Kasper's Korner
- Me at the Technical University of Denmark. (Photo: Thorkild Christensen)
Hi there, I'm Kasper and this page belongs to me since I founded the TYPO3 project back in the late 90'es and was the leader and main developer of the system through the first decade of the Millenium. Much of TYPO3 as you know it was made by me and the core values of the TYPO3 community has come through my leadership and personal attitudes.
Today I'm not working actively on TYPO3, neither as a developer nor organizational. But luckily we have a fantastic community and some very dedicated and good-hearted people who continously push TYPO3 to the next level every day.
A modern vagabond?
So, you might wonder, what is Kasper doing today then? I think I will start by sharing with you my approach to "carreer". Basically, I'm a vagabond. I will wander from place to place as I please, but trying to make a contribution everywhere. I wish to make the world a better place rather than getting a bigger house. When I die, I want people to think of a person who was committed to putting his talent to work not only for himself but for all of creation (I also hope I will get a good rating as a friend, father, husbond, son, brother, christian, etc.). I have found my way of doing that, taking into account the personal challenges I have. Ideally I would have developed on TYPO3 for all of my life, but I'm too restless and will have to move on to new things once in a while. Ideally I would be totally unselfish so I could focus on other peoples need, but in reality I have to find win-win-ways to both satisfy my own ambitions and try to synergize that for the benefit of others.
So, TYPO3 was a stop on my journey through life, but now I have by and large moved on. Next stop was: Technical University of Denmark (DTU). And this is where I still am! I decided in 2007 to study civil engineering from scratch at the age of 32. I'm still studying, but I have lost my particular interest in working as a civil engineer and found to my surprise that what I liked most at university was learning and not so much the prospect of a job afterwards. So it also happend that I was asked to come work for the university as an elearning consultant and this is where I have laid my "vagabond hat" for the moment; being a part time student and part time employee at DTU. When am I done studying? I don't know! Does it matter? I don't want to see myself in transit all the time, so I try to think of it as where I am right now - until I become restless and must move on again. Maybe to a completely new professional field.
My family
During my time with TYPO3 I have never been afraid of letting people look into my private life and personal convictions. Here are a few updates and some trivia. I'm married to Rie Skårhøj and has been so for many many years now. Actually since August 2000 - 6 days after TYPO3 was released as open source software. Today we have two kids; Amelie (named after the french movie) and Noomi (not named after the Naomi incident! :-). We live in Vanløse which is a suburb just outside Copenhagen (basically at the opposite end of the metro line to the airport). Rie is a sociologist and has been working professionally with research in youth culture for many years while also being the entrepreneur behind a not-for-profit cafe, Cafe Retro, in Knabrostræde 26, Copenhagen - a project now widely known in Denmark as a remarkable story of leading volunteers in an effort to raise money for the worlds poor while making a cosy hang-out for visitors.
- Rie, Amelie (April 2006) and Noomi (December 2009)
Jesus freak?
People across the world will get quite different ideas about what that says about us. So if you ever meet me, feel free to ask ;-) Chances are that I will not push the topic onto you by myself since I prefer a respectful, sincere dialogue. Being christians is a personal foundation in our lifes. It's a personal thing, not a cultural status. Faith being personal also means that we are critically examining it, but so far we have always returned to the fundamental inescapable truth; that life without God is completely meaningless and our hearts will always be restless to get closer to God. It sounds a bit bloated, but I don't want to die a spiritual zombie, so lets wrestle it instead! Rather I would like to have that abundant life Jesus talks about. Decide yourself if that makes me a Jesus freak.
I was interviewed by BibelTV about my life, TYPO3 and faith, watch it here.
- (Photo: Thorkild Christensen)
So far so good. I have updated you on the most basic facts of my life. If you wish to study my past with TYPO3, please take a look at my historical "Hello World" page.
You can catch me on email any time.
Sincerely, the friendly ghost
- kasper
