Married. Father of 3 (19F, 11F, 8M). If there’s any remaining time after those, I’m a Network Engineer by day. Musician (piano/keys, trumpet, singer). Also DJ/KJ. Basically, there are a few things I’m particularly good at… family, music, and computers. So those are the things I do.
There are but 3 facts about karaoke…
1: Nobody’s as bad as they think they are!!!
2: Nobody’s as good as they think they are!!!
3: If you’re not having fun doing it, you’re doing it all wrong. You have fun, everybody has fun.
My parents recorded me singing when I was about 13 (they were proud parents who encouraged that sort of thing)…fortunately for the world, once i heard myself, I never sang again, unless I was alone, or singing quietly in a crowd that could drown me out.
Mom’s a trained operatic singer…I know when to throw in the towel. Chuckle! (Oddly enough though, she is not any good at karaoke - you have to tone it down to sing karaoke - and that pint sized woman can vibrate glass.)
I have fun with a few other things though, and I still like parties. (Someone has to clap.)
I had a regular who was a classically-trained singer. She was going to try out for American Idol. She asked me what I thought her chances are. I said “You want the truth or encouragement?” She said “Truth.” I said “You’ve got a great voice. But you can’t break free from your training and let loose and have fun singing. Unfortunately there’s simply no way you’ll make it onto American Idol.” Weeks later she came back. I asked her how it went. She said “They brought me in for a 2nd round but in the end they basically said every single thing you said.”
Maybe I’ll sing a bit around the house this afternoon while I run the vacuum …I can do torchy songs (“Santa Baby”, “Cabaret”…just got a very limited range.)
Perhaps the only thing better than creative endeavors is the ability to encourage and inspire them in others. This may be an investment that truly pays dividends for generations. You GO GIRL!!!
Professionally: I am a retired Deputy US Marshal and now owner of the first and only virtual reality escape room and arcade in Houston www.exitusvr.com. I play virtual reality games all day. Lol
Personally: I am married with 3 dogs and too many cats to count. I enjoy making leather briefcases and working on my 64 & 74 Volkwagen beetles. Life is good! Just sad and totally dissapointed that I have to wait so long for my Glowforge.
I have to update my entry. Currently I am a laid-off product manager. My last position was in a neat little VR shop, working on music visualizers and slot machine app. Sadly they had to downsize to just devs and artists 'cuz the truth is there is not much money to be made yet in VR. The size of the market is just too small still.
If anyone needs a PM/product designer/strategist or game designer in the Seattle area, drop me a line.