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(If you're looking for pictures, they've moved to the new Photos page.)
Well, where to start? At the beginning, I suppose. Here are my vital stats:
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Name: Dave Ellis
Age: 45 Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland USA Height: 6' 2" Weight: Somewhere between too heavy and way too heavy... Hair: Negligible Current Residence: North Carolina Education: Graduated from Towson University with a BS degree in Mass Communication (film and television production) that I will probably never put to full use. Married: June 20, 1992 to Meghan Harkins (please don't call her "Mrs. David Ellis") |
I
currently live in Sanford, North Carolina with my lovely wife Meghan. We moved
here from Abingdon, Maryland (near Baltimore) in 1999 when I was transferred
by my company (the now-demised Hasbro Interactive). We're centrally located
in what is called the Research Triangle--equidistant from Chapel Hill and
Raleigh. Our families still live in the Baltimore, Maryland area.
Meghan and I are hard-core Democrats--or, as we're called down here, "damned liberal tree-huggers"--so we definitely don't fit in with the whole southern conservative culture that permeates this area. For the longest time, we stayed down here with the intention of getting the hell out of Dodge as soon as possible. We were staying here because Meghan was going to veterinary school at NC State University. However, when she graduated, she got a job in Fayetteville (an hour and forty-five minute commute from our house in Durham), so we bought a house in the little town of Sanford. Honestly, it's not the kind of place either of us thought we'd like much at first glance...it was just geographically centered between my job and hers. But we actually like it here a lot. We're only five minutes' walk to the center of town, which has stores (of course) as well as an exellent bar (Local Joes) and a restaurant that would be considered top-notch in Los Angeles or New York much less in small town North Carolina (Bella Bistro). Our new house (which we owned in conjunction with the other house for six months until we finally sold the Durham place...scary in this economy) has a full basement with plent of room for my toys, a big yard for the dogs, and a lot of charm (it was built in 1950). I never thought I'd say this...but we love it here now.
We don't have any children, and we don't want any. Yeah, that makes us aberrations, I know--but there are enough people in the world without us adding to the population. Besides, we have two nephews (Timmy and Collin) and two nieces (Kiera and Emma) if we get the urge to play with kids. The best part about nieces and nephews is that you can play and have a good time but, when they get cranky or are in need of changing, you can just hand them off to their parents. It's the perfect situation!
Just because we don't have children doesn't mean that we don't have a family. We've got a small zoo-ful of pets. Right now, we have five dogs.
Ana (short for Anastasia), is a husky. Meghan
found her on the side of the road. She was apparently abandoned (nobody answered
our newspaper ads). This is 
probably because she has bad knees on her hind
legs. She gets around fine, though. She arrived a couple of days before our first rottweiler, Kang, died and she latched onto me, probably sensing that daddy was missing his boy. She's very much daddy's girl.
Shortly after Aleksander died, we got another husky named Tatiana (Tatya for short). She is one of the the youngest of the bunch--around a year old when we got her. She is always getting into trouble--she's a typical husky in that way--and she always has something to say. She's super-cute, though, so we can forgive her occasional indiscretions. Totally Meghan's girl.
Since Meghan became a veterinarian in 2008, we've had a constant parade of "foster dogs" coming through our house. These include Gracie (a 2-year-old boxer who was adopted by Meghan's mom); Little Girl, a mutt (or "Carolina Brown Dog" as Meghan called her) who was shot in the face by the brother of her former owner (adopted by a neighbor of Meghan's mom); a super-smart brindle boxer or pit bull (we're not sure which) who was found at the age of four weeks abandoned by a dumpster in Fayetteville (adopted by a friend at work); and a curly-haired puppy called Puppy who was also abandoned (adopted by a friend of a friend at work). Obviously, Fayetteville isn't the friendliest place for dogs.
The reason "foster dog" is in quotations is that, because we're such suckers for hard-luck cases, we were bound to have a 
couple of the dogs join our menagerie here at home. The first of the bunch was rottweiler number 4. This one is a spunky female puppy who was brought into Meghan's work to be euthanized. The story was that she was "vicious," and had bitten a child. Meghan took one look at her face and couldn't kill her. Despite my protestations, she was brought home and sort of never left. Meghan avoided naming her for a long time...so long that, after responding "none yet" so many times to the question "does she have a name?" that the people at work started calling her "None Yet." The name stuck...but we're spelling it "Nunyette." It's the first non-Klingon rottweiler name we've had, but it phonetically translates to "unwelcome intruder" in Klingon. That kinda fits. We've grown to love her though, even though she wakes us up early on weekends and has a tendency to bark at 
reflections and shadows. And she's a long way from vicious.
