I am a Portland-based freelance writer, focusing on architecture, visual arts, film, food, travel, business, sports and various other topics.

My writing has appeared in The New York Times, Premiere, The Christian Science Monitor, The Oregonian, Metropolitan Home, Salon, Metropolis, Dwell, Architectural Record, Architecture Week, Portland Monthly, Northwest Palate, Willamette Week, and elsewhere.

In August of 2007, my first book was published, a history of University of Oregon football called Tales From the Oregon Ducks Sideline from Sports Publishing LLC. It's a short history of the team from its beginnings in 1894 to present day (concluding with the 2006 season's victory over Oklahoma). You can read more about the book here.

I've also become an enthusiastic blogger. Principally I write and edit the Portland Architecture weblog. There is also my more personal blog, Brian's [a] Straight Dope, where I pontificate about such pressing issues as turn signal usage and 'Colombo' reruns. I am additionally writing a blog tied to the release of my Ducks book.

I enjoy my writing career because I can, however small my contribution, be part of a dialogue about the subjects that interest me. Plus I don't have to wake up to an alarm clock.

Photography is also a great passion of mine, although it's more hobby than profession. That said, my work was exhibited in a solo show at the American Institute of Architects gallery in July of 2003 called "Out of Site". Another passion is making short films, which I began in 2003. Click on the the 'images' link above to view a selection of pictures and films.

I was raised in a small town about 40 miles south of Portland in Oregon's Willamette Valley called McMinnville, which has since become the heart of Oregon's vibrant wine country and an ever-growing quasi-suburb. I like the main street downtown a lot better than the strip malls on the sprawling outskirts. But then, I'm biased. My dad has owned a restaurant on that little downtown street, Third Street, for over 30 years. It's called The Sage, and specializes in lunch-time sandwiches on house-made bread and soups made from scratch - very simple, honest and hearty. People line up for it. My mom has been an accountant at a steel mill since the beginning of the Reagan administration. My younger sister Sara is a budding newspaper columnist and has already at 23 penned op-ed pieces for the Los Angeles Times and Christian Science Monitor.

After high school in McMinnville, I spent the better part of my twenties in New York City, where I attended New York University, and Washington, DC where I interned in the US House of Representatives and lived with a punk rock band. I returned to Portland in 1997 and became involved with writing after a stint in the world of nonprofits. I live with my longtime girlfriend Valarie (12 years so far) and our beautiful if obese tabby, Ruthie.

I'm a big fan of the Oregon Ducks, and other random favorites include: The Beatles, Japan, fettucini with gorgonzola cream sauce (preferably from Nick's Italian Cafe in McMinnville), Haruki Murakami, Democrats, corduroy pants, Dimitri Shostakovich, Herzog & de Meuron, Graham Greene, Michael Mann, the 'Case Study' houses, Werner Herzog, the Pittsburgh Steelers, seared foie gras, Copenhagen, The Clash, Amsterdam, the original 'Star Wars' trilogy and all its surrounding merchandise, Atari 2600 games, the Oregon coast, the New York Yankees, Scandinavian furniture, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, wild boar, 'Iron Chef' (original Japanese version), novels by (our friend) Neil Griffiths, Piet Mondrian, old flip-clock radios, German sheperds, Bill Evans, Janwillem van der Wettering, Arsenal football club, Jean-Pierre Melville, Robert Bingham, Andreas Gursky, Alvar Aalto, old BMWs, Bjork, Cool Whip, 'The Brandenburg Concertos', adidas 'Originals' track suits, Keith Jarrett, Famous Ray's Pizza of Greenwhich Village, Stanley Kubrick, Fugazi, cheap snowglobes, Gerhart Richter, Mies van der Rohe, yellowtail sushi, rail transit, 40s-60s Film Noir, cheeseburgers and the Portland Trailblazers.