[UBUNTU-ART] Howdy y'all, from Detroit, Michigan

[volvoguy]

Hi team! (of only five or six people right now)  :o)

I know, people from Detroit don't say y'all, but well - I'm eccentric.
That kinda goes with the territory with artists I suppose. I also know
that it may have seemed like I dropped off the face of the Earth for a
while, but I assure you that the rumors of my death have been greatly
exaggerated.

If you recognize my name, it's most likely from my nifty little SVG
wallpapers I started doing shortly after the first preview release of
Warty (see sig).

I've seen, strewn across this world wide web of ours, a LOT of good
artwork by good artists in our (currently) not-so-tight-knit group of
Ubuntu Artists. I'm really looking forward to seeing what we're all
really capable of when we put our heads together and work toward a
common goal (aka. Breezy!).

I'll keep things brief at the moment, but because all our talents are
unique, I think it's important that we all introduce ourselves here
and give a little background to our trade, our Linux use, and
specifically our Ubuntu use. I started my illustrious graphic design
career with PrintShop on the Apple IIgs (if you can really call that
graphic design). Most of my professional work has been done in the
sign design and fabrication field. I started slapping paint on sheets
of plywood and applying vinyl graphics until my fingers were numb, and
eventually worked my way up to be the main designer at a small
family-run sign shop. While there I discovered the internet and pretty
much lost all interest in making huge physical signs and concentrated
on the web. I started a little side-project company with a friend
doing web design with a focus on clean design and web standards. Since
it STAYED a side project, I went on to do phone computer support for
EDS for a few years, realized I didn't like talking to angry people on
the phone, and went back to my web design side projects. A few years
ago I took a job at a local beer distributor making all the signs and
ads that go in stores and bars. Having access to two 52 inch, large
format printers was lots of fun, but unfortunately when you print
rolls and rolls of paper, you need to cut them apart too. Two years
into the job I ruptured a disc in my back using the gigantic (and
severely outdated) paper cutter we had. That pretty much brings me up
to today - still at home and fighting back problems. That will be the
only thing slowing me down a little with this art team - pain
medication and needing to lay on my back quite frequently - but I'm up
and down all hours of the day and night so it shouldn't be too much of
an issue.

Ooh. Forgot about Linux use... Let me explain. No, too much. Let me
sum up. Slackware 3-ish through Slackware 9. Then the bad back. Then I
think I tried every distro on distrowatch.com, and then the glorious
Ubuntu Warty preview came out. I haven't looked back since. I have a
few random computers around here - one still with Slackware (10), one
Hoary (working as a fileserver), one iBook (with a small drive so it's
just running OS X at the moment), one underpowered box donated by my
parents running Breezy, and one main desktop that dual-boots WinXP and
Hoary.

Ok. So I wasn't brief. Forgive me. Now let's hear from you guys (and
girls). Once all the pleasantries are done, we'll get down to work (is
tomorrow good for you?). :o)

I want to be as available as possible, and due to my insomnia, that
should be pretty easy. Here's all my info if you want to contact me
directly. If I'm not around (in the case of messaging), leave me a
message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

primary email: volvoguy at gmail.com 
other primary email: aaron at volvoguy.net
AIM - awaite32
Yahoo - aaronwaite_2000
MSN - ithinkiateyourcat at msn.com (no cats were actually harmed :)
Jabber - not sure - maybe volvoguy at jabber.org?
IRC - we'll figure that out later. 

Thanks, and talk to y'all soon! 

-- 
Aaron

Ubuntu SVG Artwork - www.volvoguy.net/ubuntu
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Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere. ~ G.K. Chesterton