Christopher Michael Pastore

About

Web Standards, Semantic Well-formed Code is what I am about. Web Sites, User Interfaces, User Experience, Graphic and Front-End Design is what I do. With over 15 years experience in the industry, I am fueled by semantic well-formed code and a deep love and passion for XHTML, CSS, Web Standards and all things graphical. I plan, organize and design simple, useable and attractive interfaces that account for speed, file size, readability and accessibility - using web standards. My operating system of choice is Macintosh OS X.

Something To Believe In

I believe in quality above quantity, in doing one thing and doing it the best you can. I believe in web standards, semantic markup, usability and accessibility online for the handicapped. I believe in the power of the separation of document structure, presentation and functionality so that one document can serve all devices. I believe that anything that is designed, can be improved over time. I believe that content is king and should be styled and made to be easily readable. I believe in fixing the broken and not simply patching it with a CSS Hack or IE Conditional Statement. I believe in something worth believing in, do you?

Hobbies

I have recently returned to reading and collecting comic books and graphic novels. I've been away from the comic world for over 20 years and never thought I would ever get back into it. I listen to many Podcasts about comic books, web standards, design and technology. DVDs are usually flooding into my mailbox from NetFlix. I watch a lot of movies and television series. My tastes are all over the place when it comes to movies and television series. I really like shows with an ongoing and interesting story-line. Among my favorite shows are Firefly, Deadwood, BattleStar Galactica, Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Babylon 5, Lost and Oz.

Music

I am heavily into music and have a wide variety of tastes in music. However, my main focus is Country, Classic Rock and Hair Bands from the 70's, 80's and 90's both new and classic. I hate today's Rock and Metal, it all sounds the same. I am a musician who has been playing drums for over 24 years, I know what makes good music and what musicianship is and it's lacking in the 90's and today. I have been in many bands over my lifetime back when I was living in New York and hope to one day again start recording and performing on-stage with one in Texas.

Crosby, Texas

Right outside of Crosby is where I live and it is on Farm Road 2100 near the Southern Pacific tracks two miles north of State Highway 90 and just outside the Houston city limits in eastern Harris County. The town was named for G. J. Crosby, a railroad construction engineer. Charlie Karcher opened the first store there in 1865, and the town quickly became a retail and shipping center for lumber and agricultural products from between the San Jacinto River and Cedar Bayou. A post office opened at the community in 1877, and in 1884 Crosby reported a population of fifty, a school, a Baptist church, and a general store.

By 1891 it still had fifty inhabitants, as well as a Methodist church, two livestock stables, and a general store. Local legend reports that the community had received the nickname Lick Skillet by 1898. In 1905 it had one school with four teachers and 122 students. There were 300 people in Crosby in 1925 and 600 in 1929, when it became a banking center. Its population fell to 300 during the Great Depression, but grew to 750 during World War II and then rose to 900, where it remained for most of the next twenty-five years.

Crosby reported fifty businesses and a population of 2,500 in 1976. In the early 1990s Crosby reported 238 businesses and a population estimated at 1,888, though considerably more people lived in the area at that time. In 2000 the population was 1,714 with 455 businesses.