I was born July 13th, 1986 in Nebraska.  My parents moved to a rural farming village where they operated a small meat locker and butcher shop.  My parents divorced early. My father died when I was young, and I was the only child raised by my mom.  Being alone is normal for me.  In fact, I find far more comfort in solitude than I ever found in people.  I do have friends, of course, but for the most part I keep my social interactions very low key and personal.

I graduated high school in 2005, a more or less nondescript academic and extracurricular career marked with frequent encounters with educational and law enforcement authorities alike.  By June 2005, I was in San Diego waiting for a bus to whisk me away to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.  From there I went to the School of Infantry at Pendleton and went through machine gunner (0331) training.  Being a reservist, I went back home after that and began my illustrious career at the University of Nebraska.  After being placed on double academic probation, I was cordially asked to leave the university, but deployment was on the horizon anyway.

Sometime in September of 2007, my unit activated and we were sent to 29 palms for work-up training.  January 2008 we were in Iraq, and some of my pals and I, were tasked with being a security detail (PSD) for our company commander.  He made it though safe and sound so job well done there I suppose, not that there was ever imminent threat on his life.  

After Iraq, I ended up going to a community college to demonstrate academic improvement, and after a couple semesters, I was back at the University, feeling like Billy Madison.  I graduated on time this go around, and got my degree in finance with a minor in economics.  

After graduating college, I figured I would have been on my way to the “American Dream”, but things were more or less one shit storm after another there, which leads to the present day.  I guess I feel like I have found a new way for myself that works better than the traditional mortgage, children, retirement, grave scenario.  I was always waiting, trying, and looking for that right opportunity that might be what would get me to where I wanted to be in life.  In short, I got tired of waiting for “the master” to give me a shot.  I was tired of knowing that I possess talent, ideas, and the abilities to make something happen for myself, and idly wasting my time and efforts.  I decided that I needed to create my own way.  As H.D. Thoreau said, “Every path but your own is the path of fate. Keep on your own track, then.”