I'm a North Carolina native, born and raised in Chatham County. I'm artistic, I draw, I act, I write a little bit. I don't know how much you want to know about my life, so I'm going to hit some basics and hope you don't get too bored with it.

Growing up outside of Pittsboro, near Haw River, I homeschooled from First Grade until 7th. I took the 8th Grade competency test, decided against going the traditional route at Northwood after a neighbor's kid, a few years older, who I have always looked up to as being really smart, had bad things to say about the place. So I went to New Century Charter High School, at the time located at the old White Cross School in Orange County. I stayed there for two years until my sister, who'd been going there for three, graduated. The first year of school there had been somewhat fun/interesting, while the second year, to raise money, they brought in a bunch of drop-out borderline psychopaths. But I did have a couple of the nicest teachers, including one who made me love the subject of history.

I transferred to Central Carolina Community College in Spring 2001 to attend their Adult High School program in Pittsboro. I got my GED the following year. Did two years of curriculum study before transferring to UNCG for their Broadcast and Cinema study. Film school. I'd always wanted to be a director. I lived in the International dorm where I met a bunch of wonderful people, both local and abroad. I still keep up with some of them. I had enough fun there I didn't exactly put forth the kind of effort that could get me a really great GPA. Not that it really mattered in my field. You don't need to be a college grad to be a filmmaker.

I have struggled somewhat after graduation, exploring work as a videographer. The details of that I'll share at a later date. But I also worked some in community theatre through CCCC, which I found very rewarding. After doing a play in 2011, I decided in 2012 to give improv a shot. I'm loving it.

I'm a big movie buff and I try to get along with everyone as best I can.

I'm trying to make it count. I'm looking for either a better job than I have already, or at least additional employment. But I'm still really into the performing, improv and sketch scene and I'm reluctant to sacrifice that.

Being honest. That's not always good though, sometimes it's best to keep what you think to yourself.

Drawing. I'm a decent artist.

Accents. Say we're just having a conversation, shootin' the shit, and then, just to have a little more fun with it, I'll start talking in some weird accent. Don't be alarmed. And don't be alarmed when that accent changes into something else altogether.

Being on time. I can be a terrible procrastinator about certain things, but I try to be early or on time whenever there is a scheduled appointment.

Humbly doing a chore without complaint. The trick is getting me to start. I'll put off doing something, but when I finally get to it, I intend to see it through.

I'm really good at remembering names. Maybe not always the first time I meet someone. But by the second meeting, if it comes up, I'm not forgetting that name.

I'm good at washing the dishes, just make sure and get me in the kitchen to do it. I try to be thorough. Actually, I try to be thorough on a lot of work, almost anal-retentive. It's not that I care all that much, it's that I want to do well at the job.

Improvisational dance. Give me a beat, a little space (not even a whole lot), and an audience, even just one or two people, and I will start moving to the beat. I can do more formal dances, too, but I'm usually the guy who's rebelling against everyone doing the Electric Slide.

I'm good at listening. I'm probably a better listener than I am a talker, though if we get on the right subject I am more than happy to share my opinion. While I'm fascinated by science, I know didley-squat about a lot of the terms used. I was just not as strong in that area. I know history and art, and good grammar. I'm not a grammar nazi though. I reserve the right to use horrible grammar when talking. But when I write it's another story.

My thick, brown hair. I get it cut so rarely that when you meet me it might grow to be this bushy, curly mess. Coupled with ever-changing facial hair.

I can be pretty quiet. I prefer to sit back and let other people do the talking. More out of politeness (and curiosity) than because I'm shy, although I am shy. So maybe I'm just deluding myself.

I like movies a lot, and can share a bunch of useless movie trivia with whomever cares to hear it.
Favorite movies include: Chinatown, The Truman Show, The Wild Bunch, Beetlejuice, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Usual Suspects, Fargo, Little Miss Sunshine, In Bruges, Being John Malkovich, Oldboy, Once Upon a Time in the West, GATTACA, Pulp Fiction, Casablanca, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Pi, The Fountain, Jackie Brown, Drive, Bulworth, Wag the Dog, A Simple Plan, and many more. I really like film noir, a lot of 1970s gems, often crime-thrillers, British gangster movies, Korean genre-benders, well-made satirical and dark comedies, the films of Joel and Ethan Coen, Sam Peckinpah, Roman Polanski, David Cronenberg, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Mann, Sidney Lumet, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jules Dassin, John Huston, David Gordon Green, Peter Weir, David Fincher, Nicholas Winding Refn, Terry Gilliam, and others.

