A
Bit About Me
(For the Curious or the Brave)
I was born in Amarillo, Texas. Then we moved to Houston; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Oklahoma City; Carmel, Indiana; Austin, Texas -- and then I started kindergarten! No, my folks weren't in the armed forces. Dad worked as a computer troubleshooter for banks (National Sharedata and EDS were two of the companies I recall). By the time I was in the third grade, we'd moved one last time to Arlington, Texas (between Dallas and Fort Worth). I lived there until I came to South Bend, Indiana, for graduate school at the University of Notre Dame.
I am still a Texan at heart, despite living in Indiana now. In fact, most Texans I know feel the same way -- when not living in Texas, we're ex-patriates, not just living in another state. I'm not sure what it is about Texas which gives so many people this reaction, but it's true that you don't want to get a Texan started talking about Texas unless you're really interested! Most of us will talk about our state all day.
I was a good kid, but also very active. I had to always be doing something. ADHD hadn't really been heard of waaaay back then in the dark ages, but I've since been diagnosed as such. It took me quite a while to realize I wasn't just a little hyper in terms of personality, but clinically hyper. After all, I rarely got in trouble in school. But, looking back, I can see that I never stopped doing things. I was lucky: I can flip back and forth between hyperactivity and hyperfocus at the drop of a hat. (Most of the time.) That hyperfocus ability saved me: when I was bored in school, I simply read books.
Along about the fourth grade, I'd read everything my new school library had to offer. (Well, everything that looked good. And I'd tried to read a few books that turned out to be just horrible -- and I didn't think then that a book could be bad.) I'd even checked out tons of science-fiction books -- they were the thickest books in the library. So, I began writing the types of stories I liked to read. Oddly enough, I didn't seem to write short stories, however, mostly I wrote the beginnings of novels. That was another thing to keep me out of trouble in school -- when I finished my schoolwork (and usually my "homework" too), I started working on a story. By my senior year in high school, I finally finished writing my first novel. It was a horror novel called Lichtman's Bluff. My junior and senior years, I began entering contests and actually placing. In fact, I got to meet Larry McMurtry the year after he won the Pulitzer for Lonesome Dove.
I went to the University of Texas at Arlington for an undergraduate degree in English. I actually started out as a Drama/Education major, but after moving out of the house at 19, I simply didn't have the time to work forty hours a week and take drama classes. Sadly, I abandoned the theatre. I was also unimpressed by the way the Texas public education system was headed and decided that I didn't want to teach high school after all. Instead, I intended to go on for a graduate degree and try my hand at teaching at the college level. It took me seven years to get my undergraduate degree since I was working full-time at Bizmart (they were later bought out by another office supply company). During that time I took many classes with Dr. Ken Roemer since his specialities and my interests were very similar. He introduced me to the works of N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louise Erdrich and many others.
As graduation finally drew near, I began researching graduate schools. No one in my immediate family had graduated from college and graduate school was another experience all together. I didn't even know where to begin. (While no one in my immediate family had graduated from college, my mother's sister had graduated and had even finished her Ph.D. and is now a professor of theology at the University of Dayton in Ohio.) I thought that I was getting ready waaaay early -- it turns out that I was already behind! I took the first GRE test that I could and it turned out to be the last one that would send the results in time for the application deadlines. I applied to several creative writing programs, figuring that I would give myself this year to apply for the degree I really wanted and if that didn't pan out I would apply for programs in English the following year. I had several professors warn me that it was getting more and more difficult to get into graduate school, however, I was accepted into Notre Dame with a full tuition scholarship. I wrote my second novel, I've Heard Coyote's Howl, during the two year program. (I have not, however, yet sent it out to a publisher or an agent -- you'd think that after writing a 300 page novel that writing a cover letter for it would be a snap. Wrong.)
As an undergrad, I had been working in the Writing Center and at Notre Dame, I began teaching writing during my second year as a grad student. I simply continued teaching after I graduated and eventually became the University Writing Program's "computer geek," as I put it. I helped co-ordinate the use of technology with First-Year Composition classes and helped the faculty use and develop technology for their classes. I also designed the department's website and maintained the one for the Writing Center. (In fact, the old Writing Center design that I made has been adapted for the new look of these pages -- I couldn't stand to let the "computer" motif go completely.) I left academe for copywriting/ advertising in 2004 -- long story that I'm sure I'll get into later.
