About Me.
What would you like to know? What should you know?

As an Associate Professor for Lincoln Land Community College, I feel honored to be your instructor. It has been my goal to be more than just a vending machine of knowledge, tips and tricks. My goal is to be a mentor, guiding and advising you through your personal academic and multimedia design journey. While these journeys should never end, I am very appreciative that you have chosen to include me with you. I'll call "shot-gun", let's go!

Some people want to know my education and experience. Personally, I have somewhat of an ambivalent feelings toward the whole sharing process as it sometimes comes across as a boasting session. However, I'll make it short and sweet.

Undergraduate: Drury College (now Drury University) with a BA in Elementary Education.
Graduate: Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) with a Masters of Science in Education/Secondary Education with a concentration in Instructional Technology and Interactive Technologies.

WHEW! That's over and now let's have fun.

Why Apple?
My Spare Time
Favorite Foods
Our Pet Snickerdoodle

Why Apple?

I can credit my grandparents with purchasing my first computer and also my first Mac. Ah yes, my first Mac was a Macintosh IIsi (A) computer with 2 MB RAM and a 20 MB hard drive. It was all that and more.

I outgrew my trusty Mac IIsi (which to this day remains unnamed - what a shame) in graduate school. As I began to explore animation and film editing, I needed a much more powerful Mac. So I headed into much debt and purchased a top of the line Mac - the Macintosh Quadra 700 (B).

This Mac actually thought for me! I was the envy of every graphic designer, animation artist and film editor in my class; not to speak my friends, they loved it too. I lovingly called my 700: MacMan!

However, the Quadra 700 would be my last desktop Mac until my PowerMac G5 (aka BigMac!). In 1993, I purchased my first Mac PowerBook 520c (C) while working at Apple. That is perhaps the most trusty laptop Mac I've owned. MiniMac was her name and she was with me until 1998 when she was retired (although just a side note, she still works to this day, can access the Internet and check e-mail).

My PowerBook 520c was replaced with a PowerBook G3 (D). This machine screamed and boasted a very nice display, plenty of RAM, CD-Drive and plenty of hard drive space. My PowerBook G3 would only last me a couple years until she was sold to a friend of mine.

I was Mac-less for sometime as I decided that my PowerMac G4 (E) here at Lincoln Land Community College was my main machine. Reba Macintosh was delivered to my door in 1999 and she still works today. Reba and I have a special relationship and to this day I cannot part with her.

We've created animation loops, edited film and designed a number of websites with her. She truly is my favorite Mac as she has never given me one minute of trouble. Today, she is a server for my classroom. Currently, she is planning to retire here shortly but I'm moving her into my office.

After Reba, there have been so many Macs such as FrankenMac! That little Mac was a strange design as Apple used a 1/2 sphere and a 17 inch screen with G4 processing power and a PowerMac G5 aka BigMac II (F).

Today, I use a a 24 inch iMac Intel Core 2 Duo (G). His name is Fleetwood Mac!

However, at home, I work on my MacBook Pro and the name of her is Mackitu.

Well, that's a little about all the Macs I've owned. I truly love my Macs and they have come a long way since I touched an original Mac in 1984.

My Spare Time

I have spare time? Let's see, I enjoy playing video games with my kids. Yea, I got a Wii, what can I say? At first, I was highly skeptical about the Wii, but I'm completely bought over with Nintendo now. I am what Nintendo calls a "casual-gamer" who enjoys just a few moments without painfully manipulating 12 buttons with 10 fingers. Some of my favorite games at the moment are:

1. Zack and Wiki by Capcom.
2. Boom Blox by EA
3. MarioCart Wii by Nintendo

Although, I'd like to see Apple and Nintendo do something with iTunes for the Wii. I personally think that would be awesome!

I also create my own retro-themed bowling and Hawaiian-styled shirts. Here in the midwest, we don't have access to such cool things so I've set out and desgned a couple shirts of my own. So if you see me wearing a loud shirt that screams Dolby Digital 6.1 or in THX, most likely I've designed it.

Believe it or not, I enjoy taking in a good movie. Whether at home or at one of our local cinemas, a good movie cannot be beat. The most recent movie that moved me was
Wall-e by Disney/Pixar.

Favorite Foods

I've been an avid cook for many years. Contrary to what you may hear, I did manage to burn down our family home when I was 15 years old. It was a cooking disaster for the text books and I was named Betty Crocker at school for the longest time. While it was a total accident, my mother did not make hamburgers and french fries for many months afterwards (the source of the fire).

When I'm in the mood to cook, I enjoy making Chineese, Italian, Mexican and what I guess is known as "American" such as grilling and other great dishes such as desserts. I do not claim to be a chef or even one of culinary skill but after watching both my grandmother and mother, I've picked up on a few things.

Those who know me can say you never leave our table with an empty stomach, that's why I chuck the WiiFit at them! To quote one friend who had a piece of Higgins Lake Cake (a family recipe handed down for three generations), "Matt, this cake is so sweet, when I wake up from this diabetic coma I'm going to hit you over the head." I enjoy cooking and getting together with friends who enjoy food, games, movies and plenty of talking!

Snickerdoodle the Corgi!

Spring 2008 was a most difficult time for our family as we lost our beloved Beagle, Molly May to cancer. She was with us six short years but she brought us so much happiness into our lives. While I have personal beliefs about animals and their eternal destination, Molly is hopping around green grass and without the pain and trauma cancer brings.

In reality, Molly can never be replaced, I felt another pup should enter our family so off to find the next king/queen of the house. Snickerdoodle is a one year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi who is just the right personality for us. He's funny, interesting, loving, kind and plain nuts which is a perfect fit our home. He's been such a wonderful addition and has helped us move beyond the initial pain of our loss.

While he's not a fan of the groomer, he certainly loves walks, running to fetch a frisbee, playing chase, hide-n-seek and other games. There are times I believe he's just one large rubber ball with legs.

Snickerdoodle is so popular he has his own short movie on YouTube and a comicstrip using ComicLife.