About This Web Site
If you are like me, when you visit a website you want to know a few things about it: Who is behind this site? Why did they make it? And I hate it when those questions are not answered! So on my site I will answer them.
My name is Josh Klauder. Among many other things, I build websites, including this one. It always surprises people to learn that a web geek named Josh is not in his twenties, or even thirties, but turning seventy in 2024. It surprises the hell out of me - and I have had a long time to see it coming! Most of that long time, about 45 years worth, I have spent as an Alaskan and I remain an Alaskan still. But due to a strange and marvelous string of events I am now partnered with a wonderful woman who has spent those same 45 years in Auburn, New York. Starting in 2020 I have been spending chunks of time here in the City of Crows. I know what you are thinking - to get away from those Alaskan winters. Wrong! I love winter. Who in their right mind would spend a lifetime in Alaska if they hate winter? For 40 years I was a dog musher/bushrat, and really got a kick out of doing that AND web design at the same time. And really, if you want to escape winter, coming to Central New York is not exactly the optimum choice, sorry.
My partner is an artist, by both temperment and profession. Through her I have been growing an appreciation for the community of Auburn, its people, its history (including a big link to Alaska in the form of William Seward), and...its crows!
I wouldn't call myself an artist, let's say I am a "creative type". I have long enjoyed the interface of technology with design, and with utility, and the interface of both of those with culture, location, and identity. I am now mostly retired from building web sites. All of which leads me to this project: The City of Crows. I want to encourage an appreciation of these amazing birds and their phenomenal presence here among locals, while encouraging off-season visitation by non-locals. Auburn already has a lot to be proud of, but there is no reason we can't add more.
The project has two main parts. I will be gathering information and resources about the Auburn roost onto this web site. And I will be graphic-designing and selling items to help spread the word that Auburn, New York is The City of Crows. And, yes, I hope to make some money doing that to support my habit of coming here from Alaska on a regular basis.