This is an alphabetical list of short biographies submitted by Gulf Watchers and lurkers, current as of 4:49 pm MDT 7/25/10. I have cut and pasted them from the two previous diaries posted by bigjacbigjacbigjac and by Phil S 33 so that it’s easy to find information about a specific person by looking in the alpha list by user name. Thanks, Phil and bigjacbigjacbigjac, for your pioneer work in collecting these bits of our community back story. They illuminate the expertise and the heart wisdom that make us truly special witnesses...and damned interesting people!
Could someone please put a link to this diary in the ROV diary, so we have an up-to-date place where all who are interested can share information about themselves? We’re still missing entries for certain regulars, and lurkers please note that we would like very much to hear from you as well. Your support gives us a warm, fuzzy feeling, and after you post (a few words will do), you and go back to lurkerdom if you like.
If, may God forbid, I overlooked anybody in compiling from the prior diaries, smite me and add yourself here.
Please remember to rec the Mothership every day.
UPDATE 7:19 PM MDT 7/26/10
New bio's added: Another Kevin, In Her Own Voice, and Shanesnana.
alkalinesky on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 10:52:58 PM MDT
I'm a 33 year old single mom, with a beautiful 5 year old daughter. Born and raised and continue to reside in the beautiful state of Colorado, but feel a deep affinity for the ocean. Majored in psychology and minored in biology in college, I now have an MA in psych and have worked in the mental health field for 13 years (aside from a brief stint as a software developer in Indianapolis).
I've been into politics my entire life, ever since my mom worked on the Dukakis campaign and I split my tongue licking envelopes and got sweaty and hot sign-holding on street corners. I care deeply about the people and issues important to me, and nothing touches me more than the issue of humanity's responsibility as a steward of our planet.
This liveblog series makes me feel, in some small way, that we are living up to what we can in the face of such horrific failure.
Another Kevin on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 07:13:39 PM MDT
Another Kevin is a clueless newbie here, having joined DKos to read Gulf Watchers the day that Crunchy bit the riser. He learnt just yesterday what 'GOS' means.
Another Kevin is 54, electrical engineer/computer scientist/jack-of-all-trades instrumentation guy. BS in math, MS in electrical engineering, PhD in computer science, and about three decades of experience on a variety of projects so diverse that he's hard put to find a common thread. (A career? It's been more of a careen.)
Another Kevin is currently (for 19 years) working in the labs of a Big Evil Corporation, and living somewhere in New York State with his wife of twenty years and his teenaged daughter.
Another Kevin grew up on waterfront, coming from a long line of fisherfolk, boatmen, and others who work on and near the sea. While he never even waded in the Gulf, as far as he can remember, but he loves the World Ocean nonetheless.
Another Kevin is a pseudonym that lets the man behind the mask say, "Me? Post that? You must be thinking of another Kevin!" Which suits him fine; the waters of DKos are choppy enough that he never ventures topside except to look for a new mothership.
asterlil on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 09:17:40 PM MDT
You can call me Lil. I'm a 60+ female, unemployed, who's been in a wheelchair for over a year now because of severe neuropathy caused by syringomyelia (oh, google it). I'm not defined by the wchair, which never appears in my dreams.
Raised "back east", I went to England at age 20, on a three-week return ticket, and stayed for about 15 years, including a year-long stint working in Corfu. I came back from England to Florida to care for my parents for the next 15, and then, after some reflection, chose to move to New Mexico, where I could see all the stars at night.
I've been a programmer since all the way back during mainframes. I was also a riding instructor certified by the British Horse Society, various flavors of administrator, and sometimes whatever odd job would pay the rent. Since I moved to NM I've worked as a photographer and artist, and still scratch up a few dollars that way, even since the "condition" outpictured.
Asterlil is short for Asteroid Lil, which handle I've had since the early 90's (remember Compuserve for DOS?) when I was the science editor for a small astrology magazine. Honest! And i've been an almost daily visitor to Dailykos since October 2004.
bigjacbigjacbigjac on Sun Jul 18, 2010 at 11:27:53 AM MDT
I am almost 55 years old, and male.
I have no college degree of any kind.
I spent 30 years working very hard to take care of my wife, Pam, who was born disabled.
She died March 11th 2008.
I have a girlfriend, in fact I have two girlfriends, but I should not brag.
Both my girlfriends are disabled, my friend and neighbor, Mark, is disabled, and I spend my days off taking care of Bev and Mark, in various ways.
The other girlfriend lives in my in-law's home town, where my wife, Pam, is buried, so I visit Carrie when I visit Pam's grave, about twice a year.
I have been blogging here at DailyKos since June of 2006. I have written a lot of diaries, about philosophy, overpopulation, and grief.
I feel that I can see the big picture, which is, that we need to agree on the correct philosophy, which is a mix of nihilism and utilitarianism.
When we all agree on the correct philosophy, we can work together on things, such as contraception, to reduce the human population of Earth.
I like to write poetry, so when I read ArthurPoet's work, I had to add my simple efforts, and got one of my poems as a regular fixture in the bodies of the ROV diaries.
So, while nearly all of you have college degrees, and multiple careers, I work hard, physically very hard, at Walmart, for $20,000 per year. But I am staying healthy, with my high protein, medium fat, low carb diet, and lots of Walmart exercise.
I am a grieving widower, and my grief defines me almost as much as my overview of civilization, calling for unity in philosophy and drastic contraception.
That is why I participate at DailyKos in general, The Grieving Room in particular, and the ROV liveblog in particular, and the Community Quilt diaries of Sara R in particular.
I participate here for emotional support.
I am an emotional basket case, and I come here, and say, "please respond to me, please say you like what I write"
That is why I am here.
Peace.
bleeding heart on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 11:13:00 AM MDT
[Female] Long-time lurker, frequent commenter, rare diarist. I'm a (ahem! careful on that age thang) leading edge baby boomer. Formerly an IT exec in the public sector, K-terminal, but also ran large state-wide infrastructure departments. Took an early retirement, trained and became a non-ordained chaplain. I work part-time as a contract chaplain for a hospital and another non-profit organization.
My interest in this clustermess stems from several things:
- I have sea farin' blood in my veins. My genetic family (all dead) is from the east coast. Many were sailors, clammers and even ran big shipping vessels. Growing up on the west coast, my heartbeat changes when I smell sea water. I'm at my happiest by the ocean.
- I have significant experience in process, planning, backup planning, plan B/C/D planning, fallback planning. I also know a lot about how the public sector works so I look for and assess those components when reported -- as well as ask questions about the other aspects since I know nothing about drilling, wells, etc. So, I assess and learn.
- I follow the diaries out of sheer appreciation for what the organizers are doing. They are working tirelessly and deserve our support. So I go to the diaries every day possible, even if I can only spread around a few rec's and tips.
I now live in the midwest, but I look at the world as all interconnected. What is happening down in the Gulf is my problem too. My loons nest in the Gulf. My fellow citizens live there and are being exposed to toxins and losing their livelihoods. Even if I can't do what the people are working on the diaries are doing, I can support them and cheer them on because they're doing it for all of us.
bubbanomics on Fri Jul 23, 2010 at 11:41:13 AM MDT
i'm 50. PhD mathematics. teach at a liberal arts univ here in Los Angeles, and i run a small consulting business with my wife as well.
went to Auburn for undergrad and masters, where I developed a love of the gulf through many visits to the redneck riviera.
CA ridebalanced on Fri Jul 23, 2010 at 12:59:04 PM MDT
I haven't been able to post much in the last month. A PC breakdown, family issues, a short vacation, and catching up with everything in the news department has kept me from interacting with the ROV crew.
My real name is Cathy. I'm 52 with most of those years spent on the Monterey Peninsula area of Calif. When not employed in the horse industry, I have worked in the restaurant/hotel field.
I've been a lifelong Democratic Party supporter, with a brief foray into the Green Party during the Reagan presidency. I tend to be a pragmatic sort where politicians are concerned these days. Getting older and more patient has helped to balance the idealist in me.
My greatest passions include animals, naturally, and trying to help this planet remain a wonderful place for the children, the grandkids, and their progeny to live in. Sustainable and renewable energy are concepts I've been interested in since the 70's, and I keep trying to educate others in their necessity.
Many, many thanks to all the ROVer's for their hard work in keeping us informed during these painful days! ~smooches~ to y'all :-)
CindyMax on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 10:48:21 AM MDT
Ballet, painting, music, reading, writing, and nature made my childhood a wonder. Technical science fiction is my favorite literary genre.
I'm female, and in keeping with tradition, all the women in my family don't discuss age. One sister: she's the smart, successful one. Both parents are musicians, but won't play anymore. Dad is a retired marketing professor and consultant.
Four-legged roommates--two dogs: Gaia and Louie; one cat, Wendy. Can't take the dogs anywhere. We've been through obedience, but they had issues when they came from the pound. I love them anyway.
Master's degrees in flute and music education with stints in computer science and geology in between. Husbands tired of my seemingly endless quest for the educational holy grail and moved on to women who acknowledged their existence.
For the past twelve years I've taught elementary music using diverse listening repertoire, singing, dance/movement, Orff instruments, non-pitched percussion instruments, and recorders as vehicles for exploration, creation, and discovery.
No interest in politics until the 2000 election. Being a Floridian, I couldn't help but take notice. I rely on my local paper and occasionally the Newshour for most information. Early after the BP catastrophe, desperate for info, I ended up in an ROV diary and have been participating clumsily on good days and lurking on bad ones ever since.
Many thanks to all the ROVers for their presence in the ROV diaries. They make this ordeal bearable.
coffee cup on Wed Jul 14, 2010 at 02:20:11 PM MDT
I'm a 55 yr-old art professor living in Louisville Kentucky, but teaching at IU's southeast campus (IUS). I've been mostly a lurker who sometimes comments on the ROV diaries. These diaries have been a source of information as well as fascination. I am kind of an information junkie, I guess. I love the info on the diaries, because I trust the experts there -- way more than CNN or MSNBC or whatever.
But what I really love are the live video streams from the ocean -- I am enthralled by the ROVs and the engineering that is going on down there. I admire those people -- it's BP management calling the shots who are the problem. I am just way too shaken by the pictures of the animals and the ruined beaches -- so the way I can stay informed and involved is through these video streams.
I'm a painter, and my most recent works have dealt with the effects of the environment on people living in environmentally degraded places. I've photographed chemical plants and have integrated those photos into a work, I've photographed illegal strip mining areas, and also metal recycling centers (these are good guys -- it's the waste we produce that isn't).
I've been thinking about ways to include some of these images from under the ocean into my work -- I'm still percolating on it, but I know it will come out in some way. I've linked to the recent mixed media work about the chemical plant -- just to give ROVers who have asked an idea of what I do with combining environmental nightmares with images of people living in and around those areas. The figure and color were painted in oil (I'm obviously a realist) -- but the background image is digital. The work is quite large in scale.http://homepages.ius.edu/...
cosmic debris on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 09:50:23 AM MDT
Since I'm procrastinating from mortaring cracks in my garden wall and other inglorious chores at the moment and watching BOA #1 fiddling around with a bunch of joy sticks and Skandi Neptune dancing with gertie from a distance, I thought I'd speak up.
I'm a 47 yr old woman living far from the ocean who preserves/conserves historical and archaeological artifacts and artwork for a living. If I could do it all over again I very well might have become a marine biologist, I love the oceans so.
This gulf oil disaster is one of the worst things I've ever witnessed in my life. Checking in on the Rov videos and reading the other rov watchers try to make sense of it helps give a sense that something is being done about it, even though the progress has been full of failures and agonizingly slow. It helps to be able to see it somehow and to share with others who care about what is happening down there.
So thanks again to all of the many people here who have contributed their time, knowledge, experience, perception, wit, poetic skills, humor etc...
