Marc Kevin Hall

A song once warned that if your girl is one in a million there are six more of her in New York alone. (It's an old song, and not up to speed on current population levels.) So as frightening as the thought may be to those who already know me, there are probably quite a few Marc Kevin Halls in the world; there are simply too many people for this one to be unique. With that in mind, I may not be the guy you are looking for.

So who am I? Tough question. Here are a few answers.

Note 1: This site, as well as Hidden City, are in the midst of some changes. Please forgive any infelicities of appearance while work is in progress.

Note 2: If you met me somewhere and I gave you a card with this address, you'll probably want to check out Hidden City first. It's a bit more entertaining.

Movements

I was born in a suburb of Paducah, Kentucky in 1960, and spent the next ten years in various towns and cities in Kentucky and Illinois, including Harrisburg and Carbondale. While I am amazed that I still remember this, I went to Springmore for elementary and kindergarten, and then transferred to Brush Elementary for 5th grade.

In 1970 my family moved to Plantation, Florida, where I attended Plantation Park Elementary, Seminole Middle School, and South Plantation High School. (I confess, I am not a joiner, so don't expect me to break out with a hearty "Go Paladins!" or any such nonsense.) I lived in the same house until I left for college back in Kentucky.

After a year attending Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, I returned home to Plantation broke, disillusioned, and with — shall we say — diminished ambitions. I lived with my parents for a while, then struck out to a one-room efficiency by Fort Lauderdale Airport. (The room was affectionately know as "The Asylum.") I stayed there for several years, then bopped around a series of apartments (and girlfriends) in Miramar, Hollywood, and Hallandale before settling back down in Plantation.

Plantation was my home through my long-term relationship, engagement, and the first part of my marriage. In 1998 the North Miami/Miami Shores area became my home for my separation and eventual divorce, and is where I reside today. That's right, I live in Miami, the alleged third-world nation. No, I don't speak Spanish, but I get by just fine. For all the chaos and confusion and creole weirdness, I actually like it here. Except for the heat. And the humidity. And the cost of living. And you know? Seattle sounds better all the time.

Professions & Interests

From an early age I have been interested in creative pursuits. In fifth grade I decided to be a writer, and also started taking trombone lessons. My musical and literary pretensions fought for years, but it is looking like the pen was mightier than the baton.

In middle school, high school, and college I played trombone, along with a lot of other instruments, and developed an abiding love of jazz in all its myriad flavors. I did a fair amount of composing and arranging, as well, always tending toward the avant garde. Apartment life brought my practicing to an end, and with that my musical career ground to a halt. I haven't given up hope, though, that I may return to it some day. I have a synthesizer keyboard at the ready for when that time comes.

Writing, though, has stayed with me. Bad poetry, occasionally acceptable poetry, fiction, journals, dream logs, reviews, technical documentation, corporate communications — if it involves stringing together letters into words and then into something approaching narrative or image, I'm there. When I first got access to a computer (back in the CP/M days and Word*Star) I started writing even more, because I could finally avoid retyping over and over when I changed my mind about something. This lead to me getting in on the desktop publishing fad early, and for several years I self-published a 'zine called Ambergris from Leviathan.

My discovery of the Internet in the late '80s changed my focus away from paper publishing and to electronic media. As soon as it was feasible I started to learn to create web pages, and began putting my errant thoughts on-line for… well, probably no-one read them, but they were still published. Those were heady days, when web pages were pretty much all words and no pictures, and all you needed to create a site was Notepad.

Through a set of circumstances too inconsequential to mention here, this lead to an IT management position for the Florida division of a major American department store. (Corporate policy strongly suggests I not mention them by name.) At this writing I manage the Lotus Notes e-mail systems, direct the development of the intranet site, and oversee local user support for the senior executives. However, that's just on paper. In reality I spend most of my work day as the unofficial "director of ideas," as one of the VPs phrased it, helping task forces look at projects and processes with a fresh perspective. If only I could put that on my business card….

With all these changes, coincidences, synchronicities, and other assorted fol-de-rol, the one steady thread of my life has been storytelling. I made a decision years ago to keep my life interesting enough to entertain my friends, and even if it hasn't all been epic battles between good and evil, I've made good on that pledge. Let me tell you a story some time. Or, perhaps you'd like me to tell yours?

Digital Life and Contact

You want to get in touch with me? Well, bless your little old heart! Having been on-line since the Wild West days, I leave a lot of digital fingerprints, and my curiosity about new communities drags me into all manner of places. A few of my more common haunts are:

Flickr: displaying my mediocre photography for the world
LibraryThing: cataloguing my books a little at a time
LinkedIn: professional networking (shhh!)
Facebook: social networking site du jour
Twitter: largely inconsequential jibber-jabber (aka microblogging)

However, Hidden City is my primary web site and the source of a good deal of my on-line presence. Since 1999 I've been writing on a wide variety of topics, so if you want to get a shallow bit of insight into who I am, that's a good place to start.

So if you'd like to say hello, drop me a note on Gmail (mkhall), or complete this safe and sanitary contact form, or give me a call at 786/231-3430 and leave a message.

One last thing. If seeing is believing, you can click the Photographic Evidence below for some pictures.

Photographic Evidence