Here's where you can learn a little bit about me. I'm currently residing in Mobile, AL with my wonderful partner of several years, James. We moved here after spending several years in Bloomington, IN where we both attended Indiana University. While there I completed my undergraduate degree with a Double Major of Sociology and English and acquired an MA in Sociology. I actually started my undergraduate degree at the University of Florida, where James and I originally met. We are both native Floridians, and thus the current move to Alabama brings us back to our Southern roots. I was born in West Palm Beach, but grew up in Tallahassee--which naturally explains why I moved to Gainesville when starting college ;) To this day I am a big UF fan (especially in football), although I pull for IU in everything as well.

One thing that is pretty clear about me is that I love animals--evidenced by our 4.5 cats (we have 4 indoors...and then there's this one outside we don't really claim, but somehow feed every day) and two dogs. See the denizens page for pics the pets.

While I'm not your stereotypical geek, I sure as hell like a lot of geeky things. I am not a big time computer expert (as you can see by this site), nor am I huge into video games, but I do have a fondness for both...more geeky of me, however, is my action figure and comic book collection. Although I am currently only reading two titles (the Avengers and JSA), I still follow the comic book world and love everything related to it--especially the toys! I have an enormous collection of action figures, including Batman and DC Heroes, X-Men and Marvel heroes, Star Wars, Simpsons, Action Man, G.I.Joe and much much more! See the laughing place page for more info on that.

I also I enjoy watching college football and professional baseball (go Braves!), as well as a bevy of other sports...and I even have a fondness for professional wrestling (I know, I know--but it's fun!). I generally enjoy being active--swimming in the pool, going for hikes, caving, and such--whenever I get the chance.

Occupationally, I currently work for our local United Way as the Associate Director of Applied Research and Special Projects. What I do on a daily basis is grants administration and community planning--sometimes this means conducting a small research study, sometimes it means planning new community projects (have you ever heard of 211? we're going to have it here soon....if you don't know what it is, check out 211.org to check it out), and it always means attending a bunch of meetings.

Finally, to understand me most, understand that what I enjoy the most is just hanging out with friends. Sometimes that means just catching a movie, sometimes it means going out to clubs, sometimes it is just swimming in the pool or sharing a meal. I've learned over the years that most things are more fun with more people (after all, "Sociologists do it in groups").

That's it for now!

--Dan