After the wearable art path wore out, that I had trod for so long in my previous life, I tried studying Computer Science. I thought perhaps that was my proper path, but it only took a few semesters of that grind to persuade me otherwise; I just did not think like a computer scientist. Several years ago, I had the good fortune to meet Sandy Stone at a Cyberspace Conference, so I decided to shuck Computer Science and take Sandy's New Media course in the Radio, Television, Film (RTF) Dept. It opened my eyes.

I now have an intellectual home, the Advanced Communication Technologies Laboratory (ACTLab), in the RTF Department., School of Communication, the University of Texas. This freewheeling collection of media misfits, genuises and provocateurs, under Sandy's guiding light, is the sort of place I have dreamed of finding. It is a place to push limits and challenge meanings, to shatter paradigms and reformulate new ones from the shards: in short, the very things I love most to do.

After taking Sandy's undergrad New Media course one semester, I returned the next semester as a kind of de facto Teaching Assistant, even though I was not actually enrolled in the University and had no formal standing. Firm in my conviction that I have found my path, I then proceeded to acquire an MA in New Media through the ACTLab, over a period of two years.During that time I was the lab TA for three undergrad courses, as well as the lab manager, in charge of maintenece and supervision of the physical space. It was an exciting time to hold this position, as the lab went through a really major expansion and reorganization, which I had a lot of responsibility in helping to implement.

During this time, I began to (finally) actualize some of the ideas that I had originally formulated back when I was still making objects. In particular, I have been developing theories about the nature of experience and subjectivity in cyberspace and creating worlds which instantiate those theories. It is really exciting for me to be able to do this. Sometimes I feel as if my brain is on fire...

I am finished with school now. I toyed with the idea of pursuing a PhD, and would love to, but reality (read "family") dictates otherwise. I taught for a while in the ACTLab, as an adjunct lecturer, while at the same time pursuing contract work in the New Media field. I have discovered late in life that I actually enjoy teaching; it came as a real surpise to me. Most people I hang out with these days are about half my age, it seems, but it does not appear to to matter to anyone.

I am currently working as an Associate Producer at Human Code Inc., one of the hottest Digital Content Studios on the planet, in the Learning Technologies division. The people I work with are all totally committed to using cutting edge technologies and curricula to further the cause of education-- and they are all completely wacko! It is a good fit. I like working at Human Code because clients come to us with projects that no one is even sure if they are feasible; sometimes we prove they are not. It is truly the bleeding edge. I am now doing the things I used to talk about & I love it.

On another front, I recently discovered that my work is included in an excellent book: 'Art of the Electronic Age', Frank Popper, Abrams, 1993, NYC. This is a well researched and written compendium of technological art, and I have two photos of cybernetic jewels and two paragraphs about that work and my theories. A friend told me that he saw my work there, but I had utterly forgotten about it, as Mr Popper contacted me about the time that my previous life was coming to a crashing finish. This serves to remind me that there were aspects of that previous life which had merit.