|
So you want to know who I am and where I came from, maybe even what I like? Well, you came to the right place. Below I'll answer all those nagging questions you usually only get answered if a friend sends you one of those "Fill this out and send it back to me!" emails, which I usually only get from my sister. I also give a brief history of myself and my growing up.
|
|
A Little Background Info...
|
|
I was born in Memphis, TN, on September 7, 1974. I spent my entire life as a resident of Memphis -- although I hadn't really lived there since 1993-- until I moved to Atlanta in 2004. When I was 10 years old, my parents got divorced and obviously moved apart. For two years, both still lived in Memphis. Both met new partners and were dating again. When I was 12, my mother moved with my sister to Cleveland, MS, with her new man. Although I wanted to move with her, I was told I would be staying in Memphis with my father. It turned out to be for the best.
Within a few years, both of my parents were remarried. My dad had met a hairdresser named Tonya, and my mother was with an Episcopal Reverend named Bill. Both were happier now, which was a good thing. Unfortunately, my father and mother were not on speaking terms, so that made things a quite rough in my early- and mid-teen years. While I was living with my dad, I got to go down to Cleveland every two weeks to spend a weekend with Mom and Bill, although more time was spent down there during holidays and summer breaks.
A few years later, my mom and Bill moved to Wilmington, NC. Although the move was a good one, and into a much nicer location, it meant that I only got to visit on holidays and summer breaks. I made some great friends there, although I have lost touch with them over the years.
It took almost 20 years, but my mom and dad and all the new spouses can now sit in a room together and talk, and even be cordial. This has taken the edge off something that has bothered me since that fateful day when I was 10.
For more info...keep reading all the sections below!
|
|
|
The family unit...
|
|
My mom and dad are divoreced and both remarried. My dad, also named Sam, is married to Tonya, who is orginally from the Netherlands, and they still live in Memphis. My mom, Susan, is married to Bill, and they currently live in Hot Springs, AR. I have one little sister, Noell, who is 26 and lives in Nashville, TN. I also have a step-brother, Willem (son of Tonya), who is one month younger than myself, and who is married to Jennifer. They live in downtown Memphis on Mud Island. I also have two older step-sisters (daughters of Bill), although I have little info on them. My last remaining grandparent, affectionately known as Granny, passed away in January of 2006. She is very much missed.
|
|
|
All the goods...
|
|
I was born on September 7, 1974, which makes me 31 years old and a Virgo. I'm 5'9", somewhere aorund 185lbs, and have short, straight, dark-brown hair. I also wear glasses, although almost no picture you ever see of me will have them make an appearance.
|
|
|
The dating game...
|
|
I was married on September 12, 2004 to Emily Ruth Myers. She grew up in Massachusetts, followed by Hilton Head, South Carolina. After college, she lived in both Connecticut and New Hampshire. I met Emily in Charlotte, North Carolina, in December of 2001 while visiting one of my friends on another ice show. We hit it off immediately and began talking on the phone the next day, since I was on another show. Over the course of the next few weeks, we discovered that we really had something going. We decided to give dating a shot, even though we would be starting our relationship long distance, visiting whenever schedules allowed.
Within 6 months, we were put on the same show and could live our relationship as normal. On January 20, 2003, in Toledo, OH (ooh, ahh!), we got engaged. However, I started a new job soon afterwards and we were separated again. Although she had a brief stint on that show with me, we won't go into the sordid details that took her away.
In June 2004, we moved together to Smyrna, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, where we lived for a year and half before buying a new townhome in Atlanta, where we currently reside.
|
|
|
The working life...
|
|
From the time I graduated college until June, 2004, I was a lighting tech for various touring ice and theatre shows. What this means is that I travelled from city to city with a show and set up all the lighting for the shows, programmed and operated the lighting, fixed anything that was broken, then packed it all up to move to the next city and start over. In the years I toured, I worked on several shows and toured to almost 20 countries. For much more info on my job and my production life, go to the Work/Resume or the Production pages.
Currently, I live in Atlanta, GA, where I work for the local stagehand union, as well as for various local companies building lighting systems or drafting lighting plots. I also work for an exhibit company installing museum exhibits including Diana: A Celebration about Princess Diana, and Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs about King Tut. These exhibits have been shown in Ft. Lauderdale, St. Petersburg, Houston, Dayton, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Soon, I plan on working into programming and operating the lighting for theatre and industrial shows.
|
|
|
Scholarly advice...
|
|
I went to high school at Memphis University School, a small, but highly-respected college prep school in Memphis, TN. I was at M.U.S. for grades 7-12 from 1987-1993.
I attended college at Auburn University in Auburn, AL, as a Theatre major. I graduated in 1997 with a B.F.A. in Theatre Production and Design.
|
|
|
Things to do...
|
|
While my work involves theatre lighting and production (which I love), I also have a few hobbies to keep my busy when I'm not at work.
My main hobby is 3-D modelling and animation, the kind of thing you see on movies such as Finding Nemo and Toy Story. While I have used several packages over the years, I currently prefer and use Cinema 4D, a highly advanced program that is easy to learn and use. I also enjoy drawing, painting, and building models, although not much has been done in this genre lately due to the busy schedule of production life. For some examples of the kinds of things I create, visit the Galleries page.
In addition to my indoor hobbies, I also like outdoor pasttimes such as hiking, camping, and boating (although Emily will tell you otherwise!). One thing I don't do as a pasttime is read, unless it's something I will learn from (like a manual or how-to book). I would rather spend my time making something happen!
|
|
|
Keep it interesting...
|
|
I love TV, movies, and music. In fact, you might say I'm an addict. I watch TV and listen to music constantly, and catch a movie whenever I can. While it may seem that I'm a total couch potato, I'm not...more of a chair potato really. I am always doing something while watching TV (like my hobbies...see above).
For TV, I am a sitcom junkie. I love 'em. My favorites are Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends. That is why TBS is my perfect afternoon! I also love the animated sitcoms like Family Guy and The Simpsons. When I'm not watching sitcoms, I love the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, and A&E with their hobby shows and reality shows (no, not Joe Millionaire, more like Nature's Fury or anything involving criminal cases).
For movies, I prefer a good action or suspense movie. Fast car chases and great fight scenes are a plus, and I can't stop watching a movie that makes me keep wondering who did what. I also love the "dumb" comedies like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and American Pie. And obviously, I like 3-D animated movies like Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. Occasionally, a good drama is OK, but it's rare. However, I'm not really into historical-type movies, like war movies and such.
Music is my passion. I like bands who PLAY MUSIC. Words just get in the way sometimes, if you ask me. By far, my favorite bands are the likes of moe., Widespread Panic, Phish, and The String Cheese Incident. Someone once described these bands in this way: "They take a 3 minute song, and play it for 45 minutes." I also love the Dave Matthews Band and Jason Mraz. Another genre I get into is the recent alternative likes of Staind, 3 Doors Down, and Linkin Park. When I'm in a mood for some power, I might listen to Rage Against the Machine. The kind of music I cannot stand is anything like Dance, House, Techno, Bass, Trance, or Industrial...anything that involves a constant loop of some synthesizer drum track with some annoying sythesizer chords and a synthesized voice singing incoherent lyrics at a pace that makes my head hurt. I also dislike cheesy 80's hair-band music, cause it SUCKS, and their high-pitched voices make my skin crawl.
|
|
|
|
