Some of you asked, so I'll stick a brief bio, or a really long resume, of myself. I was an OK student in school; I was really good at wood and metal shop. I'm better technically than academically, but that's fine. I've had many years at Vo-Tech (Union County Vocational Technical School for any of you who live near by and were curious). Some people actually base their entire home page on this stuff and you know who you are...
1973 - I was born June 30 in Fort Hood, Texas. I, of course, was the cutest baby there. Born with a glass cutter in my mouth, doctors had to remove that... Want to see my baby pictures? 
1982 - The year I learned stained glass. Westfield has a summer program called the Westfield Summer Workshop which has classes in art, crafts, music and drama for kindergarten through the 12th grade. First I took stained glass for one period at a time, later for two, until finally I had it for four periods (plus a period of magic).
1984 - This is when I set up my first stained glass work shop. It was small, but it worked.
1990 and 1991 - These were my final years in high school (yay). During those years I took Maintenance Mechanics at Vo Tech. During that time, I learned carpentry, plumbing, electricity, drywall, glazing, tiling, general repair, machine technology, arc welding and tool maintenance. I also learned general drafting.
1991 Night School - I took the Armstrong Flooring Course, in which I learned how to cut and install sheet vinyl, more or less. I know the basics anyway.
1992 - I decided to go back for another year. When I was in the maintenance class (the first year I was at Vo Tech in my junior and senior years of high school), I was only able to go to Vo Tech for half a day because I had to go to high school the other half. However, after I graduated high school, I was able to go to Vo Tech the full day. This time I took Carpentry where I learned basic framing for walls, floors, roofs, etc. Along with insulation, deck construction, roofing, siding, and stuff like that. Along with another section in drafting, mainly focused on the architectural stuff.
1992 Night School - I took Home Repair, Locksmithing 1 and 2.
1993 - I needed to know more, so I took a year in Masonry. I learned brick laying, block laying, pouring and finishing cement along with some basic demolition, layout and other masonry things.
1994 - I couldn't go to school this year because I was captured by aliens. They needed to know how to construct stained glass. So I taught them the stained glass ; they learned pretty quickly. For some reason they always seemed to pick out the gray glass; go figure. As we zapped around the universe I learned new things, met up with E.T., phoned home and even saw Uranus ;). Well fun is fun, and I was daydreaming about doing my stained glass back at home, so we decided to go back to earth. We read some crop circles, picked up a few farmers to experiment with and I went home. Before I left the ship they gave me a little crystal, they told me "it's to keep track", I'm not sure if I "remember" that right. I keep it lodged in my mind :).
1995 - The aliens told me I have a quest, they told me, "you must keep doing stained glass, and when you get back, take an auto body class". What could I do? So I took Auto body. I learned how to pull dents, fill 'em, grind 'em, and paint 'em, replacing parts, installing and removing windshields, MIG Welding, and ripping off customers...just kidding. If anything, I know how to fix it my self, and know why it is so expensive. I can also tell a bad body job from a good one.
1996 - 1999 - This is the year I got my job at Creative Marketing Specialties in which I was the head of shipping and receiving. In 1999 I left due to creative differences, I was creative, they were not.
1999 - Got a job at E.F. Britten - I worked as an aviation technician. They specialized in making de-icing valves for small commuter planes. I left after 2 months due to health reasons.
1999 - 2001 - I worked in the medical field. I made orthotics at Comfort Fit Orthotics. I was a orthotic lab technician. I was there for almost 2 years. I left there due to the unsafe work enviroment. They also took away raises, and any kind of overtime pay (which I know is illigal). I left because my wrists were hurting too much and I didn't want a permenent injury. FYI: An orthotic is a device that's worn in the shoe to help correct various problems. Mainly it prevents you from standing in the wrong position. It's like buying a shoe with the arch in the wrong place, you'll feel it forever, and it may change your foot's bio-mechanics a little. The orthotic is shaped to your foot (a cast is made). As a side note, you can only get orthotics through a foot doctor and it needs to be prescribed.