I can hardly wait to join in with cheers when the damn thing stops gushing. I still have hope that it will. Then there will be the long period of after effects to witness. But killing the well is the critical step.
cotterperson on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 11:49:25 AM MDT
61 y/o caregiver of 91 y/o mom.
Loved my time on the Gulf in the early '70s, when I taught remedial reading in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. All these years later, I can still feel the air.
Chose jobs by the kind people I like to be around, working mostly in universities with bright, lively people of all ages. Scored one tuition-free masters.
Two years night editor of small daily Gannett paper. No likey the corporate atmosphere.
Ten years with mom, now. Not always easy, but still the best job I've ever had. She's a sweety.
Darryl House on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 02:10:12 PM MDT
Resident idjit. 55, male, semi-retired from electrical engineering. I do software development part-time these days and hang out in the ROV diaries making horrible gaffes regularly.
The time I don't spend there is consumed with communing with my wife/soul mate, making music, cooking, puttering around my home, and exploring some of the philosophical pursuits I've neglected over the years.
David PA on Sat Jul 17, 2010 at 08:58:46 PM MDT
I've joined this gracious and esteemed community with pleasure.
Like most of us here who weren't in the original group, I came here in the troubled days of the Gulf gusher for comfort, companionship, information, explanation, to help, and to understand. The original members came to build a community. They did a fine job.
It was early June when I began to be a regular visitor having just returned from a two-week vacation overseas at a time when the horror undersea in the Gulf had become terribly, impossibly frustrating.
Here were experts, fellows in vigilance, deeply caring and concerned DKos members who welcomed me and gave me a place to help. It was good. We couldn't staunch the spurting darkness deep in the Gulf, but this team led by so many fine people brought much brightness to every day and had become the place to be for any concerned person who wanted to learn, help, or inform the community reading this blog. The experts forming the base each day, the non-experts having become well-versed, and all coming here each day to get the inside scoop or participate in the experience of finding out the details of each day's happenings in the Gulf.
I am a 55 year-old male professor of mathematics and have for 15 years been the head of a department with majors in chemistry and forensic chemistry, computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering, mathematics, and secondary ed programs. I enjoy working with the technical people and experts at the college, as well as with many local industry folks with whom a technical-scientific department needs to interact. Equally enjoyable is working with and interacting with the non-technical staff and with the students who are a source of joy, when their hair is curled ~.
I pride myself in being able get along well with most anyone and usually do. It is much more fun when the company is: fun, nice, interesting, good-hearted, kind, smart, dedicated, hard-working, talented, humble, self-aware, and giving. Those are the attributes which everyone here posses in ample quantities as do I'm sure many of the lurkers. So, coming here is a happy experience.
I'm hoping that the bonds formed through this series will be long-lasting and that as this dark vigil slowly moves to the background, we'll find other ways to interact on DKos. As many have noted in this series and elsewhere, it has gotten quite rough and often too-contentious and uncivil out there in the GOS, but this fine group has through respect, considerateness, and a common cause, built a number of online friendships that should prove lasting.
I just re-read all the bios. Phil has done a great service to this community by hosting this diary. There are a few key members who haven't posted their bios. Hope they will.
ekyprogressive on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 08:03:16 PM MDT
I am a 35 year old male, Registered Nurse two semesters from completing my BSN and applying to Grad school for a Family Nurse practitioner degree. I would have a minor in biology if not for some rule about no coursework older than 8 years hoopla...LOL..Oh well. I have been a Nurse for 10 years, working 3 years in Medical surgical & pediatrics and the last 7 in Intensive care and critical care. I have worked in Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware as a travel nurse. Loved Lewes Delaware...Sorry Baltimore..can't say much good.
I live with my partner of twelve wonderful years, and our cat (it was cats, but one got out and never came back...as boy cats do). We live in the middle of the coal country in Southeastern Kentucky.
And I always rec the mothership..
FORUS50 on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 12:55:50 PM MDT
frequent lurker, infrequent commenter. I'm 50 something Chicago female, mortgage banking career with my primary interests being politics and sports. I joined Daily Kos during the Dem primaries and actually ended up joining a fantasy baseball team this year from a diary on DKos.
