Tag Archives: life

#Reverb10 Day 9 – Party

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Note: This is the ninth in a month-long exercise called Reverb10, where bloggers reflect on the year before and think towards the year ahead. The idea is to post daily, based on the day’s prompts; let’s see how well I do.

December 9 – Party Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. (Author: Shauna Reid)

It’s interesting to me that the social gatherings that most impressed me over 2010 almost all involved the Drupal community.

Back in April, I went to Drupalcon in San Francisco. Not only was it my first time at Drupalcon, but it was my first time in San Francisco – in fact, my first time on the West Coast at all. I fell in love with the weather, the environment, and all the amazing people I was meeting. Additionally, I’m enough of a nerd that any opportunity to learn something makes me overly giddy, and there was so much to learn at DrupalCon that I was a kid in a candy store for most of the week.

As it was my first time in San Francisco, I decided to stay for a few days outside the conference, and spend time with local friends in my off time. I had amazing Ethiopian food with a friend who’d moved there from Boston the previous August; and got together for an amazing dinner and drinks festival not once, but *twice*, with friend and West Coast Twin Jess Sand, who I don’t get to hang out with nearly often enough.

As often happens, most of my best memories about San Francisco involved food, restaurants and beer. Can’t say I’m not predictable. Particularly memorable:

  • Homemade bacon tater tots at Urban Tavern;
  • Violet Cassis macarons at Paulette (oh. my. lord.)
  • Racer 5 beer at Bruno’s;
  • The macaroni and cheese at Bruno’s;
  • Just about everything at Bruno’s;
  • Hanging out at a random punk bar with Jess, throwing peanuts on the floor and drinking great beer;
  • Engaging in more of the same with Jess and Sean from Design ICU (another Drupalcon attendee) at another random punk bar after a long dinner at Bruno’s, and getting into a passionate discussion on the use of “feminine wiles” to get what you want (if you can’t guess, I’m in the pro-wiles camp).

All told, I have to get back to San Francisco. I also need to get my Drupalcon tickets for Chicago.

#Reverb10 Day 8: Beautifully different (or, why I rock)

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Note: This is the eighth in a month-long exercise called Reverb10, where bloggers reflect on the year before and think towards the year ahead. The idea is to post daily, based on the day’s prompts; let’s see how well I do.

Further note: this is actually a day late, but I wrote it in my paper journal yesterday. Just sayin.

December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)

This was a difficult one for me to write. In short bursts, I have no problem coming up with a list of reasons why I rock (because I do!). But to turn that moment of pep talk into an extended blog post for the world to see – well, that’s a bit different. It feels smarmy and wrong, but part of me knows that’s just the “good girls don’t compliment themselves” training kicking in.

To be honest, I usually prefer to let other people tell me what’s good about  me. It’s fair to say that I’m one of a kind, but the whys and hows of that uniqueness are so ingrained in me that often, I fail to notice exactly what they are. They evolved from where I came from, and how I grew up.

From my mom, I got my creativity, and my ability to make it through anything that life throws at me.

Mom was, like me, a singer and an artist starting in high school, who transitioned to a career as an admin assistant – working in HR for over 20 years. Our paths diverged back in 2000, when I decided to stop treating design as something I did after work and make it my full-time career.

I also got a large chunk of my looks from my mother (you should see pictures of her from the 70s), and my tendency to worry far more than I need to. I also may have inherited some of my business savvy from her: my grandmother, I just discovered, taught business for decades before retiring.

My dad was a mechanic and computer hobbyist for most of my childhood – but I never knew him not to have a side business going. For a while, he built custom computer systems. When I was in middle school, I went with him every weekend to the Rocky Point Flea Market to help him sell shareware computer programs that he painstakingly copied onto 5-1/4 floppies every evening. From him, I got my entrepreneurial spirit, a relative comfort with failure, and affinity for computers (yes, I was a DOS baby). I also got, I must say, a boatload of charm. *ahem.*

Among these things – creativity, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a boatload of charm – I’ve also gained over the years an enormous ability to push through the fear that comes along with going after what you want. Years of theatre training and canvassing for an environmental group helped with that. In both, you go out there, day after day, and try to convince strangers that they should support you.

