Peter Surowski is a web developer at Intersect Digital, a professor at Fullerton College, Citrus College and University of Texas, Austin. He was born in Anaheim, CA just a few blocks from Disneyland, but his folks dragged him kicking and screaming from the happiest place on earth when he was seven and planted him in Canyon Lake. Despite all the fun things for kids to do in Canyon Lake in the late
'80s, such as kicking rocks and whistling, Peter holed up in his bedroom, played video games and read comic books for about ten years. When he was a teenager, he decided it would really irritate his parents if he learned to play drums, so he did. Somehow, he managed to make a living giving music lessons and working odd jobs through his early 20s. Meanwhile, he had a daughter and named her Annabelle Lee. She made a mess, disobeyed him and cost him a lot of money, but he loves her uncontrollably. He does not know why. In his early 20s, Peter got tired of trying and failing to be a rock star. He went to college and got a bachelor's degree in history. Failing to find any classified ads seeking professional historians, he took up freelance web development. Something about this work enchanted him. The long hours and low wages likely appealed to his ascetic nature. He's been at it ever since. After spending a few years as a newspaper journalist at a small-town newspaper in northern San Diego County, he took the position of webmaster of a magazine company best known for its industry periodicals. Then he spent a couple more years managing web properties with AOL, then joined the web team at the Press-Enterprise newspaper. Having failed to learn his lesson the first time, he went back to college and got his master's degree in communications. Totally unrelated to his job, he loves reading, cycling, doing capoeira and playing chess. He also runs marathons, which are a lot like his college career: long, painful and arguably fruitless. He has since had two more daughters. They're so cute that it makes Peter sick. He loves them despite the constant nausea. Today Peter lives in Riverside with his two daughters and his wife, who is surviving being married to him rather admirably.
