User Profile

I was born in 1972 as David Woodworth, raised in a variety of Maryland locations until age 12 (with a not-so brief sojurn in Beirut), and then transplanted to Utah. I was in a series of truly bad rock bands in Utah (Peristalsis, The Sunmasons [note: The Sunmasons went on to be a good band many, many members later], BIS, The Indigo Guys). I sang with Makela for a couple of years, during the “Makapella” period.

I attempted to be a generalist at the University of Utah, but the office people insisted that a “valid career objective” was required. The answer “but rock star IS a valid career objective” did not sway them, so I ended up with a wide variety of half-majors (classical guitar, Persian literature, mathematics) and finished my degree at UMUC. I changed my surname to Barak for a variety of reasons in 1998.

I’ve lived in the Washington environs on a steady spiral inward [Baltimore -> Gaithersburg -> Bethesda -> Silver Spring -> DC :) ] since 1994, and have worked since that time as a restaurant manager, historian, network engineer, and consultant.

Music I’m into: Alice in Chains, Blues Traveller, Led Zeppelin, The Pat McGee Band, Bob Mould, Pink Floyd, Rush, Smashing Pumpkins, They Might Be Giants, “Weird Al” Yankovic

Interests include: Sarah, networking, military history, classical architecture, spinning, science fiction, comic strips, daf yomi, music, Kacy, & work

Disinterests include: stuff that sucks


Here's what I've been listening to recently:

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