Hodgkin's
In November of 1999, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a relatively
rare cancer of the lymph system. I had been feeling sick for probably
two years prior to that diagnosis and had been going to my doctor with
swollen lymph nodes and frequent fevers. All he ever did was give me antibiotics
-- about every three months or so. He never ran any tests, not even a
blood test. I can recall one day, not too long before the diagnosis, when
I just felt off. I was teaching and my students were working in small
groups. I was sitting down at a computer taking care of small tasks and
answering their questions. I stood up to make some end-of-class announcements
and felt myself getting really dizzy and feeling feverish.
When I got home, my fever was 104.
Not long after that, I gave up on my family doctor and went to a Medpoint. The doctor there took one look at me, said "we're running a blood test" and then ran the test himself. My hemoglobin was at a 5.8. Some people have died in the 4 range and a 13-15 is considered normal. Most doctors begin blood transfusions if a patient drops to an 8. This was the Monday before Thanksgiving. I saw my doctor on Tuesday and he tried to get me in to the oncologist then, but we had to wait until the next day. He immediately ran a slew of tests including a bone marrow test and then asked me which hospital I preferred.
I spent Thanksgiving in the hospital. They gave me five units of blood and my first treatment of chemo. Talk about a whirlwing of activity!
For the next six months, I had the ABVD protocol of chemo. Every other week I went to the clinic, sat in the easy chair and had chemicals pumped into my veins. I spent about three hours there every other Thursday -- I picked Thursday so that I wouldn't miss any of my teaching. I didn't lose my hair -- it thinned, but I didn't really lose it too noticibly. And, in May, I started playing softball, almost as if nothing had ever happened. From the first chemo treatment, I felt immensely better than I had for the last two years. I didn't have to deal with many of the common side effects; my body just seemed to tolerate the chemo well.
But by January 2001, it was back.
This time, however, treatment didn't sound so simple. This time I had a full week of chemo, the ESHAP protocol. It was supposed to be a much more poisonous poison, harder to tolerate. And that wasn't all.
This time, I had to have a bone marrow transplant, too.
The ESHAP was done every day for five days, and for the first round, we started it over my spring break so that I wouldn't miss teaching any classes. Again, compared to most people, I had almost no side effects. Two weeks later, my hair started coming out, but that was minor compared to the nausea that most people have under this protocol. I had one more week of the ESHAP and this time, I had to figure out how to miss classes or find substitutes. For the first day of chemo, I got to the clinic right at 8, got unhooked at 11, went to teach, then came back right after class to finish up. Wednesday the clinic closed early, so I tried to bring my laptop and teach class online. Friday, was a short day -- only two hours of chemo, so that was not a problem with class times. (I was, however, so tired and worn out from the chemo that I cancelled class anyway.) I was right back to my regular teaching schedule after that week, however. After the semester was over, I went to the Indiana University Med Center and had a three day chemo in the hospital. After the third bag of "psytoxin" (I'm sure that's not spelled correctly), I did have about an hour's problem with nausea, but again, that's really mild compared to most folks. Two weeks later, the folks at IU harvested my own stem cells for use in the transplant. About two weeks after that, I was admitted for the transplant itself.
I had four days of chemo, two of which I was so drugged I don't recall, and then two days of rest. Again, I had little side effects from the chemo itself. I'm sure I must have felt crummy during the two days I can't recall, but after that, I was mostly fine. Weak, a bit tired, but pretty much myself. A bone marrow transplant isn't really like a transplant to my way of thinking. There was no surgery. The "donation" came from myself, not someone else. The four days of chemo killed off my bone marrow (and my immune system). The stem cells that had been previously harvested from me were returned to me on that seventh day. They regenerated my bone marrow. The next ten days were simply a waiting period for my blood counts to begin rising to normal.
I was only in the hospital a total of 17 days, not the 21-28 I had been warned to expect. I had gotten no infection, no side effects and was really strong -- I was walking around the ward about five times a day! I had to stay home for two weeks after that and then I was back to work (in the central air conditioning!!). I took a medical leave of absence for the fall 2001 semester since my immune system was still very much compromised. But I went to work every day, working on various projects for the department and working on my own writing textbook.
And I'm here to tell everyone that you can beat it. It doesn't mean you're going to waste away. And chemo's not necessarily a bad and scary thing; they've done wonders with drugs to help prevent the nausea.
