Yes, That's My Real Name

A Brief Stalkers Guide

Born in Santa Cruz, California, in a heat wave in little house by the ocean with jasmine growing up the walls during the bicentennial and Chinese Year of the Dragon to hippy kids-turned-parents, my father named me Tarraccas. Were I born a girl I'm told that I would have received the name Sunshine. Whew! The '70s were certainly a shining time of plaid polyester suits with matching drapes, bell bottom pants to make room for platform shoes and drugs, drugs and, woah, drugs. Why not experiment with creatively labeling newborn children as well?

The story when I was in school was that my parents were extremely stoned and horribly slurred and mangled the name Travis. Whether they were too ripped to remember or simply exhausted, they neglected to issue me a middle name. Though I have various stories of origin I believe my father derived the name from Taurus, his Zodiac birth sign, years earlier as a moniker to distinguish him from dozens upon dozens of his peers who shared his name, John, similar, according to him, to how Native American names were unique to each individual. Unfortunately, the it never stuck for him so, being first born, I inherited it.

So far as I know, Tarraccas isn't a word that means anything particular in any language though it might loosely translate to Don't call me John! in hippy-speakum. I couldn't even spell it until I was 4 or 5 years old, backwards letter S and all, and most other people still can't. Don't feel bad if you're one of them. No real nicknames to speak of other than T by my grandparents and T-Rock or Mr. T by various coaches and managers over the years.

I get tired of people asking me about it but it's a fun name.

I currently reside in the rural foothills of the green, wet side of the Cascade Mountains in Western Washington State where I own and operate a web development business. The flexible schedule in working for myself allows me to get out and enjoy this beautiful area with its forests, mountains and rivers when the weather is agreeable. I originally moved back to get out of the city — no traffic lights and when I hear a gun shot I know the bullet isn't aimed at another human being — and afford to go back to college.

I chose to major in psychology because I like the educational environment and it gives me an excuse to stay in school for quite some time, I'm fascinated about what makes people tick, including myself, and because personal enrichment is more fun and cost effective than therapy. My emphasis has been on conformity and persuasion; first and foremost to recognize and undo manipulative tactics used against me — I'm a nice guy but that doesn't mean I have to be sucker — and secondary to achieve some degree of understanding how people believe what they believe and therefore do what they do.

I am an entrepreneur and the CEO of Burning Moth Creations, Inc. where in addition to various company projects and products we provide web application development, design and advertising services. I've had my share of crazy bosses, idiot managers and meaningless, soul-sucking work and think that I can do better. Certainly no worse, in most cases. My studies in psychology lend insight to seemingly irrational human behavior which helps immensely when it comes to working with clients and keeping situations in perspective. I believe in financial transparency and shareprofitting wherein one benefits or suffers the consequences of their decisions, invested time and other resources with the company. Living without the comfort of a routinely assured paycheck is not always easy. Life takes money and I've had to take up side jobs to make ends meet now and again but it encourages me to try different ideas, to be self-confident and not rely upon others to make decisions for me. At the end of the day — or the fiscal year as the case may be — running a business is all a game of strategy and role playing.

Computer work can be grinding. To unwind I enjoy practicing Yoga, which I like to call meditation in motion, and jogging or biking around the various backroads in my area and generally staying active so I don't devolve into an ass with fingers on a keyboard.

Since the early age when I learned to use my hands I've been drawing and painting. My usual subject matter is sci-fi fantasy erotica. If a photograph can be taken of something then I'm not interested in rendoring it unless it is in a distorted, stylized way to convey some sort of pithy message like an editorial or invoke an emotional response. I like art that is symbolic or that tells a story. I'm an avid Heavy Metal Magazine reader and my favorite contributing artist and story teller is Alfonzo Azpiri. Azpiri brilliantly blends together layers of media, camera-style movement from one scene to the next, detailed fantasy environments, strong characters, sex, violence, humor and engaging plots which never fail to inspire me.