I was born in, and have always lived in Colorado. I started programming when I was ten. While lately I have tended to focus mainly on C++, I have significant experience in a variety of languages, such as vb6, c#, python, and javascript.
I have been breathing programming of one kind or another for most of my life. No, I do not have a computer science degree. I just could not bring myself to take classes in something as natural to me as walking. I have most of a Japanese language and literature degree from CU, and have been programming professionally since 2001.
I have a Microsoft certification for distributed vb6 (i.e. ado, com+, etc...). I have taken several skill placement exams for recruiting agencies including C++ and javascript, placing me above 95% of professionals, into the "Master, able to mentor others" category.
At this point programming, for me, has become a concept above any individual language. When companies are hiring programmers, they want to know how many *years* of, say, PHP experience you have. I am not exaggerating when I say, with decent documentation, several weeks can make me competent, and a month can make me an expert at a language I had never before touched. I am not saying individual languages do not have their differences, but those differences only make them more interesting and easier to learn. I am also not saying there is nothing left for me to learn, part of being a good programmer is continuing to look up better ways of doing things.
Right now, I am working at a company called Geek Gene, working on several pet projects, as well as starting to write coding tutorials as something of a hobby. I am not really set up to filter emails from the internet at broad, so if you wish to contact me, I would suggest replying to a post on my developer blog.