Welcome to RetRo's Room

Hi there!  Welcome to my room!  Now be sure to wipe your feet and take off your shoes before coming in.  Feel free to grab a cold drink out of the fridge and have a seat.  Now I know you really came here to see what I look like, and if you're that eager, you can just scroll down to the bottom and click on the Gallery link, but for those of you that want to know a little more about me first, keep reading!

I was born on Thursday, October 11, 1973 at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL at 10:48am.   I was such a happy baby and I never gave my mother any trouble!  Yea, right.  This is what I had to say to that!! 

I grew up in River Forest, IL and lived with my great-grandmother in her house on Lathrop Ave until 1977.  Then my father got his first big job with a development firm and so this begun a series of moves that would take me around the Chicagoland area as well as two other states.  

Right around my third year of college at UIC, I started coming to the realization that I was different.  In hindsight, I think I knew it earlier, but things didn't start making sense until college.  On December 1, 1993, I "came out of the closet" so to speak.  Since then, I am out and proud!  I started coming out to my friends in 1994, which led to my telling my best friend Vince from high school in March of 1995.  Today he and his family have been nothing but the best and I want to say that I'm even closer to them now than I was before I told them.  I then came out to my parents the same night Ellen did :  April 30, 1997.  Their response : "We know."  Well then why didn't you tell me!?!?!? :-)

I moved out of my parents' house in the summer of 1997 and it's been a wild, roller coaster ride ever since.  I have been so incredibly blessed with the greatest family (my parents celebrated their 33^rd anniversary in December, 2003), the most incredible friends, and some of the most wonderful experiences.  I hope that the future will continue to allow me to learn, to grow as a person and to have a great time while learning and growing!

Well now that you've had a chance to get to know a little bit about me, I'm sure by now you're ready to leave... er, see what I look like!  :-)   Well, below are links to my other personal web pages, as well as a few other pages of interest.  Enjoy!

PHOTO GALLERY (TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE)  - This page hadn't been updated in a long time so I've taken it down until I can revamp it with more recent material

IF I COULD BUILD THE PERFECT GUY - On the Eric & Kathy show (for those not in Chicago, it's a local morning radio show), Melissa the traffic girl explained about how you can increase your chances of meeting someone special if you list out 100 qualities about that perfect someone. While the chances of someone possessing all 100 qualities is near impossible, it really does make you think. I decided to give it a try and it was a lot harder than I thought. Take a look and let me know what you think! DISCLAIMER: This is just a list that I did for FUN. I can't tell you the number of people whose self-esteem is apparently shattered when they read the list and think they don't "qualify". That is not the purpose!

GAME SHOW COLLECTION - I am a huge fan of TV game shows, and I have a large collection of game shows of the past and present on VHS (hopefully soon on DVD) that I trade with other fans.  If you've ever wondered what The Price Is Right looked like in 1972 or how Wheel of Fortune was *before* it was hosted by Pat & Vanna, I'm your guy! :-)

BEYOND RADIO/TOP HITS ONLINE - Back in the early 90's, I founded a weekly online music top 40 chart that allowed the voice of the people to be heard.  I've since retired, but the page lives on with extensive charting in many music genres.

BOXERJAM - One of my favorite online game sites.  Play challenging trivia games like Mindstein, fun general knowledge games like Strike A Match and Take 5, or exciting strategy games like Monty and Napoleon.

FIGURE SKATING TV SCHEDULE - As I mention in my likes, I'm a huge fan of figure skating. Unfortunately, I can't even stand up on skates even after being in DC for 10 days at the World Figure Skating Championships. This site is an awesome place to check to see when the latest events are being televised! I also check out the site of the International Skating Union to get the latest results on all of the competitions.

MARTINIS - My favorite cocktail, now in tasty website form!

YOU CAN'T DO THAT ON TELEVISION - The cult classic that was a staple of Gen X'ers from 1979-1990 on Canadian TV and Nickelodeon.   Watch out for the green slime and water as you look through the photo galleries and see what timely topics were discussed in the episode guide.  Plus, see what the cast members are up to today.  I provided some of the content used in the website. :-)