12
Mar
2008
0:00 AM

I do in fact have limits

Sparks

Personally, I have a thing about people I don't know unexpectedly touching me.

In the absence of having a connection to the internet at home, I often venture down to (one of the many) Panera bread stores here in Nashville. They offer acceptably mediocre food and mostly-acceptable prices, but more...

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11
Mar
2008
0:00 AM

Bread!

Sparks

As some of you know, baking my own bread is something I do down here. There are a few reasons, one of which is that making bread yourself is cheaper. It also tastes better, has a better texture (After eating homemade bread, you realize the store-bought stuff is like 60% air) and makes awesome toast....

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13
Feb
2008
0:00 AM

Helldesk

Sparks

No.

I can't. I won't. There was a reason that this company is offering $19/hr for a freaking helpdesk position. Everything is completely regimented. You must make your 75% availability quota. You must not spend more than seven minutes trying to fix a ticket. You must schedules your breaks around l...

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06
Feb
2008
0:00 AM

True Story!

Sparks

SETTING: Interior office. Gold records and guitars are hanging on the walls. Two men in well-tailored suits are sitting around the desk in the office. There is a fireplace burning on one wall.

EXECUTIVE ONE: (reading a magazine) I say, old sport, I happened a glance at my e-mail the other day, and...

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02
Feb
2008
0:00 AM

The Time Appointed to Men

Sparks

or (Christmas, part three)

To say that it was difficult to see my grandfather old, toothless, and frail there on a hospital bed would be inaccurate. At some level, I realize that life is temporary, fleeting, ephemeral. Difficult implies an inability to accept, or that this turn of events was s...

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About Me

avatar

Hope you're not expecting one of those cryptic, nonsensical descriptions. Not my style.

I'm Sparks, a happy little lighting designer and (at one time) sound engineer and pyrotechnician. I don't do those jobs much anymore. For my Real Life Job, I'm a concert lighting designer. Sometimes I go on tour with some folks and do their lights, other times I design and let someone else run the show.

I've had a variety of interesting jobs - from hospital IT guy to technical director of a corrupt megachurch in Des Moines, Iowa, where I grew up. I adore live sound and concert lighting, and I never pass up an opportunity to geek out about my line of work. Generally, if it has faders, buttons, LEDs, or is a large and potentially dangerous machine, I like it. I also love children, fireworks, blueberry muffins, reading, messing around with smart home tech and goofing off. I've played the piano since I was too short to reach the pedals, and I'm learning to play the violin. I used to volunteer at a large children's hospital, but then I moved, then I moved again, and now I'd like to do it again where I live. I'm a skeptic who has no practical use for the supernatural or pseudoscientific. I'm a card-carrying member of the International I Hate Sports Club. I keep my laptop screen really, really clean, and if you touch it, I'll kill maim strongly scold you. I believe strongly in human rights and have a strongly deontological bent when it comes to my ethical outlook, and those positions strongly influence my political outlook.

When I'm not on the road, I live in Minnesota. I'd prefer not to be "on the road" anymore.

I'm easy to get along with, so tell me about yourself! If you read anything I've written (and there isn't much) and have a comment, please leave one - I love getting feedback about the stuff I write.

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