Who I am
I'm a dad. That statement means something more than that I simply have kids. Anyone could be a father. I mean, I'm a dad. Some people are actors. They were born to the profession. Some people are writers. That's what they have always wanted to do. Some people are game show hosts. I don't know what drives people to be game show hosts, but I will assume that they are just as driven as an actor or writer. I am a dad. It is what I do best. I mean, I know how to administer networks. I know how to write code. I know how to spearhead software conversions. But I don't consider myself a computer professional. Even though people pay me for that. What I am is a dad. I love everything that goes with being a dad, even if I do complain sometimes.
One of the things that goes with being a dad is there is a mom (my wife). Claudine is a doctor. An OB/GYN to be exact. Which means that in one week, my wife has had her hands in more vaginas than I ever did the entire time I was dating. Claudine is a great doctor, a great mom, and a great wife, but not necessarily in that order. Med school and four years of residency meant that she had to spend a great deal of time away from us, but now that she is in a practice, things are settling in nicely. If all goes to plan (and we pay off those med school loans), Claudine will be the single breadwinner, allowing me to devote even more time to being a dad. Some guys would look at that plan and call me all sorts of emasculating names, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to being a full-time dad, not being called a lot of emasculating names.
We currently have two sons and a daughter. And that's all there's gonna be. Jake, Bobby and Annabel. (By the way, those links lead to very little. I'm lazy like that). Jake is six (and a half), Bobby is three, and little Annabel was born in May of 2002. When people ask if she is our third child I tell them she is our last child.
Who I was
You will find that I am a pretty normal guy. I'm not an angst-ridden Gen-Xer or slacker teen (or whatever other Internet stereotypes there are out there). I'm just a guy. A 39 year old, white, middle-class guy. How normal can you get? I was born in Syracuse, NY to my happily and still married parents. I have a brother that is 3 years older than me. We moved away from Syracuse when I was 6 months old, so I don't really remember very much. Ok, I remember nothing. Next stop was St. Louis, MO. I had an uneventful childhood there until aged 13. We then moved to Northern New Jersey for my formative high school years. I don't think I'll ever leave New Jersey. Everyone jokes about New Jersey, but it is my home. There are a lot of good things about New Jersey and if everyone else thinks New Jersey sucks then that's just more cool stuff for me and my family.
Why this is here
So why a web site? Let's look deeper. Ever since I discovered that there was more on the web than just porn (it's true!), I've found myself being drawn to the phenomenon that is called "The Online Journal". Early on I discovered Ceej's Black Book by C.J. Silvario and Randomly Ever After by The Gus. I was fascinated by these journals and wasted many hours of work pouring over archived entries. And if I wasn't wasting enough time, I started seeking out other journals. Most were "ok", a few sucked, but two great standouts are/were Pamie's Squishy and Shelley's Shelleyness. Sadly, Squishy is gone but I have discovered a number of great sites that I read daily. So it started me thinking that I could do the same thing. So I tried it. And, I found that I couldn't come close to the quality of most of my favorite sites. After all, I'm not a writer, I'm just a dad (see above). Still the concept of sharing the musings about my mundane experiences with the rest of the world appeals to me, and so I continue.
You will find this journal filled with bad grammar, run on sentences, inconsistent tense and a number of other crimes against writing. But I like to do it. And I think I'm funny. So that's all that I really care about. Hopefully, you'll find some intriguing facet of my existence that will keep you coming back. If not, I'll still be here. Stop back some time and see if my writing has improved (or if my life got anymore interesting).
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