personal & confidential

I moved from California to Florida in 1989 and now live in Ormond Beach with my two children, Max and Sydney (see image, left), and a psychotic cat named Buster (see image, below right and click here to experience the Buster Retrospective). I now teach communication courses such as writing and visual design at Embry-Riddle.

I like to write fiction and non-fiction, fiddle in Photoshop, create web pages ... like this one and this one where I am speaking to you and only to you and where you can listen to the special song I included just for you  ...  workout with weights as quickly as possible, ride my bike to the beach, read novels, pretend to be serious about running, cook, eat really well, hangout with the kids, take hot showers, and watch whole Showtime series all in one sitting on a rainy day. I spend a significant amount of time playing tennis, though that may not necessarily be evident upon observation.

political

Beginning in 2008, I have been an active advocate for sex education reform in Volusia County Public Schools. (Click here for a timeline and background on that issue.) I am also doing some academic research into the rhetoric of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in public schools, which are typically offensive to the community on many levels. The programs are proven ineffective, primarily religious based dogma, vehicles for providing stilted or erroneous information about STD and pregnancy methods, and patently offensive to gay and lesbian students and parents who are prohibited from marriage in the State of Florida. (During my time on the SHAC committee, I was startled by the number of educators who were not aware that there were any gay parents. The possibility seemed to startle and confuse some.)

A comment from a Deltona High School teacher illustrative of the perspective of some advocates of abstinence-only curricula with regard to GLBTQ students. She states:

I have had students of many religious backgrounds in my classes over the last several years as well as students who I 'know' have different sexual orientation, but they have NEVER felt belittled, discriminated, or targeted by the information or activities presented! It is probably more of a 'insecurity' of themself and not a fault of the presentation! (See link for full email.)

In addition to education and GLBTQ issues, I support other Important Issues and Big Ideas as well ... Let me think on that, but ask me anything in the meantime.

travel & conferences

This year, I attended the Popular & American Culture Association conference in St. Louis, Missouri, and am still plotting an international trip involving bulls' balls and Brecht (this is alliterative but also tentative, but more importantly resulted in this memorable line from a correspondent involved in the structuring of the trip mission statement: "One can easily surmise that big bowls of balls have often been the starting points for many of history's great moments").

I visited Costa Rica this summer and honed my tennis skills with Max and Friends on another trip to Saddlebrook Resort. If you are a tennis-ite and are interested in participating in a trip of this nature next year, click here to understand what we do. I am planning to attend the Popular & American Culture Association in the South Conference in Savannah, Georgia, in October, as well as possibly the Design Principles & Practices International Conference in Rome (Italy, not Georgia), in February 2011.

Last year, I visited Berlin for a design conference, New York for Wicked with Sydney, Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa for tennis with Max, Southern California for a family reunion, Vail for hiking-biking-climbing-repelling-whitewater rafting, and North Carolina for an academic conference, but I really like being home.

tennis

I maintain a somewhat disturbing running commentary of my tennis team's exploits that provides insight into women's recreational tennis personalities in Volusia County. It is not for the weak hearted or lovers of accuracy. A link to the site has actually been banned by one more pious-minded tennis club. Enter with caution: www.ScreamingDivas.net.

miscellanea

I recently participated in a wedding ceremony, which you can read about by clicking here. Here are some images from various times in various places. Click to enlarge each photo: