About me


Born in New Jersey, I grew up on jelly-beans from Jo Ann’s Nut House at the local mall and salt-water taffy from the boardwalks on the shore. At age 10, I quit the drums for the piano because I wanted to learn how to play the theme from Star Wars. In college, I studied film production, but discovered that I preferred photographing abandoned buildings and the solitude of the color darkroom. After graduation, I drove across country by myself and learned that gas stations outside of NJ are self-service. Settled in Los Angeles for a few years and read enough bad screenplays to realize that everyone thinks they can write a movie. Moved to San Francisco for cleaner air and enjoyed writing about Bay Area arts and culture for a local paper. A trip to Japan reminded me of a childhood fascination with the country, so I applied to the J.E.T. Program. Wound up teaching English in Japan for a few years, and returned to the U.S. for graduate school at U.C Berkeley to gain an even deeper perspective of the place that has become my second home. After earning my MA in Asian Studies, I returned to Tokyo where I worked full-time as a writer and editor for Toyota Motor Corporation and the Asahi Shimbun. Currently I am living in California and working on a novel and a screenplay, learning the art of improvised theater, improving my photography skills, making music, and treating my self-diagnosed ADD. I'm also a full-time assistant correspondent for a Japanese news agency.

If you're looking to hire me or my alias braincelljupiter, you can find both of us on linkedin.