So an intro to me it is (partly so you can better understand me, but mostly so I can justify my future blogs with the premise of my previous life experiences).

I grew up in Canton, MI an exurb of Detroit (thanks Andy).  I played and mostly failed at a variety of sports until I found swimming which I stuck with through high school (despite our mascot being “the Rocks”) and intermittently through my undergrad.

I pursued a BA in Political Science, pre-law at Michigan State University, one of the prettiest campuses I’ve seen to date.  I barely made it in for admissions because I was accepted at West Point and, upon getting my proverbial feet wet at the academy that summer, decided the military was not for me.  I had a much broader educational experience at MSU than I probably would otherwise have had, and employed as a RA, escaped with no student loans.  More significantly, I met my future wife while working in Yakely-Gilchrist Halls.  I also had the opportunity to study abroad and back packed through a few countries beforehand, which was a life-changing experience for me (despite my resistance for cliches, this one fits).

We (my future wife and I) took a year off to decide on grad schools and work a bit.  We moved to the Philadelphia area on the Main Line (unbeknownst to us) and I attended Villanova for an MA in History while my wife earned an MS in Psychological Services.  Needless to say, she was first to get a job that actually utilized her degree. Philly was a fun town and while there I had the chance to work in the Philadelphia Archdiocese Historical Research Center that housed many interesting artifacts and papers, a key turning point in my next phase of never-ending-education.  We met some great people out there (Megan and Brian) whose tales of cussing and gaming I won’t go into here.
Our next stop was back to MI for a variety of reasons, and we arrived just in time for the economy to start tanking.  Luckily my wife was able to find work at our alma mater, though I struggled to find full time work (apparently, medieval and reformation studies aren’t that big in community college curricula, who knew?).  After a frustrating and stressful year, we both went back into the retail sector, eventually rising to managerial positions of sorts.

I continued to plug away at getting a job in history, archives, or museums, but without a degree it wasn’t going to happen.  So after three years, I reapplied to grad school and eventually earned an MSI in Archives & Records Management with a certificate in Museum Studies.  Armed with an abundance of interesting but often useless information, I went to DC for my final internship and worked at NARA downtown.  After the summer, I was referred to the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies in West Virginia, and here I am.

I’ve tried to stay abreast of current events in our fractured country, but I tend to be lazy and like to escape into my fantasy worlds (via reading, writing, or gaming).  However, there are times when one must put their thoughts out there for the nebulous “cloud”, rather than burdening one’s spouse as the sole audience for tirades and rants lightly sprinkled with moments of clarity and reason.

We’ll see how it goes…