So What Do You Want To Know?
Born in Colorado. Lived in California. Currently trapped in Illinois.
For the fun part? I write. I write a lot. Ad copy - print, radio, television, blogs, internet newsletters, a ton of ad copy. However, that is not necessarily the fun part. It is a challenge to come up with marketing ideas for the radio industry to package for retail clients.
Fun comes with fiction - poetry, short stories, novellas, novels. All of this you, my dear reader, will be able to access via this website directed to Lulu.com and eventually Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Understand though, "eventually" in the time-space continuum could be… well, down the road a bit.
Yes, I was born and raised in Colorado, the first in my family to be a suburban kid. My farm-raised, beef and corn fed parents did their best, but suburbs are far different than farms. As such, I did a lot of growing up on my own.
First to go to college. Made decisions essentially on my own for this too, blending dumb with brilliant. Started at the University of Colorado - Boulder, could have switched majors and been fine if I had received any decent advice. However, I didn't and went to the Colorado Institute of Art. Regrets? No. Why dwell.
From there I moved to Los Angeles, spent three years working in fashion publications (which, if you see how I dress is kind of comical) and printing. Realizing my Associates Degree was not going to help me in any sort of long term, like a day longer, I moved to Davis, California and enrolled at UC-Davis (after spending a year going to night school at Pasadena City College - hoo boy).
UC-Davis is a great school. My "Design" degree from the School of Agriculture (what? - yes I know) wasn't exactly a bunson burner for any sort of job prospects. So, after accidentally bumping into a recruiter for Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism's graduate advertising program - literally - I applied and was accepted. To this day I do not regret this brilliant decision. Northwestern might, but I don't.
Fast forward two decades. 20 years of writing ads - nothing to be proud of Rusty. 20 years. Now it's time for fiction, and a lot of it. Plus, just started shuttergive.com, a wonderful project where each photo sold has 40% of its gross going toward charity.
Fail? Pfft. Fail forward and, as Warren Zevon said before dying "enjoy every sandwich."