About This Blog

My name is Amy L. Piazza - and I am what is considered to be a "damn yankee" by Charleston, SC standards. I *think* that means that I am a northerner who came to visit the glorious old south and never left. And those 5 people who can trace their ancestral heritage back 300 years to this area think that's an abomination.

Technically speaking - I am a southerner. It's just that relative to Charleston, I'm not.

I was born in Bowie, Maryland (SOUTH of the Mason-Dixon line). I grew up in suburban Washington DC and managed to come out of Catholic School relatively unharmed. I suffered through public high school and I think I was one of the last people on the planet to get a Bachelor's degree in 4 years.

College is where my move to the deep south begins...

Starting in my infancy, I was hell bent on going to Saint Mary's College of Maryland (call that subliminal messaging from my mother). It was on the water, it had a great biology program, it was a "public honors college." I got in as soon as I could apply and showed up for class - and promptly hated it. It was surrounded by corn and tobacco fields and the only thing to do was poke fun of the townies and shop at Wal-mart. EW!

So in the middle of my sophomore year, I elected to transfer to the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC. It was a glorious move. There was no more ice, snow or winter crap and there was WAAAAYYY more to do than browsing the aisles of Wal-Mart. In fact, there was so much more to do that I often forgot about my classes. I had a few speed bumps, but I managed to get in and get out within that magical 4 year window and walked away with a B.A in Biology in 1997. Oh, and I guess I can speak some half-assed Italian too.

So I went back to DC for a few years, worked in NE and lived on Captiol Hill. It was kind of cool. It was also the murder capitol of the world. When I had to freeze a giant Banana Slug that I found in my kitchen and mail it to my landlord as proof that he had to get an exterminator - I opted to move.

When my parents were planning each others murder in leu of retirement, I decided that my mother and I would move to Charleston so she could look for a house for their post-retirement bliss. Using my super-human powers of persuasion I convinced my boss that it was for the best that become a "remote" employee, then I bought a house on James Island, and moved - leaving my entire life thus far behind me. Except for my mother, who lived with me for 9 months before moving into a new home of her own.

I have been here for 6 years now. I don't have to ask for directions any longer - I just know that you have to turn by the crooked dead pine tree.

So that brings us to my current situation - I have moved to suburban (can you say cyclical?) Charleston where I am laughed at on a regular basis for living in the sticks and horribly far from civilization. Here is where I am learning to embrace my new-found redneck glory. With the help of my wonderfully ignorant husband, Travis, and my three dogs, three cats, and 5 ducks.

I still work remotely for a AOL, and my team is based in Dulles, VA. I'm a principal web technologist for the AOL Developer Network. I run the dev.aol.com web site. [NO - I DON'T DO TECH SUPPORT SO DON'T TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS]

This blog is going to chronicle my journey into eventual, if reluctant, acceptance of the redneck lifestyle of South Carolina. Wish me luck - I really HATE mayonnaise.