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Can I just say first how much I hate this damn senior picture...
Graduation was on a Friday night, I left the next day for Southern California. I lived with my mom and step-dad out west with every intention of coming back to Dalton to go to school. However, a few weeks before I was to return, my step-dad had a heart attack and passed away. I ended up staying out there with my mom to help her get back on her feet. Started working in bookstores and did that for about 3 years. Met a woman with children and started dating, eventually moving in with her and her kids. A big break came along and I hooked with with Dalton film-maker Jeff Burr and his brother. I ended up working on two films and some commercials in a variety of roles, mostly dealing with food and helping the grips. However, working in the movies is not nearly as fun as one would think, so even though it was my dream to move to Hollywood and work in film, I decided it wasn’t for me.
Started college and got into the newspaper business almost by accident. Began in paste-up and worked up to freelance writer, but I enjoyed layout more and knew that someday the computer would take over as the layout tool. Met the woman who became my wife in 1991 and decided to move back home in 1992. Had to move back in with my dad who was at this time a professional fly-fishing guide for Orvis in Tennessee. I worked for him for a while running the guide service and taking people on overnight camping/fishing trips. During this time I also got a job cooking at Flamini’s Italian restaurant in Dalton to make ends meet.
My wife decided to move here in 1993 after the Northridge, California earthquake in which her apartment building was destroyed while she was asleep. She sold everything she could and moved to Atlanta with her mom. In 1995 we married, lived in Marietta, then moved to Gwinnett county. After living there for about a year, we realized how much we hated it and started looking for a place to move and feel in love with Athens.
During this time, I worked for a small newspaper in Atlanta as a graphic artist, which turned into a magazine layout job then the paper was sold. In an effort to save our jobs, my editor and I pitched an idea to our boss to create a new business and political magazine for Atlanta like “Georgia Trend” and what “Atlanta” magazine used to be like. He liked the idea and we started work in 1997. “South” magazine debuted on newsstands about 8 weeks later and it was the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life, art directing a book from concept to print. We had a good run, but not good enough and we were sold to “Georgia Trend” in 1998. Here’s the kicker, the week we were sold was the same week as the annual Magazine Association of Georgia (MAG) awards. You’d be amazed at how many national magazines are published in Georgia, and that year we won not only Best Magazine of the year, but 5 other awards including best design and best photography. The publisher of “Georgia Trend” was also a judge that year for MAG and knew we would win the awards, but decided to not keep any of us as staff. I was out of a job for about 3 months when I heard about an opening at UGA.
In 1998 I started work for the Terry College of Business at UGA. Those of you with business degrees from here have seen my work in the mail for the past 10 years. I was hired to create a new alumni magazine and that has turned into art directing all print and marketing materials for the college. Currently, we’re working on a new brand campaign that will roll out in the fall.
While at UGA, I’ve gotten to meet amazing people and do great things. My daughter Emma Rose was born in 2003 and is the light of my life. Right after she was born, I started playing music again. I joined the Athens Symphony in 2003 and played with them for 4 years. I’ve also played with the Classic City Band and Classic City Jazz Band, as well as going on the road for a while with a local band called Sleepy Horses. 2 years ago I formed a new original band called Elijah and have played more or less since then. This year, we won the Best New Band in Athens at the Athens Flagpole Awards. Check us out at http://www.myspace.com/elijahshakes.
My wife Jenny works for Goodwill of North Georgia as its Career Center Director and travels around the state during the week. She’s currently working on her Masters in Social Work from the University of Kentucky. My daughter starts kindergarten this fall.
Not sure what’s worse, knowing that I graduated high school 20 years ago, or the fact that I’ll be 40 in 2 years.
