A Man With Many Talents
The Beginning — BBS & IRC
Starting with a Leading Edge Model D 8088 computer and a 14.4 baud dialup modem, the journey began with Community Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). With the birth of the Internet, AOL put the BBS community out to pasture — so the BBS owners upgraded and joined Internet Relay Chat (IRC).
I ran 2 chatrooms on Undernet and 2 bots that maintained the channels. Met my Ex online, and we created a botnet with about 14 bots linked together from various chatrooms. I was granted IRC Operator status on another IRC Network and ran an IRC server, making friends around the world and strengthening my knowledge of UNIX.
HTML & Steve Schalchlin’s Diary
With the new computer language of HTML, I quickly learned it and began my career. One of the first gigs was helping a friend from IRC as his backup webmaster. Steve Schalchlin had created a diary website on GeoCities after being diagnosed with AIDS with a short time to live. We moved to his own server at bonusround.com. Steve is now credited as having the oldest and maintained diary on the Internet.
It was through Steve’s diary that Dr. Bruce Dorsey found him in 1997 — the doctor who invented Crixivan. Steve was in the final stages of life; this wonder drug saved him. He went on to write songs for the Broadway play “The Last Session”, and I registered thelastsession.com the night before Thanksgiving — the first Broadway show with a website.
Community Portals & Notable Clients
Working with Steve inspired me to continue serving the community. I launched GayVeterans.com, GayNYC.Net, and GayNJ.Net. One afternoon, I got a call from Jon Galluccio, who was all over the national news about his historic same-sex adoption rights case. I had his website online within hours and became his webmaster for several years.
Felipe Rose (the Indian of the Village People) was my neighbor in Jersey City. We became friends, and I registered feliperose.com and tomahawkrecords.com for him.
American Psychological Association & DC Outreach
I landed a job with the American Psychological Association where I maintained their Journals Program website and InPress Server for 13 years.
I also helped launch the DC Metropolitan Police Department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU) website. Within a week the DC Metro LGBTQ community knew where to contact GLLU. Within months it became nationally known — London modeled their own GLLU after DC’s. I was granted community liaison status, one of only a few given this honor.
Veterans Community Portals
Just as I was gearing up for retirement, inspiration struck: why not create a portal for the LGBTQ Veterans community? I launched GayVeterans.us and followed it with GayCowboys.net — for Cowboys, Farmers, and Rodeo Enthusiasts.
Now I’m Going To Embarrass Myself
Enter the World of Hidden Talents
On my 13th birthday, on the family vacation to Nashville, TN, we saw the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry cloggers came on right after intermission. I told my dad — “That’s something I wanna get into!”
Years later I found the Foggy Bottom Cloggers, who practiced every Friday night in Camp Springs, MD. I was hooked. We did the competition circuit including the West Virginia State Regatta and Clogging Competition — considered the “Super Bowl” of the circuit, running 8am to 11pm with live bands and teams from all up and down the East Coast.
Two years in a row, we placed first — beating the reigning team from Hickory Flat, NC by a margin so narrow they had to do recounts.