Last May I joined the DS106 crowd as a fun way to develop myself professionally and join a talented group of people doing amazing work. I wrote that I needed to do this like a hole in the head and here we are a few month later and I am standing here with a drill in hand ready to make another hole. The truth of the matter is that DS106 invigorated my thinking about education, technology, and what online education can be when we dedicate ourselves to creating real learning for each other. In short, I found a community and it is something I want to continue for as long as I am able.

Fall 2012′s DS106 begins with the usual bootcamp of getting blogs ready, arranging technology, and getting started with some basic activities like introducing yourself. You’re welcome to check out my About page to get some sense of who I am professionally. Personally, I try to stay active both mentally and physically. I completed a marathon in 2011 and I am now training for two major goals – Century (100-mile) Road Bike ride (June 2013) and Tough Mudder (July 2013). I haven’t ruled out running a 50-mile ultramarathon next Summer of Winter 2014 either. I’ll be 40 next year and it seems time to up the ante on being active.

While activity is important to me, my family is my cornerstone. My wife Maggie and I are happily raising our daughter Olivia and soon-to-arrive son Nathan. We have a riot together as a family enjoying an active social life.

Part of this assignment was to give you a glimpse into my world via my keychain as part of the The Daily Create for August 28, 2012. The assignment is interesting in that a keychain is a symbol of people’s lives and the things they have access to in their lives. I recall as a kid having quite the collection of keychains from places I’d visit or events I’d attend. It was to the point where it was too heavy to carry around (especially with my lone house key on it). The assignment was a bit of nostalgia for me and I tried to have a little fun with it.

So there you have it, my keychain. My personal keychain has keys to houses of family and little carabiner attached to it as a reminder of days gone by when I actively taught on a ropes course for our local Boy Scout council.