Brian Jamieson
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: Iowa City, IA
Role: Blog owner and god emperor of the house
This is my blog, which I created as an exercise to better learn XHTML, CSS, and PHP as well as to document my idle musings for the rest of my natural life.
Born in the heartland of America, I bounced around the midwest soaking up wholesome values until I finished my bachelor’s in psychology at Indiana University. Then it was off to grad school at the University of Georgia in Athens, where I studied cognitive psychology. During my tenure there I was exposed to the mysteries of human factors, which purport to apply understanding of the way peoples’ brains and bodies work to the design process of things that said people use.
En route to obtaining my doctorate I was forced to teach wee undergrads the methods and statistics used in experimental psychology. Unfortunately most of my students wanted to be family counselors, and so I was left with a palpable dislike of classroom teaching. This, of course, was my primary consideration for wanting to get out into the corporate world, not the money.
And so having graduated at the height of the dot com boom, I went to work at a little start up company in the greater Boston area. Here I learned the art and science of building web applications, whilst attempting to leverage what I knew about memory and attention and skill acquisition into the product. Most educational. The company closed its doors and I spent some time unemployed, which was also educational (mostly in a bad way).
But ever the shining optimist I found another job designing web applications for a small company in the time and attendance domain. From there I moved on to Kronos, a much larger company building ERM web applications. Then on to The MathWorks, makers of software facilitating science and engineering.
Blossom Davies, Ph.D.
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Beaufort, SC
Role: Special lady friend
I met Blossom in Georgia, where we were both slaving away on our doctorates. I lived in an apartment building that looked like a cheap motel; two stories with all the front doors on the outside. One year I had a class with Blossom, but being the reserved type I failed to even introduce myself to her.
Then one fine day she in moved in upstairs. I was out talking to a neighbor when she came strolling by with her dog Mystic, and being the outgoing type she insinuated herself into the conversation. We became friends, and then more than friends as my cooking skills and witty repartee wooed her.
We graduated roughly at the same time, and came to live here in the wilderness of Maynard, Massachusetts. Blossom got a job working for a consulting company putting her doctorate in social psychology to work.
Betty
Species: Cat
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Somewhere in Georgia
Role: Number 1 cat
Betty is a tiny tabby cat. She was the first cat I got about a year after moving to Georgia. I adopted her from the Humane Society when she was about a year old. She is a tiny cat, and is a strange mix of fussiness and affection. Her favorite place in the world is to lie on my chest and head-butt my chin.
Also known as Big Betty, Big B, and Betrosky.
Mystic
Species: Dog
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Somewhere in Georgia
Role: Number 1 dog
Mystic is a black 50lb border collie/lab mix. She was Blossom’s first dog. Blossom used to go to this flea market in the sticks of Georgia on Saturday mornings. One day she encountered a man towing his son in a little red wagon. This child was “flaxen haired and blue eyed” and had two six week old puppies in the wagon with him, one on either side. The stuff of which legends are made.
Also known as Poopus, Miss M, and Mystical.
Owen
Species: Cat
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: Somewhere in Georgia
Role: Number 2 cat
Owen is a black and white mutt. Blossom and I adopted him from the Humane Society after we had moved in together in a spacious duplex in Georgia. He is the biggest pudding cat around, and is happy to be held like a baby or upside down or whatever you feel like.
Also known as Owen Shmowen and Mister Man.
Gala
Species: Dog
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Somewhere in Georgia
Role: Number 2 dog
Gala is a brown doberman mix with a white chest. Owen was a welcome arrival but did not satiate Blossom’s desire for another dog. She hinted around at wanting another beasty but wouldn’t put the idea on the table. One morning she declared she was off to the flea market again, “just to see”. I immediately confronted her with my suspicion she was hoping to encounter wagon boy again. She confessed, and I proposed that instead we go to the pet store and see if anyone had put up some adoption flyers. Naturally when we got to the store a couple we knew from grad school was out front with a cage full of puppies.
Also known as The Sausage, Little Baby, and Bookins.