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Those cities have included: Chattanooga, TN
(from birth to age 2)
New Hope, MN (from
age 2 to age 4)
Schaumburg, IL (from
age 5 to age 13)
Brookfield, WI
(from age 13 to age 18)
Most of my
formative years were during my stay in Schaumburg, IL (from 1975-1983)
where my days were filled with attending school, riding ridiculously
attended-to dirt bikes, winning championship little league
championships, and playing with my best friend,
Jeff Allen.
in 1978, my
parents were divorced. Shortly thereafter I learned the benefits
of having two Birthdays, two Halloweens, two Thanksgivings and two
Christmases - which translated into I traveled a lot and was the
beneficiary of "stuff". Those of you that speak the lingo of my
generation understand that "stuff" somehow loosely translates to
collectibles, many of which I have still, including my Darth Vader
Head Collectors Box full of ridiculously-priced pieces of molded
plastic.
I enjoyed my
school days, my adventures, and more importantly, my friends:
Whenever trying to explain my formative years in Schaumburg, I often
remember the quote from
Rob Reiner's
Stephen King Adaptation film
"Stand By Me" where
Richard Dreyfus
types for all to see in a hazy black screen with green letters:
Sadly, he was
right. While I've always had great friends, I don't think I've
ever had friends like the ones I had when I was twelve.
What I did have
was new friends when I was 13 years old: who all had their own, new and
unforgettable quirks that we still recall and get a grin out of today.
Those quirks formed a little something we all called "our days in high
school."
Carl, Matt,
Mark, Bill, Dave, Dan, Jeff,
Brandon, Adam -- The
list is long and hazy now, but it was a great time to be sure.
During high
school I played baseball, wrestled, was on the school newspaper as
cartoonist, participated in a variety of plays that I enjoyed
immensely, and happily graduated in 1988.
From
1988 to 1992, I floated from job to job and finally went to college in
Wisconsin, and graduated with a very specialized degree in Educational
Interpreting for the Deaf - it is a great profession and has provided
me with skills that I had acquired mostly because of my being diagnosed
with
"Otosclerosis" (bone deposits on the bones of the middle ear)
and fitted with hearing aids.
My
college interpreting program was a great time, not only because I was
getting skills that would allow me to succeed in life, but because my
class ratio was interesting to say the least: In the Interpreting
profession, one thing is clear:
There are always more female interpreters
than there are male interpreters.
My
graduating class followed this trend and I enjoyed every minute I spent
with the 23 college co-eds during those years.
It's also the
time that I met my wife, the mother of my child
Jade,
and someone that truly does complete me -
Gloria
Wilkerson.
Shortly after
graduating, I secured a position as an Educational Interpreter in the
city of St. Louis, Missouri with an interpreting company called
Deaf Interlink. After spending 9 long years as an
interpreter, yearning to be an artist of some kind again, I eventually
made my way into part-time web design for a variety of efforts. After
about three years, I stumbled along a company called
Executive
Personal Computers who, after seeing the work I'd done took me on as a
part-time website designer and graphic artist.
Eventually
we grew the need to one that needed a full-time position and I took it
gleefully, and haven't looked back.
During my years
of being an adult, I've come to realize the value of movies, friends,
free-time, and remembering to put your family first.
In 2003, my wife
Gloria and I became the proud parents of what is decidedly the cutest
baby in the world,
Jade Erin
Wilkerson, who has and continues to teach me things on a daily
basis about life, being happy and diapers.
While
my family is still the top-most item in my life, my jaunt into the
realm of Podcasting really does make my creative spirit run wild.
In January of 2006, a comrade in 24-review and I started a podcast
dedicated to the review and love of the hit Fox show, "24" called
"The
2GuysTalking: 24 Podcast."
The
traffic has grown from my original concept and has enabled me
to start a
Podcast Network that continues to grow in just about every
direction. I look forward to being able to document more about
that effort, my family goings-on and more as the years continue.
And the
Adventure Continues... |