Our next addition came into our lives around the time that K'Ehleyr died. He's a husky whose original name was Alex. He is another dog that was brought into Meghan's work with gunshot wounds (one front and one hind leg). He had escaped from his owner's yard and into a neighbor's yard. Apparently what you do in Fayetteville, NC when a strange dog is in your yard is not chase him out, but shoot him. (Stupid rednecks.) Anyway, the owners got tired of Alex running away. They said he wasn't loyal (despite the fact that he dragged himself home on two legs after being shot) and that he was "only a rescue dog anyway." They wanted him euthanized and, of course, Meghan couldn't bring herself to do it. I did NOT want another dog in the house, but Meghan (as usual) wouldn't take no for an answer. The first day he was left alone, Alex (known by this time as "The Liberator" because of his tendency to escape), got out of the kitchen and terrorized our parrot and ferret (luckily killing neither). He did that again a week later. But, for some reason--probably because he's really nice other than that--we're keeping him around. He has been re-named Sergei, after Sergei Samsonov, a player for the Carolina Hurricanes.
When Meghan brought home yet another dog (before Max died...which brought our total to six!), I was livid. I did not want another dog in the house. But I eventually got over it--mainly because she didn't take up much space. She was really dog five and a quarter. Unlike the rest of our brood, this one is a tiny thing. A pomeranian to be precise. She's really sweet, and everybody wants to pick her up and carry her around the moment they lay eyes on her. It took a while to come up with a name we liked, but we eventually chose Snook. She's named after Olive Snook on the excellent (but cancelled) TV show Pushing Daisies--one of the other characters on the show used to call Olive (who was played by Kristen Chenowith) "Itty Bitty." When Meghan called the dog Itty Bitty one night, we knew we had a name for her.
Our first dog was a wonderful husky named Aleksander. We had him for over 10 years. Early in March, 2006, he started getting sick. We found out he had a
really nasty strain of cancer, and we ended up having to put him down on April 18, 2006. He was totally Meghan's dog (I gave him to her for her birthday in 1996), but we both loved him a lot. It was very hard to say goodbye. Check out Aleksander's Page for lots of pictures.
We have also had three wonderful rottweilers (with Klingon names--like I said, it's a tradition) over the years as well. We got Kang shortly after we got Aleks. He was 100% my dog, and we both loved him dearly. Unfortunately, he got very sick, and we had to put him to sleep (July 15, 2002). We're very sad about it, but he's not suffering any more and that's good. Check out Kang's Page for lots of pictures.
Our second rottweiler, B'Elanna, was found on the side of the road. She was all skin and bones and she was trailing a lead with which she had apparently been tied out in someone's yard. We rescued her, got her all fixed up at the vet, and decided to keep her. She was a real sweetheart and she followed Meghan everywhere. She succumbed to the same type of disease that took Kang, and we had to put her down in May, 2005. Visit B'Elanna's Page for lots of pictures.
Our third rottie was K'Ehleyr (pronounced KAY-lar). She was a surgery dog at the vet school, and had been bounced to a couple of shelters. She needed a 
retirement home (we think she was born somewhere around 1995), so we took her in. Or, rather, Meghan did and I grudgingly complied. She was a sweetie, and totally Meghan's dog (although she liked me, too). She had back problems from the time we adopted her, and that was pretty much controlled by pain medication. She got around pretty well until April, 2009 when she lost control of her hind legs and eventually couldn't stand on her own anymore. We had to put her down on April 21. Visit her memorial page for more pictures.
In spring of 2010, we lost another one of our gang--Max, our chocolate lab. Max came to us on a "trial basis" in 2006. I wasn't keen on having another dog at the time, but I'm so glad he was a part of our lives. Four years is far too short a time to know a dog as kind and gentle as Max. Everybody loved him. We miss him terribly. Check out his memorial page.
As for the rest of the zoo, there is a parrot named Zack, a ferret (Rikki-Tikki-Tavi--Tavi, for short), and one lonely purple tang in a small saltwater aquarium.
I've had lots of different jobs in my time. As is true of many in my generation, my first job was delivering newspapers. I had a small route, but I made more than enough money to get by. After that, I did my time in the fast food business--four and a half years at Ponderosa Steakhouse. The job wasn't really all that bad (not that I'd want to do it again), and I met my best friend Bill there--we've been friends since I was about 17, so nearly 20 years now. I did a brief stint as a cook at TGI Fridays (about a month), then I left the food business behind. I spent about 8 months at (the now defunct) Rickel Home Center selling tools and lumber, then moved on to Greetings and Readings--a definite nexus in my career and my life.
Greetings
and Readings started out as a card and book store (as the name would imply)
but has, at various times, sold all manner of merchandise. At the time I started
there, they had a computer department. For over four years, I sold computers
and software(and the occasional VCR, TV and microwave). I gained a solid base
of computer knowledge there, which helped me land the job that led to my current
career. More importantly, I met Meghan at Greetings and Readings, as well
as a number of my closest friends.
After I left Greetings and Readings, I worked for almost a year at the US Government Printing Office in Washington, DC. It was a horribly boring job, but it paid more than G&R. I read the help wanted ads every Monday morning at my desk to find a way out. That's where I saw the ad for MicroProse Software. Little did I know that my ticket out of government work would lead to a career.
MicroProse was, in
its day, one of the premier computer game companies in existence. It was famous
for its simulations (mostly of the air combat variety), and I was a big fan.
