About Dan

I grew up in the far off land of Rochester, New York.  It was cold, snowy and thoroughly crowded.  At 18 I escaped to Indiana, where I learned to talk slower, and not be so hectic about life.  I like it here.

Between 1976 and 1980, I attended Purdue University and studied computer science.  Well, it was my hobby too...   and when I was doing neither, I would program for fun.  It was during this time that I discovered what a role playing game is.  I found out that it was pretty devastating to free time in general. 

Wanting to avoid the inconsistencies and absurdities of some of the roleplaying games of the time, I, and a friend I met at various gaming conventions, wrote a roleplaying system, Adventure Quest, so that we could play using something a little less primitive, and eventually use as a base for a computer roleplaying system.

Never having been very popular to the staff at Purdue, I made the mistake of writing several online computer games on their DEC PDP-11 RSTS/E system. A lot of people played them, a lot of paper was wasted, and a lot of time taken up. One of these games eventually evolved into a game called Telengard for the Commodore PET, the Apple ][, the Atari 800, the TRS-80 and eventually the IBM-PC. This game got sold through the Avalon Hill Game company.

In a desperate attempt to not use different text editors for all the differing computers I have worked on through the years, I also adapted a fledgling editor called MicroEMACS, which I have put many man years into expanding and customizing. This I have given away over the years from my server and web site, and it is one of the standard editors used for Linux and FreeBSD.

Computer Programming, in effect, has been my life.  It has been my work, my play, and my hobby.  Right now I work as a Programming Consultant working in an array of languages, but I would have to say that working in C has to be my favorite.

For many years I was on the team of programmers maintaining KnowledgeMan and GURU, two 4GL database products. I worked on both the core engine and a large number of applications. I still maintain many of these applications for various clients.

I enjoy programming because it's logical, much like my brain works.  The one thing that I dislike about my past jobs is having to debug someone else's code.  There are nuances in programming, and sometimes someone's way of coding can seem disjointed to me.

In the last few years, examining my completely disastrous attempts at getting involved, I discovered it was not so much that I was bad at it...  I was just seeking out the wrong companion.  Finally figuring out, and admitting, that I am gay, my life has been much more meaningful and interesting.

What do I want out of life?  What does anyone want out of life?  Happiness.  I want a good solid relationship, no money problems, and a good car.  Is that too much to ask?  

In May of 1986, I bought a house here in Lafayette.  Ironically, it was on New York Street.  It's pretty big, and a lot of different people have lived there with me since then.  There is almost always someone there, and often it is very occupied.

Someone once asked me where are some exciting places I have been to were.  I couldn't answer them.  I have not really been anywhere all that exciting.  However, it is a wish of mine, once things get settled down (see "What do I want out of life?") to do a lot more traveling, and to go to more exciting places.

Contact Information
Daniel Lawrence
617 New York Street
Lafayette, IN 47901
dan@aquest.com