Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Tim’s a third-year USF doctoral student studying American culture. A communication department denizen, he spends most of his time teaching, doing research for his dissertation on poker, or writing at his Jack Tripper blog.

In his mid-twenties and a Florida resident since 2004, Tim’s a Buckeye by birth. After earning a degree in journalism from Ohio (go Bobcats! boo Buckeyes!) and a Master’s from Eastern Michigan, he spent four years teaching at a small college in Ohio’s Appalachian foothills (while teaching nights at a state prison for extra cash). Yet Florida beckoned, and Tim left friends and family behind to start a new life in Tampa.

His main interest here at Sticks is covering the goings-on at USF. South Florida is one of the largest universities in the country, yet the majority of events that happen on-campus are ignored by the mainstream Tampa Bay press. He hopes to bring some of those events to light here on Sticks. (Keep in mind that he is in no way a representative of USF here or elsewhere.)

When he’s not teaching or traveling he works on his music/comedy career — and he has the personal music site and requisite music Myspace to prove it. (He wanted us to mention that he’s looking for gigs, but with song topics like lesbian bartenders, V.D., and that chick who eats all the hot dogs, who would want him? Maybe you.)

Tim’s parents recently retired from academia and moved within driving distance. He’s dealing with it well — bourbon helps, he tells us.

To see more, read Tim’s posts on Sticks of Fire or his personal website, Jack Tripper.