this is me, then | 1988

This is your friendly neighborhood blogger in 1988, standing with my brother Allen in our favorite shirts. I wore a lot of madras shirts as a teenager. I was a dork.

this is me, then | 1991

Look at the light-dark contrast on this picture! This is your friendly neighborhood blogger in 1991, in a bad picture from high school.

this is me, then | 1993

Yor friendly neighborhood blogger in his senior class portrait. This prop suit is as close as I've come to wearing a tuxedo.

this is me, then | 1986

Don't I look orange? This is not the worst picture of your friendly neighborhood blogger, but it's the worst one I'm going to show. I'm glad the '80s are over.

this is me, then | 1997

Your friendly neighborhood blogger is very 'chill' in this 1997 picture. I'm just sitting on the floor watching TV in the family room. Dig the groovy fake leopard. In case you're wondering, my feet are as flat as boards, and my hand is too far over to the right to be doing anything gross : )

this is me, then | 1981

Your friendly neighborhood blogger gets a kiss from Mom as Allen mugs for the camera in this 1981 photo. I was six, and this was my party, as if the cake wasn't a tip-off.

this is me, then | 1998

In 1998, your friendly neighborhood blogger graduated from college. This isn't a great picture, but it is signifigant.

this is me, then | 1976

Your friendly neighborhood blogger strikes a pose for this 1976 photo. Look at all that hair!

this is me, then | 1996

Your friendly neighborhood blogger has never had great hand-eye coordination, so of course the most logical thing to have at his 21st birthday party is a piñata...right? Well, my blind ass got to hit one of these things in 1996. It actually was pretty fun, as was the party.

Most people would go out drinking with all their buddies on their 21st brithday. I just had one buddy, my friend Todd Martin, and a bunch of paying customers. My mom turned my birthday into a fund-raiser for her country club! Oh, well, we made some money and I had a great time.

That's my mom, right there beside me in the striped shirt.

this is me, then | 2001

This is your friendly neighborhood blogger at work in 2001, just after getting the job at LMW. The guy in the background is my friend Ken.

this is me, then | 1985

Please, can someone get your friendly neighborhood blogger a hair brush? This is me in 1985, forever the stud! LOL : )

this is me, then | 1990

1990 saw your friendly neighborhood blogger surrounded by stripes. Lots of them. Those backgrounds school photgraphers use sure are cheesy.

this is me, then | 1975

This is your friendly neighborhood blogger's picture as a newborn. If you've been paying attention in this series, you know I'll get a lot cuter in a very short time, then it'll all go downhill : )

this is me, then | 1980

This is your friendly neighborhood blogger's kindergarten picture. Allen had gone to kindergarten a year before I did and my dad and I used to vist him at school at least once a month or so. School seemed very fun at that time.

We moved to our new house in 1980, and into a new school district, where I discovered that school was not as fun as I had hoped. That may be the reason I looked so bored in this picture.

this is me, then | 1982

I'm not sure why your friendly neighborhood blogger (at left) wasn't wearing glasses in this Easter 1982 picture with Allen and you know who at my grandma's church. I guess I lost them or something. Maybe that explains the expression on my face.

Anyway, check out the groovy matching outfits. Yes, fashionistas, that's REAL velour! The Easter Bunny was played by my cousin Regina, who always could be counted on to dress up in costumes and have fun, especially back then.

this is me, then | 1989

This is your friendly neighborhood blogger around Christmas in 1989 with Allen and Dad. I'm the tall one. I was 6'-2," 130 pounds. Pretty much all-vertical.

I won the red sweatshirt at an Odyssey of the Mind competition earlier that year. Our team didn't win, but I got a Renatra Fusco award for creativity in the spontaneous competiton. If you've never been in OM, that last sentence probably made no sense to you.

this is me, then | 2000

Your friendly neigborhood blogger takes a slightly different pose in the same family room, though it's a year later and the photo was only two feet away from the other one yesterday.

this is me, then | 1999

Your friendly neighborhood blogger sits on the loveseat in our family room in this 1999 photo. We've redecorated since this picture was taken, so the upholstery on the couch and the fabulous barrel-shade lamp are no longer with us.

I'm wearing my Nike Air Max Triaxes in this photo, some of the best kicks I ever owned. I had two pairs: this one and some white ones with blue and orange trim.

this is me, then | 2004

One of the few pictures of your friendly neighborhood blogger you'll see with a cap on my head. I didn't wear hats after I became a teenager because I couldn't find one to fit my enormous head. In 2003, thanks to the internet and a trend where guys started wearing giant MLB caps with the brims flat as boards (thanks, Shyne) I found some fitted baseball caps came in sizes big enough to fit me and bought several, along with other adjustable baseball caps that are made for bigger people. The one I'm wearing is a Virginia Tech fitted, in honor of my alma matter.

I'm in my bedroom in this picture taken just last year. Dig the groovy paneling! My arm is on my Sony flat-screen TV, now three years old. I love that TV. I also love the swag-and-jabot window treatments, which I picked out and my mom made when I was in high school. It was part of my 'motel motif:' the name I gave to the redecoration of my room back then. I should also mention the Burberry shirt I finally found in a tall size in New York. It's a great shirt and I'm glad places like Rochester Big & Tall exist where people taller and bigger than averege can dress as well as the rest of the world.

this is me, then | 1979

I remember this family picture well. It's one of my favorites. Your friendly neighborhood blogger is on the right beside Mom and we all were seriously rocking 1979 is this photo.

Mom and Dad's safari suits alone make this picture priceless, but the Afros and sweaters Allen and I are wearing go for the extra style points. The brothers Swain also had cowboy boots and some NFL jackets with matching beanies (Me: Steelers, Allen: Cowboys) that we took some more pictures in that day. But that's a whole 'nother post.

This picture was taken at my grandma's church. I got into an argument with the photographer before we took it. How? People were using 'turkey' as an compliment and an insult back in the day, and the photogropher tried to get me to look at the camera by calling me one: as in 'Look over here, you turkey!" I got pissed (because I was thinking of the latter) and called her a turkey and my mom had to break it up. Ah, the joys of childhood.