About Me

1) Where are you from?  How would you describe your hometown?

 The question "Where am I from" is, believe it or not,  a rather difficult one for me to answer. Actually, it's probably more difficult for you to read to my answer. Technically I was born in Houston, Texas, but for most of my life I lived in Denver, Colorado. For some odd reason, my mother and father were adamant that my two brothers and I were all be born in the same state. So despite my family living in CO at the time of my birth, my mother flew to Houston for my delivery. I know, pretty odd.

I consider my hometown to be a suburb of Denver called Greenwood Village, and I don't think that I could have grown up in a better town. It was a rather small community, where I knew most of my neighbors and I never had to travel far to get groceries, gas, or find a good restaurant. It is also very close to Denver, so I was able to enjoy the perks of a big city. If you couldn't tell, I have very pleasant memories of my "hometown."

2) Describe yourself as a reader.

 I absolutely love to read, but I always have this fear in the back of mind that I don't read enough. There are so many things  out there to read that I often feel uncomfortable coming to decisions about what is "good," especially when there is so much I haven't read. That being said, I am an avid reader of American Southern Literature. My favorite writer, without a doubt, is Harry Crews. He has a voice and a language that I find to be absolutely captivating, and I try to read one of his novels at least once per year. I tend to read a lot of novels, but lately I have gotten into graphic novels and some historical non-fiction. There is a possibility that I may be slightly obsessed with reading film reviews. It's not uncommon for me to browse the internet for hours reading several reviews on films that I have seen, usually just to gain multiple perspectives. 

3) Describe yourself as a writer.

As a writer, I am someone who does his best work under pressure. Yes, that means I tend to procrastinate quite a bit. I have never had much success stretching out my writing process over a long period, mainly because I find it difficult to write in the same tone and train of thought over a long period. I usually do all of my academic writing by hand, and I edit and revise my work as I type it into a word-proceser. It is a system that worked pretty well as an undergrad, and it hasn't failed me yet. 

I have little to no experience with creative writing, but I am certainly open to expanding my writing horizons as a graduate student. 

4) What are your goals for this semester?

My goals of the semester are to first become familiar with the department and the town of Fort Worth. I'd like to establish relationships with my professors and fellow students and find my comfort zone here at TCU. 

I want to emerge myself in the readings and to find a comfortable routine that allows me to perform my best. As a result, I would certainly like to find success in the class room. But more importantly, I want to discover, or at least begin to discover, what my main areas of study will be in the years to come and become comfortable with myself as a grad student.

5) Describe the worst class or the worst teacher you have ever had.

Wow, this is an easy one for me. The worst class I have ever taken was unsurprisingly taught by the worst teacher that I've ever had. It was an AP Spanish class my junior year of high school. The teacher was very unorganized, and I could tell that she didn't really care whether or not any person actually learned to speak Spanish. For the most part, we watched a lot of movies during class (all of them in English), and we played the board game version of Jeopardy. I know, it may sound like a GREAT class, but it wasn't so great when I took the AP Spanish exam and I had learned very little Spanish. 

6) List three books that have deeply touched your life.

The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Father and Son by Larry Brown

7) List three things that you know about the US during the years 1770-1830.

Revolutionary War

Declaration of Independence

George Washington became President

12) Tell me three things that I ought to know about you.

I just graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO with by BA in English Literature. I also studied Philosophy as a required second field.

Aside from literature, I have an unyielding passion for film. 

Even though I just recently learned how, I really love to cook.