About Syns

I am currently a single, thirty-something (think upper 30s) guy that lives and works in Milwaukee. I’ve been here since 1994 and have worked at the same AWESOME place since i got here: Harry W. Schwartz Bookstores/800COREAD – one of the last great independent bookstores in the United States! I’ve lived in many places in Milwaukee (Bartlett, Locust, Webster, Maryland, Van Buren and Royal Place, to name a few). I currently reside in a part of Milwaukee called BayView – just south of the downtown area and not far from the Mitchell International Airport.

I grew up in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, attended Catholic grade school (St. Stephens/St. Josephs), yes that means I was an alter boy and no, nothing odd happened to me during that time period. I also went to one year of Catholic high School (Pacelli) and 3 years at a public (finally!) high school (Stevens Point Area Senior High – a.k.a. SPASH).

After that I attended college at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point and majored in journalism with a writing minor. I worked at Copps Food Center, Shopko and Book World – those places not only helped me not to rely on student student loans, but kept me from having too much fun in college. I have lived in many places in Point – among one was a haunted house on College Avenue. I may tell more about that in the blog.

My Mom

My mom and dad are now divorced and I have an awesome brother. He suffers from brain damage and seizures, but is great to be around and cool to talk to! He is also very supportive and usually fairly positive. I love my family

My best friend, Lisa (aka Flippy in my blog) lives in Milwaukee as well. We met in college and have never not kept in touch – which is awesome. Her mother passed away last year, I miss her a lot, as I know Lisa and her father do as well!

My good friends Scott and Meg work with me at 800CEOREAD – - oh, as does this crazy guy: Jake – I may talk about them from time to time – they are very neat people, fun to work with and go and have drinks with (Meg says I make the best martinis).

My close friend, Ben is AWESOME as well! We met in 1997-ish, did drag together Phaedra Free (me) and Alannah Powers (him) for awhile with Shane (Ida Slapter), we lived together for awhile, and I was one of his best men at his union ceremony with his now-husbear: Keith. I stay in contact/hang out with them as much as I can. They are awesome guys!

I also have very cool friends that are very dear to me that I have met while in Milwaukee: Alan, Pippi (John) and his bf, Todd – Eric and his bf Jason and Ken to name a few. We meet about once a month for a book club we started last year.

Alas, one of these cool friends no longer lives here. His name is Chad (aka Cookie) and he moved to Hoboken to be with his bf, Jason. So, I go there at least once a year to hang out, drink, go to NYC, etc. He’s the BEST! Oh, and his ex – yep, they have since broken up, is also a VERY NEAT GUY! I am lucky to know them!

Two close friends since high school are Tamara and Chris. They live and Point and have 2 kids (my god-children). I introduced them together and was best man at the wedding – they are also very cool people!

Trevor, a very close friend from college, lives in Madison. We met before Lisa and I did and worked on the 10% Society board together for a couple of years. He’s quite a character – I may reference him on here as ‘Endora’ since he’s magical and has red hair.

I have cousins all over the place thanks to my grandma and grandpa on my mom’s side. About 40 to be exact – don’t really keep in contact with any of them actually now, but they are all very neat. My dad’s 2 brothers live in southern California. All of my grandparents have passed away, but all my aunts and uncles, save for one of my dad’s brothers, are still quite healthy!

My best friend in grade school, Geoff, lives in Arizona (I think he still does) with his bf. My good friend in high school, Brad, works on the Ellen Show in California and lives with his bf there. Yes, I’ve been gay basically my whole life and who knew I’d have close friends since the age of 8 that were gay as well!?!?!

Ireland

Cancun

California

Washington D.C.

I love to travel! I’ve been almost everywhere in the US. Been to Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom as well. My favorite place to visit is New York City (Broadway).

New York

I love to write – I write for my company’s blog and book reviews right now and I also love to read. Mexican is one of my favorite kinds of food (But I do love Italian, Greek, African, English, Japanese, Chinese and Thai foods as well) and martinis are great! A co-worker of mine is vegan and another is a vegetarian, so I’m trying different alternatives to meat all the time – one of my personal favorites are Smart Dogs (soy franks).

This is just a bit about me – but you’ll probably find out more in the blog entries. I tend to love trivia tidbits – I’m a media whore. I love old movies and TV shows along with sci-fi, horror and fantasy stuff. I don’t tend to collect too many things – but you should see how many DVDs I have – I can’t help it, I like watching my favorite movies over and over again! See my obsession list!

Enjoy my blog!