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| Hmm....a brief history of time from my perspective...I suppose I should start from the beginning. I was born Joseph Samuel Amato on January 17th, 1972 in Summit, New Jersey. I lived with my Mom in my grandparent’s house for a while, until Mom got remarried in 1977. Yes, I was born in the 70s, and I did indeed see Star Wars when it first came out in the theaters. Also, take note that this is the chubbiest I've ever been
in my life. |
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| As you can probably tell from this one, I was quite the little geek boy (circa 1980). Well, what’s childhood without a little torment from the other kids? I think it had to do with a self esteem problem. At this point, I lived in a pretty crummy apartment complex in Old Bridge, NJ. We were there for some time, until after I left for college.
Here's an old picture from me in elementery school, patiently waiting at the bus stop with a friend. |
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| This is my cousin Chris (here's a old picture of Chris with his ex-girlfriend), my grandmother, and myself back in 1984. As you can see by my shirt, I already had inclinations towards the life of a superhero. Now I just needed to put on about 200 pounds of muscle. Before you ask, I have no idea why my socks are pulled up so high. Chris and I were the dynamic
duo. We fought in intergalactic wars together, you know. The house we’re standing in front of is my father’s parent’s place, which is where I used to stay every summer when I went to visit him. It’s in a little town near the West Virginia border called California, PA. Here's another picture from about the same
time, playing with my new Jabba the Hutt playset (which I still have, by the way). Oh, yeah, I also played soccer for a bit. |
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| This is around 1987. It was a grand time when the Bangles and Bon Jovi were hot, He-Man battled Skeletor in protection of Castle Greyskull, the heroic Autobots fought the evil Decepticons, and G.I. Joe confronted the forces of Cobra. I’m not sure why my hair looks like this, though. I’m convinced that it was the style back then, but I’m not so sure. Maybe I was just retarded. |
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| This is my senior high school picture in 1990. My whole high school experience at Cedar Ridge H.S. was pretty fun (although they recently changed the name to Old Bridge H.S.). I mastered the art of wasting copious quantities of useful time by doing things like reading comic books and writing BASIC programs on my Tandy Color Computer. Of course, I also met some of the
best friends a guy could ask for. May, Mike, Rob, Pete, Scott, and some others still keep in touch. There was also a good time to be had with the band guys like Craig,
Kim, Helen, Donna, Jen, and Mike P., to name a few. And then there was Tina, my first and longest (4+ years) relationship. Here's a graduation picture of some of the wacky gang. |
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| Ahh...college. I discovered higher learning at a school in central Massachusetts called WPI. There I met Chris, Joe, Krish, Yama, Chuong, Jeff, Missy, Roj, and Derek. I roomed with Derek for 3 years because everyone else thought he was insane. Then I met Tom. Tom
introduced me to theater. Theater introduced me to Ken, Steve, Jess, and most of the folks on my friends page. I acted, I studied, I slacked, I gamed, I partied, I worked like dog, I
lied, I loved, I lost, I loved again (yeah, sometimes I never learn). This picture is my college graduation in June, 1995. |
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| This is from my immediate post-college years (1995-1998ish). I was doing a lot of theater with my old troupe at WPI. This picture is from one of the shows I was in. If you want more details on my theater days, check out the page of play. I've wanted to get into a community group, and even looked around a bit, but my other time commitments seem to suck most of the
free time away. Definitely not enough left to dedicate to a stage production, anyway. Maybe someday, after I retire. I moved into a new apartment with Adam (Adam is the guy holding the turtle, not the turtle itself). I also got a job working at a company called Stratus Technologies as a hardware
engineer. Usually too many hours, but that's another story. I've met some great people there as well. Mel and Mango and Karla, to name a few. |
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| This is me yet again (~2000). I didn't want a new suit, but my then-girlfriend Chia convinced me that the large collars, ruffle shirts, and bow ties were now out of style so it was time to upgrade. I finally gave in and this is the result. Adam moved out. I started studying Taekwondo. My company moved to Maynard, MA. I moved on in life. I wound up moving in with Chia, first into
my Worcester apartment, then to the first foray into home ownership in Grafton, MA. It was townhouse, actually, but you get the idea. A great place. |
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| Now we come to 2005. One thing led to another. Chia and I didn't work out. We sold the Grafton place. I bought my own townhouse in Clinton, MA. I'm pretty much settled in now and I absolutely love it.
Now I spend most of my time working, playing games, studying, practicing guitar, and *not* spending enough time with my great friends (something I need to work on).
So, that’s the magical mystery tour....
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