Washington DC.
I like a lot of foods. This is a list of foods I like, in no particular order.
I really wish I could fly. I can't. Fortunately, there's a couple of things in the world that spark my imagination enough to come close.
I'm not gay. I am attracted to women. I feel the need to mention this because of my confident eschewal of gender roles and my vocal lack of homophobia. I've been called cute by gay guys and my reaction was "I'm straight, but thanks!" I actually think that phrase would make a great t-shirt.
I love the 2010 iteration of Hasbro's classic franchise "My Little Pony." Watching it always makes me happy.
This page was updated on July 8th, 2011. This page is copyright © Jeremy Kayes.