Monthly Archives: May 2007

The Last Sunday of May

I’m somehow related to every person on this beach. This is only maybe a third of the people I spent this past Sunday with, nearly all related to me through blood or marriage. On top of that- a number of relatives weren’t able to be there. exodus In other words- my family is huge.

Granted, there should probably be an asterisk next to some of these folks. My cousin’s step-daughter’s friend would not qualify as family under most definitions. The cousins of my cousins? Debatable.

But almost every year for over 30 years my aunt and uncle have hosted us at their home on the southern Connecticut shore for a Memorial Day gathering. My aunt is my mom’s sister, and they have 4 other siblings. My uncle’s brother married one of those other siblings, so there’s some serious doubling up of relatives going on here. Also second cousins, neighbors, even parish priests stop by.

A big part of the day has been competition. My cousin Peg would invent races for the younger ones, and the “grown-ups” would have an egg toss. It was almost genteel, especially the year Grandma and Grandpa L. were secretly given a hard-boiled egg and Grandma L. never caught on, even as the shell began peeling away!

As the kids became grown-ups, and a new generation joined us, the competitions continued. The egg toss became a water-balloon toss. We quickly outgrew the yard and the finalists continued in the road. Soon the number of competitors outgrew even that, and the water-balloon toss was moved up to the beach along the Long Island Sound, just a short walk away.

So for the past few years we’ve arrived en masse and taken over a section of beach, away from the lifeguards, near the jetty. Cars slow down to watch as they go by. Folks walking their dogs ask who we are, what we’re doing. When we tell them I detect a slight note of jealousy.

And they should be at least a little jealous. We’ve got something special here. Most of us see each other only this one time a year, but the traditions are entrenched. The fourth generation continues to grow, and some of them are adults themselves. We share dreams, we share hopes, we share joys, we share hardships, we share loss. And we share the last Sunday of May.

May 30, 2007 – 7:16 pm
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Andy & The Dog

My oldest taking a break from working on our new deck to play with Desti at the door.

Andy & the dog

May 25, 2007 – 4:42 pm
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(Not so) quick autobiography

Chris Brogan’s talent is asking good questions. He’s one of my favorite Twitter-buds because he just throws thoughts and questions out there and gets responses from all kinds of people.
The other day he wrote a quick autobiography, and today he asks everyone else to do the same, even providing a framework for it. My first reaction was that I can’t really answer these questions as asked- and Chris asked why not?

Ok, why not? Because I’ve been out of the workforce for nearly 2 decades. But does that really make a difference? Let’s give it a try.

The thing most people know me for is…
Real Life
Being a full-time SAHM to three sons. Volunteering locally. Most know I do “internet stuff” but don’t know what that is exactly.
Virtual Life
Being a tenacious geek & problem solver, very private about my personal life (with the very notable exception of the members of an email group I’ve known for 12 years, who may just know me better than my husband at this point!) Obviously I’m not as private as I used to be, though.

The people I associate the most with are…
Real Life
My husband and kids. Other parents, people I’ve mostly met through activities my kids have been involved with.
Virtual Life
All types of people I’ve met in all types of places! The only thing they have in common is that they know how to communicate via the internet. Some are fellow parents. Some have no kids. Some are single, some are married. Some are gay, some are straight. Some are religious, some are atheists. Some are old, some are young. They all bring something unique to the table, and that’s why I hang out with them.

People who have influenced my life are…
My husband, no doubt the strongest influence. And I’ve been the strongest influence on his, as well. We’ve known each other since we were 15, ‘nuf said.
My kids who continually teach me and challenge me and mostly, surprise me and force me to change direction.
One particular college professor who made me look at communications technologies (meaning mostly video back then) in new and exciting ways, despite a horrible lack of usable equipment.
My 7th grade teacher who went back to work when her kids were grown.
Countless writers.

One challenge I took on and overcame was…
Real Life
Staying home with my kids for 18 years (so far)! We made a lot of hard choices, especially in the early years. Financial choices, emotional choices, even losing friends in the process, sad to say. Tally up the costs v benefits, though, and the benefits win. Big time.
Virtual Life
Taught myself html, css, and enough about Javascript, MySQL and PHP to get by. Same with graphic design. Took over as admin of a forum in the midst of chaos and helped salvage it, that was kinda cool.

