ender : MyBlogHer Profile

I was born in Amarillo, Texas. My parents & I moved to Houston shortly after my birth, but the moving company they hired weren't bonded and stole everything except the avocado green washer & dryer and the fridge. When they went back to the house, they said it was like those few appliances were taunting them. After the first apartment in Houston, we moved to another one. Then Dad was transferred to Albuquerque, New Mexico. By the time Mom & I joined him, he was about to be transferred to Oklahoma City - we were in New Mexico just three months, but I never forgot it. My sister was born in Oklahoma City and then we promptly moved to Carmel, Indiana (outside indianapolis). Then we moved to Austin, Texas - where I finally started kindergarten. Despite one more move in third grade (to Arlington, Texas - in between Dallas & Fort Worth), I still consider Austin my hometown.

 Needless to say, I hate moving.

I'm a survivor - of many things. I survived being fired after teaching college writing for nine years -fired because I believe a student has to do more than hit the print button four times in order to claim they wrote four drafts of a paper. I survived the breakup of my first relationship - 10 years in the making. I've now been apart from her longer than we were together, which is a really odd feeling. I survived cancer - I had Hodgkin's disease in my late 20s/early 30s & nearly died because my doctor thought I must have AIDS since I was ill and gay - but he never ran a blood test.  I survived my parents - and that one is still the most difficult to talk about (though I thoughtfully answer any questions anyone asks about it, it's just hard for me to get started). I survived being laid off in July of 2007 ... and being without work for sixteen incredibly difficult and long months. Currently I'm attempting to survive living in Indiana ... a state I'm not overly fond of but which I can't seem to find another job so I can leave!

 I've been with the same woman since 1999, we married in 2001. We're hitting that 10 year wall - hopefully we survive this too.

I'm a graphic designer, wanna-be animator or illustrator. We've got 4 cats and 3 miniature-dachshunds. I've always intended to adopt, but financial circumstances seem to be consipiring against that.

This has to be the longest & most detailed bio I've ever written. Kudos for not calling it about me. Cuz then I would have just answered: I'm me.