The Rise and Fall of a Modeling Career

A lot of people have asked about the avatar I use for my Twitter profile so I thought it would be easier just to point them here.

Back in 1994 I was working for Midwest Micro, a local company that was competing with Gateway. I worked in the advertising department where I was a manager.

We advertised in many of the Ziff Davis publications, Computer World, PC Computing and Computer Shopper and the creative director planned these elaborate multi page spreads that appeared in these publications. Most were 4 to 10 pages, full color, always with a theme.

Well October was drawing near and the boss wanted to advertise ‘monster savings’ so he planned this Halloween spread, he also asked if I wanted to be part of it. I said sure, even though it meant shaving off the moustache I had sported for years, I thought it would be fun.

The result is in the avatar. I spent a few hours in makeup and had a huge hose clamp around my neck that had Pentium computer chips attached to it. My picture took up most of the page on page two of the spread and appeared in a couple million magazines.

So, I joke, but yes, that was the extent of my modeling career. If you ever stop by the house, I still have the October 1994 PC Computing if you want to see. 🙂

Parental Pride

I just watched Michael Phelps get his first gold at the 2008 Olympics. I saw his Mom in the stands, I heard the National Anthem. I wept.

I wondered if I would ever see any of my children represent the United States in a similar feat. I realized it really doesn’t matter, I love them for what they are, anything else would just be a bonus.

Kids Say, v.9.0

Went for a walk at lunch with Hannah who rode her bike. As we went through the neighborhood I noticed she was having trouble stopping so I checked her brakes, commenting to her that one of them needed to be adjusted.

She said ok and then asked, ‘can you tell me how to turn on my blinker?’ ‘Your blinker’ I asked. ‘Yes, that big shiny square on the front and back.’

I laughed, as often happens during our conversations, and said, ‘those are reflectors.’ ‘Oh’, she said, ‘whats a reflector?’

As much as I enjoy watching her grow, I am going to miss these times even more.