I was born and raised in Yonkers, NY, but left my beautiful Hudson River bordered home-city at 18 to attend college. After trying a local private college and a far away Catskills Mountains state college for a year each, I ended up at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). There I earned both a Bachelor's and a Master's Degree in Information Technology. Thank you Financial Aid. I couldn't have done it without you.

During my LONG time at RIT I worked as an Assistant Student Government Bookkeeper, a Clubs Graduate Assistant, a Programming Graduate Assistant, and an ETC Web Developer. I was a bit busy.

As an undergraduate I concentrated in Web Development, Database Design and Italian. As a graduate student I focused in Technical E-Commerce, Programming, and Human Computer Interaction. Extracurricularly, I was a member and officer of the RIT Model Railroad Club where I spent much of my time building, painting, and installing scenes on the club's model railroad. It was a great escape from programming and looking at computer screens. I was also a member of Piazza Italiana, RIT's Italian club. I was only one course short of a minor in Italian. Bummer.

What am I doing now? Well, for several years I lived in the Art District of the city of Rochester with my Mike, but after numerous car vandalizations, my neighbor nearly setting the building ablaze with a pumpkin, and out growing the tiny, one closet , one bedroom apartment, it was time to move. So now I live in the Rochester suburb of Henrietta in an awesomely large apartment. This apartment feels HUGE compared to the teenie weenie hole we lived in before. Its more than twice the size and has more than just one friggen puny closet. In fact is has three huge closets, a linen closet and one super massive closet. (What's with the freakin' closets? Move on!)

Anyway, shortly after finishing up my graduate coursework I got my first real job. I started working as a Web Developer for an Ecommerce Company. It is exactly the kind of job I was hoping to find. It is a small company whose employees all work from home. Perfect! I love that the company is small. I could never really picture myself working for a gorilla of a company like Microsoft, IBM, Intel...you get the point. Too corporate and political for me. Plus, can you really picture me dressing up in a business suit every day with a little leather briefcase, high heels and makeup saying "Hello sir" as I passed the VP in the morning? I don't think so. Hopefully I won't ever have to. I adore that I can work from home in my PJs with my cat Onyx purring in a chair beside me and Opie & Anthony blaring through the speakers. What's even better is that I could move anywhere in New York, Vermont, Utah, Missouri, or California and still have a job. Not bad.

What comes next? Well, I don't want to stay in the Rochester area forever, so I am on a quest to find the next location. Where will it be? I'm not sure. Starting this year I am going to travel around the country until I find the place I want to call home. I would totally love to move back to Westchester County, but it is just too damn expensive. I really miss the area, my family and friends, the pizza, but I have to get rich before I can afford to buy a house in Westchester. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

On to Onyx. I have the coolest black cat. He takes car rides (he doesn't love them but he does tolerate them) and walks on a leash. He is a big boy, not fat, but large and muscular. Most people who see him comment on his great size and beauty.

He is very sweet, until I decide to play with him too rough. I've got scars that taught me that it hurts to play with a cat like you would a dog. He is extremely active even though he is far from being a kitten, so he always wants to play, get chased, chase you, or go for a walk. Sometimes when he is running around like a wild beast his dopiness kicks in and he falls off things or runs into walls. He can be such a hysterical ass sometimes.

He is quite social. He loves other cats and enjoys kitty play dates. He likes people too. He doesn't run and hide when company arrives. Instead he runs up to say hello and sniff you to death. He purrs easily. I can get him to purr by just talking to him. Oh, one time he was sitting on the window sill. The window was open. A woman was outside in the parking lot speaking mother-ease to her child. Onyx, thinking the woman was talking to him, got all happy and began rubbing his entire body back and forth along the window screen, purring his head off. Freakin' hilarious.