About Me

Hi there, my name is Jeff Udall. I am a geek currently living in Portland, OR. I grew up playing with Transformers, reading comic books, and playing video games. I don't read many comics these days but I play video games quite often, and I buy Transformers regularly (only the good ones, i.e. nothing associated with the horrid movies).

 

Transformers is probably my #1 geeky obsession. Transformers are the best toy in the world. Transformers are the best of all the toys I always loved. They are robots, vehicles/planes/dinosaurs, and also a puzzle. Besides being great toys the characters, such as Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, Bumblebee, etc are great. I have scaled back my collection a bit to just the best (i.e. expensive) Transformers toys that come out. I get a lot of joy from just looking at my figures and I have them displayed right next to my television in my apartment. (I hesitate to say I still "play" with Transformers as it is not the same as it was when I was a kid. I still transform and pose my figures but I no longer do the voices or the transformation/gun/explosion sound effects . . . most of the time.)

My best friend's name is, Rosie. She's a sweet little pit/boxer mix who love treats and licking people's faces. She also likes to sit and stare at you if you are eating anything other than vegetables. She loves going on runs and taking walks. She likes going to the beach but does not like to swim. She mostly loves running at full speed in the sand and barking at waves. She also hates all other dogs, but we have a summer school class coming up to help us work on that.

These days I'm also really into VR. I have ordered a VR headset (the HTC Vive). It has not arrived yet but when it does I will be talking about it a lot (if not before). I am a huge believer in VR and I own the original Samsung Gear VR for my Galaxy Note 4. I never got a pre-release headset because I didn't have a computer that would support it but with the release of the Vive and the Oculus I have finally upgraded my computer and I'm ready for the Next Big Thing. I am mostly excited by the prospect of non-game things in VR - mostly making art in 3D and experiencing far away places and places that most people never get to go. Someday within my lifetime I could walk around (virtually) on the surface of the Moon, Mars, or even Venus. That is very exciting. 

I also have always been obsessed with cosmology and astronomy, especially black holes and general relativity. I fall asleep many nights thinking about how a journey between Earth and Alpha Centari would look. Space travel is one of my favorite topics so expect to hear a lot about that here.

Along with Transformers I also have an obsession with robots and someday I hope to build my own - at least a robot arm. I am a member of the Robotics Club at Portland State University and we may soon be making a robot arm for a project. After that I would like to also make my own with own ideas of how to improve upon it (from my time as wanna-be illustrator).

I'm also kind of a huge atheist and have some strong ideas about theism but I will probably keep most of those kinds of articles off of this site. I may (or may not) include a link to my atheism blog if I get back in the habit of updating it.

I have no children and I am not married, but I do have a lovely girlfriend. The lack of children allows me a bit more disposable income and less of a feeling of being an adult. My sisters may have children but I have all the toys I every wanted and a sweet computer that can run VR. So there is balance in the universe I suppose.

I have studied illustration at Salt Lake Community College (I'm from Utah originally) and also video editing at the Art Institute of Portland. I am now studying Electrical Engineering at Portland State University. So lots of nerdy stuff there.

That is a lot about me. If you have read all the way here you are officially awesome!