As you should know if you read the above introduction to myself, I am gay. Something that many Catholic's don't take too happily anyways. I personally don't really care about it because it is who I am, and I've had an easier time accepting it. May 7, 1997 is the date that I will always remember, because it was the day I was asked to leave Wildwood Catholic High School of North Wildwood. After taking the last bit of abuse from students that were already assuming I was gay (which I will say wasn't too hard, because I am quite the femme type), I decided to just go on and admit my "trait" as it were. Naturally, words were said about it all day. (It's funny. All those years, all those rumors spread. When I admit it, no one even believed me!) By the time the lunch period had begun, I was out of there.

I haven't talked about this part of the story much since I was kicked out. Some of my best online and in real life friends may not have even known this part, but sometime between the time I came out and the time I was asked to leave, someone (I have a feeling it was a faculty member), planted a knife in my unlocked locker. Later that day (during the lunch period), I was asked to leave the school because supposedly, a student (who remained "anonymous") said I was going to kill him/her, and when they searched my locker, low and behold, a knife was found. One thing that was funny in my eyes is that the knife had the blue and white colors on the handle that just happened to be the colors of the school. What a coincidence, no? I found that to be quite histerical. Needless to say, I left that school with my head up high because I knew I would never have to deal with them again, and if I did, it would have been on my own free will. Besides. The school was full of a bunch of rich stuck-ups at any rate anyways.

However, a part of me will always stick in my gut. Still does even to this day. And it has nothing to do with the fact that I found the schools carving knife in my locker. It's the fact that school principal at the time attempted to get some personal satisfaction (in my humble opinion of course) with this entire thing, by calling my parents and telling them I was gay. As mom put it, she called her and said that I was "a ho..hom....h...homos...homosex...." as if to be studdering a lot. Mom interrupted her and told her that she had known. (All though she claims to have used a word with 10 letters, that starts with a CO and ends with an ER...) I mean, what if they didn't know? If I had a set of parents that hated gays, I could have been living on the streets that very night. (My family and I went out for Chinese Food after!)

I'd still love to thank everyone at Wildwood Catholic, Classes of 1998 to 2000 for all they did. Michael Harper for getting me to physically run the extra mile. Greg DiAntonio for always trying to get me to stare at the "hottie girls", and not him. Yolanda Capriella, and Sister Burnadette Krebs for "helping me come out of the closet at school". But most of all, thank you, Brian Salvesen. He did the most for me by helping me truely realize that I was gay. All those times sitting next to him in drivers education, him just kinda "staring" at me, it really helped me a helluva lot. Thanks a bunch, I'll never forget ya guys!

After the hell of Wildwood Catholic had finally settled down, I took the GED test at the local Vo-Tech in the Fall of 1997, giving me a high school diploma. (Even getting it two years sooner!) In the Spring of 1998, I took the SAT, ironically as well as purposely, I decided to take the test at Wildwood Catholic. I did it so I could prove to everyone there that I was not going to let them get in the way of me getting ahead in life. I got a lot of double-takes from the students (many of who which were still there from the year prior), as well as a good number of faculty members. I had lost quite a bit of weight during that time period, even though I gained it back now, but I must admit, I looked hot during that period!

To continue my education, in the Winter of 1999, I took an adult class at the local Vocational High School, taking a course in Medical Terminology & Transcription. I took it because I work at the hospital around Cape May, and at the time I was looking into going into Medical Transciption. However I later learned that I couldn't work with parents, and even though mom works in the Medical Records department, its considered the same department. Most recently, I took German at the same technical school (which due to the lack of students, was terminated early). I also took General Psychology at Atlantic Cape Community College. After a lot of thinking and wondering, I decided that in the near future, I am going to obtain a nursing license at the Cumberland Community College, and I hope to eventually work at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital. I think it could be interesting and flat out awesome to work with mental patients, even if my life is at danger everyday I work. (Smiles)

I've had a wide variety of jobs over the past 6 years or so. Ever since I was 13, I have always gotten money by working for it. It's just the way that I was tought. (The other way of course is to just inherit it, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon. :-) I started off as a "flag waver" at my cousins parking lot in North Wildwood when I was around thirteen for two summers. Man, that was hard work, but I figure, someone has to do it, and someone will get paid for it, right? So, it wasn't all that bad. Plus, my cousin is very awesome, and it was great working with her. After the parking lot had lost a little money from bad investing, I went on...

