Dan's Bio

(Condensed Version)

Many, many moons ago I was born in Wetaskewin, Alberta, Canada (a small town not too far from Calgary). Along the way I collected 2 brothers (Larry, David) and 1 sister (Linda). Our family moved a lot when I was younger. My dad worked on powerlines and bridges. When I was 5 we moved to the west coast Vancouver area. After 6 years there we moved to Birmingham, Alabama. Yes, Birmingham, Alabama. It was quite the culture shock for a young shy boy. Not having a Southern accent made me feel even more shy. Not being very enthusiastic about the redneck element I encountered there at the time made me feel like even more of an outcast. I did enjoy the American sport scene however. I started competitive swimming and did very well. I even set an American record for the backstroke. Swim Kids Two years later we moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. There I discovered one of my passions in life, basketball. Upon returning to suburban Vancouver 2 years after that I did well enough at basketball to get recruited to play at Simon Fraser University. Being the only university in Canada that gave out scholarships to athletes they were banned from playing against other Canadian schools. We only played American colleges. After 2 years, due to many stresses; my coach retiring, and a new unfriendly coach taking over, financial burdens and my father disowning me; I opted to become a hermit. I grew my hair long (photo) and went and lived in a shack in the woods on a horse ranch. I got a job as a janitor working the night shift at a recreation centre. After 3 years of basically not seeing any people I finally got a bit lonely and emerged to seek out the alternative scene in Vancouver. I moved into a commune with about 10 other punks, goths and assorted crazies. I quit my job, joined a multihaircolored shockrock band and tried that for a year. Had lots of fun but after a year of that decided to go back to school to learn printing and computer publishing. I then got a job with a printing company that lasted 5 years until they lost their main client; was laid off but immediately got a job with Dyna Graphics, a great company with great people, and have been with them ever since. On March 7, 1997 my mother died from cancer. Miss you mom. Life is getting better otherwise, I even get along with my ol dad now. I have a good group of close friends. (photos) Some from my basketball teams. Some from my alternative scene connections. Some from the internet. I feel lucky to have such good people in my life.

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