Please note that my personal preference is to keep my comment streams free from group image comments (especially the more flamboyant ones). I avoid groups that encourage this and I will delete the comments without notice.

Born and raised in Chicago. Lived in Montreal for ten years. Moved back to Chicago during the summer of 2013. For my observations on Montreal along with memoirs and opinions, see my blog at Chicagoan in Montreal. I am currently writing my recollections of Europe in my European Memoirs blog.

As far as photography, I was introduced to it at a young age. It was a hobby during my teenage years, but had become a passive interest taking photos usually when the camera is handy like on trips as opposed to actively searching out subjects to shoot. Now with the chance to share photos on Flickr, I take pictures on almost a daily basis. It has been fun to get back into photography and I really enjoy the interaction on Flickr.

For me, photography is about composition and unique point of view. I love the quirky and abstract. I'm not fond of the cliched art photography shots or standard postcard shots unless they remind me of places from my past. Take a look at my favorites to get an idea of what I really like.

As for my photostream, it goes all over the place. I enjoy variety and I'm having fun switching between places I've seen, images from my past, and recent shots. I hope you enjoy what is posted.

As for why I picked The Irish Samurai as a moniker, read here.

I have boxes of photos, slides, and negatives I hope to share. Time permitting, I hope to organize them so I will be able to scan them for posting. Hopefully there will be much more to come.

Here are some groups that I've created: