A Short Biography

THE STORY

The urban cowboy with a business mentality. That's what best describes me. I grew up in rural Door County, WI (USA). The homestead was an old farm that saw its cows sold when I was four because there's not much money in farming anymore. Regardless, I have a little bit of country-boy DNA, which I try to reflect with my massive collection of Wrangler clothing and albums of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. I had the privilege of attending a small Lutheran day school, and then a tiny high school. It's obviously ironic that my current location is Milwaukee, WI. The city life definitely attracts me with its glimmering lights, corner cafes, and limited space for parking (my goodness - no one has driveways around here). Yes, I consider myself an urban dweller now.

Currently, I study at Carroll College, a small liberal arts institute with small classes and good professors. With a small number of actual graphic design classes, I’m almost forced to take advantage of the wide variety of classes offered. I’ve already had the ability to take classes in cultural geography, philosophy and ethics, statistics, and World War II history. I truly believe that this is going to benefit me in the long run, even if I end up as a Web developer. This broad background will make me a more knowledgeable person in the workplace and community.

My aspirations (the business mentality that I mentioned above) revolve around pretty much becoming a force in the Web community. I hope to become a well-known designer in the Milwaukee area whose work is intelligent and creative. Money doesn’t matter much to me, but recognition for excellent work does. Hopefully one day I’ll become the head or co-founder of a firm. My undying ambition to become smarter in every facet of life and work will hopefully propel me to that plateau.

I STILL HAVE FUN (I THINK)

Although it's hard because each minute away from my Mac is tough, I do have many activities that keep me busy. Most are for fun (I'm excluding a movie that turns out horrible as fun). View the categories below to see what gets me excited.

I love music. I think of it as the mind of God. (Speaking of which, you should really look up the String Theory.) I'm a big fan of all types except hip-hop, although I can find a good beat here and there in that genre. My favorite types are indie rock (and I was a fan before the OC came out ... ), electronica, 60s/70s folk rock, 70s disco, and 80s funk. Here's a list of bands I encourage you to try out:

  • Modest Mouse (strongly suggest older stuff, like The Lonesome Crowded West)
  • AIR
  • Mogwai
  • Sigar Ros
  • Led Zepplin
  • The Flaming Lips
  • Radiohead (any era)
  • Built to Spill
  • The Umbrella Sequence
  • Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  • Beck
  • Death Cab For Cutie (older stuff)
  • Jefferson Airplane
  • The Rapture
  • The Red Hot Chilli Peppers
  • The Strokes

Not by coincidence, those are some of my favorite bands. I'm sure you've heard of most of those names, but if there's a band on that list you haven't heard of (or heard of and haven't actually heard them), I strongly recommend checking the out. To view more of my musical tastes, visit my Audioscrobbler Account.

I really get into movies that make me think. Those are my favorite, but I do like all types of movies. Check my list below for titles that I really recommend. If there's a movie on that list you haven't seen, chances are you'll say to yourself after you're done, "Wow, that was amazing." (Note: For visual purposes, I've omitted the italics common for a movie title.)

  • Fight Club
  • All three Matrix movies (C'mon people, it's intelligent and graphically beautiful.)
  • SE7EN
  • Saw
  • Requiem For A Dream
  • Memento
  • Donny Darko
  • The Usual Suspects
  • The Life Of David Gale
  • Anchorman

Those also happen to be my top 10 favorite, in order. If you are shouting at the screen, "Where's The Lord of the Rings trilogy or the Star Wars - uh - sixology?" my rebuttal is, "Who hasn't heard of them?"

I don't mind reading, but I'll be the first to admit that I don't do much reading for fun. If I am reading, it's usually a book about CSS, PHP, a blog, a book for a class, or something of the likes. All I can say is that these books I hold as my favorite:

  • The Stranger by Albert Camus
  • Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
  • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  • The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman
  • Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer
  • The Consequences of Modernity by Anthony Giddens

I used to be a gamer as well. I played a lot of video games back in the day. For the past year or so, I find myself only playing a few games: Counter-strike and SNES gems. Once in a while I turn on my old PC and play some CS because I'm competitive and really decent at it. Final Fantasy 3, Zelda, and U.N. Squadron are some fun SNES games to bust out once in a while too.