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I’ve had more career changes than some people have owned shoes. As a teen I worked at Disney as a custodian. Not many people know that there’s a city underneath the theme parks which all the cast members and characters change from their civilian clothes into their Disney wear, take breaks and practice their roles. Right out of high school I was amazed at the hierarchy of popularity behind the scenes. At the top echelon were the actors and actresses for the various stages in the park. Somewhere in the middle were the people who dressed up like the Disney characters and the ride operators. Being in custodial I was of course a bottom dweller. Never being one to acknowledge any boundaries I was brave enough to approach a pretty actress one day, who happened to play Snow White, while having lunch in the underground cafeteria. Her response amongst her peers made me feel like one of the dwarfs named Dopey. Unlike the Disney movies I was the pauper that was never to get the beauty.

After my stint at Disney I realized I would never get the girl of my dreams being an every day normal slub so I went off to college -the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale to be exact. I felt this was a medium I could easily excel in. At the time I thought this was the zenith of my existence. Here I was doing what I loved. My professors were mostly pot smoking freelance artists who held some wild parties. I attended school at the spring break capital of the world at that time and I had access to everything a person would need to make a fake ID.

On my second year, a few buddies and I rented some camera and audio equipment, drew up some decorations, and dressed up a friends jeep to look like the popular MTV channel vehicle. We were faring pretty well the whole weekend until the real MTV crew coving the spring break activities showed up. They didn’t appreciate the plagiarism as much as we’d hoped.

Ironically, the only job I was offered was for Disney. They wanted to move me out to California to study the “Disney way” of drawing. Like a fool I listened to my professors telling me that Disney didn’t allow for individualization or imagination. That I would be drawing trees or clouds their way, day after day. Being a good enough artist and having such a great first opportunity I figured the world was at my fingertips and that once I graduated the offers would come in droves. In hindsight, I should have taken the job. I could have been the next Don Bluth. Needless to say, I had no more offers. Other than a few freelance opportunities I was broke and the way of the starving artist living out of my car didn’t suit me for long. Although, crabbing off the causeway, hanging out of my hatchback and reading the latest from Elmore Leonard does bring back some fond memories.

After college I moved back home and lived with a buddy I knew since middle school. I worked with him in construction framing and decking houses in central Florida. This is when I met my wife. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t looking for love and that’s when it found me. Much like Jerry Seinfeld I never stayed long in a relationship due to small flaws in a woman. Something crazy like a noise they made when they’d laugh or some stupid minor hang-up in appearance -as if I were perfect.

The woman I would soon marry was flawless in my eyes. This may sound crazy but I didn’t even recognize that I was in love at first. It wasn’t the kind of love you see in the movies where it hits you like a Mack Truck. We'd met at a club through mutual friends but after that night I hadn’t seen or heard from her for another month. I thought of her from time to time but it wasn’t overwhelming. I was shocked at how I felt when I was in the mall one day and I saw her through the glass working in a Payless shoes store. I can’t say that I was in the market for a pair of shoes but I followed this unmistakable urge into the store to browse anyway. I loved the way she covered her name tag, as if I didn’t catch