You can beat it. I know I have.
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Guide to the Bio
Guide to the Bio
This screen is reminiscent of the old Commodore 64 that I grew up using. Well, maybe not grew up with it -- I was in junior high when Dad brought home our very own computer back in the '80s. Hard to read, isn't it? Many was the time I thought I'd go blind while using the thing.
I grew up playing with that C-64 and tons of programs. We didn't have manuals for a tenth of the programs we had -- my dad had been around computers when everyone wrote programs for fun and to show-off what good programmers they were. The idea back then was that you gave your programs away so that others could improve upon them (if they could!). So, my Dad and his buddies swapped programs despite its illegality. This is also why we weren't allowed to have a modem -- my mom sensed that we'd probably wind up in trouble if we had one. If you're interested in the early development of computing, check out the book Hackers by Steve Levy.
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A Genuine Screen Shot of a C-64.
Click the graphic to get a better look at the screen.
Okay, I don't want to blind you, too.
The long and short of it is that between having the first computer I ever used be a C-64 and rarely ever having a manual, I learned a couple of valuable (if sometimes intensely frustrating) lessons. I learned most of all to experiment with the computer and how to think like, well, if not the computer, then at least in a similar fashion to the programmers. I learned very quickly how literal the machine was and how missing just one bit of punctuation didn't mean a mean teacher who took a letter grade off just to be spiteful, but that the program wouldn't work at all, or worse, that the printer would start spouting pages of gibberish. As a result, I think I've had less trouble learning many common computer programs used today. And, having the C-64, that marginalized machine, got me ready to be a Mac user. Shoot, I'm used to having the lesser-used machine!!
Besides learning to experiment (and trouble-shoot when the experiment went awry), I also learned to love computers. I began MUDding in college and then building webpages in graduate school.
Next step: finally learning to program!!
Like most folks with ADHD, I have a bunch of interests and hobbies. I love to skateboard -- I may not know any tricks right now, but I learned to ride on an antique 'board that was just a flat, thick piece of plywood with metal(!) wheels and the loosest trucks in the world. My music taste is all over the board (well, within the rock genre anyway). I like Eve 6, Indigo Girls,Will Smith, REM, old U2, Peter Paul & Mary, NIN, the Kingston Trio, Everlast, Everclear, Eminem (yes, I do like his music), Smashmouth, Melissa Etheridge, Matchbox 20, Billy Joel, 3 Doors Down, Lynnard Skynnard and a host of others that don't really seem to go together, either. I also play guitar, but not well -- I just can't seem to get the trick of the bar chords.
I also collect toys and comics. With the toys, it all started with Fisher Price Little People, probably my biggest collection. I have, I think, every base from the larger sets and at least a few pieces from every set they made.
I also collect Fisher Price Adventure People (the action figures that predated Star Wars toys -- and were even used to help "mock-up" what the Kenner folks wanted to do with the SW license), Batman animated action figures and Star Wars action figures. I also customize my own action figures.
In comics, I mostly read Batman-related stuff. Right now I get: Teen Titans, Nightwing, Robin, Birds of Prey and whatever the current name of the Batman Animated series is.
Besides the toys, comics and skateboarding, I love cartoons, too. I just discovered Rocket Power from Klasky/Csupo (the folks who do Rugrats) and it's wonderful! It's about four kids (around ten or so years old) who are into "extreme" sports. Bikes, skateboards, Rollerblades, surfing -- they're a load of fun to watch -- the show is very cleverly done. (As is Rugrats.)
Other interests include computers and website design. I suppose organizing things isn't exactly a hobby, but it is something else I enjoy doing. Mind you, I'm not really a very organized person, but I do like trying to get everything set up and sorted out.
I also love to read. Some of my favorite authors include Chaim Potok, Katherine Kurtz, Orson Scott Card (hey, I can love some of his writing even if I can't stand him -- I like Eminem's music, too, remember?), Mercedes Lackey's older stuff, Robert Heinlein, Melissa Scott (man, she's incredible), Elizabeth Moon. And, of course, I also write fiction.
I also love photography, but had to give up on cameras with manual focus -- I could no longer focus them correctly with my glasses on! (Off is even worse.)
That's me in a nutshell. Have fun poking around the website or following the links in the right hand column!
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