About The Oracle

Well, My name is Marcus Barry, and I currently live in Seattle Washington (Not to be confused with Washington D.C.) I work for a small software company in Redmond Washington who's ongoing goal is to revolutionize the way everyone uses computer software. I was born in the Caribbean and slowly migrated as far North/West as I can possible go without having to get an igloo and a pet moose. I'm slowly becoming used to this cold weather and lack of sun, but if you can get around those issues, Seattle is actually a wonderful city with tons of things to see and do.

I've been working for Microsoft for a few years now, and I have to say that it's the most exciting job I have ever had. I have met really interesting people, and I work on incredible stuff that I know will be used all over the world, but even with all the hard work, I still manage to find the time to take on the hobbies I've always wanted to try, and squeeze in some time to play Gears Of War against my friends in New York and the Netherlands.

Yes, that's right, I do something else besides work, sleep, and play games. My first love is Capoeira, a Afro-Brazilian martial art that also happens to be my main method of working out. I could spend all the time in the world explaining what Caporiera is, but I recommend you find a master to explain you the ins and outs of it. There are so many different interpretations of this martial art that it's best to do your own research and find out what sounds most believable to you. For now I am just in it for the beauty of the martial art. I will describe it as a powerful martial art that integrates a musical, artistic, and Social aspect which I have been unable to find in any other martial art that I have tried (and I have tried quite a few).

Speaking of art, this brings me to my second favorite hobby: Photography. I can't even determine what drew me to this hobby, there's just something about capturing a well framed moment in time that appeals to me. I have been doing it for quite some time. My first Camera was an old Canon SLR, probably still buried in a closet somewhere back home on St. Maarten. Since then I moved on to Minolta and Nikon, both excellent brands up until Minolta got bought out by Sony that is. (Sorry Dwayne) Now I am a Pentax user, and I think this will be the brand I stick with. My current main Camera is a Pentax K10D.

The 3rd hobby, and probably the one people least expected is snowboarding. That's right, a Caribbean person purposefully looking for a mountain of snow, and sliding down this mountain at break-neck speed on a miniature surf board. As crazy as this sounds, it's true, I am a very big fan of snowboarding. Considering the most dangerous sport I took up when I was a kid was riding a bike in my yard, this is a big change to what I'm used to.

Besides these 3 main hobbies, I still do the things that I used to do on St. Maarten, such as dancing, swimming, an occasional movie, and hanging out with friends (although this isn't much of a hobby, I think on St. Maarten we turned it into one. :-P) About 2 to 3 times a year I go whale watching, and I travel as often as I can.

I am among the many lucky people to get a job at Microsoft. I am currently working at the main campus as a software design engineer in shared services testing. Unfortunately I am not allowed to go into details on what I do, but I can promise you that like the majority of the products Microsoft works on, it is something that will have an incredible impact on computer users everywhere!

Besides working with cutting edge technology, working for Microsoft has many other benefits. But the thing I love the most is the freedom that it gives you. Compared to most other companies, they do not adhere to the strict rules of office etiquette. You are not required to dress up for work, It is acceptable to work from home, flexible core hours, etc. They provide excellent health benefits and the special discounts you get aren't to shabby either.

The Microsoft Campus is a huge chunk of well maintained land in the City of Redmond, roughly about 15 minutes drive away from Seattle (about 3 years during rush hour). The campus is full of walking trails, fountains, and trees, which makes it look really beautiful all year round. It's littered with Cafés with large varieties of food, and there are refrigerators always stocked with free drinks on every floor in every building. The campus has an elaborate transportation system to help you get around easily; they provide bus passes so you can take advantage of the public transportation that Washington provides for free; They even have their own private bus service to provide you with transportation to and from work. The amount of benefits and facilities they provide their employees are actually quite incredible, and so numerous I can hardly keep track of them all. My favorite benefit, however, is the health benefit, which provides full medical coverage, and extends to cover your spouse and children. In a country that doesn't have global health care, I can't even begin to describe how much I love this.

So this is probably the main reason most people actually come to my website: To hear about St. Maarten, or "The Rock" as some of my friends so affectionately call it. So like every good story, I saved the best for last. So lets get started!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so instead of writing a novel, we should begin with pictures. St. Maarten, like most islands in the Caribbean, is a sight to behold. After spending 20 years of my life there, I still cannot get enough of it's beauty. The beaches are filled with beautiful turquois waters, the land is covered with rolling hills and valleys, and the temperature almost never drops below 25 degrees celcius (thats the mid 70s for people who use the other system.)

The island is bright and colorful which goes along with the personality of most of the people there. They call St. Maarten the friendly island, but I would attribute it to the weather more than anything. If you lived on a beautiful island with wonderful weather, wouldn't you be dancing around in the streets and feeling happy all the time also?

The island has strong influences from many other Caribbean islands, but it definitely has it's own culture and flavor that separates it from the rest of the Caribbean. The island is owned by both the Netherlands and France, so you can find the openness of the former, with the cuisine of the latter. The food is excellent and I have yet to find one restaurant on the island that disappoints me. The clubs are usually open pretty late, so you can dance the whole night (and probably the early morning) away and then spend time on the beaches watching the sun rise before hitting the sac.

I grew up in the lovely house you see here. It's pretty much right smack in the middle of the dutch side of the island and has 4 bedrooms 4 bathrooms 2 living rooms and a pretty big garden. The house has changed color so many times, that I lost track of the original color some 10 years ago. The yard has 2 fences that divides the yard into the area for the dog, and the area for everyone else. The huge monster of a dog that wonders around our yard is quite fun to play with as long as you can manage to stay standing when he jumps on you. He's been referred to as a dinosaur, a cow, a dragon, and on one occasion, god (prefixed with the words "oh my" shortly before the person ran screaming.) We just call him Zoro.

The Palm trees around the house have been there since I was 5 years old, and I remember helping my parents plant some of them when I was a little kid. They seemed to have outgrown me a bit. When I think back to the amount of hurricanes these trees stood up to, it never ceases to amaze me how resilient palm trees are.