Hi Steemit, I'm Dan Maruschak.

I grew up in New Jersey where I was a classic nerd: smart, introverted, socially awkward, and a lover of fantasy and sci-fi (which is basically still true, except now I'm in Oregon and some of the things I've always loved are inexplicably popular now). I went to college at Rutgers University where I studied Computer Engineering. I worked at Intel for a while, where my job involved finding bugs as part of the design process of microprocessors – it turned out I have a knack for figuring out why systems aren't doing what they're supposed to (which can be valuable when it's applied to technical problems, but isn't always appreciated with regard to how organizations are run). While computers had fascinated me since childhood it had mostly been because they could enable you to play games (my favorite computer game genre is turn-based strategy games like Master of Orion), so after I left Intel I wanted to get into indie video game development. I ended up working at the video game company GarageGames for a while, and while I had some fun there and met some cool people it wasn't a good fit for me as a job. Some of the friends I made there did introduce me to modern board games, especially theme-heavy games like Arkham Horror and Betrayal at House on the Hill, which I enjoy. I'm also interested in tabletop roleplaying games (my interests here are pretty obscure – in the normal world playing Dungeons & Dragons is a niche hobby but that's mainstream compared to the games I tend to focus on). Since I got out of the video game field I've been trying to pursue some different creative pursuits: I've written an unpublished novel and I've tried my hand at designing tabletop roleplaying games. In addition to reading, writing, geek culture, games, and game design I'm also interested in philosophy and psychology. I've got a dry, deadpan sense of humor.