I'm not sure what kind of job you can get with an English degree in the 21st century, but back in Iowa City in '95 my choices were limited. I enjoyed using my new computer so much that I decided to try and make a career with it. My love of computing really blossomed when I finally got a machine of my own. I really enjoyed playing early video games (like "Shamus") and writing simple programs. He's had a "PC" for as long as I can remember (the first ones I can recall loaded programs from cassette tapes). My first experiences with personal computing came through my Uncle Duane. I've still have to write that novel someday. That's how I started making wallpapers (I designed the images to fit the screen dimensions perfectly). Whenever I made a picture I would set it as the wallpaper on my machine so my roommates could see it and give me feedback. It did, however, come with a copy of Aldus Photostyler (an early rival of Photoshop) and Kai Power Tools. The computer was a Compaq 486/66 with 8 MB of RAM, 14" monitor, 350 MB hard disk. The idea with the computer was that I could write my first novel and store the whole thing on disk rather than using up stacks of paper and countless typewriter ribbons. My college graduation present was my first computer. When I was 12 she gave me an old type-writer on which I wrote my first stories and she bought me an electronic word-processor which got me through college. My Mom always spent money we didn't have to feed my creative side. Still, I graduated in 1995 with a degree in English. Mostly because I wrote potboilers and they seemed to be looking for the next Joyce. Unfortunately, my experience with the workshop wasn't very successful. I wanted to be a writer when I grew up and I chose to attend the University of Iowa (after graduating from Bloomington High School in 1989) so I could work with the Iowa Writers Workshop. I spent a good portion of my early teenage years either reading fiction or writing it. I loved escaping into fantasy worlds and soon began dreaming up worlds of my own. That lead me to reading other works of fantasy like " Dune", " The Lord of the Rings", " The Belgariad", etc. I became fascinated by greek mythology and I read everything I could on the subject. When I was in the sixth grade my brother introduced me to "The Odyssey". I was a 'B' student, giving up the 'A' in favor of fantasy. I was a real daydreamer, always drawing pictures or staring out the window. Perhaps that's why I had a hard time paying attention in school: I had heard most of it before. He would come home from school and try to teach me all the stuff he had learned that day. My older brother Eric liked to pretend he was a teacher. When I was very young my father and my grandfather would make up bedtime stories to put me to sleep(we didn't have many books that I can recall). I've always had images and stories floating in my head. What started as a hobby has become one of the more recognized destinations for computer art on the web with over 18,000 current paid subscribers. I am fortunate to be one of a handful of people on the planet who makes a living by creating 3D computer wallpaper. I have been running Digital Blasphemy since 1997.