I was born in a tiny little town in Louisiana. A scant week shy of sharing my birthday with my mother, so I was an early birthday present. The eldest of my generation, I was showered with affection from a good family. My mother was an air force brat, and so in my early years I lived in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana (although, somehow I escaped having any trace of a southern accent). Anyone whose bounced from school to school in their life knows what a trial that is for a youth, and it can give strength or take it away. At six and a half I had company in my sister Jessica, who I love oodles and oodles. Unlike typical siblings we were (God forbid) friends, and we only minorly tortured and nagged each other. After the death of my step-father, what would become the KBS express moved to Colorado.
Boulder, Colorado is one of those rare places in the world that is tolerant and full of a vigorous reinvigorating energy. Seattle and Austin both have a fraction of that wonderful diversity and open-mindedness, in my opinion, but Boulder was a wonderful place to grow up. After a couple of years we moved into the deep foothills, which would be considered mountains in any other part of the country. The quiet grandeur of the mountains was only matched by our utter isolation. As a child, it seemed like miles to the nearest other family in our beautiful acres. Alpine forests are a wondrous place to grow up, but it did stunt my social growth. I discovered books in earnest in Boulder. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov is what spurred my continuing interest in Speculative Fiction. One thing you have plenty of in the mountains is time by yourself.
Scholastically, I was pretty self-motivated from an early age. I also think I got somewhat burned out on being an "outdoor" type of child. Besides, it was often very cold out there. And a cheery fireplace with family seemed preferable to freezing my cajones off. Junior high was a trial, but eventually I persevered and moved to San Diego, California. I was fourteen and a freshman at Mission Bay High.
High School was unpleasant, but at sixteen I had my first trip abroad. I visited my father in Niger where he was working for our government. It was an amazingly cultural experience, one which I still recall freshly even over the span of many years. Mishwis, Timbuktu, treks across the Desert, the petit marche, and an honest to goodness camel ride still haunt my dreams. Duran Duran's Save a Prayer video has scenes which bring back poignant nostalgia for those days. Also, the Bedouins draped in black turbans with glittery all too observant eyes left an impact on me. But besides that and making the acquaintance of some rather neat people (and running a very long lived AD&D campaign), high school was not very fun. I was two marks away from valedictorian, however, and let me advise one never to take Spanish classes graded on a curve when a quarter to half of the class is already fluent in it.
Between my junior and senior year of high school, I went to Harvard Summer School and had one of the most wonderful times of my life. I took Political Philosophy, Celtic Mythology, and Creative Writing (Science Fiction, taught by Aldrys Budrys). It is there that I sort of got the appellation Ferret (although the exact details are in fact a bit more complex). I also had a much needed lesson in humility. I thought I was clever, but hanging around Harvard and MIT I realized that I am not overly clever at all. I got good marks and also learned many invaluable lessons at how to deal with college. I also met and wooed my first serious girlfriend, Christina Vento. I still have very fond memories of her, and if she ever reads this I'll have her know that one of the clearest memories in my life is our first kiss. *sigh*
UCSD came next, and Revelle College with a nice Regents Scholarship. I only flopped around on majors once. I was a Mathematics major for a bloody long time until I discovered I absolutely hated proofs (in retrospect, I know I should've taken some engineering courses). Then I decided to basically go pre-law because I was fascinated by the subject. My advisor was Peter Irons, an influential member of the ACLU. College was great fun, and a bit of work. I did well enough and finally flourished a bit socially. I also met Enigma at a Thanksgiving weekend and started playing live-games, still an ardent passion of mine. I fell in love a couple of times, and both Cindy Parbury and Kathy Quinn have a very special place in my heart. I also visited Europe on a Eurorail pass… And honestly, I don't have enough room to recount all of my adventures. My two trips to Europe are the closest I've come to realizing my potential, and I have heard that some of the things which happened to me seem almost implausible. But believe it or not, I've been involved in a knife fight in Turkey, cliff-dived in Corfu (saving a lasses life along the way), climbed steep goat-trails to view Puffins, been to Hel, and I never lost my towel on one trip, too!
After UCSD, I went to Southwestern University School of Law, where I learned a whole bunch. I have been dreading graduation, because I am firmly aware that these may be the best years of my life. And indeed, now I savor these last few moments of academic detachment before the real world claims me. But I am also anxious to ply a trade, find that special lady, and maybe have a kid or five before I rest. I have many friends, who I should really spend more time with and many interests I should pursue, but I'm doing the best I can. Life has been tumultuous at times, but overall I realize I have very little to complain about. Frost says that he took the road less traveled. Well, that is commendable, but I feel like I went cross-country, instead, and that has made all the difference!
A little update for those who are still actually reading this (don't you have something better to do?). I finished Law School and discovered that, although I love the law, I was none too thrilled at the actual idea of being a lawyer. So in one of those life-determining events I decided to go into QA at Novalogic and try and eventually get my dream job... Making and designing computer games. So I sacrificed money and prestige for a chance to make a boyhood dream come true (oh, and to keep my ethics firmly intact. Many a time I heard, "You're too nice to be a lawyer." I guess they were right. ;) I'd rather be remembered as a man who shared a few of his dreams with the world then yet another suited worshipper to the almighty dollar. Things go well for those who are curious, and I feel that one year soon you may see my name in a production credit for a computer RPG.