I am a writer, blogger and researcher, focusing on space exploration, astronomy, science and forteana.
In high school and college I studied English, writing, media and magazine writing, publication design and art.
My life-long interests have been primarily in space, planetary exploration and astronomy. As a little kid, like many others, I was fascinated by looking up at the night sky and wondering what was out there. I still have the newsclippings I kept in a scrapbook back then about various missions of the time such as Viking, Voyager, etc. I even gave little space talks for my classes sometimes in elementary school complete with posters and displays. I have been a long-time member of The Planetary Society, the space interest organization founded by the late Carl Sagan, and my blog The Meridiani Journal is a chronicle of the latest discoveries in planetary exploration, which now seem to be on a weekly if not daily basis.
I am also interested in various other areas of science, technology and the unexplained, etc. including those things which don’t always seem to “fit” in mainstream science and therefore challenge the status quo. I consider myself to be an open-minded skeptic; I think such subjects should be treated with cautious skepticism but at the same time not dismissed blindly based on personal bias, without doing any research or investigation. The famous quote by Carl Sagan “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” sums it up rather nicely for me.
Other interests include contemporary art and design, music (many kinds, but especially ambient/electronica, jazz and 80s), travel, cooking, film, theatre, golf & all things Apple…
I live in North Vancouver, BC, Canada, nestled between the very scenic mountains and ocean of the Pacific west coast.
Paul Scott Anderson 
Greetings Paul,
Finally clicked into your ‘MJ’ ongoing ‘blog’ and look forward to reading your comments on our solar system & ‘interplanetary’ missions etc., not to mention likely top notch pics (such as i view almost daily at the ‘Opp. Rover’ JPL Site) and others comments. I’m also a big, ‘smooth jazz’ lover (long background as a sometime actor, pro singer and DJ, occasional good pop song writer yrs back, etc), using Amazon as a place to quickly sample various music Releases and artists.
Though i’ve now been a long time So. Cal. person, i’ve lived many yrs in Aspen, and have traveled extensively thru the western Parks w/my Ex and current wonderful, adventurous, multi-cultural, wife. We again spent 8 days last summer visiting relatives and friends in Seattle, mostly in Surrey/BC and really loved the Vancouver area (though it was mostly cloudy and surprisingly somewhat rainy during our early July stay. Only wish we’d had more time to explore the Mtns north of V. Next time for sure.
Am a big believer in our Mars exploration (always have been since the early Mars Orbiters and later Viking Landers period, as well as in our need to extensively explore the possibilities at Europa and even Titan (which has many reasons to have possibly at one time (or still) harbored life. Am amazed we haven’t rushed back to Europa by now with a well built Orbiter (if not lander combo). Sadly, nat’l and int’l monetary resources are shrinking (outside of China), which isn’t good for progressive science, leaps.
Though a long time rare coin and currency dealer, i still greatly enjoy writing about the things that impassion me, even when i manage to make up new verbage to suit the moment. Have many times felt i should take the leap (as you have) and find a way to fund, research, and write a book on the history of American (and to a large degree also Europe) music and songwriters (including the great singers), from the 30s (Gershwin, Copeland, Steiner, Porter) thru at least the 2000.
But, with little time to devote to a project that might create losses not financial gain and no track-record behind me of being a published writer, it remains one of my intellectual ‘pipe-dreams’/such as my occasional great idea for a Sci-Fi novel/screenplay, work-up. But, having a sense of humor, have even considered my ample experience w/why i should write a book on hetero male sexuality and how to maintain and live with it as one gets older and the body and ‘marriage’ continue to evolve and dissipate (again, no scholarly/medical background with which to entice publishers or the ‘talk-show’ circuit). Apologies for going on, here.
Best of luck with your blogs and science writings, etc.
Lee Stern
Laguna Hills, CA.