- Welcome all to my web site. In here I indulge in a bit of
gratuitous narcissism, and occasionally, hopefully, say something
of interest.
This page however is all 100% pure unadulterated narcissism, so,
if you are looking for the good stuff, carry on, nothing for you here.
- My name is Denis Leconte. I'm 39 years old as of this writing.
I live in Los Angeles, a city both much loved and much reviled. I
personally like it well enough, more specifically, my level of like
for this city is in inverse proportion to how much time I spent
stuck in traffic in the past 3 days or so.
- I am French, and I have been living in the US for 14 years.
And I definitely like living in the US. It is
welcoming towards new arrivals, whether they can only speak the
language haltingly and understand it even less, or are not entirely
socially adept (see "geek", below). Over the years it has become my
home, a little more every day.
There is another very important reason why I like it here. This is
where I met my soulmate, Lisa. If nothing else, this would have made
moving here well worth it.
- I am a geek.
geek (n. Slang) A person who is single-minded or accomplished in
scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.
That about says it all, right there. Being a geek (once the terribly
awkward younger years were finally dispatched with, that is) has been
very good to me most of the time, but
occasionally
not so good at all. It should be every
good geek's duty to strive to become more socially adept, for that is
their key to becoming a fuller person.
- More specifically, I am the
programming kind of geek. It comes as a
bit of a shock to realize that I have been using computers now for
probably a higher amount of time than writing implements. Also, that I
never learned to type, hence a particularily lightning-quick Backspace
key reflex.
- Programming geekery has also been my profession, for a long time.
At the present time I run the software group at
a motion picture services company in Hollywood. Being a digital
film geek is a
recent new career for me, and I really
enjoy it tremendously. I know it's not "cool" to say that I
really like my job. But I do, blasé attitude be damned!
- I enjoy visiting places but not so much the hassle of having to
travel, and yes, I am aware of the contradiction. This is where
teleportation devices, so commonplace in about half of the television
shows dealing with the future near or far, would come in really handy.
But that will be then, maybe, and this is now, and so we must resolve
ourselves to sit quietly for hours on end in the belly of a surprisingly
thin-skinned cylinder of metal, hurtling at breakneck speed through the
cold and sparse air, high above foreboding land and water, and oftentimes
in complete darkness. A comforting thought by any other name.
Well, really, no, seriously, what I disklike most about traveling is
all the commotion that takes place before and after boarding the plane.
Packing, unpacking, taxi, running to the gate, etc.
Still, we manage to travel a little bit: Hawaii (Big Island, Maui, Kauai),
Barbados, France of course,
Australia and New Zealand. I have photos
from all these places, but I need the time to put together decent travelogues
to go with them. The one I'm currently working on is Australia.
- I do have a bit of a passion for language.
Coming to the US at
23, and only truly becoming bilingual then, was a very eye opening
experience. Especially fascinating is the oft overlooked symbiosis
between language and thought - a subject of much discussion and
occasional amusement when our two families (Lisa's and mine) have
to interact.
Said passion for language does not especially make me a good writer, alas.
- Books and literature I like: a lot of science fiction, and
treaties about digital film technology. Among others. These are
the ones I have around me at the moment. Did I mention I was a geek?
Things I am currently reading (as of 1/2004) or recently read:
- The most excellent
Truelight
White Papers,
offering yet another look at color management.
- About to start on
The System Of The World,
the third volume of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. I am still
gathering my wits before I crack it open.
- Digital Video and HTDV,
by Charles Poynton. A rather lengthy but pretty complete reference on
stuff that matters a great deal to me these days!
- The Tao of Pooh,
recommended by a friend who likes it very much. A very interesting
introduction to taoism. But I think that I will need to read it more
than once, for it is more profound than appears at first.
- Souls In The Great Machine,
by Sean McMullen. A rather fun science fiction book set in a somewhat
post-apocalyptic forthieth century. Two things I like about it: it is
set in Australia, although the references
are rather discreet and this is a realization that comes slowly; and for
a change, a great many of the main characters are women, all very bright
and eventually, very powerful. And, well, I like smart women with attitude!
So the portrayal of women in this book is refreshing and pleasant.
- A friend of lore once introduced me to Rainer Maria Rilke's
Letters To A Young Poet.
These are not simply intended for young poets. They contain much
wise advice that is very worth pondering, and in many instances,
living by.
- Music I like: the Romantic period of what is commonly known
as Classical music, orchestral film scores, and trance. Film
scores are best for long, involved projects that require holding
a lot of stuff in mind. Trance is best when there is a ton
of stuff to do, fast. Which of course never happens in motion
picture production, where the pace is always steady and relaxed. NOT!
I don't go to raves or the clubs where they would typically play trance.
At 39 and with my balding pate I'd probably get laughed off the place,
so I'd much rather sit in my corner and get my trance via my computer.
Thank god for Digitally Imported!
Things I've been listening to lately:
- To return for a minute to the subject of clubbing, I actually do
enjoy dancing, but when Lisa and I go to clubs, it's usually to dance
far more staid things such as West Coast Swing or ballroom, or a little
bit of latin. Are we even allowed to call this clubbing?
- Other things I like to do: working on old cars,
metallurgy, woodworking, construction and home
improvement..
- But what I like most of all these days is spending some time with my
fast-growing baby boy!
- I can be reached at denis_leconte at yahoo.com .
|