Biography

For those who don’t know me, I’m just a some dude. For those who do know me, most of this information is utterly and completely redundant. Very well, that being said, I will run down my 30+ year history

I was born in 1972 to H. Harold Schmidt and Melita Gail Schmidt. While most people come in to the world the traditional way, I came by caesarean section. It was clearly not my decision, and I really have no preference.

From age 0 to 5 1/2, I lived in Tigard, Oregon with my parents and older brother David. I have very few memories of our house on Hillview court. This early 1960’s era, 3-bedroom ranch style house still stands in a first generation sub-urban community. Houses there aren’t the 2500+ square-foot "McMansions" on postage-stamp sized lots that populate suburbia now. There was plenty of room to play near the end of this cul-de-sac.

My very earliest memory, is a nightmare. My parents used to have, what I thought was, an extremely large television and as a small child, I was sometimes parked in front of it to provide babysitting. Mid-afternoon on channel 12 was time for old movies. I must have seen “The Creature From the Black Lagoon” more then once because he/it was the subject of that nightmare. I remember floating near surface of the water and looking upwards at the animated fragmented light. I suddenly felt webbed hands around my ankles. Strangely, I did not struggle, but I felt calm. As my lungs filled with water, all I could think of was the absolute silence and beautiful blue-green water.

In 1978 we moved to a small 4 1/2 acre parcel of land. My parents had bought this land with money they garnered from the sale of a beach cabin they co-owned in Florence Oregon. I have many memories of this time, none of which I’ll share now.

Most everyone goes to school. So did I. Every school that I went to, grades 1-12 had “Sherwood” as part of its name. Sherwood was a much smaller place only as recently as 5 years age, but 24 years ago when I was in first grade, it was smaller and boring. We lived quite a ways away from Sherwood proper, so we rode on one of the rural bus routes.

Our bus stop was located a ways from the end of Merand road and we would have to walk a little distance. One day when I must have been in 3rd or 4th grade, my brother and I had just gotten off of the bus and walked to the end of Merand road when we were mobbed by at least 8 kittens. These weren’t strays. These kittens been dumped in a cardboard box in the country. Several kittens followed us home. We weren’t allowed to keep them, and we drove them back to their box. Two of them followed us up the road again, and David and I persuaded my Mom to let us keep them.

Only one lived.

Grade school was great. Middle school wasn’t. High School mostly sucked as well. I played football, but wasn’t very good at it. The Sherwood High School “Bowmen” had as their Junior Varsity Nose-Tackle, a fat, shy, kid with absolutely no idea of his own potential or a realistic sense of self worth. I actually somewhat enjoyed football though I thought I was lying at the time when I said that I liked it. Looking back, I think what I liked best was my coach, Mr. Wright, a short man who taught math. Napoleon complex. Possible alcoholic. A real stand-up kind of guy.

I graduated from High School in 1990. “Don’t you know that we’ll have our ten-year reunion in the year 2000?” Sorry I missed it. Having your wedding on that same day kinda takes priority, huh?

From 1989-1994 I worked during the summers at Boy Scout Camp Meriwether. Some people talk about “defining moments” in their lives, and I would have to say that those 10-week stints were all defining moments. I emerged from my first summer changed. Every summer after that made me more of a man than I was. Not as much as I could be. Are you tired of my complaining yet?

In 1994, I moved to Eugene Oregon where I met my wife, Julie (Huei-Wen Hsu). We dated for quite some time and then finally decided to get married in 2000. It’s been bliss ever since.

So how am I doing? Are you interested. Are you not. Do I care? (I had to throw that last one in to be a good Gen-X member.) Well, that about wraps it up, and there’s a lot that I left out in the interest of time. What did I leave out? There’s plenty that my friends and family know about me that is far more interesting or provocative then this basic history of my short life. I’ll add more later. I promise… (my last web page was updated in 1998!)