November 28, 2005

100 things (in progress)

the year is drawing to a close and i feel the need to reflect. i'm working on my '100 things about me' list (still in progress). it will be permanently available under my picture in the far right bottom of this home page:

1. i am a native san franciscan, living and working in san francisco.
2. i attended private (parochial) schools until my junior year in high school... i feel like i've been in recovery ever since.
3. i grew up in the '60's and '70's -- vietnam war, protests, flower power, cold war, civil rights, birth control, women's liberation, men's movement, gay rights movement, altered states of consciousness, ecology movement, black power, reaganomics -- an incredible time in history
4. I attended san francisco state university off and on from 1972 to 2000 and took classes from timothy leary and angela davis. s.i. hiyakawa was in his last year as university president.


"I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."

-- S.I.Hiyakawa


5. i have a ba in psychology and a certificate in multimedia studies (internet technology and design). i am trained in web graphics production, information design, page layout and general user experience, however, i've never really worked that side of the business specifically. i work in web applications development -- production process mostly on the analysis and specification side of things -- formerly producing (and now mostly overseeing) business requirements validation, html prototyping, technical analysis and estimation, design and functional specifications, development process coordination, etc. i like what i do except for the normal things people don't like about their jobs.
6. i've been involved in the internet since 1991 and began working in the web world after making a career change in 1998.
7. my interests in technology do not stem from technology itself but from its nature to act as a catalyst in the ways we live, work together and communicate with each other.
8. in spite of number 7 above, i have been told that i am a geek. i have always been a nerd.
9. i am extremely shy and introverted. in fact, i scored at the very top of the myers briggs test for introversion. i manage my shyness with consistent, conscious effort.
10. my earliest fears were of nuclear annihilation; i remember school practice drills as a young child where we were hustled into the hallways in silence and passed boards to hold over our heads; i remember being obsessed with always knowing where to find the nearest bomb shelter.
11. i have practiced meditation off and on since my early teens.
12. i took piano lessons from the age of 7 through 20.
13. i have a horrible sense of direction which is one of the reasons why i choose not to drive on freeways without a navigator by my side. i have yet to try gps but i hear it may be my magic technology button. i'm just waiting for economics to catch up.
14. i studied and practiced tai chi and related martial arts for several years.
15. i was an avid reader until my eyesight began to turn for the worse in my forties. i have not yet had a pair of prescription glasses which will allow me to read comfortably for more than a few minutes.
16. my poor eyesight is one of my few reminders of age. otherwise, i don't really feel much different.
17. i have a very poor sense of time and space. i cannot tell you when things happened in the past, i can only say it was a long time ago or not too long ago and even then, i could be wrong.
18. sometimes, i can't tell if something really happened or if i dreamed it (although most of the time i can tell...)
19. i often dream the answers to questions or problems i've been thinking about... it's as if my brain never sleeps... it keeps on working on a problem and when i wake, i have the answer.
20. it once took me 25 minutes to find the entrance to the bay bridge once i got down to beale and market.
21. i published a newspaper for classmates in grade school. i think it was called periwinkle news.
22. i turned down a summer scholarship at the academy of art during my senior year of high school and i wonder if my life would be different if i had taken it.
23. i regret to this day some mean things i said as a teen to a neighborhood kid. i try to live consciously to minimize regrets, however, one can only do so much...
24. homeless people bother me -- probably because i don't think it takes extraordinary circumstances to become homeless and i don't have difficulty picturing myself out in the cold. i remember a time when the only homeless people i saw were winos in a very small section of town. then i remember the hospitals were closed and the mentally ill were released and they joined the winos. after that, it just got worse... i don't really understand why it seems to me that the problem became so evident, so quickly... i have always blamed reaganomics for this, however, i understand now that it's a complex problem with many root causes and elusive solutions
25. i quit an 18-year smoking habit (2 packs a day) cold turkey. withdrawal was one of the worst experiences of my life... so much so that i can't imagine falling back into the habit and quitting again. i still crave cigarettes to this day.
26. shortly after quitting, i started to gain weight and it's been a horrible battle ever since... not that i didn't have an eating problem before...
27. i love making jewelry, except when it comes time for a show and I need to produce inventory to sell... i guess that's a not-so-subtle hint that i would probably have a hard time making and selling jewelry for a living.
28. someone asked me today "did i tell the truth?" and i said i always tell the truth. i can't imagine doing it any other way... life is already too complicated
29. for me, in times of stress, it's a struggle to act consciously but i think that's when it really counts.

Posted by lesleeroberts at November 28, 2005 09:28 PM