Bio
Hello person on the internet. As you might have gathered and even though I’d recommend that you doubt much of what you read on the internet, my name is David Windham. I’m a pretty simple man and I don’t take myself too seriously. I try to spend the majority of my time sleeping and eating, but on occasion I’m known to mumble obscenities at computers, play a fair game of tennis, discuss the merits of non-participation, engage in obscure Wikipedia edit wars, and indulge in criticizing almost anything à la Larry David. I generally just type ‘something else’ or ‘autodidactic raconteur’ into the bio section of online profiles, but since you’ve taken the time to come here, I’ll try to give you the spiel as sincerely as I am able.
I was born in the early seventies and raised in Columbia, South Carolina. I think I was a decent kid with good parents and decent peers. My father spent his time on the golf course or on the radio and my mother was on overachieving homemaker. After secondary school, I started my higher education at Savannah College of Art and Design, but I quickly became a proud art school drop out. I dabbled in different businesses: wine, real estate, furniture making, and radio. Eventually, I returned to college to major in mathematics after reading about the starting salary of an actuary. About halfway through the program, I switched majors again and graduated from the studio art program at the College of Charleston because of my sincere interest in axiology and aesthetics. I am fascinated by various forms of visual communication and I still paint on occasion even though I like to defend comedy as the greatest art form.
During my final years of college I started making websites for my art school pals. I generally work on contract building web applications, sites, and managing servers. I was first introduced to programming in front of an Apple IIc trying to figure out how the text game Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was made in 1984. I learned a bit of BASIC then and I have since been a lifelong fan of puzzles. I think my greatest asset when it comes to programming is that I enjoy solving puzzles. I am thoroughly challenged by technical hurdles and learning new programming languages. I have now worked for large and small companies around the world. As much as I love to be idealistic and I had great expectations of the web as a medium, I’m not actually a big fan of computers or the internet, except of course, the commercial viability as a personal profession. Let’s face it, folks barely have enough competence to communicate effectively with the written and spoken language, much less email, multiple social networks, forums, and instant messaging. Sometimes these new mediums just remind me of monkeys tapping on glass, but I am still holding on to possibilities that may follow.
I spend most of my free time with my better half, who works as a school psychologist director of special education and teaches at a local college. We live in a small town in the upstate of South Carolina and I coach our local high school tennis teams. We like watching quirky British tv shows, reading to each other in bed, and coaching one another on how to be happy. We’ve got a ten-year twenty anniversary coming up and we try to take the summers off to travel. I’ve now been to every state in the U.S. except Alaska and Texas. and I’ve been to seven other countries on three continents. I try to shy away from politics and religion because it seems folks can’t discuss them with logic or reason. I do attend an Episcopal church on occasion but I might describe myself as a secular transhumanist. I consider myself a political moderate absurdist. I try to consume as little as possible, keep a low profile, help folks whenever possible, and enjoy my life.
I have a couple peculiar interests in lighting and pickled foods. I like my white wine warm and my red slightly cool. Aside from occasionally posting short essays, I started documenting everything, photo journaling, making lists everywhere, perhaps for when I finally lose my mind… so I made a list of those lists. I enjoy meeting new people, I welcome unsolicited contacts, and I appreciate any feedback. So please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
David A. Windham
( 23/02/09 ) – I’m often ammused at folks who don’t update thier profile photos online. Since the one above is about ten years old, I figured I’d add something a little more recent while talking ownership of my dad’s public Facebook habit of sharing my birthday. The photo was taken in December of 2023 at the crossroads just about 20 feet from the photo of my mom and I in 1974. And if you want to really dig in, I’ve got a photo of the same spot from 1902.
