Well, if you've clicked here it means you want to know a little bit about me... I'm not very big on tooting my own horn, but I'll write a brief biography.
The Latest...
Well, I'm married to my wonderful wife Julie (since June 2001) and have an incredibly awesome son Michael Leon. I live in DeKalb, IL where I work for a small web development company called Web 2 Market. I get to work from home most of the time, so my dog, Moxie, really loves that. Julie was a high school science teacher - Chemistry and Physics - until our son was born in October of 2006. Now she stays at home and takes care of him. Check out her blog: Wash The Diapers.......Again (yes, we cloth diaper).
My parents are retired teachers. My sister is also married and has a family and lots of four legged members of her household.
My hobbies include web development, home improvements, landscaping/gardening, canoeing, hiking, geocaching, reading, painting, drawing, sculpting, woodworking, and of course, watching TV and movies with my wife. I tell her all the time, "There's no one else in the world I'd rather waste time with than you." She's my best friend (sorry Nick, but I know you understand) and I can't imagine what I'd do without her.
You can see tons of pictures and video of us on my Photo Galleries page.
My Bio - Personal & Fun
I was born and raised in a southwest suburb of Chicago where I guess I had a pretty typical childhood. Both of my parents were teachers so I spent my summers traveling with them and my sister all over the United States. I've been to all 50 states, but haven't left North America. I've been to Mexico, but just across the Texas border, and I've been to more of Canada, but again, not too far across the border. When we went to Alaska we briefly went into the Yukon and I've been into British Colombia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Quebec and Ontario. I've been to Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario many times.
I don't even know where to begin listing my favorite places to visit. There are so many wonderful places in the US, but one of my favorites is Arches National Park near Moab, UT.
I guess I led a pretty normal childhood. I went to the local public schools... I was in gymnastics for several years (I won 1st place in the 1988 Illinois State Gymnastics Meet for Class IV pummel horse)... I ran Track and Cross Country in 7th and 8th grade and was a mathlete.
In high school I was an honor student, but never had very good study habits. I'm sure I could have gotten better grades if I had turned in more homework. Oh well... I was also involved in several activities, including Track & Field (I did long jump, triple jump, high jump, 200, 400, and 800 meter runs and the occasional 1 & 2 mile runs), Theatrical Stage Crew, Mathletes and a few others.
After high school I went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for five years of college. I started out in Civil Engineering, decided it wasn't creative enough, and switched my major to Fine & Applied Arts - Sculpture. I filled all my spare time (I had plenty, since all my gen eds were covered with my freshman engineering classes) with various computer classes, including C Programming, Digital Imaging, 3D Modeling & Animation, and more. I also spent more time than I should have in the residence hall computer labs. But I guess all that time spent learning HTML when it was brand new paid off.
In college I had several jobs, including working for the University Housing department. In addition to working in the residence hall computer labs as a Peer Computing Consultant, I worked on designing web pages for the various residence halls, including 360° Quick Time panoramas. During vacation breaks I also worked for IBM in their Text & Graphics department making business presentations and other graphics.
After college I worked for a few different companies doing various computer related tasks. First I worked for eParts Exchange as the technical administrator - responsible for a little bit of everything computer related. Then I worked for The Eclectic Network as the Director of Web Services. Then I went back to the parent company of eParts Exchange - Universal Automotive Industries - where I did everything that was even remotely related to computers. I redesigned and maintained their web site, reorganized, renewed, and restructured their entire network, and even improved their telephone services and phone system. I wore many hats while working for Universal, but that wasn't enough. I also took classes at Moraine Valley Community College to learn more about various technologies, including Visual Basic, InDesign, Flash, and more.
And all that learning and work finally paid off. Today I am a Web Developer for a small e-commerce web development company called Web 2 Market. I design and develop sites using ColdFusion, JavaScript, HTML, SQL, XML, and a slew of other web related languages and technologies. Sometimes I can't believe that what I spent hours wasting time doing in the basement of the UIUC dorms has turned into a job that I absolutely love. I get to work from home (I only have to go in to the office once every week or two). My hours are flexible (I just have to get 8+ in per day). My boss and coworkers are great. And best of all, I get paid for doing what I used to do for free. I work on sites for a whole bunch of different companies, so for every site I develop I learn a little bit about a new industry. I've worked on sites for everything from multi-million dollar home developers to gourmet food sellers to garden supply companies and more...
In July of 2006 I got promoted to Lead Developer with Web 2 Market. It's not a huge promotion since there are only two other developers (plus three other employees - including the President, Brad), but the company is growing and as we add more developers I'll be responsible for managing projects and act as a source of technical support for them.
UPDATE: In March of 2008 I became the Production Manager for Web 2 Market. I guess this means I'm officially management now. I'm in charge of scheduling and managing projects for three developers under me as well as coordinating with all the other employees (sales, systems, customer support). It's a great promotion!
Fun Stuff
Well, that's enough of the boring bios. Now for some fun stuff about me...
Favorite Characters:
Simpson's Character - Jasper Beardly - He is Grandpa (Abe) Simpson's bearded friend from the Retirement Castle. He's known for being somewhat cranky. My favorite quotes are: "Apu? Is that you? My, time has ravished your once youthful looks." from the episode Lisa The Simpson and "My beard, I broke my beard!" from the episode The Old Man and the Key.
Disney Character - Tigger - The wonderful thing about Tiggers Is Tiggers are wonderful things Their tops are made out of rubber Their bottoms are made out of springs They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers Is I'm the only one!
Children's Book Character - Curious George - Of course. I grew up with Curious George. Besides the name he's a wonderful character and the movie was great. We also lovbe watching the PBS show with Michael and have all the DVDs.
Other Favorites:
Color - Black - With light it is the absence of color, with pigments it is all colors. A nice range of everything.
Food - Pizza, Lasagna, Filet Mingon - But I also love burgers, hot dogs, pasta, and of course, cheddarwurst. But Julie makes me eat healthy stuff, so these are just treats. Oh well... At least she's a good cook so the healthy food is always great, even when she thinks she's ruined it I love it =)
Disney Ride - Pirates of the Caribbean - Although Space Mountain comes in at a close second. I also loved the Pirates of the Caribbean movie and can't wait for the sequel.
Roller Coaster - Vertical Velocity - This roller coaster at Six Flags Great America is very similar to one that was my long-standing favorite: Tidal Wave (at Six Flags Great America) aka Montezooma's Revenge (at Knott's Berry Farm) or any of several other shuttle loop roller coasters.
Simpson's Episode - Lisa the Simpson (4F24 S09E17) - Jasper freezes himself in Apu's freezer because he wants to see the future. When Apu discovers Jasper he turns the Kwik-E-Mart into a freakshow with Jasper as the main attraction: Frostillicus. Oh yeah, the main story... Lisa fears that she'll get dumber as she gets older. But watch if for Jasper!
Music: I listen to almost all kinds of music, but my favorite genre is Americana (including Folk, Roots, Alternative Country, Rockabilly, etc.)
Internet Radio - Boot Liquor - Americana Roots music for Cowhands, Cowpokes and Cowtippers. From SomaFM (14 unique channels of listener-supported, commercial-free, underground/alternative radio broadcasting from San Francisco.)
Internet Radio - KPIG - This station out of California is a great station for all kinds of americana music.
Local Radio - WXRT 93.1 - XRT plays a great mix of rock and americana. They don't play everything that I like, but in Chicago they come the closest (except for various Public Radio programs).
