A b o u t   J X
Artist, musician, photographer, improvisational actor, technical writer, graphic designer, programmer, problem solver, communication consultant.

I feed my creative side when I can. That includes photography, improvisational music, visual art, web design, writing, I used to do improvisational theatre, and I try to stay creative in my personal life as much as possible.

Oh, you want traditional biography stuff? Raised in Massachusetts for 10 years, then Northern California from age 10 on, except for college. I did my undergraduate degree at Dartmouth with a few months at the University of Edinburgh Divinity School in Scotland; I graduated Dartmouth with a full double major in Computer Science and Religion.

I now live in San Francisco, valuing the wonderous oddities of San Francisco and quirky smart friends.

My parents live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and my sister Jennifer lives in Amsterdam and directs adult films for women.

For those who are curious, the name JX Bell is derived from my legal name J. Christopher Bell. So, the same way that Christmas becomes Xmas, J. Christopher becomes JX.

I like spicy food, fuzzy fabrics, authentic one-on-one conversations, elegant photography, soaking in hot water, creative yet responsible people, and anything with mint in it.

I love doing portraits, abstracts, and scenes from unusual angles. You may view my photography on the web on the JX Photography web site. Note the several galleries for "Living Portraits" and "Abstracts".

You can see other visual art on this site (doitall.com), for instance, my fractal art is shown here.
 

I have three music projects right now. On my own is Tyndall Blue, ambient electronica and exploration with various synths and computers, with occasional flute and vocals. Since 1997, I collaborate with Chris Roberts in Noodle Messiah. In Noodle Messiah, I play more flute, hand drum, and sing more, as well as play lots of synths and electronic percussion. I also jam with David Norfleet making great sounds in a project we temporarily call JXDN.

I play piano, synths, live MIDI loop, flute,vocals, and hand drums. For more information and downloadable tracks, see the A Little JX Music page on this site. There's even a single (30Meg) download of MP3s of mine you can download on that page.

Albums in my changer these days: Amon Tobin, Squarepusher, Doubting Thomas, Everything But The Girl, James Brown, vocalist Diana Krall, the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, Nine Inch Nails, Battery (a local SF band), The Orb, Louis Armstrong, Danny Elfman soundtracks, Depeche Mode, and Resphigi. A special mention is necessary for songwriter Cole Porter because I created Cole Wide Web, a Cole Porter online resource site.

I listen to online radio stations, sattelite radio, and in San Francisco college station KUSF (90.3) as well as our two fabulous local public radio stations KQED (88.5) and KALW (91.7).

Although I haven't lately, I've acted in improvisational theatre in San Francisco with Bay Area Theatresports for many years and occasionally other side groups, like Into The Cave, which focuses on deeper character work, deeper emotions, and more dramatic themes.

I am half llama. Llamas represent a calm, pensive, learning, observation, and intellectualism. Some day I will raise llamas, but now I have neither the money nor the grazing land in San Francisco (is there such a thing as grazing land in San Francisco?). I once had the honor of convincing a multi-national corporation to print my business cards with the title: "Llama Lliason, High Andes Division."

I am also half ferret. Ferrets represent curiosity, being-in-the-moment, the appreciation of your own short attention span, getting yourself into trouble sometimes, and quick recovery from mishaps without obsessing about what went wrong.

I am best when both aspects mainfest at the same time.

I've programmed computers since age 4, originally in BASIC, which my father helped co-create with two professors in the mid-1960s when he was an undergraduate. I'm almost entirely self-taught at most technical things I've learned and I've learned a variety of computer systems and programming languages.

I focus my consulting work on technical writing and the larger category of of "technical communication", which includes elements of graphic design, information design, training, and even marketing. I'm a fast learner, very geeky, and love to communicate with people. I also enjoy articulating information clearly, accurately, and diplomatically. I solve problems, program computers, design diagrams, organize projects, project manage, work in cross-functional groups, write extremely technical text, explain complex things to diverse audiences, and I analyze complex systems problems. And with my visual arts experience and attention to detail, I can bring these elements together for clients.

I'm passionate about learning.

  I'm passionate about communication.

     I'm passionate about technology.

        I'm your man for technical communication.

I consult for companies who seek my diverse skill set. I've worked for 3Com, Palm, Apple Computer, Electronic Arts, MapQuest, AOL, Lockheed, and others. For my consulting business, see the site for JX Consulting, which includes my technical writing resume, which includes many buzzwords you might want.

One of my specialties is working with developers, which is another name for computer programmers and software development companies. I worked for years for Apple Computer as a Developer Technical Support Engineer, a programming expert to help third-party developers understand and fix their code. I've also worked at Palm in a different role but still focused on communicating technical information to developers. At AOL/MapQuest, I wrote the text for thousands of pages of manuals for programmers and helped the company improve their developer products by consulting on outside "developer perspectives" of their products. I've continued this career path as a technical writer, specializing in programmer-level communication but enjoying writing high-level introductory material and respectfully explaining things to audiences of varied experience and knowledge.

In addition to my technical background, I have also studied the field of psychology and linguistics known as Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). NLP is the respectful study of the structure of human experience from a psychology, philosophical, biological, and linguistic perspective. Almost everything we experience or remember or believe is filtered and categorized by our mental map of the world and ourselves. By better understanding our own mental maps and trying to genuinely understand other people with respectful curiosity, you can communicate better with people. If desired, you can also use certain skills in a one-on-one context to help other people get more of what they want in life, and less of what they don't want. I was certified as a Master Practioner of NLP by an excellent NLP training program.

For more details about my consulting work, see the web site for JX Consulting.