I tend to read more magazines (The New Yorker, Newsweek, and The Independent Weekly) than full-length books right now. My favorite author is probably Graham Greene, with Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy also up there. I'm a big fan of the old hard-boiled detective fiction of Dashiel Hammet and Raymond Chandler. Good, pulpy entertainment. But my tastes are more wide-ranging than just that. I like Cormac McCarthy, but I'm not well-read in his work just yet. And I enjoy a good satire.

Shows...I don't have access to TV right now, and I'm more into waiting for the DVDs to get into a show. That's how I watched The Wire, which I maintain is the finest dramatic series ever produced. I was religious aboutThe X-Files back in the day. I'm also into Breaking Bad, The Daily Show, (I watch that online) Parks and Recreation, Arrested Development, and Sherlock.

Music is a hard one because there's no telling what it is about a particular song or piece of music that makes me like it, regardless of genre. However, I am into bluegrass, Johnny Cash, Steve Earle, Tom Waits, Lorena McKennitt (love that woman), Classic Rock, Celtic, some country, and folk music, and various other Americana.

I have grown to eat most things. I'm not into super-saturated sugary stuff, I LOVE fresh fruit, and I am a meat eater. My dad's a deer-hunter so I do like a good piece of venison. If I have to work in the morning, a couple of eggs usually does the trick. And I love whole milk. One thing I think I can never be is a vegan, so if that's a problem, then don't bother.

Other odds and ends: Listening to WUNC, particularly The State of Things, Backporch Music, and Last Motel. Other NPR listening. Usually in the car because right now I don't have a radio. Art. I'm an artist so of course I have a few favorites (not necessarily inspirations, but artists I still am fond of). Norman Rockwell, Edward Gorey (loved his animations for Mystery!), Hieronymous Bosch, Caravaggio, among others. They tend to represent more the images that fascinate me most. Use of dark and light, the way Rockwell's characters looked almost real and yet, quite absurd. I like the surrealist paintings, but my work isn't very surreal. It's a little cartoony, a little comic-bookish.

Okay, so assuming my body is intact just as it is. And I already have food and water.

Prescription medication that I use to keep a seizure disorder at bay.
A pocket-knife or other multi-use tool.
A blanket or overcoat for those cold nights.
A good friend to keep me from going insane.
A notebook and pen/pencil, also to keep me from going insane.
The resources to help build a fire if the need should arise.

Happiness, and what it means to be happy.

Movies, actors, directors, making movies, because it's my old dream job.

Politics, because on the one hand it affects us all, and on the other it can make a great scapegoat. And sometimes it's damn entertaining.

Girls, because sometimes I think I'm the only one without someone. Other times I just think I have someone a lot less often than other people without someone. But I have a lot of friends of both sexes.

Nature, the environment, human nature, sociology and anthropology, why religion is so important to so many.

Life and death.

What could make a good story.

And I think of lots of other things I'll be happy to share.

Lately, either I'm working, or I'm at DSI Comedy Theater in Carrboro, watching improv. Or I'm at home. I don't do a whole lot of Friday night escapades.

I'm not the most sexually experienced person out there by a long shot.

When I was twenty I got diagnosed with renal cancer. They found it early enough that all that happened was I lost my right kidney. No chemo necessary. My other kidney's still being monitored after the removal of a couple of tumors a few years back. The whole thing makes me look at life a little differently. I don't feel nearly as in control as before, almost like a burden has been lifted. I'm much more concerned about the quality of life than the quantity of it.

Wow, that makes me sound like I expect death around every corner. For the record, I've been in remission for a while now. I'm doing fine. I still think about life differently all the same.

I may have an unhealthy obsession with answering questions on this site. I'm not sure.

You are interested in hearing or sharing a story.

Are looking for a good movie to check out from Netflix.

Are looking for positive reinforcement.

Interested in the arts.

Enjoy long walks.

I messaged you already (kind of kidding, but not really).

Just because.