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Who
am I
and what makes me think this page is worth the visit?
That’s
for you to decide. Read on...
About me
(I wish! You’ll have
to go searching if you want to find a picture)
Why Dfa Drama? My name is really
Daryl Stevenson. Dfa came about when I was in Irene (the musical,
not the brothel) and my new found (and now long established)
friends didn’t know what to call me. They had the options of
Daryl, Daggs, Daggy
or Donald S. Marshall III (the character I was
playing). Sue suggested DFA, which really meant D
for all of the above. And one of my wonderful friends calls me a Drama
Queen, yet another D to add to the list.
I assume you’ve probably guessed
already that I am involved in theatre. Well that’s that
hurdle out of the way. On the subject of, apart from revelling in
myself and embarrassing my friends, I want to make this a local
theatre reference emporium. You’ll see what I mean later on.
I’ve only just started, so please be gentle. If there is
anything that you think should/could be added, by all means tell
me. I love getting email, so even if you don’t have any
suggestions, you can write me anyway. Also, please sign my
guestbook (should be on that pesky popup window) and tell me what you think. The
content is more for you, my audience, than me.
I’ll now take the next big step and
take you back to my birth. Well after all, it is my homepage! My life’s pretty uninteresting so
this shouldn’t take too long at all!
I was born in Benalla, Victoria, Australia on August 13, 1968 (birth no: ?/68). Mum
doesn’t know what time (which doesn’t help the
astrologers much). That makes me a Leo (or a Monkey under the
Chinese chart). I lived there for the first five years of my life
before moving to Frankston,
gateway to the Mornington Peninsula. I attended Frankston East Primary School as a
toddler and moved my way up to Ballam Park Technical School as an
adolescent (now called Karingal Park Secondary College). Almost
from day one I was involved in the school musicals and the school
band and orchestra. I played trumpet in both. In 1983 when I
turned 15, our school was involved in an exchange with Japan
where our band and orchestra visited our Sister City Susono for
10 days. That was really cool. I can now eat raw fish, seaweed
and use chopsticks. Our band were always leaders at the Victorian
Music Schools Association Competitions where we usually came in 1st
or 2nd. We came 3rd once, being beaten by
violet crumbles (sorry, in joke) with a very nasty taste in our
mouth of ‘rigged!’. We also got to play for many
special occasions, including government officialties, the
opening of the Victorian Arts Centre and the Queens Visit in
1986. By my final year, I was competent also in mellophone,
euphonium and flute. I was also recipient of the schools music and
drama awards (only one other person that year received two
awards). I completed my year 11 there until I attended Frankston
College of TAFE to complete my TOP (year 12), but returned to
play in the band and orchestra. But that’s enough about me,
what about you. What do you think of me?
All through school my mission in life
was to become a flight attendant with Qantas, but as soon as I
finished my last exam, it suddenly hit me that I still had
another three years until I could apply. Uh oh, I had to get a
job! That’s when you find out that that Year 12 certificate
is only a piece of paper to get you into University, not a job.
Well finally, some poor sucker gave me a job - ANZ Banking Group
Limited ACN 005 357 522. I
started as a teller, working my way up to ledgers, then to back
office work, two years of phone work and where I finished, Designer
and Analyst for the Bank’s electronic and paper based forms.
All up, over 12 years (you get less for murder!). After five
years, the flight attendant bit went out the window.
Unfortunately, I became good at my job and was comfortable in
what I was doing. Boy does reality sink in after 10 years.
Since leaving ANZ (on
their terms) I was basically unemployed for 6 months. A fairly nice
payout helped me through that period, but the money doesn't last when
it's not being supplemented. I was desperate for a job. I had applied to
several agencies, and they all looked at my resume and said, "Yeah,
you can do call centre." Umm.. hello.. that was 5 years ago!
All I wanted was to get into office admin. Actually I wanted to be an
office admin manager. But I wasn't qualified.. on paper.. where it all
counts. Eventually I got offered a job in a call centre for an ATO
campaign. Of course I had to say yes cause I had totally depleted my
payout (well it wasn't that much). And one thing I have to note here is
the agency - CTS Personnel in Moorabbin. They were the only ones to take
an interest in me and what I wanted. Even though they got me the temp
job, they continued to look for full time work for me. And they
succeeded. It
was a helpdesk at the Victorian
Automobile Chamber of Commerce for a standard computer package to be
distributed to their members and rolled nationally as well. It was half
helpdesk, half admin. Again, I had to say yes cause I wasn't getting
much work at the call centre.. the campaign died down way before
expected.
Well the project was
amazing; a common computer package with SOE loaded to make support easy
as all variables were known. The selling was easy, the support wasn't.
The main software component was too complicated and we were learning it
from the members. Windows NT continually crashed because of the SOE on
the ACER PC's we were using. We didn't have the computers and SOE
ourselves yet,
yet alone the same printers, internet connection or digital camera. We
were supporting blind, but we all banded together and learnt from each
other's calls. Eventually under new management, new orders for the
system were not being
taken, and the project was outsourced, with just a handful of us left to
administer the project. I slipped into my role of administration where I
still am today :0)
Well there you have it, my life in a
nutshell (well, not quite). Going back over it, I do tend to
waffle on don’t I. Sorry! If you are still reading this, you
must really be at a loose end for something to do.
Just to finish up, at the tender age of
28, I finally moved out of home to an inner suburban renters
paradise, set up a tiny little hovel where you can touch all four
walls from the centre of the room, and officially came out of the
closest. I told my parents in November 97, and yes, they are
still speaking to me. So for those of you that don’t
already know, here I am in all my glory.
Moving right along, I was evicted from
that place and left out on the street. No, not just me, we were all
evicted. The block had new owners who were refurbishing all the
flats. Luckily, my dear friend Leanne helped me out for a while.
Now, here I am, out in the western
suburbs, living on my own again,
in a two bedroom unit. This place actually has
cupboards, a stove that works, and a power point (which has just about shorted
now) in the bathroom.
Almost heaven!
I have been involved with
a few people over the last few years in various capacities. Somehow
there is a whole other page to written about that.
If you’re still reading and have to
know more, you’ll find the missing years in other sections,
or you can email me dramaq@oocities.com
:-)
I don't have any pets, so this is my
cyber token...
  
Counter and referral only.
Tuesday, 12 February 2002 |