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# date: 2017-02-22T14:43:02-06:00
image: /img/space.jpg
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title: About
description: "A little about the man behind this website."
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---

My name is Daniel Flanagan. I was born in Virginia (but my family didn't stay
long) and now live in Kansas City, Missouri. My family still lives in the area
and I have 6 awesome little brothers. Yes, my parents had seven boys and are
fantastic. I'm married and have two sons of my own, who are absolute _joys_!

I'm a systems engineer/software developer and a pastor for my <a
href="https://kcrising.church" target="_blank">small church</a> where I help
run the tech and audio-visual systems. My relationship with Jesus Christ, the
hope that comes as a result, and the reinforcing faith is the framework around
which I've built my life and it plays a pivotal role in all aspects of my life.

I'm a big proponent of self-discipline and working from home. Well before COVID
made it hugely popular! My favorite video game has to be _Super Smash Bros.
Melee_. I listen to a lot of metal and electronic music. My favorite drink is
_Red Bull Yellow Edition_ and I prefer tea over coffee. I run GNU+Linux (Arch,
btw) on all my machines. My keyboard is a custom Iris board that was a blast to
put together.

My wife, Valerie, is absolutely the most beautiful and lovely woman in the
entire world. She's a Physical Therapist Assistant by vocation and somewhat of
a fitness and health nut, which has yet to rub off on me (darn!). Now she
raises our son Oliver and savors every second. We've been married since late
2016 and we fall more in love every day. We currently live in a cozy little
apartment which she somehow manages to keep clean, organized, and
well-decorated while managing a growing baby boy.

I grew up not around the dining table, but around the keyboard or latest
Nintendo console; video games were bonding and family time. I discovered
programming through my dad who showed me `QBASIC` after I persisted in asking
how video games were made. Within a few weeks I had made a simple snake game and
he then bought me a book titled _C# for the Absolute Beginner_ and that was it.
I was hooked.