2001 to Current - Since I'm home right now I'm photographing everything in sight with my digital camera (Canon Powershot Pro 90IS). Also I'm Studiing Japanese.
OK that was fun, besides stained glass, here's the other tid bits: I hate every form of sports; I would be pleased as punch if it would just leave the earth. I never really saw the point of watching it on TV, and screaming at the little players on the screen. I never saw the point in throwing a ball (in any form), catching it, and then throwing it again.
Favorite shows: Babylon 5 (even though it's not showing anywhere any more), Star Trek (all the series), South Park, Dilbert, Simpsons, Who's Line is it anyway?, Power Puff Girls, Johnny Bravo, and Friends. I'm sure there's another but I don't remember. Anime is a new one also. And anything stained glass related.
Favorite Anime: Ranma, Kenshin, Kodomo no Omocha, Battle Athletes, Akazukin Chacha, Hand Maid May, Yu Yu Hakusho, and anything from Gilbi Studios. And of course we can't forget Pok'emon - I have a bunch of the critters sitting on my monitor.
Favorite TV Channels: The Learning Channel, Comedy Central, The Weather Channel, HGTV, Cartoon Network, and Fox. Boy I wish there were a stained glass channel. Though it's just in my area, channel 63 is a mixed media channel, and I watch it everyday at 10:00 pm, because they have the Japanese on then.
Favorite Type of Music: I can't stand classical music; the whiny sounds it makes, no beat, it just gives me a headache. I used to listen to various kinds of rap (the older stuff) like Run DMC, Fat Boys, JJ FAD, and the many mixes. I still listen to Weird Al, 2 Live Jews (but they stopped making albums...boo hoo), Disney sound tracks, other sound tracks (the ones with a beat), Squirrel Nut Zippers, and any other modern swing. Anime, and other Japanese Tunes (slowly learning the language do the the countless hours watching anime), Marching band music, and some of Danny Elfman. I usually listen to this when working, to help me stay awake while driving, and to get a good rhythm going. I found that almost anything that is at the same rhythm as my heart beat or above is good. Current Favorites: Heavy Metal - Rammstein and Rob Zombie.
Favorite Colors: Royal purple (though I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that color), and gold.
Favorite Planet: Jupiter (don't know why, it was always my favorite, since I was little).
Favorite Metals: Niobium, Titanium, Stainless Steel, Brass and Gold.
Favorite Comic Strips: Dilbert, Fox Trot, Garfield, Close to Home and Rhymes with orange.
Most Hated Comic Strips: Family Circus (too many reasons to list), Dennis the Menace (the annoying little brat), BC (only when he get's all religious like), Andy Cap (the comic about a drunk??), Peanuts (can't stand those little twerps), and any "educational" comic strips like Mark Trail.
Favorite Toys: Anything electronic (which I can afford), any cute toy (otherwise known as stress toys, monitor buddies, or good luck charms), that have a good set of eyes (the larger the eye the better). They need to have that passive stare and be well made, standing about 4" high. They can be larger if they are a mascot of some kind. Some of my Favorites are the Intel Bunny Suit guys (they're really well made), the Gateway cow, the Dairy Fairy (garage sale goody), and an assortment of other tasty animals. Remember these aren't stuffed animals, they are "collector items", and may go up in value. The Intel guys watch over my computer and make sure it's running ok. OH, don't ever poke the intel guy in the crotch, they don't like it, they WILL curse your computer for it. If my computer has a problem I know one of them is sick or injured.
Hobbies: Stained Glass, well DUH..... Garage Sales, Flea Markets, Tool collecting and refurbishing, and watching all the anime Japan has ever made. I'm also studying Japanese - Speaking, Understanding, and Reading. Currently I can read Hiragana pretty well, Katakana kind of well, and may 2 or 3 Kanji.
I also have a pet Cockatiel named Sam. I thought Sam was a boy bird until he started laying eggs, so I guess she's really Samantha. And she loves looking at my stained glass of which I have lots in my room.
Well that's enough about me, now back to the stained glass.
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Started on 9-22-98