Obviously, I was thrilled to get a job in the computer industry since computer
and video games are one of my major interests. 
I started at MicroProse in Hunt Valley, Maryland back in March, 1992 as a customer service rep. Basically, I answered phones and helped technically challenged, frequently angry people to get our games to run. I did that for about six months, and then transferred to Quality Assurance. That's right--I got to test games for a living. After a couple of years of QA, I got a chance to be a game designer, and that's what I've been ever since. I've worked on dozens of games in varying roles over the years.
MicroProse had its share of problems. During the 7.5 years I was there, the company was bought out twice, and there were 13 rounds of layoffs. The first buyout came in the mid-1990s, when Spectrum Holobyte (our chief competition) saved us from shutting down. Then, in 1999, the still downward-spiralling company was bought by Hasbro Interactive.
It was at this time that I transferred from the Hunt Valley office to the Chapel Hill, North Carolina office. Ostensibly, I was to be in charge of the X-COM line of games, and also design Civilization III. But that was not to be. First, Civ III was given to Firaxis (and Sid Meier, the original designer). Then, Hasbro (who had no clue how much time and money it took to make complex strategy games and simulations), closed down our office and laid all of us off (just six months after we moved here). The doors closed on my MicroProse career in January, 2000. Most of our team--one of the best I've ever worked with--was scattered across several local companies and some other companies across the country, as distant as California.
After collecting severance pay for a while, I provided an industry contact that helped to create a new game company that was formed by some of some of the other members of the MicroProse, Chapel Hill team. I remained there as designer for less than a year because because the tension I experienced going to work every day made me feel physically ill. Bad experience. 'Nuff said.
In
October, 2000, I became the lead game designer at Random Games in Morrisville,
North Carolina. This was a short-lived career move--I had no idea how unstable
the company was when I signed on (much to my chagrin, as I had two other job
offers at the time). I was laid off in November, 2001 and the company has
ceased to exist since then.
For 18 months or so, I was a freelance writer full-time (read: "mostly unemployed and poor"). I have had 16 books published (since 1995--I did the freelance thing on the side for some time). The first 15 were computer game strategy guides for Prima Publishing and Sybex, and the 16th was The Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games --a classic video game collector's guide for House of Collectibles (a division of Random House). I have also written and submitted two short stories, one of which was bought by Amazing Stories Magazine (though never published because the magazine stopped publication just prior to the issue my story was to appear in), and I have written guest columns for both GameRoom magazine (January, 2005) and Video Game Collector magazine (Fall, 2004).
After nearly succumbing to unemployment, I was lucky to be employed for about two and a half years as a "software documentation manager" at a contract research company in Chapel Hill, NC. It wasn't creative writing or game design--but it's a living. Still, I longed for the creativity of the games industry again.
Luckily, I got back in--a feat that is seldom accomplished after so long an absence. I am currently a senior game designer at Vicious Cycle Software (that same company I helped start back in 2000). Things have changed a lot--for the better--at VCS, and I am thrilled to be back in the industry I love.
I've got lots of hobbies and interests, actually, so I'll just hit the highlights.
I'm a big television and movie fan. I, arguably, spend too much time watching TV, but it's just such a great way to relax. I'm fairly particular about what I watch, though, and I only follow a few series regularly. My current favorites are Lost, 24, and CSI (the original and New York). I'm also a reality TV junkie--to an extent. I'm a loyal fan of Survivor, The Apprentice, The Amazing Race, Hell's Kitchen, and American Idol.
I'm a huge Star Trek fan, and have been since I was seven years old. If you already guessed that from just looking at this site's interface, there's a little bit of Trek geek in your blood as well.
As for movies, I like all kinds. You can find a list of my favorites as well as reviews of current films in the Movie Reviews section of this site.
I'm really into karaoke--and pretty good at it, so I'm told. I even have my own player and a library of about 1000 songs (for parties). I haven't been out singing in a while, though...gonna have to rectify that soon.
Meghan and I like to travel. We especially like scuba diving and skiing--though we haven't been skiing in several years. (We kind of have to pick one expensive sport or the other each year, and we're currently in a scuba diving phase.)
I'm also an amateur astronomer. Meghan bought me a really cool computerized telescope (a Meade ETX-90) for my birthday/anniversary present this year. It's programmed with over 10,000 different celestial objects. All you have to do is select the object you want to look at from the menu, hit the "goto" button, and voila! The telescope points to the object and automatically tracks it! There's a lot to see (even from our light-polluted front yard). Over the summer, I've looked at Mars, the Andromeda Galaxy, and countless star clusters. I'm anxiously awaiting winter, though. The most interesting objects--Jupiter, Saturn, The Pleiades, and the Orion Nebula, to name a few--are easily visible throughout the winter months. Check out my astronomy links for info on telescopes and helpful reference sites for amateur astronomers.
The hobby that currently consumes most of my time is collecting and restoring classic arcade games--yes, the full-sized ones. You can see my collection on my arcade site.
Check out the Arcade and Scuba sections for additional links.
A few of our favorite places that you might want to peruse...