I'm It!

As started by Mike Hyatt here at Nelson, I’ve been “tagged” by Jim Thomason, the Vice President of Human Resources for Thomas Nelson Publishers. We’re to tell five things “You Don’t Know about Me”. So, here it goes.

I grew up in the funeral business. My dad is the third generation running his family’s funeral home chain in Fort Smith, AR. His favorite part of the job is to wait on families and help them through the process of honoring their loved ones. He loves his business. However, I wasn’t so dead set on it. :o) I have a great appreciation for the service, but it’s not something I wanted to do for my future. I decided instead to go more creative routes.

I play the piano. Since I was five I’ve had my fingers on a piano. But I didn’t fall in love with it until I was about 13. Since then, I’ve never stopped my love for the instrument. Unfortunately, I haven’t been serious about it for 12 years. So my skill has dropped significantly. As an example, here’s a spur of the moment recording of a song I was writing nine years ago. I have plans this year to bring it back up. But, reading sheet music? What’s that? :o)

I grew up playing golf. My dad does two things every day: work and play golf. Nothing else unrelated really computes with him. As his son, he made sure that I learned golf as well. I was eventually good enough to play on a golf team in high school. But I didn’t like the person I became on the course. So eventually I decided to stop until I was mature enough to play the game with respect. Unfortunately since then, I’ve rarely picked up a club. When I do (about once a year), my shots are so sporadic it becomes more of a fun betting game. “Five dollars you’ll duff it!”

I enjoy photography. For about three years now, I’ve taken a greater interest in photography—as in taking pictures of God’s world around me. I would barely call myself an amateur since I don’t really even study the art form. Camera equipment is expensive, so for now I have a compact Canon PowerShot S1. It has a 10x zoom. Surprisingly, I’ve been able to capture a few okay photos. Recently, I went to Haiti with a ministry here in Nashville and was able to capture some good shots. The album you’ll see is meant to be a summary of the trip. So, you’ll see good and average shots in there—for an amateur of course. :o)

I went to college to be a sound engineer for recording studios. Although I loved making music (singing mostly) in high school, I realized the future was slim. So, instead of pursuing that life style, I decide to stay more technical and work on sound scaping. :o) Toward the end of my collegian experience, I realized that lifestyle was even worse than if I had decided to pursue being an artist or song writer. So, since I have a passion to serve, I decided to pursue work in Human Resources. Although that initially sounds right, we can all make life-changing impact serving people in any position and career. Fortunately though, I learned through the position that web design was the perfect blend of creativity and technology for me. So, I quit my job (with the little web experience I had) and went to look for a job in the web world. Soon after, a lady here at Nelson decided to take a chance with me. That began my career at Nelson about six years ago.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. :o) I’m now going to send on the honorable task to Christy O'Flaherty, Larry Downs and Thom Chittom. Tag! You’re it!

If you have any questions, feel free to comment. I'll respond as soon as I can.