About Mark Cidade

About Me

Last updated January 11, 2010
  • My full name is Mark Wilson Cidade. I don’t ever use my middle name. Cidade is pronounced “Sid-ADD”.
  • I’m 32 years old. I was born on May 23, 1977.
  • I live in Toronto and have lived there since I was born except for one year in Seattle (March, 2006 to March, 2007).
  • I have two younger brothers–one is 25 years old and the other is 29. My parents are from the Azores, Portugal.
  • I’m a professional computer geek. I’m currently looking for work in web development and running for mayor for the city of Toronto. You can have a look at my résumé.
  • I’m an artist, a writer, and I play a bit of guitar.
  • I like to read a lot. I usually read stuff on the Web. I have a lot of books, and I’m mainly reading non-fiction these days. I’m currently reading some stuff by Jane Jacobs.
  • I never finished high school. I quit school to take on a full time job in the Web business while it was still in its infancy. Just about everything I know is self-taught.
  • Schools that I have attended (all in Toronto):
    • The City School (Grades 11 & 12; 1994-1996)
    • Central Tech (Grades 9 & 10; 1991-1993)
    • Stella Maris (Grades 3, 6, 7, & 8 )
    • St. John Bosco (Kindergarten, Grades 1-3, 4, & 5)
  • My religion is Torontonianism—a harmony of all religions in the city where I live . I grew up as a Roman Catholic and was a very devout believer up until I was 15. In the same vein, I am also a philosophical skeptic and a humanist.
  • I have a very diverse range of interests. I’m big on philosophy, science, and art. With philosophy, I’m mainly interested in logic. Of the sciences, I’m mostly into neurology, computer sciences, theoretical physics, and genetics. I like to create art rather than treat it academically. Also high on my list of interests are linguistics, memetics, pedagogy, parenting, movies, and music.
  • Rock concerts I’ve been to:
    • Robert Plant (Varsity Arena, Toronto, 1993)
    • Cranberries (Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, 1999)
    • Metallica (Air Canada Centre, Toronto, 2004)
    • Megadeth (Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, 2005)
    • Tool (Copps Colloseum, Hamilton, 2007)
  • I enjoy a good conversation. There are very few things that I enjoy more. I prefer to talk about ideas. After that, I don’t mind talking about events, although I usually couldn’t care less about the weather. I find that conversations about specific people tend not to be very interesting, unless it’s one of the people in the conversation (including myself) or it’s to illustrate an aspect of human nature.
  • My top 5 favourite film directors:
    1. David Lynch
    2. David Cronenberg
    3. Pedro Amoldavar
    4. Woody Allen
    5. Stanley Kubric
  • My favourite food is ice-cream. My favourite flavour of ice-cream being vanilla. Yes, that’s right“plain old” vanilla. As for what to eat before dessert, I like a variety of international cuisines. I’m very keen on sushi. Whenever possible, I eat the finest sashimi I can get, which isn’t often. Eating sake is an orgasmic experience. I like Indian food a lot, too. And I think Thai food is yummy.
  • I avoid watching TV whenever I can.
  • Places where I have been:
    • Chicago, Illinois, USA
    • Cleveland, Ohio, USA
    • Dallas, Texas, USA
    • Denver, Colorado, USA
    • Des Moines, Iowa, USA
    • Florence, Italy
    • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
    • London, England
    • Las vegas, Nevada, USA
    • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Kingston, Ontario, Canada
    • Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • New Bedford, Massachusetes, USA
    • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    • Ponte Delgada, Azores, Portugal
    • Paris, France
    • Pisa, Italy
    • Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
    • Redwood City, California, USA
    • Reno, Nevada, USA
    • Rome, Italy
    • Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
    • Seattle, Washington, USA
    • St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
  • Wild and/or crazy things that I’ve done:
    • I shaved my eyebrows in 1993

      • . It was after watching Pink Floyd: The Wall, on a whim. I choose my whims carefully now.

    • I went skydiving twice in 1997 and twice again in 2005. There’s nothing like it.
    • I went to Burning Man in 2000, 2001, 2008, and 2009. I’m also going back for 2010

      • . One of the most incredible experiences in my entire life.

    • On 2000-Oct-17, I headbutted Welsey Willis! Or he headbutted me, rather. After that, he told me to say “rah” and then “roh”. I proceeded to buy his CD.
  • You can also check out 43Things.com for a list of things I want to do (not all of them are wild and crazy, though).