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| In which the reader learns of Jason's humble beginnings, his early and late schooling, and additionally is made more aware of both his nomadic history and his predeliction for drama; |
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I was born in a very small town.
Actually, I wasn't born within the limits of the actual town, but
I was born in Poughkeepsie, NY, on September 13th, 1970. Upon my birth,
I was then quickly shuttled to Hopewell Junction, NY. It was here, in
a small incorporated neighborhood near Route 84, that my formative
years were spent.
Hopewell Junction is located in the southern part of New York State, or at least the southern quadrant of this state; it's about 60 miles north of New York City. The particular neighborhood I was born in was the Tamarack Circle Neighborhood, although I doubt any of the current residents consider that to be the name of the place. It was conveniently located near Fishkill Farms, a family-run business of apple orchards and other such produce, and this enabled me to build a solid childhood of frittered-away summer evenings eating way too many apples for my own good, as well as sneaking off via bicycle to buy massive gobstoppers or candy sticks. Significant people from this portion of my life: Chris Callahan, Chris Moore, Billy Ross, Danny Ross, Andrew Lemke, Ann Lesoine, The Bamburgers, Amy Carnivale, Brian O'Malley, The Scollans, etc. |
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Between his rough-and-tumble life working as an Engineer for IBM and
her on-the-edge existence as a housewife and sometime-painter, my parents
found sufficient free time to get divorced. This necessitated my move from
Hopewell Junction to East Fishkill, NY, a town much more populated and
somewhat less charming. The condominium development my mother located for
her three children was named "The Green Hills of Glenham", although I'd be
loath to explain where exactly this name came from except in the overactive
mind of a gentleman who had discovered he had bought massive plots of empty,
bumpy land.
By this time, I was riding from the single to the multiple-digit ages and had learned, among other things, the immense pleasures of cable TV and the importance of owning a Mongoose Dirt Bike. I also was able to see the movie "Porky's" thanks to the concerted effort of my mother's acquaintance Carol, and got a couple stitches from a solid rock-beaning executed by a long forgotten neighborhood denzien. Significant people from this portion of my life: Mr. Parks, Mr. Foley, Chris Orcutt, Paul (stopped in and said hi after about 10 years recently), Howard and Harold (the evil twins), Christine Nappi, and her older sister, Michelle, etc. |
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All mediocre things must come to an end, and my mother moved us from East
Fishkill to Brewster, NY. Now, I normally don't admit that I actually lived
in Brewster, but the point of this page is to provide a way for old friends
to find me via a search engine, so there you have it. Brewster, NY turned out
to be the perfect place for my brother and sister, and a living hell for me.
By this time my interests in computers were in full swing, and my ability to
assimilate into Brewster's back-street, intellectually limping culture were
limited.
My mother, of course, did the best she could, but with her younger children taking great interest in high hair, driving in pickups, getting drunk, and generally doing whatever it is you do in Putnam County after 9, and her oldest taking great interest in drawing, 300 baud modems, and BASIC, well, she was a little stretched there for a while, leading to strained times for all. Significant people from this portion of my life: Peter Ramundo, Chris Boufford, Marcelle Dumont, Jen Gruen, Susan Scripko, etc. Sadly, I've blocked most of my years out, there. |
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Needless to say, I was glad when the opportunity arose to move in with my
father, who in the interim years has taken up both Wok Cooking and Middle-level
management. With his assistance and me under his arm, he moved to Chappaqua,
NY, where I truly came into my own. With my own half of the house (the upper
half), several phone lines (three), my first BBS (The Works BBS), and my set
of friends that I still actually keep in touch with to this day. To list these
people would be foolish; most know how to reach me already and if they haven't,
it's because they don't want to. Fools.
It should also be noted that at this time I made the friends of one Jeremy Stone, who I would found a high school band with, named Bovine Ignition Systems. The cow-theme of this band and our music, coupled with the shrewd purchase of a cow suit, would start a theme of bovine-related interest and expression in my work that follows to this very day. Additionally, I made the acquaintance of one John Rescigno, and the small computer prank we later pulled in our college years would balloon beyond all reasonable expectation. |
| After the wonderful time I had in Chappaqua, NY, I went to college at Emerson College, Boston, where I studied Mass Communications, Concentration in Film. Life was good, the living was easy, and after my first roommate, (Todd, who considered me some sort of freak), I lived with a set of people at 197 Beacon Street, Apartment #2F. My roommates included Mike D'Alonzo, Scott Rosann, Eric Drysdale, and Steve Johnson. After a blissful year living at 197 Beacon, I moved to 213 Beacon, which was, needless to say, a dump. The less said about this place, the better. After that, a move to Cambridge, MA. |
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 This extremely rare photo was taken during the .000005 milliseconds that passed while I considered whether to move to a completely renovated apartment with 5 times the space, to work at a company that would pay me triple my previous salary. |
Yes, and the Story Goes On.
I lived in the small, rent-controlled apartment in Cambridge for quite some years, gleefully living high on the People's Hog. Benefits included free electricity, gas, and hot water, as well as the Interpersonal Wonder that is a Shared Bathroom, all for a wallet-thickening $250 a month. Of course, like all good ill-thought-out attempts at governmental altruism, Rent Control was voted out of Cambridge, and I soon afterwards found myself the recipient of an Eviction Notice. Thrashing about wildly, I scanned the ads for a new place to stay at, and settled on a shared apartment in Central Square, again in Cambridge. This new living arrangement (me, higher rent, three roommates, roaches galore) didn't turn out to suit me as well as I had hoped, and when one of the three roommates decided to just split out of town, I decided it was time to pull up stakes. By that time, of course, I'd achieved my new Incredible Job, and had the money to afford to move anywhere I wanted. I chose, once again, to move near Work, and moved on out to Medford, Massachusetts, which sounds like it's 267 miles away from Boston, but in fact is only 5. The new place is a 2 bedroom apartment for me all for me and houses everything I ever owned comfortably and with space to spare. In other words, things is looking up, way up. |
