The (rambling) short story.... Tim...he's a music, computer, and animation (not necessariliy in that order) nut from St.Charles, Missouri who attended the University of Missouri where he was nicknamed "Chewie" by a Delta Tau Delta fraternity brother and graduated with a BSBA degree in Marketing (that's right, Marketing) but was forced into substitute teaching and retail in 1990 because of a depressed job market, so during a mid-life crisis while working as a graphic designer at the approximate age of 24-ish, he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a stop-frame animator, but was enlightened with this new thing called 3D animation (it was 1991-92), so he applied to film school and was accepted but lacked the funds to attend (he had a degree why did he need another one? asked the government loan people) so, he did the Spike Lee thing and financed his career on credit cards, and with $14,000 in Visa, Mastercard and Discover card debt and a $17,000 salary (you do the math) he purchased the equipment, pored over every animation book, magazine and article and taught himself as best he could over many, many years (at night and on weekends) creating a demo tape which landed him a job as an animator for a toy company (Trendmasters) where he created television commercials and various 3D images for 4+ years, almost all of which he spent living (and paying off his loans) in his sister's basement (thanks sis!- just like the Wedding Singer) until he got the urge to explore the free-agent waters, and fulfill a dream, landing his current job at Industial Light + Magic where he works on movies like 'Harry Potter I and II, Star Wars II and III, Pirates of the Caribbean, Hidalgo, Van Helsing, XXX2, Sharkboy and Lava Girl, Harry Potter 4, and Pirates of the Caribbean 2, while living just 45 minutes from Napa Valley and just 4 minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge while playing bass in an 80's dance band... Whew! Say that all in one breath!