Wendy Wheeler Miscellaneous Interests

Here's the page for all those interests I couldn't squeeze into anywhere else!

High Tech in Austin, Texas

My day job is in Austin, Texas in the Marketing Communications Department for the Financial Services Group of CSC, one of the largest IT services companies in the world. Thanks in part to teaching myself html and making an electronic portfolio page, from 1997 through 2003, I built the Marketing Department for Austin-based PlanView, Inc., a high-end project management software company.

Austin is such a great town--lots of art and theater, writers and performers all around, tons of live music, with lakes and rivers and the hill country all around. Plus, it's the most liberal town in Texas, maybe in the southwest USA.

Game Design -- A New Skill

Jennifer Evans and I had an idea for a collectible card game--like Magic: The Gathering and oh-so-many others. What we made was pretty cool! Our prototype was in redesign twice for Wizards of the Coast in Seattle, the multi-million dollar game company who produced Magic. Instead, they released the Pokemon card games. (Is there any money in that?:)

We hope to get back to promoting our card game again someday. Many thanks to the game-playing folks of Austin, Texas who game tested for us and were very vocal about what they liked and what else they wanted to see! They've signed non-disclosure agreements so you can't pump them for information, but warm wishes especially to: Fred Askew, Bill Call, Robert Gatliff, Jim Gould, Marty Hoff, Clayton Hunter, Jay Lake, Robert Lawrence, Stephen McNally, Eric McVicker, Jeff Shaevel, Kevin Triplett, and Russ Williams. And to folks who discussed generalities with us: Don Webb and Allen Varney.

WebComix!

My erstwhile Austin friend, Russ Williams, became fascinated with on-line comics and created his own wacky and ecletic site, www.koFightClub.com for a couple of years. I made a few guest strips to keep his content fresh when he traveled sometimes. These things are conceived, written, drawn and produced by me--and are about how funny (ha-ha AND strange) web comix artists and gamers seem to be.

Comix 1

For the whole "True Life vs Web Comix" Strip #1, click here.

Comix 2

For the whole "True Life vs Web Comix" Strip #2, click here.

Comix 3

For the whole "Hair-Raising Tales of RussCon," click here.

Comix 4

For the whole "Math Geek Joke," click here.

Myths and Archetypes

I'm a sometime member of the Jung Society of Austin, a student of Joseph Campbell Mythology, and a regular attendee of the Mythic Journeys Conference held in Atlanta every other year on the anniversary of Campbell's birthday. I also use the structures of myths in my own fiction and screenwriting, and have been lucky enough to workshop with Chris Vogler, author of The Writers Journey. As a kid I read every myth or legend of every culture I could find, which probably accounts for much of my writing style now.

Metaphysics!

Yep, I'm a meditator. I believe in energy fields, applied kineseology, reincarnation, aromatherapy, Feng Shui. I've been doing dream analysis with an Edgar Cayce ARE study group for over 20 years, and the insights and strengthening of my intuition have been POWERFUL! I go to at least a couple of New Age workshops a year, because I always learn cool things.

Okay, yes. I have a hard time with some of the woo-woo New Age theories, too. Still, your reality is your reality and that's totally okay in my book! We all have a spiritual dimension to us that is grander and more connected than the puny ego selves we have here on earth. And the Law of Grace supercedes the Law of Karma. Meaning: Just accept your forgiveness and get over how badass you are.

World Travel

London and South England, May 2000. Me sitting and wishing (hence, the closed eyes) on the "Wishing Rock" at Avebury in southern England. The standing stones in this tiny Wiltshire village are sooooo incredible and powerful. What a cool place Glastonbury is! J4 and I had an amazing 3.5 days there staying in a beautiful and funky B&B on the path to the Tor.

Paris, November 2000. This picture of me on the Champs Elysee, the famous main street in Paris, was taken at night. It's pretty dark, but you can still see the Arch of Triumph behind us. This trip was also for business, so those are my European co-workers bowing before me. I was freaked a little to travel alone to a country with another language, so I brushed up with a book and a tutor. But I had a good time, spoke French okay, saw tons of gorgeous art, ate great food, and did the Paris thing!

Muir Beach, California, September 2003. Russ Willliams and I spent six days visiting our friend Jonathan Campbell, or Sea Biscuit, as we call him. That's him here. He moved to San Francisco to get a culinary arts degree, and we stayed at his place in the heart of SF. Oh, the sights we saw! If you're really curious, download a PDF of the photo album I desktop published, this one with captions (1.7 Mb download). You'll need Acrobat Reader.

Tucson, Arizona, 2005. I went to visit my friend Tom Konrad and his wife Karen at their beautiful home in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Got to spend a day at the world's largest gem & mineral show held in Tucson every February! Also saw gorgeous desert scenery like in this photo, and spent a day at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen West. And since I asked Tom, an investor, to give me financial advice during the visit, the guy later became an environmentally-focused investment counselor!

Hemingway House, Key West, April 2006. Niecie, my friend from work, and I had almost a week in Florida. Though I'd been to the Orlando area several times, and to Pensicola, this was my first time to experience Key Biscayne (the elegant, sumptuous Ritz-Carlton), Miami Beach, and then the 8-hour drive down to Key West. What a party town that is! More photos and details of travels are found on my LiveJournal blog.

Photography

Black & White Photography Here's a photo I took of some kids at Extend-A-Care. It won a Silver Award in the United Way National Photo Contest! I enjoy photography, but don't get to do it much anymore...
Another Black & White Photo This photo, despite the weathered look of the wood, was taken at an amusement park in San Marcos, TX! It won me a 1st prize in a local contest (in which I won 3rd prize also--must've been a slow year). It's mostly a study in textures.

My Babies

My furry, whiskered "children"
Like so many writers, I am the proud "parent" of kitty cats--two handsome and high-prrrsonality ones. Mojo is the red tabby, female Manx -- a spooky smart female "stubbie" (i.e., nubbin of a tail). Tucker Smallwood is a 25-pound, neutered-male tuxedo cat who loves people and other animals. Tucker loves parties at the Henhouse but Mojo is big on hiding beneath furniture.