About Me

I was born in Massapequa, New York, in 1963.

My family moved to North Miami Beach, Florida in 1973.

I attended several schools in south Florida, including John F. Kennedy Junior High School and North Miami Beach Senior High School in North Miami Beach Florida. I left NMBSH in 1979 to attend a session of the High School In Israel, Qlamaniyya, Israel, now known as theAlexander Muss Institute in Hod haSharon, Israel. I earned a GED shortly after returning from Israel and spent a semester at Miami Dade Community College. Although academically successful, I longed for the road and left Florida in the Summer of 1980, just having turned 17, in a 1964 Volkswagen Van, the purchase of which was generously funded by a loan from the mother of my friend Shari Diamond.

After spending 1981 in Northern Maine on a couple of different small farms, I went west with Jane Leibowitz to Seattle (with a different transmission in the 64' van). In Seattle I worked as a dishwasher and Volkswagen mechanic and started flying lessons. While Jane and I were in Seattle, we were visited by 4 friends of hers who were following the Grateful Dead for the Summer. I had never heard of the Dead and only years later, in the company of my wife Mary, did I get fully exposed and fell madly in love with their music.

I settled in Northern Maine in the mid-1980s, with Jeanne Brady, whom I met in Miami, Florida at "Insight I". I had spent the past few years working as a tree-planter and bookkeeper to save money to buy a piece of land in Maine. I was interested in homesteading, alternative energy, and self-sufficiency (I was greatly influenced by John Seymour, the Nearings, Jim Gerritsens of WoodPrairie Farm, the Whole Earth Catalogs and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association - MOFGA). I loved the hard work of the life, but I learned that I wasn't an entrenpeneur and I think all successful farmers have to be.

I eventually earned an Associates Degree in Liberal Studies and then a Bachelors in Information Technology Services Management, while working at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. I graduated Magna cum laude and was the class valedictorian.

After spending a few .com years working in and telecommuting to Los Angeles, Sarasota and Manhattan, I rejoined the University of Maine System in Augusta, Maine in 2002 and my family and I relocated to Central Maine.

I met my soul mate in Presque Isle in 1990. We've been married since 1993.

I have participated in bringing two children into this world, Emma Rose Cyr and Akiva Cyr.

I love dogs. Tippy, an old-English Jack Russell terrier is our current canine pack member.

I taught myself to ski (alpine and nordic).

I've worked steadily in Information Technology support since 1988. I am highly skilled in End-user technology infrastructure and support services, especially in Higher Ed.

I hold foundations certification in ITIL ITSM from the ITSMF

I'm a Thawte Web of Trust notary (WOT is now defunct).

I am an Ordained Clergy Person in the Church of Spiritual Humanism and the Universal Life Church

I am handy. When I was in my 20s, I built my own solar-powered home from a retired Bangor and Aroostook Railroad Boxcar and also built a large conventional-framed workshop. I have participated in several large residential construction projects. I can fix most minor and major problems with automobiles. I can weld and run a torch. I built a large steel trailer for my O'day 22' sailboat. I can pour concrete. I can cut firewood. I can drive a farm tractor and other farm machinery. I like tools. I can shoot (bow, shotgun, rifle and pistol). During 2009/2010 I built a super-insulated, passive solar, 2500 sq ft home in Belgrade Maine.

I can slaughter animals when necessary, although I don't enjoy it. I do enjoy hunting upland game and fowl.

I am an FAA-certified private pilot - PPSEL. I began flying instruction in Seattle, Washington, at Boeing Field, in a Cessna 120, with Dan Skarperud, in 1982. I earned my wings in Presque Isle, Maine, with Alan Billing, in a Cessna 150, in 1991. My wife and I owned a Piper Colt - N5178Z in the early/mid 1990's. We made several long flights, including a VFR round-trip from Presque Isle (PQI) to Ft Lauderdale (4 days flying).

I have held a concealed weapons permit in Maine.

I can operate a farm tractor, bulldozer and backhoe/loader.