The Fearless Blogger

Last week, Jennifer Van Grove (@jbruin) tagged me over at her site to share seven things you probably don’t know about me.  For those of you unfamiliar with this, it’s a variation of the “Five Things meme” (the difference being, well, sharing two more things).

So I now present you with seven things you may not know about me, in no particular order:

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1.  I spent most of fourth grade camping cross country.

My parents were both school teachers and my dad had a “travel sabbatical” during my fourth grade year.  This meant he had a year off from teaching to travel and visit schools around the country/world.  My folks initially considered moving us to England for a year, then decided they’d rather their kids be exposed to their own country before a place outside the US.   So we took three three-month long trips, camping in National Parks across the US and Canada in a VW mini-bus.

During one leg of the trip we had a “Little Miss Sunshine” experience when the clutch went out on the van when we were visiting Big Sur!  We ended up camping overnight in the front yard of a kind mechanic whose property overlooked some cliffs that were home to some sea lions until he could get the right part for us the next day.

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2.  I once collected spoons, teddy bears and anything James Dean.

I’ve always admired Andy Warhol’s habit of starting various collections.

I haven’t added to my James Dean collection in a year or so, but have amassed a sizable amount of photos, t-shirts, shopping bags, jewelry and other memorabilia over the years.   I used to actually drive a car with vanity plates that said “JMS DEAN”.

When I was younger, I collected souvenir spoons from places I visited.  I still remember how carefully I’d weigh out the different spoon options (yes, there were often several varieties of spoons to choose from!) at the visitor center from each National Park we camped at.

Not sure when I decided to amass a teddy bear collection (which is actually called a “hug”, to use proper terminology), and have since donated most of the bears.  But I do remember getting my first bear, dubbed Smorgasbord, at a garage sale one morning.  Smorgasbord still lives with me and holds a special place in my heart.

Now I prefer to collect Starbucks city mugs, purses, laptop bags, software and anything Apple.

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3. I used to have a serious corporate job – at an accounting firm.

Before I outed myself as a geek and social media addict/enthusiast, I worked for a well-known international public accounting firm (one of the “final four”, after Anderson was dissolved).   I’m not an account – I specialized in risk assessment, specifically around software and hardware licensing compliance and revenue assurance.  No idea what that means?  Rather than bore you with the specifics, it did mean a lot of project management, data processing, and plenty of travel opportunities.

One of the “duel-edged sword” aspects of the job was knowing I could find out on Wednesday that I needed to be in China on Monday.  Cool to find myself at the Great Wall on a week’s notice – but also kind of hard to have a personal life with a job like that.

This tidbit ties in with the next two list items.  First, the reason I left the corporate gig was  . . .

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4.  I have severe ADHD and was first diagnosed when I was 35 years old.

Apparently this is not uncommon for women, and probably could take up an entire blog post in and of itself.  Let’s just say finding this out explained a lot of things about myself that I’d been struggling with for years (chronic tardiness, procrastination, messiness, absent-mindedness .  . . ) and was a real lesson in self-forgiveness.

Three things the doctor said to me when I was first diagnosed that stood out were:

1. You initially (without meds) scored outside the standard deviation on the diagnostic tests (i.e., I’m off the charts )
2. I’m frankly amazed you made it through college, much less managed to stay employed
3. You’re job is probably the least suitable type of job for someone with ADHD

At any rate, after visiting a specialist who suggested some revisions/accommodations that my employer was unable to implement, I was laid off and frankly have never looked back.  I often say I am far less stressed and am exceedingly happier unemployed and broke than I was when I was making a six figure salary and waking up with nail-marks in the palms of my hands from making fists in my sleep.  No regrets there!

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5.  I love Excel and have a bit of a crush on pivot-tables

Even though I bought myself a MacBook Pro  when I left my job, I haven’t completely gotten over Windows (hey, I lived in Seattle for almost 10 years, how can you blame me?!).  And as much as I love words and am far more a right-brained person, I have a peculiar affection for data.  There is something incredibly gratifying about grouping and regrouping data so the numbers create a picture or idea.

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6.  I once interned at a radio station in Seattle.

I was a “modulator” and part of the “snow patrol” at 107.7 The End in Seattle in the 1990’s – just after after Kurt Colbain died.   Ah – I have so many fun memories from those days – among them: participating in a grape stomping competition, meeting No Doubt, and having Samuel Jackson bust my chops.  For any “Real World” fans out there – this is the radio station where the “Real World – Seattle” kids interned (we were there at the same time, but  I only met them once or twice).

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7. I am a big fan of both Ricky Martin and Justin Timberlake

It used to be just Ricky (I’ve seen him in concert three times and am a card-carrying member of the Ricky Martin Worldwide Fan Club), but after seeing Justin in  concert, I was hooked.  With Ricky taking time to raise the twins, Justin has edged his way to the number one spot in my heart.  (Ricky, if you read this – there will always be a special place there for you, you were my first after all!)
(Justin, if you read this )

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There you have it – seven new things about the Fearless Blogger you didn’t know.

Now it’s my turn to tag seven people to share about themselves:

1. Jimmy Fallon – Since he’s new at this blogging thing.  Jimmy – are you reading your comments? (figure it’s worth a shot!)
2. Chuck Westbrook – Because all Chuck’s  selected bloggers get to share info about themselves, but he never does.
3. Brandon Mendelson – Brandon is “Kicking Breast Cancer’s Butt Across America” with his wife Amanda.  I want to know more about him!
4. Happy Awakenings – April Foile’s blog is brand spanking new.  Hopefully tagging her isn’t premature, but thought it might be a fun way for April to get the blog rolling!
5. Chris Cantore – Recently re-encountered San Diego’s own Chris Cantore on Twitter.  Chris is active with the Surfrider Foundation – let’s hear more about the man behind the voice.
6. KyNam Doan – I love what KyNam is doing with his job search – he’s volunteering 6 hours at a non-profit for each job interview he gets between now and January 16, 2009.
   
7. Ian Shepard – Ian blogs about music and won me over by creating a “non-techie stuff” section for me.

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So there’s a 7 & 7 for you, blogger style.  Seven new things about me and seven new bloggers to learn about!

Now it’s your turn – care to share 7 things about you? Or just 3?  Only 1?

Share in the comments below!

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(Thanks to Jenn for asking me to share and to the seven tagged bloggers, in advance, for sharing!)

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