About me:

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Where to begin...

I was born in Skokie, IL in the fall of 1970, which probably explains why fall is one of my favorite seasons. Then again, it's probably just coincidence (but it sounded good).

Even though I was born in Skokie, my earliest memories are of the house in Winfield, IL. I especially remember the backyard, garage, and the fence separating us from the neighbors. Oddly enough, I don't recall ever being inside... It was a nice big yard (of course, I was 3 years old at the time) with lots of trees and a pretty decent garden. I remember that the neighbors used to raise worms for profit and offered to give us some to help decompose the compost. I also remember that my best friend at the time used to eat them. There are some other memories, but my parents claim that I was too young to remember them (so I obviously can't write about them).

When I was five (right after my birthday -- the neighbors threw a huge surprise party for me. I don't think I've ever felt as important to people as I did then) my parents decided to move into their current house in Glen Ellyn, IL. The school systems were better, things were cheap then, and it was a really good location. It still is a cool place, but property taxes have been getting a little out of hand lately. My first friends were Jason Engeriser (who I've lost touch with) and Jon Dugan, who is now one of my roommates after all of these years. It's funny to think of him as the kid that I used to make quicksand with in his backyard.

Anyhow, I went to Main Street Grade School through the fifth grade, and was a member of the last graduating class. I still remember my first true love, too. Her name was Joyce Regier, and we used to pretend we were a family of squirrels and build snowforts. Ugghh.

When I was 10, I went to Hadley Junior High School. It was kind of a relief, because 5th grade REALLY sucked. I was a year younger than most of the other kids (so of course they began picking on me) and the teacher, Mrs. Krakevick (or something like that) was a real witch. I guess she didn't believe that I was capable of any real intelligence or something, because she was always taking off points for using words that were "too big" in my papers and stuff. I can only hope that they took away her teaching license before she ruined anybody's life...

At any rate, the Junior High People must've thought I was smart or something, because they kept putting me into TAG (talented and gifted) programs and making me take the ACT. I guess I should've felt flattered, but I was mostly annoyed since I had to do these things instead of what I wanted to. I remember taking the ACT the first time and wondering what the heck a square root was. Too bad nobody would ever tell me how I did. A good laugh is always good for the soul... :)

My Junior High days were also a pretty trying part of my life. School constantly bored me, so I was always getting in trouble for not doing my homework, not paying attention, etc. I was pretty disorganized too; the concept of a bag or backpack hadn't quite entered my mind at a conscious level yet. Imagine if you will two reams of paper strewn about the floor, shoved together, and carried under your right arm. This really helped me get a reputation at school, although not necessarily the one that I wanted (it was in my senior year of high school that I finally got some smarts and bought a book bag).

More to come as time becomes available. (HA)

Wolfram Research, Inc.
University of Illinois / Graduate College / Department of Horticulture