If I add you to my friends list on mySpace, it is on the condition that you never, ever post one of those stupid, blinky holiday/birthday/whatthefuckever images to my comments section.
Also, if I don't know you (from somewhere else), I won't be accepting your invite or replying to your messages, so please go bother someone else. I don't care about your band, how big your wang is, or that we both used to eat dog biscuits as kids. Really. I don't.
I don't actually blog on mySpace. I use LiveJournal for that (far fewer pedophiles and freaks there). If you're interested in what's going on in my life, check out my LiveJournal , or my website .
If you're a member of LiveJournal and I know you, tell me your LJ name and I'll add you to my friends list. If you're a member of LJ and I don't know you, you can read my public posts, but I don't friend people I don't know - sorry. (Most of my posts are friends-only, so it probably won't be very exciting for you if you're not on my friends list - not that it will be exciting for you even if you *are* friended.)
// ------------------------------------- // Begin Obligatory Yet Boring Bio // -------------------------------------After an unfulfilling career on Wall Street, I moved into the website and graphic design industry 11 years ago. I left New York City in early 2000 to accept the position of Technical Director at Inter@ctivate in San Diego, where I had been a long-time contractor.
Prior to that, I taught Graphic Design and Advanced Web Development for Long Island University and worked as the Senior Producer at Cybergrrl, Inc - (parent company to Cybergrrl.Com, Webgrrls, and Femina - and no, they're not porn sites.)
I now work for a major alternative newspaper in New York City.
In my (limited) free time, I am the director of Pet-Abuse.Com and continue to use my skills to provide online resources to further our cause, creating the first and only database-driven system to track, monitor and update criminal animal abuse.
When I lived in San Diego, I was an active member of the PHP development community, both online and off, offering peer support through IRC and by contributing presentations for the San Diego PHP Users Group and the official PHP website, as well as co-authoring a PHP book and a mySQL book for Wrox Press. Also while in San Diego, I was a finalist in The One Show , a major marketing competition.
Oh, and I have also been the moderator for the official Godsmack forums for the past 3-4 years.
// ------------------------------------- // End Obligatory Yet Boring Bio Blurb // -------------------------------------In a nutshell...
I hate this part - anything I say, I feel like I'm trying to brag - when really, I don't feel like I'm so spiffy. Anyway, as I mentioned, my current "day job" is in the non-profit sector, and my "passion" is running my own aforementioned non-profit organization. To learn more about what got me started with my animal welfare non-profit, check out this article in the Chicago Tribune .
The animal stuff has led to some interesting interviews - I was even in People Magazine in 2004. (Some of you I may have gone to school with probably won't even believe that. I'm quite sure I would have been voted "Least Likely to Be in People Magazine" if such an election existed.) But sure enough, I was . (They'll let anyone into that magazine these days, I guess.)
I also got to be on the G. Gordon Liddy show a few times - boy was THAT interesting. If you're not sure who he is, think Watergate. During one interview, he started *meowing* at me. It was... surreal, to say the least.
While I don't think the work I have done with the animal stuff has been that revolutionary (it's just a database, after all), it's scored me a few nifty accolades and awards, including the United Animal Nations Animals' Choice Award and the National Animal Control Association's 2006 Diane Lane Memorial Award - and I was one of 10 finalists in the 2006 Animal Planet Hero of the Year Contest.
The animal gig has also allowed me to work in some pretty amazing situations. For almost a year and a half, I was working with 54 big cats (11 leopards, 40 tigers, 2 lions and one cougar), 5 days a week in the sweltering heat of a sanctuary-gone-bad in Riverside, CA. I came home stinking of tiger shit and raw chicken every day, but I wouldn't trade that time for anything in the world. I still miss those cats like crazy.
Its also put me in the position of speaking at several conferences, including the Animal Law Conference in Palm Springs in 2005, the National Animal Control Association (NACA) Conference in May and the Virginia Animal Control Association (VACA) conference in Virginia Beach, VA in October 2006. Rumor has it, I've been invited back to speak at NACA 2007, and I'll be speaking in Virginia at the American Humane Association's 2007 conference. I really enjoy speaking at conferences, even though I do tend to get a little nervous. Being able to meet so many new people and share information is one of the most exciting things I get to do, so it's a real thrill for me.
I'm in the midsts of writing a third book - this time not about programming or databases, but about my journey in the animal welfare field. Whether or not anyone will want to read it is debatable, but I've come to the realization that it's something I have to write, even if only for myself. I posted part of the first chapter in my LJ, and I may post it here too, if anyone's interested.
I enjoyed bodybuilding a while back, but seem to have run out of time for that these days, between all the things I have on my plate. (I know, I know, lame excuse.) It's so hard to keep motivated without a good workout partner. When I was living in the Bronx, I had a workout partner that would bang on my door every morning at about 5:30AM.
I recently moved back to New York after 6 years in San Diego. I miss the weather. A lot. But I'm glad to be back "home."
I own a small, three-burner blacksmithing forge, which I'll be settiing up outside in a workshop near my home, since running a forge in my tiny 2-bedroom apartment would probably be a Bad Idea TM .
Sis and I were recently certified as PADI Advanced Open Water scuba divers, which is good because I truly suck at surfing. I'm the only person I know that comes home with bruises on their forehead after a day of surfing. Come to think of it, I did break my toe scuba diving... but that's a whole other story.
I was fortunate enough to meet Jane Goodall in 2005 at a wellness conference in Denver. All I can say is *wow*. If you're even remotely involved in social issues such as animals, the environment, peace, etc - I urge you to try to see her when she's in your neck of the woods. She's an absolute inspiration, and unlike anyone I have ever met in my entire life.
And that's really about all there is to it. If I know you from somewhere else, I look forward to meeting you all over again. If I don't know you, I probably won't add you to my friends list, but thanks for stopping by anyway. And if you're someone I haven't talked to in a long time because you're pissed at me for something, please know that whatever I did to upset you, I am very sorry for - and that it was never intentional, regardless of what you might believe.