My name is Dustin. Devoted avoider of regular employment and Stuff of Epics. A native North Carolina-man and now permanent resident of Bed-Stuy - Brooklyn, NY, where my wife, Alicia, my son Atlas 42 (yes, his real name) and I represent .00000025 percent of the city’s population. We are expecting our second son on September 15, 2012.

In 1992 I was forced to retired as a Quartermaster from the US Navy after just a little over 2 years of service. This was due to a near fatal car accident while driving across country, where I suddenly found myself at the bottom of a 90 foot cliff off I-40 in Kingman, AZ. I suffered paralysis in my right arm and left leg, a collapsed lung, 200+ stitches in my back, failed kidneys and “compartment syndrome”. After multiple surgeries, I was told I would never walk or use my arm again. I spent 6 months in various Government and Civilian hospitals in physical therapy and refusing doctors advice that I should amputate my arm and leg. Both eventually healed (more or less) enough that I could lead a somewhat normal life again and I moved from Los Angeles back to NC.

While there, I attended UNC-G and there I studied Housing and Interior Design. I then moved to Brooklyn in 1998 to study Architecture at Pratt Institute. A myriad of jobs, experiences and my community roots now allow me to proudly call myself a New Yorker.

I’m a now a Bartender in Brooklyn who’s dedicated to the craft of the cocktail. I’m currently in the early stages of opening my own bar in Bed-Stuy and a vintage home furnishings store in Williamsburg. I’m also a full-time Stay at Home Dad that cooks, cleans, and does DIY projects around the house …I blog about many of these experiences. 

Alicia is from Jersey City, NJ and studied Fine Art at SVA., she also holds her Master’s in Business (Operations Management) and a 2nd Master’s in Education.  We met on an Amateur Pool League Team in Manhattan in 2002 where we ended up winning the City Championship. We’ve since amassed 7 more (Division, City and Tri-Cup) trophies. In 2005 Alicia asked me to marry her and we were married that same year in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Alicia is beauty and brains…she’s a former model who is now a Special Education Middle School Teacher in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.  In April of 2010, just 6 months after Atlas was born, Alicia was diagnosed with MS. 

This is our story…

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To my sons,

This document is a mirror, a compass and a record. It is yesterday and tomorrow, right now. It represents our memory of yesterdays, my hopes for tomorrows, and your bounty as men. It is a legacy.

Know that there is no superior compliment a man can be paid than it be said of him to be “a great man”. The weight of these words is heavy and the burden to achievement is great. I hope this to be your destiny. As we make the journey towards this goal, your efforts will yield epic conquests and remarkable failures. I will support both of you through them all.

Love,
—Dad

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PARENTING PHILOSOPHY

• We reject the idea that parenting requires hard work
• We pledge to leave our children alone
• We reject the rampant consumerism that invades children from the moment they are born
• We read them poetry and fantastic stories without morals
• We drink alcohol without guilt
• We reject the inner Puritan
• We don’t waste money on family days out and holidays
• An idle parent is a thrifty parent
• An idle parent is a creative parent
• We lie in bed for as long as possible
• We try not to interfere
• We play in the fields and forests
• We push them into the garden and shut the door so we can clean the house
• We both work as little as possible, particularly when the kids are small
• Time is more important than money
• Happy mess is better than miserable tidiness
• Down with school
• We fill the house with music and merriment
• We reject health and safety guidelines
• We embrace responsibility
• There are many paths
• More play, less work