...to work as a dishwasher and foodservice prep at the Helen Diller Vacation Home for the Blind in Avalon, shown on the left. (It's a very cool summer camp for blind kids seven to fifteen. Kinda like a vacation away from the parents in a beach resort town at no cost to the parents in a way.) While my main job was simply just helping with the cooking, serving and cleaning up after dinners, I had a lot of fun there. The kids were fantastic, smart & intelligent, and it was nice to see that they didn't let their disability get in the way of things. I worked there for 3 summers from 1996-1998. But when I turned 18, I got my first full time job...

Currently, I read EKGs in the PCCU at BTMH. {Okay Kris - What the hell is that? Glad you asked.} I read what the heart is doing live as it is going on in the post critical care unit at Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital. (Just in case you are a little confused, if you will take note of the animation above. My job is to read those type of readings on as many as 32 patients at once time, and inform the nurses of any abnormalities or a new primary reading. I started working at Burdette in June of 1999, and it's been pretty interesting work. (It's a unique and uncommon skill.) And as of August 13, 2000, I am now proud to say that I am a full time employee, and finally have some kind of benefits package availible! (Meaning, I am seriously considering getting glasses. Lately, my eyes have been getting tired as the nights go on, and I might look good too... You never know. :)

BTW: Some people have been curious to know what my workplace looks like, so on the right, you'll see a picture of me at my desk, "working". (hehe) -- If anything, you can see what I just said about my eyes hurting. See what I get to stare at for 8 to 12 to 16 hours at a time? I really hate this picture because it makes me look a hell of a lot fatter than I already am. (Hey! I'm working on it! Already lost 25 pounds!) - But please do notice the overflowing garbage can under my tiny desk with the Burger King cup sticking out of it, and the money on my desk for the daily run to Wawa for dinner. (As Ruth would say, "Not hello... You going to Wawa tonight?" :-) And do pardon the light grid on the picture. It was taken with hospital film which is supposed to be for documenting wounds and stuff. So why were they playing with it? (After twelve hours working night shift, you never know what the hell can happen at work! You'd become kinda crazy too! But, it's all in fun.)

Like a lot of people, I have a lot of different kinds of hobbies, which I will go into right now. Television and film are other things I like to do as well. So many great television shows were on in the past (but not too many are so great nowadays). I tend to watch a lot of reruns on cable and local channels. Aside from game shows, some of my favorite shows include The Golden Girls (and its revival, "The Golden Palace"), Designing Women (and its revival, "Women Of The House"), The Simpsons, All In The Family (and its second title, "Archie Bunker's Place"), Sanford & Son, and South Park. Well, what can I say?

Another hobby would be listening to communications radios. (Including using the Citizens Band, Shortwave or World Band Radio, and the Police Scanners). I don't know exactly why I have these hobbies. It may be because I like to get my nose into things that it isn't supposed to be in perhaps. I don't know really. But I know that my grandfather was really into the same hobby, but we didn't talk much, so I didn't get his knowledge. Now I wish that I had spent more time with him.

My movie likes are all over the place. Since owning a DVD player, I've bought lots of my favorites on the format, and I highly recommend them to all if you're able to get some extra money. (Even though players are as low as $70 these days). The quality of the movies is absolutely fabulous. (Another show I like!). Looking at my DVD and tape collections, you'd find movies like WarGames, Young Frankenstein, the seven movies in the Halloween series, all 4 of the Pyscho movies, all nine of the Friday The 13th's, Serial Mom, Xanadu (obviously!), Christine, Mallrats, Clerks, Dogma, lots of Whoopi Goldberg movies, and of course, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. See anything you recongnize? I'm sure you do! My favorite cult horror flick is John Carpenter's "The Fog", which after a 3 year hiatus, was finally released this last fall on DVD. The picture on the left was a prototype photo of what the disc would look like.

Music, again, is the same way. I love almost all genres. (I'm not too fond of rap, and country is stretching it a little bit). I've got a lot of artists in my collection of CDs and LPs as well. (I know, can you believe it? A 21 year old know not only knows what LPs are, but actually owns enough to have a collection!) Some artists in my collection include Olivia Newton-John, Elton John, Madonna, Marylin Manson, Aretha Franklin, The Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, Depeche Mode, Aqua, to name a few. However over the last year, I've especially grown very fond of what we would call, "Hard House/Techno". (You know, what some people would call "A washing machine that took too much speed?") -- I really like the hardness and speed of it. Helps me try to lose weight when you try to dance to it. :-) Some of my favorite dance artists include Becca, John Digweed, and my favorite, DJ Irene. (If you like techno, give her a shot!!) And thanks to modern science, I can "download the audio on MP3" and burn em to CD.