Mom & Dad's House - Champaign, IL

Nov 1977 - Aug 1995, Summer 1997

If you hadn't guessed from the dates, this is where I grew up. It's an odd house, filled with more oddities than anybody can really understand without seeing it; there are entire rooms filled with books, walls covered in buttons, stuffed animals everywhere, disembodied legs hanging over the railing, and just more stuff than I can legitimately explain here. My room is upstairs, an old closet from the larger room I shared with my brother; it's still a great place to sleep, and has a lot of my stuff in it. I still consider it all a home. And luckily, my parents have far too much stuff to ever consider moving.

Lincoln, New Zealand

Fall 1985 - Spring 1986

One day when I was eight, my parents came in and showed us New Zealand on a globe and told us we were going there. I was far too young to understand. It was an interesting sabbatical, if mildly traumatic for a kid who was in the process of finding friends; our house there was nice, at least, even if the TV left something to be desired and we weren't there all that often because Mom and Dad would drag us on trips all the time. But I enjoyed it, which is more than I can say for the Australia trip. And by reports, I was changed by it too.

Melbourne, Australia

Fall 1991 - Spring 1992

When my parents told us that we were going to Australia, this time I had enough experience to know that it might not be in my best interests. This, combined with my age (rebellious teenager!), was enough to make me hate every minute of my time in Australia. Sure, it was neat seeing uncensored movies on TV, I got a whole lot of books read, the animals ruled, I had a cool lizard, and I actually got my own room, but it wasn't enough to keep me happy. Of course, because I went I'm sane today, but that wasn't much comfort at the time - although, again, the animals were.

Allen Hall 2 Center

Fall 1995 - Spring 1996

When I first moved to Allen, I lived with some friends from high school, Andy and George. It was a good living experience, and also gave me plenty of chances to go downstairs and play with others - certainly enough to begin my reign in Allen. And at the time I didn't even mind the floor, even though it was mostly frat wannabes...

Fallon Naval Base, Nevada

Summer 1996

While working for CERL, I spent a lot of time stationed at the Navy base in Fallon. I had a security clearance, I lived in an military hotel, I ate less than $2/day on food... And I won't do that again.

Allen Hall 4 North

Fall 1996 - Spring 1997

Before I lived on 4N, it was the Gay Floor - which is what drew me in (there's certain value in having everybody assume the wrong thing about you). Unfortunately, it seems like everybody else had the same idea, because it became a rehash of 2C... I jumped from room to room during the year, disliking most of it, and eventually ended up living in a room that I didn't even have a key to. All in all, a bad experience, if interesting.

Allen Hall Commons

February 1997

After a particularly bad fight with my roommates that ended with my bed being filled with crap after returning from a long road trip, I moved into the Commons for a couple of days. It was a strange experience, just sleeping down there and watching over the few things I'd brought along. I really didn't mind it all that much, though. If nothing else, it cemented my position as "strange" in Allen, and I'm still happy that Mike eventually gave me a real place to sleep.

Allen Hall Ground South

Fall 1997 - Spring 1998, Fall 1998 - Spring 1999

Ground South was, in my mind, the pinnacle of what Allen Hall was about - a place where everybody had their own strange ideas about how things should go and didn't mind making them happen. I was elected President of the floor as soon as I joined up, and spent my time promoting their interests and doing stuff for my new friends; it was a wonderful experience, and one that I wish I could continue indefinitely. May the Ground South Empire live forever. RAs Tsuck! Damn the Man! And his Doors!

h0l

Summer 1998 and Summer 1999

The h0l, originally the House of Leet, is a house full of computer geeks and other odd people. I lived both summers on the third floor, away from anybody that would try to bother me when I didn't want to be; I learned to get along with a lot of people that I would have never dealt with otherwise, too. And I finally got accepted as part of the local geek Real Life culture as a result of it. All in all, it was a worthy experience. Besides, they're still hosting one of my machines...

Brak's Apartment of Sunshine and Light

Fall 1999 - Summer 2000

Finally done with Allen, my first instinct was to move into h0l to finish off my college career. Then, one day, I realized that this would probably be a bad idea, thanks to a lot of fights brewing (a few of which I got reluctantly but directly involved in - shiver). Instead, I decided to live with Caitte (my recently adopted sister) and James (one of the first people I met my freshman year) - a combination that was almost guaranteed to kill us all. But, through mockery and a good sense of self-preservation, we survived. It wasn't even that bad - well, not most of the time. Sometimes it was downright unlivable. But I got along so well with James, and managed to keep Caitte out of most trouble... It was good. And I even got to put Brak on the door...

Brak's Dungeon of Doom

Fall 2000 - Summer 2001

By the time I realized I was staying in C-U, it was too late to stay in BASL - which would have been my first choice, even without any roommates to keep me company. Instead, I got a hold of Darren, one of my successors in Allen, and talked him into sharing a place with me. Sadly, we chose a place in Champaign. It looked like it was going to work, we had a good landlord and everything... But we had racial slurs directed our way, our apartment vandalized, the ceiling of the bathroom fall in, and our landlord sell the place to CPM, the worst landlords on campus. Dammit.

Brak's Tower of De-Light!

Fall 2001 - Summer 2002

Escaping BDOD was a good idea, especially since I didn't have to lose Darren as a roommate. BTOD was in a nice location in Urbana, across from a church; it was much larger than the last place, in better shape, and just felt nicer in general. The best part was that it was within walking distance of work and all of my friends (particularly useful the first half of the year, but still nice the second). We left, though, because Darren bought his own place and asked me to live with him. Fair enough.

Darren's House

Fall 2002 - Spring 2005

Darren took possession of his new place (a condo by name, it looks closer to a townhouse) on May 15 2002, and we moved in in late July/early August. It's a nice place in deep Urbana, much larger than anything else we'd lived in before but also way off the beaten path; on the other hand, it's also right across the street from groceries and plenty of other stores, and is on several major bus routes. I lived here for two-and-a-half years, before finally going out and buying my own place.

Skirv's House - Champaign, IL

Spring 2005 - Winter 2007

I really miss owning a house.

Birch Creek Apartments - Mountain View, CA

Dec 2007 - present

I'm not used to the rent, but it's a nice 1100sqf apartment in Mountain View, CA. I have nice furniture, there's fish ponds, and I'm well off the street. It's... adult. So odd!