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Who is Brandon Moeller?

Did you know there’s a Brandon Moeller memorial fund? (Update, July 15, 2010: http://www.brandonsgift.com/ is no longer a valid link.)

Or that I can run an 8k in 28:08.8? I hope that’s fast.

Or that I practice as a beat pharmacist and echologist?

Or that I wrote a disgraceful song about ether and a candy peter that would make Chip Taylor or, anyone – for that matter – shudder.

Apparently, I’m also back in high school, pledging to be drug free (Update, July 15, 2010: http://www.fortdodge.org/charactercounts/pdf/13.pdf is no longer a working link), writing for the school newspaper, and wrestling every chance I get. While, all the time, looking (Update, July 15, 2010: http://www.fortdodge.org/charactercounts/pdf/13.pdf is no longer a working link) like a guy who I did go to high school with, but who apparently doesn’t have a Web presence. Confused?

I’m talking about my googlegangers.

Here’s the definition from Urban Dictionary:

Similar to that of a doppleganger, it is another individual with the same name as you whose records and/or stories are mixed in with your own when you Google yourself.

It’s true. Just google me.

And now to leave you with a quote, from Ben Folds:

“Seems the police had made a computer mistake
Said there must be thousands like me with the
Same name”

WordPress themes …

Well, of course, I’m not going to let this default theme that comes with WordPress sit up here for long. At first glance, here are a couple that have caught my eye on the official theme site:

Dust 3.17 This one is pretty cool, and apparently involves rotating downtown views from across the world. But I’d have to go in and modify some of its ultra-modern annoyances.

Darkwater 1.1 This one includes a photo of the ocean, which, of course is a plus. And maybe I’ll be able to modify it to change out the background photo from time to time. Hmm….

What do you think?

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

This post marks when I first installed WordPress on my web server and began creating with this dynamic platform. Posts dated before this post are historical posts from previous personal website(s) and/or samples from my professional portfolio.

News page layout and design

At the Tomball Potpourri, not only was I tasked with writing stories and taking photos to accompany the stories, but I also designed the interior news pages using QuarkXPress and Adobe Photoshop.

Here are the page I designed for the March 7, 2007 issue.

I was in charge of writing all headlines, sizing the photographs and creating graphics to accompany the stories.

layout work
My layout work on the March 7, 2007 issue of the Tomball Potpourri.

Download the PDF of my March 7, 2007 layout design.

Tomball Potpourri page layout

This is a news page I designed for the Tomball/Magnolia Potpourri.

Tomball Potpourri news page layout
From the Feb. 7, 2007 issue of The Tomball Potpourri.

I’m particularly proud of the design of the table that lists the FFA award winners, the headlines I wrote for the FFA story and the column of photos and the photo I snapped of City Council member David Quinn.

News layout
This screen capture of the page design captures the three elements I'm most proud of.

This page was designed using Adobe Photoshop and QuarkXPress.

Boy, 10, could face felony charges for messing with fire alarm

A story I wrote about a fifth grade student who was arrested on facing felony charges after a neighborhood friend dared him to touch a fire alarm at school appears in today’s Tomball Potpourri.

First Casey Harmeier story
I wrote a story about Casey Harmeier, 10, who was arrested on the orders of a Tomball principal.

Before my story ran, we shared it with ABC Channel 13, who covered the story. Houston Community Newspapers has a partnership with the local television news station. After my story ran, local Houston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey also began writing about the case.

Here is the first four paragraphs of the story.

A Tomball student was arrested Oct. 25 for allegedly setting off a fire alarm at his intermediate school.

“I need you to teach these boys a lesson,” is what 10-year-old Beckendorf Intermediate School student Casey Harmeier said he heard his principal tell a Tomball Police Department officer after the boy admitted to pulling a fire alarm at the school. The boy said he did it after being dared to remove the plastic cover of the
alarm by a neighborhood friend.

Tomball Independent School District spokesperson Staci Stanfield confirmed the boy was arrested, but speaking on behalf of Beckendorf Intermediate School Principal Delores Guidry, she said Guidry told her she did not make the remarks Harmeier alleges.

After questioning the fifth grade student and others who were present when the incident happened Oct. 25, TPD Officer Paul Overcast arrested Harmeier and took him to the Tomball jail where his parents later picked him up.

Download a PDF of the story.