My early years, before you probably got to know me were…
Private. Very private. I’ve been online for 12 years and if you Google me you’ll find one reference from prior to this year that includes my last name, a poem I wrote 10 years ago that was published in an online ‘zine. Before having babies I worked for a cellular phone service as I mentioned previously, and I used to manage a record store that actually sold records. That was fun.

You might not know this, but …
I’ve written something, even if just an email to a group of friends or a blog entry, almost every day for over 12 years (= when I got my first PC.) I have a huge archive of things I’ve written that I’m sure I’ll never read again. Most of it is personal, journal-type stuff. I used to want to write fiction but never had the knack for it. The personal essay is much more my thing, which is why I love blogging so much. Lately I’m trying to tackle more journalistic stuff as well.

Also, I hate to cook and I totally suck at it.

I’m passionate about…
Communication. I’m fascinated with the ways new technologies make it easier for people to communicate, and equally fascinated by the number of people who express no interest at all in using new technologies! Also, the creative uses of communications technologies, which is a throwback to when I was learning about video art and the history of early TV in college. I see lots of parallels, and imagine that at some point internet video combined with chat, things like Skype, and who knows what else will change the way we entertain ourselves, just like TV did. I’m having such fun meeting people who are interested in the same things.

In the next year or two, I hope to…
I hope to continue to be home when my kids get home from school most days, even as they get older.
I hope to find a way to earn some money that allows for that, but isn’t just a “job.”
I hope Pixel Currents is reasonably successful.
I hope to write for publication.
I hope to continue to volunteer, especially with kids.
I hope to stay healthy and get stronger.

I have to admit, having the constraint of the questions posed by Chris helped. Some of the things I’ve written I’d like to expand on more, and I probably will at some point. A lot of the detail and reasoning behind it all is missing.

So, friends, family, strangers, future employers… there you have it.

May 24, 2007 – 12:31 pm
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Exercise Ball, Day 28: Leo’s popped

I didn’t realize it, but Leo Laporte’s been sitting on an exercise ball at his computer for awhile now. Today I checked out my Jaiku feed (kinda like Twitter) and found this:

My fitness ball/office chair exploded right in the middle of TWiT.

He’s fine, the ball is not.

I’ve mentioned before that my biggest fear using the ball as a chair is that it’ll pop under me. Initially when I heard this I was a bit concerned, but apparently Leo has been doing something on his chair that I haven’t.

(Leo Laporte has a podcast called This Week in Tech and a bunch more under the TWiT umbrella. If you’re not into the new-fangled podcast thing he’s The Tech Guy on the radio, too.)

As for me, I’m still using the ball, but not constantly, mostly when I’m just surfing as opposed to when I’m doing any work or writing. Just too low for me to type comfortably. Also, on warmer days it gets a bit… sticky. Soon the a/c will be on, that should help.

May 21, 2007 – 3:37 pm
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How JoCo Did It

I’ve been a fan of Jonathan Coulton for awhile now, which in internet years is about six or eight months, maybe? I first came across Coulton via the audiobook version of John Hodgman’s The Areas of My Expertise, which was a free download at iTunes for awhile (coincidently I’d just purchased the actual book, so it was a nice little bonus to have it on my iPod as well). He contributed some musical accompaniment to the audiobook. A month or so later I heard the song “Shop Vac,” an ode to suburbia, on the podcast The Sound of Young America.

I like the Starbucks here that’s better than the other one
Cause the other one’s not as good
They really need to put a light there cause it’s hard to turn
It’s hard to make a left turn

Yes, yes it is hard to make a left turn! I was almost completely hooked- then one listen to the love story that is Skullcrusher Mountain and the man had a fan for life in me.

I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don’t like it
What’s with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies
Maybe you don’t like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn’t it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?

I suppose you’re getting an idea of my sense of humor here. Have a listen, it’s quite catchy!

Yesterday Coulton published in his blog what he rightfully says up front is “a very long post.” But in that post he takes us step by step through his journey from amateur musician just helping a friend to a guy who was able to quit his day job and make music his career, all with lots of help from the internet.

Coulton’s story is exactly what fascinates me about this whole new media/internet/blogging/podcasting world. It shows how it all worked together, and how being open and available to new ideas and new methods can result in big rewards. I don’t think it applies only to music, of course. Anyone willing to change direction, try new things, make new friends, fly through new openings, can potentially change the course of their lives for the better, or at least for the more interesting.

At least that’s what I’m hoping!

May 19, 2007 – 1:16 pm
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