Who is Arthur Hovinc?

I call myself Arthur Hovinc, and I am the author of this blog.

Along with writing and drawing out of love, I have been paid to be an engineer and a software developer. I have a degree in electrical engineering that I use mostly for mentoring in electronics and robotics these days. I minored in art history and I think I use those skills of observation and attention to detail more in my daily life. Sometimes I learn about how computers work and function, and sometimes I play around with math. I also like to read about the way humans (often struggle to) operate and how our brains work. I hope to be qualified enough to teach nature journaling some day.

Below is the only picture I want associated with me. It’s a caricature of me from 2006. I look only somewhat like this.

From the picture above, you can gather that I am a white male. I was born in the year 1988 (making me a “Millennial”, also making me seventeen in that picture). I am cisgender, straight, and with the pronouns he/him/his. I grew up in the upper middle class, and I try put my available funds toward programs for justice and opportunity in my community, because—goodness—I have barely faced opposition or injustice directly in my life. I’m learning more about how to be anti-racist, and otherwise transmute my privilege into support for others who don’t have such privilege.

I spend a lot of time looking out windows. I currently live in a place with floor-to-ceiling windows, so I get ample opportunities at this. I prefer cool, gray days while looking out. (Related: I love a temperature between 50 °F and 70 °F on these gray days.) I have two plants: Bambi the bamboo plant, given to me in solace for my grandfather dying; and Frank the succulent, a virile green monster. They seem to like when the light in my windows is plentiful but scattered.

I think walking is meditating, and I prefer to go alone. Walking is also my favorite form of exercise, because you don’t need to change into a new outfit to do it. I also find tranquility while running, and especially afterward while stretching, but I don’t run very unless I’m training for a marathon. My arms are longer than my height by a few inches. I sometimes knock things over accidentally.

I love driving in my car, a hatchback. As of 2020, it has driven over 200,000 miles, and it’s still running without major issues! I have a book titled Epic Drives of the World that inspires ideas for future road tips, and reminds me of the awe-inspiring road trips I drove in 2014 and 2015. Sometimes I drive to get away from it all. Sometimes I hang out in my car when it’s parked, or sleep there when I can’t afford a hotel room.

I’m pretty good at eating leftovers.