I was born in 1967 in Chicago, IL and raised near Cleveland, OH; I now live in El Cerrito, CA, across the water from the Golden Gate Bridge.
If you run a Google search on me—and I advise you to do that with any contractor you are thinking of hiring and any business or person you are considering working for—you will find that I appear most often in association with the e-journal Didaskalia: Ancient Theater Today.
I was heavily involved with that publication from 1994-1999, at which point I turned the job of Managing Editor over to Hugh Denard of the University of Warwick. After that I stopped being an academic and set out on the road to being a FileSlinger instead.
I received an AB in Classics from Brown University in 1989 (with a diploma in Latin, and everything) and an MA in Classical Studies from the University of Michigan in 1991. I spent 3 more years at Michigan, not quite earning a PhD—I finished all the requirements but the dissertation.
My graduate career was interrupted in 1992 by the onset of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, which is a nasty subset of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. While currently about 80% controlled by medication, this illness restricts the type of work I can do and the number of hours I can work.
I left Michigan in 1994 and moved to England to teach part-time at the University of Warwick.
I began teaching in 1989 and stopped in 1998. I enjoyed it immensely, but it is very demanding work. The pay for part-time university instructors is dreadful and the job market is worse.
In addition to teaching, I translated, directed and/or produced, and when necessary acted in several Greek and Roman plays with student casts.
In 1998 I retired from teaching and left England to move to California. I spent about 18 months regaining my health, which had been deteriorating. I spent the next few years as a visiting scholar in Classics at UC Berkeley.
Starting in the year 2000, I ventured into the world of self-employment as a caregiver for the elderly and disabled. The rewards of this profession were more spiritual than material (though the pay was no worse than for teaching), and eventually I decided to put the skills I had acquired in academia to use in business.
I started out in 2001 doing primarily office/clerical work, so files were a big part of my job. They still are—but more and more of them are computer files. I've been learning more about programs like Outlook, Microsoft Publisher, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop to better serve my clients. I really enjoy learning new things and developing new skills, and I particularly like being able to solve problems and find answers for people.
In 2005 I started focusing my efforts on writing and created the Author-izer website and persona to handle that. I also became a podcast junkie and co-founded the Podcast Asylum. I am no longer taking new clients for office, technical, or trademark services.