Yes... that's me. Long before the Air Force and when I still had my sexy hair.

I figure every personal website includes something about the designer. A personal memoir, a rant, a bunch of pictures, or some crappy third-person illustration of their life in two paragraphs to stroke their ego. Well, I just thought I’d stroke my ego for a second… or two.

My name is Paul James. I was born in Springfield, MO in the March of 1990, the 29th to be exact, and if I remember the story right it was early in the morning and there was a lot of snow outside. I guess that’s why I love seeing snow so much. The last twenty years of my life have pretty much been normal, I suppose. I was born, I acted like a kid, I grew up, I acted like a kid, and now I’m in the Air Force… acting like a kid with guns. My mother is Lori, and my birth father is Kevin. Before the Air Force, I lived with my mom and step father, Mark. Has it been troublesome having divorced parents? Yes. I’ve experienced my low-points in life due to that, and its been hard trying to make things work with a schedule that just doesn’t allow a kid too much time to spend with those that they miss. Do I blame anyone? Absolutely not.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know both of my fathers. I love Mark with all my heart and I can never thank God enough for introducing him into my life and teaching me many of its lessons. There have been times where Mark has doubted that I love him, and I suppose those doubts came with some warrant to them, as for a while I didn’t know how to express my love to two fathers at once. But if I could go back and do things over, I’d make it up to him… I’d slap him when those thoughts dared enter his mind and tell him, “I love you.”

It was Mark that first suggested I join the military. My mom and I were driving one night (sometime when I was in high school I think) and she mentioned that Mark thought about me joining the Marines, or something like that. I laughed and said, “No way!” I’m not cut out to be a Marine, and I would die in their boot camp. Not to mention, at that time, I was terrified of having to see war. With an uncle that’s been deployed several times to the Middle East, it scared me to think about going over there. But eventually, college came around. I was going to TCC, a junior college that offered the basics and a few extra-curricular to keep my mind entertained on the things I liked learning about (such as philosophy for instance). I realized that I would never be able to stay out of debt for too much longer, and I could keep living off of $400 a month and expect to pay my way through education. No matter how many scholarships you earn, or even you have one of those rare free-rides through college, you’re gonna end up in dept. Car payments, education, medical bills, insurance, and your yearly taxes… it all adds up and you realize that the world really isn’t as fair as it was during your grade-school years when your parents bought everything you needed and you bought your favorite video games off of your allowance and Christmas money.

I had a choice to make. Either continue working for Barnes & Noble and figuring out how I’m going to pay for my education. Or join the military. I knew then and there that if I chose to join the military it would have to be the Air Force. I’m not Rambo, so the Marines are out of the question; I’m not exactly lazy, so sorry Coast Guard; I’ve got brains, so there’s no way I’m joining the Army; and being stuck in a floating metal box for a year on the sea doesn’t sound too appealing to me, so the Navy is out too. That leaves the Air Force. We’re definitely the brains of the operation, and we have enough technology for me to call a server room my vacation home. I love the idea of flying (though I didn’t exactly want to become a pilot), and blue is favorite color. On top of all that, the Air Force would pay for my education; including everything but books, which is fine by me. They offer an abundance of careers to choose from, and the only ones that have any serious risk of death are the ones I’ll never be qualified for.

From zero to hero in six months. Please, tickle my ego.

So I made my decision. Yes, my current job has that deathly risk-factor (wow, who woulda’ thought?), but I’m content with what I do and I actually quite enjoy my new career. I’m living in nice dorms, get free food (including hamburgers and french fries!) and the people I work with have a pleasant mix of personalities – so its pretty much like high school… again. The only difference is that I’m getting paid nearly $1700 per month. ….Yes, its no joke. In six months (the time it took from starting basic training, going through tech school, and arriving on Altus AFB) I go from having nothing to still having nothing but with the money and incentive to buy everything.

Now did I avoid debt? …. er… well…. No thanks to my cursed buyer’s impulse and Mark wanting me to get a nice car, I almost got away Scott-free. But that’s okay, I like my 2007 Pontiac G6 GT with its V6 engine, chrome wheels, and monsoon stereo system (ouch).

Aside from the Air Force nowadays, I have a knack for web designing. I love building blogs, forums, and web pages for anything and everything just for the fun of it. I know HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and jQuery; and I’m in the middle of learning PHP. Along with these geeky languages I also enjoy some amateur graphic designing. I’m definitely not a professional by any mark, but I love toying around with graphic design software and seeing what I can do during my free time. Most of what I do is simple merging with a few fade effects, and I’ll possibly alter the color hues a bit, but I don’t normally go any further than that. I’ll mostly use a combination of Photoshop Elements 7 with an older Microsoft software for digital photography editing (for those quick touch-ups that don’t require the power of PS).

When I’m not designing websites, I’m writing (or reading and then writing about what I read… or just rewriting what I read because I was not satisfied with what I read, so I may re-read what I have already read with my own writing). Other than what my rant in parenthesis hinted, I mostly write short fiction dealing with conspiracy, mystery, or a style of “modern fantasy”. For those that don’t know what “modern fantasy” is, look at J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Every now and then I’ll write something inspirational (and not fiction), such as a letter I recently wrote to my church back in Texas. You can take a look at that later in my portfolio.

Finally, I would like to touch upon my faith. Yes, I am a Christian, but I don’t like the label in terms of the religion. I’m “Christian” because I believe in the truth that I was created by God, and that He became flesh and died for my sins so that I may have eternal life with Him in heaven. I know this to be the one and only truth and encourage anyone that has questions about this to pick up two books. The first book being His word; what we “Christians” call the Holy Bible. In there you’ll find the answers to every question you possible have. Though they may not jump right off the page at you, they’re in there; you just have to keep an open heart and open mind. The second book I would like you to read is called Mere Christianity written by a man named C. S. Lewis. In his book, Lewis discusses Christianity using simple logic; a great read for outsiders and those inside that still have doubts.

This pretty much sums me up. I’m a twenty-year-old man, I’m an older brother, a son of two fathers and an Ultimate Father, an Airman of the United States, and a guy that likes to post many paragraphs to stroke his ego. Beat that, you ghost writing book critics and your fancy cover flaps.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future.”

-Jeremiah 29:11