My name is Matt Birmingham.  I've been working with computers professionally since 1986, and unprofessionally since I first laid hands on a Commodore VIC-20.  I currently work for New Amsterdam Consulting, Inc, as the lead application architect and general do-everything-guy.  I am a Microsoft Certified Solution Engineer and hold a degree from Arizona State University as a Computer Systems Engineer.

I have worked with both private and public companies helping them leverage investments by integrating legacy systems with cutting edge technologies.  These companies have ranged from 5-employee not-for-profits to Fortune 100 companies with $30B USD in annual profits. 

Before New Amsterdam Consulting, I worked as an independent contractor, and as a consultant for mid-sized consulting firm where I lived through the entire dot-com bubble, beginning to end.  Previously I worked in the IT departments of a national hotel chain and a major US airline.

I love the idea of being a "jack-of-all-trades." Robert A. Heinlein put it best in Time Enough for Love:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. 

I had to look up what "conn a ship" meant so I think I qualify as more of a jack-of-some-trades. That said, I do have some first-hand knowledge of being a

• Musician I have been playing the drums since 1981, and only got descent after seven years.  I have appeared on three recorded CDs, and currently play with The Calamities.  I have heard many good jokes about drummers, this being my favorite: "What do you call the guy that hangs out back stage with musicians?  A drummer."  I'm convinced Dave Weckyl has a third arm.
• Photographer  I am the unofficial photographer for my wife's wedding floral business.  I would very much like to drop a few thousand on a nice medium format Mamiya and photo-document the world.  Speaking of which...
• Traveler  I have traveled to six countries, and hope to one day retire to a nice flat near the Louvre with my wife and a small dog or two.  I have visited 15 states in the US, driven through six others, and lived in two.  I've been to six of the 50 places the BBC says I need to see before I die, and am disappointed that visiting Michelangelo's David wasn't on the list.  6 of 50... hmmm... I better find my passport.
• Cook  I've never worked an hour in a professional kitchen, but that doesn't stop my obsession with Alton Brown, finding secret recipes, and collecting all of the gadgets I can't live without.   I have, at one time, used 5 of the 6 burners on my 36" duel-fuel Kitchen-Aid range.  I can make: a mean pizza, pad thai, a high-roast chicken with potatoes that you would kill for, the tastiest grilled brats and corn you've ever had, and cinnamon buns that nearly made Cinnabon entirely leave the greater Phoenix area.
• Adoptive parent  If you or anyone you know is pregnant, and is confused about whether or not to keep the child, please have them contact a local adoption agency.  Adoption is a real opportunity, and for some parents, the only way to have a family.

I have other passions that I admit having little first-hand knowledge of, but that doesn't stop me from loving: the NFL, MLB, lacrosse, and road cycling (in no particular order), general aviation, and roadsters. 

If you've read this far, you're obsessing.  Go read a good book.