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A Little About Me
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Welcome to the wonderful world of my home page. Please remain seated at all times keeping your hands and arms inside the vehicle until the ride has come to full and complete stop. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your stay. :-)
Hello and thank you for stopping in to say hello. The purpose of this page is for those of you who don't know me very well, if at all, to get a better insight of the man they call Tom Beeman. And for those of you who already know me quite well, this is a chance to see my creative side at work and learn about some of the little things that aren't always brought up in conversation. Look around and maybe you'll recognize a name or three. And, as always, feel free to sign my guest book before you leave today.
In case you haven't figured it out already, the person in the picture to the right is me!! I am a 25 year old grad student at California State University, Long Beach where I am working on my Single Subject Teaching Credential in Foreign Language (hopefully to be completed by Spring 2000). When I am finished with that I will ponder the idea of working on my other declared major -- an M.A. in Linguistics with a special concentration in Spanish Pedagogy. In May 1998 I received my B.A. in Spanish Language and Linguistics from CSULB. In May 1994 I received my A.A. degree from Golden West College where I learned to deal with people who double crossed me on a daily basis. And in June 1992 I received my high school diploma from Westminster High School (Go Lions!! C/O '92 RULES!!) where I met my best friend Rachel Parquet (see below).
Some of my other skills include being fairly computer literate, a slight knowledge of Italian and a strong knowledge of Sign Language. I have worked with high school students in the Program for English Language Learners and my ultimate goal is to teach Spanish to high school students who are trying to learn the language like I did when I was in high school.
My hobbies include politics, taking mini-vacations, Spanish TV, The Stephanie Miller Show on radio, and all the fun things there are to do here in Southern California (i.e. Tijuana, the beach, etc.).
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My Friends
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My friends are a very important part of my life. Although not all of you are geographically close, you have all touched me in your own way and I want to thank each of you for that. Below is a list of those who stand out above the rest.
Rachel (that's her on the right) - I've known you for almost 10 years now and I feel like we are family. You have always been there for me and that is why we call you Mommie.
Rich - You made me laugh when I broke up with Psycho Melissa last year. You better marry that girl, boy! :-)
Cam - U2 rocks!! Did anyone ever tell you that you would make a great fly on the wall?
Anthony - The Mighty Reillk has spoken. "People should be illeagal."
Charlie - Thanks for being my sounding board with Wonder Boy. It's a wonder I haven't been committed.
Bobby - We call you Wonder Boy because we wonder what you are doing and we wonder if YOU even know what you are doing.
Karen - I wonder if Public Enemy #1 is usurping his powers with those dairy ads. :-)
Yolanda - !Hay chinelas de juangochis! I owe you my all, for it is you who inspired me to be a Spanish teacher.
Maria - You have given me a passion for Linguistcs and I will never forget all you have given me. Full time professor, wife, and mother of three -- you are one amazing person.
Claire - Your patience and guidance were a big key in my success at CSULB.
Marty and Jessica - I can still remember the days of "unclebiotics" as a kid in Hinckley and go-carting in Brunswick. Thank you for always being there no matter the disaster.
There are many other people out there whose names I have not mentioned. I have not forgotten about any of you. There are so many people, both friends and ex-friends, who have had an impact on me. Never give up on yoursleves because no matter how bad things may seem, I am right here for you as you have been for me.
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My Wacky Adventures
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Well, I've certainly had some interesting adventures over the past few years. The picture to the right is Karen, our friend Steve, and myself at Steve's wedding back in 1995. Seeing all the people at the wedding reminded all of us of the good times and the nightmares we encountered at Golden West College (the three of us met each other in student government there) . Although that was a memorable occasion, nothing compares to the adventures that I have experienced while out of town.
Date: June 1997
Place: Virginia
I was in Virginia visiting Uncle Marty and Aunt Jessica. I had rented a car to go up to D.C. to see my friend Heidi (we met back in 8th grade on a trip to D.C. ironically enough). Well, I was about 25 miles away from her house when I lost control of my vehicle due to road work. Instead of letting my car hit the wall, I overcompensated the wheel and spun around several times out into 4 lanes of traffic on I-95. Once I hit the fast lane a big rig truck slammed into my driver's side door. I managed to total my car, dent the guardrail, and cause his truck to jack knife. I was slightly injured with possible bruised ribs, but he had much more sever injuries. He had a dislocated sholder and collar bone and a big gash on his forhead. Strange,he hit me and yet he sustained the majority of the injuries. Fortunately, he was going to recover with some medical attention and physical therapy. As you might have guessed, it put a damper on my vacation. It certainly was fun trying to sustain jerky rollercoasters at Busch Gardens with a sore rib cage. But despite that, I had a great time and would love to go back again.
Date: August 1998
Place: Miami, Florida
As part of my graduation gift, I got to go to Miami for two weeks to visit my friend Jose. We got caught in a huge rain storm waiting for the bus to take us back to his dorm and I got into a little verbal scuffle with a couple of prostitutes down on South Beach just to name a few of the things that happened. The most ironic thing happened at the Hard Rock Cafe. We went there twice and both times I talked with the same lady working at the souvenier counter. I was wearing a CSULB shirt the first time we went there and that sparked conversation between the two of us. As it turned out, she went to CSULB around the same time as me (although she graduated before me), we had the same major, and were both interested in the same career. "And isn't ironic, don't you think?" I had a great time in Miami!! In fact, I started looking into jobs there and the possibility of enrolling at FIU (Florida International University). Unfortunately, the job market didn't work out otherwise I would be living there right now.
Date: February 1999
Place: Tijuana, Mexico
I went down to Tijuana for the day with my friend Jason. I love going to TJ and just partying!! Well, I made the mistake of parking in an outlet mall shopping center in San Ysidro (the US side of the border). Well, it turns out it was only 2 hour parking and when we got back, my car was nowhere to be seen. YIKES!! After calming down, we called the police and found out my car had been towed to a place about a mile or so up the street. Well, we called the place and they said I needed $135 cash or credit card to get my car out of impound. Neither of us had enough cash nor any credit cards. At this point is now about 2:30 a.m. and as a means of desperation, I called Rachel. Well, she was willing to Western Union me the money, but had no way to get to a place to wire it to me. So then I very reluctantly called my Grandma in Ohio (I didn't want to seem like a screw up) and she was gracious enough to help. Well, we finally got the information and as it turns out Western Union was closed until 8 a.m. After going from hotel to hotel, we finally begged the one manager of this sleazy hotel to let us stay there. I told him our situation and how we were stuck there for the next 5 hours. We scrounged up what little cash we had left and got a one bed hotel room. Oh yeah, did I mention there was no phone and a TV with about 3 working channels? Needless to say, we got out of there in the morning and got my car back ok. But, man would I have been in deep doo doo if my parents had been home and I had to call them and say, "I'm in San Diego and mom's car is in impound." Don't even want to think about the lecture I would have gotten. :-)
That's about it. I hope you enjoyed your little tour today. If you want to chat with me, feel free to get in touch with me on AOL (beachgoer1), Yahoo! Messenger (chinelas_19_92), or College Club (BeachGrad98) . If I'm not around when you try to look for me, you can always e-mail me at the address at the bottom of this page. Have a great summer and "we thank you for your support."
Updated July 1, 1999
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