About Me

Who am us, anyway?

I was born in November, 1968 in Burlington, North Carolina. I was always a weird kid, and I grew up constantly drawing, watching television, and collecting comedy albums. After graduating from Williams High School in 1987, I first went off to college at the Maryland Institute College of Art in downtown Baltimore. After one semester of missing my friends back home way too much, I settled (for a time) into the arms of the School of Art at East Carolina University. After three more semesters, I dropped out, moving to Chapel Hill and working at bookstores and video stores for about a year before realizing how much better school was than full-time employment. I went back to E.C.U. a changed man, and in 1994, I graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the Studio Arts with a concentration in painting and drawing.

After graduation, I moved to Raleigh, a city I've liked ever since high school. I quickly settled into the world of temp jobs. However, one temp job turned permanent as a job in insurance agency compensation, which I quickly turned into a computer programming job. I had never had a computer class in my life, but computers had always been a passionate hobby of mine. Before I knew it, I was a professional software engineer.

Currently, thanks to a lay-off, I am on my own and currently reconciling my computer skills with my artistic roots as co-founder and Creative Director of a national marketing and advertising company, WildernessPros, which caters to the outdoor industry. I now spend my days working on web sites, multimedia presentations, and other advertising material. I don't think I could be happier...a lot richer, of course, but not happier.

My fave raves...

Music: Fatboy Slim, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin, Sigor Rós, Cocteau Twins, Bob Mould / Hüsker Dü, George Clinton (Parliament, Funkadelic, P-Funk All-Stars, et al.), Bloodhound Gang, Tom Waits, Soul Coughing, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Louis Prima, etc... and always remember: I am mad for the bossa nova!

Movies: I love movies! Come visit sometime, and we'll watch something on DVD!: Apocalypse Now; any thing by the Coen Brothers, especially Raising Arizona, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and The Big Lebowski; all Kevin Smith movies, but especially Dogma; Fight Club; all the Thin Man movies; Wes Anderson's movies: Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums; The Apostle; Office Space; Swingers; The Fifth Element; Christopher Guest's improv movies: This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind; Grosse Pointe Blank; Tarantino's Kill Bill (vols 1 & 2), Pulp Fiction, True Romance; David Lynch movies, especially his most excellent masterpiece, Mullholland Drive; Monty Python comedies; Abrahams, Zucker & Zucker movies, such as Airplane!, Top Secret!, Hot Shots!, Ruthless People, and so on...I could keep going, but you get the idea...

My Schmoopie

Beth and I met back in February of 2000 through our mutual friend Su. When I met her, I was thrilled...I didn't know if we would end up dating or just be friends, but you know what? I didn't care. Either way, I'd have been a winner. Fortunately, it turned into the dating route, which <gasp!> led to the engagement route (in March of 2001) and then to the wedding route in January of 2002!

She is my sweetie, and I love her so much. She's way cool. She's always been a tomboy (and I've always been attracted to the tomboys), but at the same time, she is still sweet and—on occassion—quite, quite girly. We get along tremendously, mostly because we are both only children, and we mutually understand and respect our needs for "alone time". And, man, is she cute!

We alternately amuse and sicken our friends when we are together with them. We bicker good-naturedly and unabashedly in public (which is the amusing part), and we make goo-goo eyes and kisses at each other (which is the sickening part).

Beth works as an account manager for a local commercial insurance agency, and when she's not working, she's at the gym, going off to movies, or hanging out with girlfriends at a local dance club. Together, she and I are all about some sushi, walks, travel, and the occasional couch potato time.

Our Young'uns

Bear

Bear is probably about eight years old by now, and Beth has had her ever since she was a kitten. One of our big concerns when we married was my cat allergies, but they have disappeared, so we are fortunate! Bear is a bit on the moody side, but once she gets to know you (after, say, living with her constantly for several months), she really is a sweetheart. She gets nice and silly in the morning after a dose of sunbeams, but mostly she hangs out in her little "cat igloo" on our bathroom counter.

Roxy

Roxy is our little Yorkshire Terrier, and we got her the week after we got back from our honeymoon. Fortunately, Roxy is not the yippy-little-noisy type. She barks out of happiness when we come home, and she growls happily when she's playing, but otherwise, she's pretty quiet. She is the best-natured dog I have ever seen. She loves strangers, people, children and other animals, and we never worry about her biting or snapping. Since I work out of home these days, she's pretty much my shadow and constant companion. Just like Beth, she is also a little tomboy.

Max

Max is our newest pet. During one of the snowstorms of January, 2003, Beth and I went by the PetSmart for supplies, and Max (then known as "Wingy") caught our hearts from within the cage of the ASPCA adoption center. He is a huge orange tabby Maine Coon, and such a big sweetie. He and Roxy are the same age, and the two of them play and chase and wrestle all throughout the day (and night).