About

I am a university student studying transportation and civil engineering. Publicly, I love public transit systems, trains, and aspire to build more cohesive communities. Privately, I like a lot of different things. That’s where this website comes in. Projects, rants, musings, and lists of things I like will all be kept here. Will it be good? Who knows! That’s not the point. I just want to make something.

I chose to write under a pseudonym primarily to keep professional contacts from googling me and coming across this website before whatever curated social media I have made for the purpose. I avoid publishing photos of myself and people I know for a similar reason.

I hope you find something you enjoy. Got questions or want to know more? Shoot me an email! ContactAkelas@proton.me.

Where does the name Akelas Maestro come from?

Buckle up, it’s story time.

I used to be BIG into scouting. From the age of 7 hanging around the cub scouts to 21 volunteering as an assistant scout master, I loved being a Boy Scout. So what you will about the program, for me it was exactly what I need to get me out of the house, make friends, and connect with good mentors. I do not know where I would be without that program, but it would be a worse place for sure.

Anyway, when I was in high school, I was invited to staff a week-long day camp for cub scouts, which at the time was 8-11 year-old’s. The camp was called Camp Akela (pronounced Uh-kay-la). Now, it was the tradition of cub scout camp that all the staff were given staff nicknames. I was involved in piano or orchestra at the time, and being the senior staff member outside the adults, my peers dubbed my Maestro.

Fast forward two-three years. I’m starting to get more involved in the gaming group my Dad has been a part of since his high school days. I’ve been loosely affiliated since I was 12, but didn’t really get into it. Now I’m older, the group is starting a D&D campaign, and I couldn’t say no. But I needed a proper gamer tag; everyone else had cool nicknames with a story behind it and I was still rocking whatever fixation leftover by 12-year-old me. I didn’t want to take on Maestro as that felt too pretentious, so I settled on AkelasMaestro, as in “Camp Akela’s Maestro”, figuring the group would setting on Akela (Uh-kay-la). However, the name was misread and mispronounced as Akelas (uh-key-lus). At first this bothered me, but my uncle later reminded me that Akela means “den mother” (cause, you know, CUB scouts). Suddenly I didn’t have any qualms about the mispronunciation.

So yeah. That’s how I got my name.

Bonus Fact: my wife got involved in the group recently and we had to come up with her name. She did not have a cool story at the time or a previous name. We ended up settling on Gigglez which proved appropriate. My wife, bless her heart, is, at times, very shy and always extremely froo froo. The nervous or excited giggles are endless.

Dedication

This site is dedicated to my late father who passed away in July, 2025. We would always have Monday night phone calls to chat which would usually become me rambling on about my latest fixation. I wish I had listened more. Anyway, I post here all the things I would have otherwise shared with him. Putting it out to the world gives me hope he can see it wherever he might be.

I love you, Dad. Miss you.