about Bruce
I made the site as I wanted to distribute my songs, and the photos and stories from the years I lived in Turkey, Thailand, India, Bangladesh and Russia.
I’m a married, 40-something year old guy, living in Birmingham U.K. I’ve a first-class degree in English literature, a career in education and setting up the computer book publishing house "glasshaus" behind me. I’m a member of the Web Standards Project‘s Accessibility Task Force . That doesn’t mean I’m a guru or great theoretician or designer, just that I’m a jobbing web developer with a firm belief that the web is a revolutionary communication mechanism and should be available to all.
Since June 2008, I’ve been working for Opera, evangelising open web standards as part of their Developer Relations team. However, this site is a personal site and opinions expressed are my own and don’t represent my employers.. It is therefore © Bruce Lawson.
I love people, socialising, art and literature and have vaguely liberal/ lefty politics.
Here’s some unfascinating facts about me:
- I play guitar, "sing", and write songs. I love any genre of music, as long as it’s heartfelt and meant.
- I’ve been interested in computers since I was 15, and my physics teacher, Mr Partridge, let me take the school’s UK101 computer home in the summer holidays. I confess that I’m so geeky that I nostalgically recall coding games in 6502 assembler on a machine with an 8K operating system and 8K of RAM.
- I speak good Thai, OK Turkish and pretty crap English-education-system French. Ooh la la. (See?)
- I like everyone I’ve ever met (except for three people, which is a pretty good record, I think).
- I used to hate the USA, until I went there. Now I love it, but hate their government.
- I read Tarot cards. The Elemental Tarot is my deck of choice. I don’t believe in astrology, but you can categorise my personality as a 100% typical Scorpio.
- I was born in Aden, in communist South Yemen.
- I drink Guinness. It’s got lots of calories. For years I was skinny, now I’m a bit porky.
- Intellectually, I’m a vegetarian, but I love the taste of meat too much.
- I love kids and, if only I could support my family that way, I’d work with them. They make me laugh, and I them.
- I am cursed / blessed with the ability to see both sides of every argument. I usually believe both sides simultaneously, too – it is a curse.
- I never pay any attention to what people are wearing, unless it’s really extreme. It drives my wife mad. Consequently, I never pay much attention to my own clothes, as long as they’re clean. Some people look great in whatever they wear; I could wear Armani and still look shite.
- If worrying were an Olympic Sport, I’d be in the England squad.
- I believe that nothing is sacred and nothing is too serious that it can’t be laughed at.
- I’m quite short and I don’t shave often or closely enough.
- I have a tattoo of Max from "Where The Wild Things Are" on my arm.
Here’s some comments from other people about me:
- Testimonial from the Viscount Christopher Leathers, for whom I worked in a government department 1995 – 96.
- "Bruce Lawson, erstwhile brand manager for glasshaus, especially deserves a tremendous round of applause" – The Web Standards Project.
- "We sadly note the passing of glasshaus … run by the passionately dedicated Bruce Lawson." – Jeffrey Zeldman.
- Isolani on the influence of glasshaus
- Interview with me about Web Accessibility by Ian Lloyd
Here’s a photo of those most important to me – my wife, Nongyow, our son James and our daughter Marina at Christmas 03. I’m the one on the left.