Many won’t, but the people who get it, will – and your job is to move on from the people who won’t so you can find the people who do get it. Of all the things that make me unique, I’d say this is the biggest. It’s not fearlessness per se; it’s the ability to kick fear’s ass so you can get what you want. It’s a willingness to take risks, because you know you’ll always land safely somewhere – even if it’s not where you expected.

#Reverb10 Day 7: Community

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Note: This is the seventh in a month-long exercise called Reverb10, where bloggers reflect on the year before and think towards the year ahead. The idea is to post daily, based on the day’s prompts; let’s see how well I do.

Prompt: Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?

It’s hard to pin down a community that I only discovered in 2010. I’ve been a member of the Drupal community for over 2 years now, part of my community of friends anywhere from 5 years to over a decade, and a member of the local food community for at least 2 years. Add that to 5 years in the sustainable business community and… you can see where this is going. I have too many communities.

If there was one place I can really say that I “discovered” community this year, it was with my family. Sounds odd, given I was born into them, but I’ve had odd relationships with most of my family for much of my life. Then the wedding happened, and despite some moments where things just got odd (ask me about the cat. Go ahead), I realized that this was the family I was stuck with, and no matter what, they would be proud of me.

There was a lot of healing in that weekend.

#Reverb10 Day 5: Let Go.

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Note: This is the fifth in a month-long exercise called Reverb10, where bloggers reflect on the year before and think towards the year ahead. The idea is to post daily, based on the day’s prompts; let’s see how well I do.

December 5: Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

Many, many ideas that kept me from going back to school. The feeling that I had to keep running a business or else I’d be a “failure.” My gall bladder (gotta love that, right?). RELATED: my yoga practice – which I want to get back.

There were people, things, and concepts that I dropped this year; some for carefully calculated reasons – and others just because I had reached my breaking point. As 2011 inches closer, I have a feeling that more things will end up shaking off my plate. I’m not sure what they’ll be yet, but it’s nice to be in a place where growth is happening.

For my own perspective, I created this today: an infographic timeline of my education and career for the past 20 years. I’d been thinking about this since the Boston Chamber of Commerce meeting last Wednesday, when the Marketing VP at Bank of America shared the story of the circuitous route she took to where she is today, in charge of one of the largest banking brands in the world. Her message, which I took to heart, was that it’s not always clear at the outset where you’ll end up, but the point is to look at the opportunities, and jump on them.

A brief history of the last 20 years. Click to embiggen.

As a college theatre student in the mid-90s, I never thought I’d get into design. As a print designer in the early 2000s, I never dreamed I’d be into web design. And although I always knew I’d run my own business someday, I didn’t think it would actually happen until I was already doing it. None of it was planned in any real way; it happened because that was the opportunity I was presented with.

Yep, that’s about all I can say about that.

Reverb10 Day 4: Wonder

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Note: This is the fourth in a month-long exercise called Reverb10, where bloggers reflect on the year before and think towards the year ahead. The idea is to post daily, based on the day’s prompts; let’s see how well I do.

December 4 – Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?

In 2010, wonder (in the childlike sense) was hard to come by – until, on the verge of burnout, I decided that it was time to reinvest some time into personal projects.
The most obvious one is this site – which I decided to use as a chance to push myself creatively, and come at a project from a more conceptual angle. In case you can’t tell, the idea behind this site comes from the “ideal notebook” I’ve always imagined – one that was based on a dot grid, had color-coded tabs for organization, and a pretty patterned cover. I still have elements of the user experience to tweak, but as a first iteration, it was delightful to watch come together.

The second project, and one that’s still very much in process, has been actually designing said Perfect Notebook – something that I’m starting to work on with the lovely Miss Holly Gordon. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been gathering materials, playing with prototypes, learning letterpress and bookbinding, and perfecting the interior pages as well as the organizing system. The ultimate goal is to sell them, but the point of the notebook isn’t really a business as much as it is a creative outlet, and a notebook that I can use to replace the 2-3 notebooks I carry with me daily – a goal I’ve had for the last five years.

If you want to see some of the prototypes, check out the pics below. I’m guessing that this project will be one of the big sources of wonder I’ll be working with in 2011.