I appreciate the wonders the world has to offer. To see them I like to travel. I have a long list of countries and continents I want to see. One I've checked off for now is the East African country of Tanzania, home to one of the highest, largest mountains in the world, Mt. Kilimanjaro. Read our story of our hike to the roof of Africa followed by a safari adventure in the Serengeti, the Tarangire, and the Ngorogoro Crater. in 2003.

I play violin in the Occidental-Caltech Orchestra, which is led by Dr. Allen Gross and is primary composed of musicians who also happen to be undergraduates from the two colleges. The group is filled out by various community people, including employees of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We regularly perform at Thorne Hall at Occidental College and at Ramo Auditorium at the California Institute of Technology. I joined this orchestra in Fall 1996.

I also play a variety of pieces on piano. Click for a 300kB snippet of me back in 1991 playing the third movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata.

Meet Allegra. She's relaxing next to the sustain pedal under my piano keyboard.

Here's Allegra, when she was just a little kitten, nibbling on Charlie's ear. She's very friendly, as you can see.