About

Hello persons and bots of the intrawebs,

I’d like to be glad you found me. As you likely assumed and even though I’d recommend that you use a reasonable amount of suspicion for much of what you might read on the internet, my name is David Windham. I first built and published this website twenty-two years ago after ‘Googling’ myself while finishing college only to find the numerous other David Windham(s) out there. I’ve mostly avoided using it as a personal sales pitch but since you’ve made it this far, I’ll try to give you the spiel as sincerely as possible.

I’m just not that into ‘making a name’ for myself even though what started as a vanity art project has turned into a career. I’ve learned that a little bit of humility goes a long long way and I now find that name dropping clients, assets, or abilities somewhat tacky. Usually when I fill in a bio on a page, I generally just type ‘something else’ or ‘autodidactic raconteur’ into the bio section of online profiles because I’m just not that fond of labeling myself. I’m a just a pretty simple man living in South Carolina and a relatively easy ‘read’ if you dig into my essays. On previous iterations of this page I used these terms to describe myself: Developer, Designer, Programmer, Artist, Illustrator, Problem Solver, Team Player, Creative, Innovative, Critical, Persistant, Motivated, Productive, Detail Oriented, Responsive, and Occasionally On Task. If that’s why you’re here, please see my Work page. The majority of visitors to this website land on individual articles about something or another usually through a search engine. If you’re reading this I usually assume that it’s someone that has either met, knows, or knew me.

I’m a pretty simple man and I don’t take myself too seriously. I’d like to spend the majority of my time sleeping and eating, but on occasion I’m known to mumble obscenities at computers, play a fair game of tennis, discuss the merits of non-participation, engage in obscure Wikipedia edit wars, and indulge in criticizing almost anything à la Larry David.

I was born in the early seventies and raised in Columbia, South Carolina. I’d like to think I was a decent kid with good parents and decent peers. My father spent had a career in radio and advertising after wanting to become a football coach. My mother was on overachieving homemaker who may have read too many parenting books. I graduated from Chapin High School and started secondary at Savannah College of Art and Design. I dabbled in an assortment businesses to pay the bills and eventually returned to college to the College of Charleston to major in mathematics after reading about the starting salary of an actuary. About halfway through the math program, I switched majors again and graduated from the studio art program because of my sincere interest in axiology and aesthetics. I am fascinated by various forms of visual communication even though I like to defend comedy as the greatest art form.

During my final years of college I went to work for the art department as a slide library manager and started making websites for my art school pals. I literally only took one computer class in college which I actually had to drop because I’d ticked off the professor printing what I thought were funny images on his desktop printer in the middle of class. I was first introduced to programming in front of an Apple IIc trying to figure out how the text game Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was made in 1984 inspired by Matthew Broderick changing his grades in the movie War Games. I learned a bit of BASIC by subscribing to Compute magazine and copying software line by line. I think my greatest asset when it comes to programming is that I enjoy solving puzzles because I become thoroughly engaged challenged by technical hurdles and learning. I’ve managed to turn that into a career in which I’ve worked for large and small companies around the world. I’ve now learned more from maintaining projects than building them and my greatest asset is my experience and attitude. I used to view business like a sport to win and now I just see it as a blessing just having the ability to help others doing work I enjoy.

I spend most of my free time with my better half, who works as a school psychologist director of special education and teaches at a local college. We live in a small town in the upstate of South Carolina and I coach our local high school tennis teams like to spend my free time with my dog gardening and painting. We like watching quirky British tv shows, reading to each other in bed, and coach one another on how to be happy. We’ve got a ten-year twenty-five anniversary coming up. I’ve now been to every state in the U.S. except Alaska and Texas. and I’ve been to seven other countries on three continents. I try to shy away from politics and religion because it seems folks can’t discuss them with logic or reason. I do attend an Episcopal church on occasion but I might describe myself as a secular transhumanist. I consider myself a political moderate absurdist. I try to consume as little as possible, keep a low profile, help folks whenever possible, and enjoy my life.

I have a couple peculiar interests in lighting and pickled foods. I like my white wine warm and my red slightly cool. I look at myself like a project that’s about halfway completed and could always use a tuneup. Aside from occasionally posting short essays, I started documenting everything, photo journaling, and making lists for everything. I enjoy meeting new people, I welcome unsolicited contacts, and I appreciate any feedback. So please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
David A. Windham