About
First, the name . . . A year or so ago, I had the front of my garage bricked up and turned into an apartment, with its own entrance. I figured one day I might open up a little store -- sell my carvings, paintings and assorted mystical objects. Somewhat later, I made an impulse purchase on Ebay of a most remarkable root, that looks just like a human form. It's not a real Mandrake, but it looks like one, just way bigger than any normal Mandrake root (I do grow true Mandrake plants in my garden.) Anyway, it occurred to me that I could use it as the centerpiece of a really nice carved sign. The 'Rootwerx' part is a bit of a play on words (mandrake root) because a rootworker is a phrase that refers to a conjure man in hoodoo lore. Hence the name. As for the content . . .
Basically, I maintain my clean-cut, professional-veneered, consulting site at www.befumo.com. This, on the other hand, contains everything else . . . the real me. This really isn't as artificial as it sounds. Working with computers is one of the things I do with my time, and when the situation demands, I use the tools, don the garb, and affect the demeanor appropriate for that endeavor; much as I wear a smock when I paint, an apron when I carve, a strap when I play guitar. Of course, the honest truth of the matter is that while I enjoy writing code, I've grown somewhat weary of dealing with the business world, and at this stage in my life I'm working hard at trying to eek out a living with my writing, my art, my music, my carvings.
I consider myself a deeply spiritual person, but cannot claim affiliation with any organized creed. I suppose my beliefs follow the ancient Gnostics, to a limited degree, but I do not believe (as they did) that the material world is inherently flawed, and was created by an inferior entity (the Demiurge). I develop my theory of the spiritual nature of reality in my book Faith and Physics. By way of a condensed synopsis, however, I'll simply observe that the Gnostic's conceptual error arose from a perceptual limitation that caused them to misinterpret adversity as evil. To appreciate why this is a mistake, read: Why Evil Exists.
Like most spiritually-oriented people, I do not wear my faith on my sleeve, nor do I require that it be publically acknowledged, through municipal monuments in courts, or public displays. I believe that those who demand such reinforcements must indeed have a rather precarious grip on a faith that is inherently specious and superficial. I believe that the teachings of Jesus are sufficiently profound so as to stand on their own, without the necessity of turning him into a simple trickster, striding across water, or performing similar acts of prestidigitation. In my opinion, creating a personality cult around his supposed preternatural deeds reveals a fundamental inability to comprehend his message.
I don't presume to profess that my vision of the infinite is better or worse than that of the next person. Indeed, as described in Faith and Physics, it is my contention that all spiritual perspectives and mystical practices tap into one vast, sublime, underlying spiritual model; each perceiving small parts of the whole in much the same way as The Blind Men and the Elephant. Indeed, one may easily intuit how the entire complexity of reality must be so vast as to render infinitesimal any differences between our individual apprehensions of it.
I was born in 1952, under Pisces, in Brooklyn, NY. Grew up in upstate New York (Monroe) until I started high school, at which time my family moved back to Brooklyn. I attended New Utrecht High School (the same school that was featured in the opening credits of the TV show Welcome Back Kotter), but never finished. Played lead guitar in several local bands before going to work as a longshoreman at the docks in Red Hook. Based on some earlier paranormal experiences (which I fictionalize in the short story "Subtle Shades" --included in my upcoming book, The Apothecary Chest, and posted here for your enjoyment), I was completely convinced of the reality of the mystical, the spiritual, and the paranormal. Moreover, my paternal Grandmother was a Strega--a Sicilian witch--and from the time I was a child, she used to talk to me about the various charms she wore, or hung about the house. Of course, I never really believed in any of it . . . until personal experience changed my mind.
Anyway, after reading The Dancing Wu Li Masters (by Gary Zukav), I decided to learn physics, with an eye toward quantifying those phenomena in which I believed. I took the GED (high school equivalency) exam, achieving what was, at that time, the highest score ever recorded, and enrolled in Brooklyn College (City University of New York), with dual declared majors in Physics and Mathematics. While there I worked part-time in the school's Dynamitron (15 MeV proton accelerator) lab--sweeping floors at first, and eventually, helping in the design of experiments. The work I was involved in included forensic work for the police department, and authentication of paintings for the Brooklyn Museum, using proton microprobe techniques.
I became sidetracked in my senior year, leaving school to join a group of people writing physiological assessment and training software for personal computers. Several years later, when I went back to finish my degree at Fitchburg State College, I wound up getting a degree in Computer Science.
Upon graduation, I went to work for Digital Equipment Corporation, working in their Advanced Semiconductor Development labs in Hudson, Massachusetts. My main activity involved the measurement of quantum effects that had started showing up in the ultra thin-film circuits that were used in the first Dec Alpha machines. After seven years or so at DEC, I moved on to AT&T Solutions, where I ultimately became head of their Center of Excellence for Estimating, Metrics, and Methodologies.
After AT&T, I joined Clarity Development, Inc., a South-Carolina technology consultancy as a Senior Partner, and remained there for several years, until my father was diagnosed with cancer, and I relocated to North-Eastern Pennsylvania, to be what help I could. It was around this time that the Voices in My Head started telling me to write Faith and Physics.
So, on to the present . . .
Having worked in the technology-business domain, roughly, since 1979, I am, quite frankly, sick of the work, and disgusted with the amoral kinds of people that seem to dominate today's business environment. Consequently, I currently accept only short-term technology engagements, and dedicate most of my time to writing, painting, composing music, performing on the guitar, creating hand-crafted magical implements, and, of course, pursuing my spiritual advancement.
In my writing, the recurring character of Linwood Steene is about 90% autobiographical, so, to know Linwood is to know me.