James Ludwell-Grymes

About Me

I'm a father, artist and musician residing in the United States. For work, I've always tinkered with computers. Most recently, I was serving as the interim director of the Security & Privacy department at Western Michigan University (WMU)

Interests & Hobbies

• Playing sports and games, traditional and digital. My favorites are classics such as Go, Duplicate Bridge, Croquet and Shogi, "modern games" designed by Kris Burm (GIPF Project), John Bohrer (Wabash Cannonball), Phil Eklund (Pax Renaissance), Reiner Knizia (Medici), Alex Randolph (TwixT), R. Eric Reuss (Spirit Island), Uwe Rosenberg (Agricola), Cole Wehrle (Root), Donald X. Vaccarino (Dominion), and roguelikes by Michael Brough (Cinco Paus)
• Creating abstract expressionist pieces with oil pastels (Sennelier)
• Making music with VCVRack, SunVox, Ciat-Lonbarde synthesizers, and a harpsichord
• Watching films by directors such as Woody Allen (Annie Hall), Matthew Barney (Cremaster 3), Ingmar Bergman (Wild Strawberries), Jean Cocteau (Beauty and the Beast, specifically with the Philip Glass soundtrack), Jean-Luc Godard (La Chinoise, the petit-bourgeois Maoists, how ironic), Peter Greenaway (Prospero's Books), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen), David Lynch (Eraserhead), Eric Rohmer (My Night at Maud's), Sion Sono (Noriko's Dinner Table)
• Books about theology (most recently Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years), psychology (like Sapolsky's Behave, which I'm definitely not using as a coaster), philosophy (Adorno and Derrida), entomology (I like The Ants), as well as fiction by Samuel Beckett (The Lost Ones), William Faulkner (The Sound and the Fury), William Gaddis (The Recognitions), Cynthia Ozick (The Messiah of Stockholm), Vladimir Nabokov (Pale Fire), Thomas Pynchon (The Crying of Lot 49), John Kennedy Toole (A Confederacy of Dunces, my valve!), Toni Morrison (The Bluest Eye)
• Fashion. People wanting a good Shetland sweater can find one at O'Connell's, and if you miss the old Brooks, there's Mercer
• Food and drink - if you ever find yourself in Louisville, be sure to eat at 610 Magnolia (the BLT amuse-bouche's fantastic) and Jack Fry's (you won't regret ordering the filet). If you're a fan of beer, try Chimay Dorée. For good tea, visit Yunnan Sourcing