I begun dJing in 1981, still remember the trip from the electronics store with my first 1200MKII (on a motorcycle lol!!) like one of the best and happiest days of my life, only matched by my first motorcycle purchase.
So I basically taught myself listening to mainstream clubs tapes and practicing the skills on vinyls, making my friends' ears bleed to later reward 'em with mixed tapes.
After landing a summer gig in a Sardinia club in 1985 got a residency the following winter at D-Gray in Piazza Trilussa (Trastevere, Rome, Italy). The residency short lived as I was more of an eclectic type and suffered working routines, so I ended up spinning occasionally at friends' parties or at events organized by myself.
I kept spinning also after moving to the USA in 1994, mostly private parties. I now enjoy retirement from the scene, but keep up to date with music trends and technology advances, and sometime still feel the itch to spin here and there or in the privacy of my living room :)