A brief personal history:
I was interested in linguistics before I knew there is a field called linguistics. Linguistics is not only my area of work, it is also my hobby. I can’t let go — much to the chagrin of my wife.
Nowadays much of my work focuses on Sanskrit, South Asia in general, and the way that comparative-historical linguistics is used and misused by various “identity” movements.
Beyond linguistics I don’t have much in terms of hobbies. I like to travel to new places and to ancient sites, and to connect traveling with my professional interests. When the Muse hits me, I write poetry (click here for two samples), but recently the Muse hasn’t been hitting (scared off, perhaps, by too much scholarly writing and editing). I used to paint (click here for a sample), but I haven’t found the time to produce anything for years. Painting has now been superseded by photography (click here for three samples).
Beyond that, I am a rather private person, happy with my family and friends but not overly demonstrative.