Biography

My name is Garet Marling, and I'm a technical communicator. What does that mean? Well, I like this definition, from the English and Technical Communication department at Missouri University of Science and Technology:

Technical communication, whether written, oral, or visual, enables people to use technology effectively, to understand technology, or to make effective decisions about real-world problems. In this context "technical" refers to technology in the broadest sense-that is, any materials or human-created processes that help people act or think. Thus, instruments and equipment are technologies, but so are methods of farming and systems of information.

I have been a technical communicator all my life, like many of my generation. We have programmed remote controls, hooked up DVD players, and read user manuals so our parents wouldn't have to. I took this a few steps further--to graduate school--and now I do it for a living. At base, I am a teacher.

I've lived in Missouri all my life. I grew up in the town of Rolla, where I attended high school. I earned my Bachelor's in English at Truman State University in Kirksville. After that, I returned to Rolla, where I earned my Master of Science in technical communication. The next day, I started work at the University of Missouri, in Columbia.

Along the way, I acquired lots of other hobbies and interests. I love to cook, and I find that nothing relieves stress better. I joke that my life is an algebraic function, in which stress goes in and pies come out.

Finally, I am the proud adoptive parent of a black Labrador Retriever named Madison, who is a connoisseuse of fine DVDs. Her favorite, which she has eaten twice, is Little Miss Sunshine.