Having gone through a couple of online starter homes, this will be my long-term residence (albeit in a more or less ongoing state of renovation). Promise.
I was born and raised in the Houston area, and attended a collection of schools in the Houston metro area until my graduation from high school in 1993.
From 1994 – 1996 I served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints among the Hispanic communities of central California. I remain a devout, practicing LDS Christian, and I still speak fluent Spanish, along with passable Brazilian Portuguese.
In 1997 I married, and took two years off from college so that my wife could finish her aerospace degree1 at Texas A&M University2. In 1999 I went back to school full-time and bounced around a few different schools and courses of study until I graduated from Arizona State University in 2004 with a B.A. in journalism and mass communications.
While in school I blogged for fun and experience, but like any semi-rational person I never thought it would translate into anything serious. Imagine my surprise, then, when after an ill-considered and abortive attempt at a meaningful career in broadcast news, I landed at the Alliance for School Choice in 2006 as a website editor (read: full-time blogger). In April of that year we launched Edspresso, the organization’s official blog. In January 2007, it got a mention in the Washington Post as being a notable education-related blog3.
Since leaving the Alliance I have moved deeper into online communications on a full-time4 and freelance basis, with a specialty in search engine optimization, content development and web communications/marketing strategy. I carry Individual Qualifications in both and Google Analytics and Google AdWords.
In 2013, I was accepted to the Executive MBA program at the University of Texas at Austin as a member of the Class of 2015. Yes, that’s right – I married an Aggie and ended up becoming a Longhorn. I’m sure I’ll go into detail on that little adventure at some point.
Personal interests: all over the place. In no particular order: religion, cars, music, drum corps, current events, the Houston Rockets, politics, economics, gadgets, and education policy.
Thanks for visiting. Contact me here.
- Yes, she’s fairly good at calculus.
- Yes, she bleeds maroon. They check before handing out the diplomas.
- Obligatory disclaimer: after my departure from the Alliance in April 2007 the site was turned over to the Center for Education Reform.
- Second obligatory disclaimer: the opinions shared on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of either my full-time or freelance employers.