“I was born a poor black child.” Anyone seen the movie, The Jerk? Love that flick! If you haven’t; use my link, buy it or rent it, and watch it ASAP. This is required viewing, along with a few other movies such as The Big Lebowski.

Actually, I was born a poor white child. Not urban poor, but rural poor. There’s a difference. Urban poor means that you dumpster dive, and live in a dirty, run down apartment. Rural poor means drinking well water, and raising and butchering chickens for food through the winter.

When I was in my late teens, early twenties, I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish before age 30. That list goes something like this:

• Marry a beautiful woman
• Have a couple kids
• Own my own business
• Own my own home

I’ve just bought my own home; and by doing so, I’ve completed that list. Now I’m looking on to the next decade; but that’s another day, another post.

My Work

I’m a self-taught, self employed, internet programmer. I talk a bit about my work here. I have run my own business since 2001 as a part-time gig, and took it full-time in 2004. By “self-taught” I mean that I bought a couple programming books (1 and 2), and read them several times until it started making sense. I bought space on a web server, and coded my little heart out.

Apple Inc.

I am NOT an Apple “fanboy”, in that I love ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that Apple puts out. However:

1. I am passionate about any company that is innovative, especially in a market which I am familiar. (this includes companies like Google)
2. I like to root for the underdog — and since Apple has 5% market share of personal computers, they fit as an underdog to me.
3. I love their product line. I own a 17″ MBP and a 80 GB iPod. They always seem to go the extra step to make sure their products are incredibly easy to use, but not lacking in features.
4. I also dislike their competition in Microsoft. Microsoft appears to create crappy products on top of crappy products in order to make a buck. I hate maintaining Windows machines, because there is no way to perform a “tune up”, instead, the most basic problem requires an “engine overhaul”… as it were. They are also susceptible to every type of problem out there. AND, they give me that creepy “big brother is watching” feeling. *sigh*

I like to be short and sweet

You can say something more effectively in 100 words than in 1,000 words. That’s why I like good, short quotes. In one line, in 5 seconds of your time, the author can change the way you see your world. I love that, and I strive to make every line count in my posts, or cut them out. Let’s face it: we both have more important things to do than read/write dribble.