MetaFilter

What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?" Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.

I am an apprentice architect - which means that I practice, but have not taken the required exams to call myself an "Architect."


Plemel.com is my professional site - which isn't quite done yet.

Well, here is my bio at my blog:

A self-proclaimed "child of the suburbs" Randy, grew up in idyllic suburbia in the midwest. Baseball, swimming, and youthful indulgences like chocolate punctuated his youth. He really likes chocolate. Randy lived in a "typical" 1950?s ranch on slab house, growing up on Slovenian food from his grandmother and love from his mother.

Randy first became interested in building when his parents gave him his first Lego set. From then on, every year he had to have a new set, so that the city he was building could grow. Eventually Randy?s Lego collection became so large; he had to build a box to hold all of his Lego?s out of ¾ inch plywood.

Randy entered Suburbia South High School, just a face-less number out of 2000 suburban students. One of the first activities he entered into was the Theatre Department. Randy liked it there because you could be yourself and not have to pretend you weren?t weird. He participated as an actor getting bit parts, and in the scene shop building sets for the actors who didn?t get bit parts. His other occupation in school was the Men?s Swim Team. He had swum for at least since he was 5-6 years old. He was awarded the "Coaches Award" that season for significant team sprit and overall improvement.

High school life is pretty monotonous, so four years flashed by very quickly. He went to Proms, was the Vice-President of the class of 1997, and a lab assistant. He stopped working in the Theatre Department, because the original Director left to go to another school, and Randy was getting tired of all of the "Drama Queens." Randy still swam, and his senior year he was voted Team Captain, and enjoyed a successive last year of swimming. His senior year was the best year at Suburbia High South, with all the fun and excitement of knowing that he only had one year left, and then he could start learning about his chosen profession.

When it came to choosing a school, Randy relied on the advice of one of his closest teachers: his ceramics teacher Ms. Deming. She went to the University of Cincinnati (UC), and remarked that it had an excellent reputation. So Randy took the necessary exams, tests, and filled out all of the forms for college application. He visited a few schools, and on the visit to UC with his father, he interviewed with Jerry Larson the facilitator of the School of Architecture and Interior Design. Jerry sold the school, that?s his job, and Randy was impressed. Randy later remarked that Jerry could have sold ice to Eskimos, but that is another story.

On September 23, 2001 Randy entered the University of Cincinnati to study Architecture. Luckily for his mother, he won a few scholarships - he was a Cincinnatus Scholar, and life was good. Randy finally found something he was good at and something he really enjoyed.

Randy graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelors of Science in Architecture on Friday June 8, 2001. His family was in attendance, and everyone had a great time. He took a week off to go to Cedar Point and Mammoth Cave, KY with his then girlfriend. Following this he started his graduate studies at UC with a focus of Design and Construction. This is where he is today, happily studying hard and having fun.