How Do I Do What I Do?

From Dave Pollard via Aleah via Jon Strande comes another form of interaction from the meme scene. I rarely pass these along or participate, but, possibly because I'm questioning my existence in the workplace, or my existence in general, I decided it would be a good idea for me to play with my thoughts. I noted to Bill the other day that dissemination of information is more efficient if we know where other bloggers strengths and interests lie. I suppose that's why I'm choosing to share.

What do you do?
I dream. I search and re-search. I learn. I play with words and images. I imagine. I try to help people in various ways which explains my job; providing many aspects of support and education for a large 24/7 IT department. I'm preparing for a career change so I'm also attending classes, 11 hours this semester, which is keeping me busy and somewhat distracted.

What are the challenges?
I learn in unconventional ways that work for me yet I find I'm stuck pursuing conventional means to attain personal goals. I also see the political climate of renewed conservatism spilling into the workplace. I see it ultimately suffocating many possibilities that were beginning to emerge, i.e. the Conceptual Age will be delayed due to suppression of creative thought unless we meet this challenge.

How do you overcome them?
I talk to people. I point out what freedoms and perks are being taken from them. I tactfully object. Creative Rebellion, possibly even mediation. A lot of brick walls are cluttering the vista. I'm increasingly afraid they won't be overcome.

What is a typical day like?
I sleep scattered hours depending on my plans/classes for the day. My work schedule, not unlike me, is unconventional. 10 hour midnight shifts scattered on different days. No typical weekend. I know on a given day what I should accomplish and fit it in as needed. Structure, except for scheduled classes, is a foreign concept.

How do you manage information?
I manage it like some people manage a messy house. I know where it is unless I try to clean it up.

What are your favourite books?
'Das Energi' by Paul Williams
'Cat's Cradle' by Kurt Vonnegut
'We' by Yevgeny Zamyatin
Poem: 'Spontaneous Me' from 'Leaves of Grass' by Walt Whitman

What are your favourite web sites/blogs?
There are three in particular who smooth an especially thorny day. I have many favourite sites and blogs but my attraction to these is with what they give me consistently, thought, balance and laughs. Ok, he may not always be funny but someone in his comments will consistently lighten up even the darkest post.

What tools/technology do you use?
Far too many, my favourite being pen and paper.
Photoshop/Image Ready, Premiere (video editing), After Effects, Top Style, Dreamweaver, Mozilla, T-bird, Firefox, Unix shell, Blogger, MusicMatch, Quicktime. I love my host's Cpanel and Fantastico.

What's your favourite quote?
Any sentence from Das Energi. Here is one:
"Our responsibility as individual cells of a living organism,is to perform our individual functions as well as possible. Our orders come from within...we are free to be ourselves..." Paul Williams

What is your "secret to success?"
I listen to myself.

What are your greatest accomplishments?
I feel I'm on my way toward accomplishing something important when I find people around me questioning concepts and considering change. I'm happy that my kids question. I have yet to accomplish anything I can definitively identify as my accomplishment alone, but some of my past experiences and my ease of understanding differences are all playing a part toward something yet to be defined.

What are your hobbies? Or, how do you break the monotony and stay energized?
Music will refresh and inspire me as will a brisk walk to a quiet secluded place among the trees where I can sit and listen to the wind whisper. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
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