Thursday, January 18, 2007

My Life

Hello, reader. My name is Dustin Paul Vannatter. I was born in Akron, Ohio on August 26th, 1977. I have two siblings, both younger than I am.
I was raised in a small town named Rootstown, Ohio. We lived on a large piece of land in a very small mobile home. My brother and I shared a room, my sister had her own. My parents slept on the couch.

My childhood was rich in memories, if not money. What we lacked in materialism we made up for in creativity. My parents gave us all a good foundation, for that I am always grateful.

In middle school we moved to the suburbs to begin our middle class ascension. I realized then how much I missed the kids who cared more about your thoughts than your Trapper Keeper.

Art became a passion of mine. I took every class, read every book. I guess looking back, it was more than just the art itself that held me so enamored – it also was the culture of diversity. Less focus on what you had, more focus on what you did.

And I did a lot.

At the end of high school I had a semester titled “Computers & Typing”. It changed my life forever. It was 1995, my senior year, and the dot-com phenomena was just beginning.

I started with a website on Geocities; I was obsessed. I bought a copy of Photoshop 3 at a local computer show for $25 on 8 3.5 discs; I was possessed.

At some point my hobby turned into a job offer and I never looked back.

Sena and I moved to Chicago to be closer to the ‘computer craze’ since we couldn’t stomach the idea of moving to California. I worked hard, long and eventually it paid off.

Alise happened and changed things forever for the better.

We moved back to Ohio to be near family and friends. Keylie was born and brought attitude and defiance to our lives; I love her for it.

Fast forward: life changes things all around me. I have a son, Kaden, who is a handful of energy and mischievous intent. My girls, all three of them (with another on the way) are in school. I’m left trying to find what it is I really want to do with my next 30 years.

posted by Dustin Vannatter at 4:23 pm