“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
Call me Corbett.
I'm a Texan who's been based in Asia for most of the past 25 years. I split my time between Japan, where I live with my lovely wife Keiko, 3 cats, a garden and a camera, and Cambodia, where I lived full time from 2011 to 2022 and where my professional life continues to be based.
About Me
What do I do?
Fair question. This site is mainly a personal project for me, and although I'll mention my work a bit, it's not the main focus. Instead of answering directly, I'll tell you what I'm passionate about.
PROMOTING CITIES &
(BETTER) URBAN LIFE
I grew up in a suburban concrete farm on a cul-de-sac. Outside of a couple friends' homes, I was walking distance from absolutely nothing and trapped unless a parent drove me somewhere, or until I was old enough to drive myself away, which I did.
When I moved to Austin in 1995, I found the joy in true freedom. I could walk or bicycle places. I wasn't dependent on a car, and I found all the art, music, interesting people and everything that makes life interesting accessible, not a 40-minute drive away. From that moment on, I fell in love with cities. While I don't work directly in the industry, I've been a loud advocate for better city design and urban transportation everywhere I go.
CREATING
THINGS
While I can't call myself a master of anything, I hobby real hard. I do photos, graphic design and concept design. Some of this professionally, some as personal projects. I've also started a couple of businesses, not necessarily for the money motive (I've never been great at that), but to see an idea come to fruition. I've been fortunate to have a lot of amazing people put their faith in me. This has let me do some crazy things, from starting a gym and a (failed) bicycle shop, to transforming an old garment factory into a creative everything space, to even directing a suburban neighborhood that set out to be the exact opposite of the environment I grew up in. So yeah, I just like to create. Some ideas work, others don't, such is life. The point is to try.
PROFESSIONAL
FAN
I'm not a musician, designer or professor. All things I've been mistaken for before.
I love music, art and design. Architecture is cool, but only in how it serves the people living or working in the space; the rest is just window dressing. I can be enthusiastic about all these things. I travel to see bands play basement bars and buy the t-shirts. I take photos and share them with all my friends until they ask me to shut up. I love creativity, mastery and seeing people do things they've dedicated their lives to be good at. Seeing them happy and loving it is just a bonus.
BUILDING COMMUNITY, CONNECTING & TEACHING
I'm insatiably curious and always trying to explore and understand things different from me and my home culture. I find our differences to be what makes us fascinating as a species. Everyone, when asked the right question, has captivating stories to tell. I love to hear these and share them with others. The ability to get to know each other, share and be vulnerable is the root of relationships, which in turn are the foundation of community.
I keep this curiosity front and center and use it as the basis for building new communities. This is true in both my professional work and personal life. I like connecting interesting and inspiring people. As I've gotten older, I realize I also like teaching, even if informally. I don't have a lot of wisdom and my technical skills may be questionable, but I truly enjoy sharing anything I can with motivated people.
Education
M.A. International Development
American University
Washinton, DC USA | 2007-2009
Growing up in Houston I was exposed to jobs petroleum and banking sectors, not creatives or people working in international relations. It wasn’t until I heard this episode of This American Life in 2005, while teaching English in Japan, that I discovered the world of international aid and development. I knew I wanted to continue to live abroad but do work that was personally more meaningful. To do that, I needed the degree, so it was off to DC for a masters and some job experience.
B.A. American Studies
University of Texas
Austin, TX USA | 1995-2002
Why seven years to get a B.A? I dropped out for a little over two years to figure life out and just be young. I worked in coffee shops, cooked, did design work for a transportation engineer and even had a desk job doing tech support at Apple Computers. This stuff paid the bills, gave me an idea of things I did and didn’t want to do. It supported me going to Emo’s and other venues seeing hundreds of shows.
I’m glad I did it.
My parents were terrified; I’d not return but when I did my heart was back in it and my grades showed. As a result and even though I’m not a parent, I’m a huge fan of the “gap year” (or years). I think it’s absurd we expect teenagers to all know what career they want to go into at that age, and in the case of Americans, saddle them with tens of thousands of dollars of debt all the while.