I guess lurking is what we are all doing watching the ROVs but to have the experts on this site explain what I'm looking at has been wonderful. Although what we are witnessing is the complete opposite of wonderful -- actually just plain horrifying to see nature destroyed so callously.
One other observation I would make; it's been disconcerting that the sight of the oil spewing out has become less emotional for me as each week wears on. I have to believe the same emotional defense mechanism is what helps Afghans deal with the endless wars...
Friend of the court on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 06:52:55 AM MDT
my name is diana. i am 60. i work as an instructional assistant in early primary special education. on monday, OMG, that's tommarrow, school starts. won't be able to read as much. sometimes, i paint landscapes and love the land, including all of it that is under water. and the water, too.
greengrrl on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 08:38:24 PM MDT
Shy lurker. 54 years along, female, landlocked in Colorado over 35 years. I connect deeply with the ocean, though, having come from the east coast, with childhood summers spent in Maine. The sound and the power of crashing waves are part of me. Maybe that's one reason why the Gulf disaster resonates so painfully.
I am grateful for this amazing community, sharing comfort, grace, wisdom and humor, during this crisis. I check in daily, comment occasionally. This is where I know I can find the truth. The best of Daily Kos is in these ROVs.
Oh - and I am semi-retired from wearing many hats, most recently ED of a small horticulturally-related nonprofit. Now I help my husband manage some commercial real estate investments.
gulfgal98 on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 12:58:37 PM MDT
I grew up on the Gulf from the age of two in St. Pete, Fla. and now live inland in north Florida. For a while, I lived on St. George Island on the Apalachee Bay near Apalachicola, Fla.
I am female, age 63 years young, married, a retired land use planner, and a former distance runner. I have four dogs, love to garden and maintain several bird feeders.
I have no special expertise for the ROV diaries other than my personal knowledge of the Gulf, particularly the Apalachee Bay. My computer skills are lacking and my only ROV diary was launched with my being unable to comment in it due to be locked out of commentary.
hester on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 04:07:12 PM MDT
I'm a 61 y/o married mom of 2 kids: one who wants to be a writer (working as social worker right now), the other a professional on-line poker player... (he does well.)
I am a doctor, who left practice when my kids were young, to work for the state of CT reviewing disability claims so I could be home when the kids were home. I'm glad I made that choice. It was the right one for me and my family.
I returned to school this past 2 years to get counseling training to help those who are going through what I am going through.... caring for an elderly parent w Alzheimer's disease. It's a daily challenge.
Am an animal lover to the core. Lost 2 Newfoundland dogs w/in the past 2 years, but adopted a lovely older spayed female after our female died....
In her own Voice on Mon Jul 26, 2010 at 06:18:53 PM MDT
I have revealed much about myself in my diaries here at DKos over the last three years. I first published on July 4th, 2007 -- my response as a mental health provider to the movie, Sicko, not having lurked long enough to know how it all works here. I took the opportunity to pour my heart out about my own personal and professional pain, my feelings of injury by the corporate system which exploits my labor and talents.
I'm a clinical social worker and marriage & family therapist in private practice in the Houston area and have been for over twenty years. I've been single for at least that long and have been married twice, having two beautiful daughters, now married and living elsewhere. My oldest gave me my first grandbabies last July (they just had their first bday last weekend) -- twins, girls who have stolen my heart!
Mom 'n' 'em live on the MS Gulf Coast and two of the three households there lost their homes to Katrina (built back). My oldest daughter and her husband got married and were living in NOLA just in time to lose their livelihoods to Katrina and take refuge at my home til they were re-established. I went through Ike all alone (scary after witnessing what my family went through),and struggled with trying to continue to earn a living during and after 10 days without electricity (and scarcity of ice and gasoline). I have read much of the IPCC report and expect more intense storms along with sea level rise and mass migrations here from the South as global warming and economic conditions in Mexico push more people here for refuge. I've written several diaries about "peak everything syndrome" -- a kind of PTSD I believe we in the mental health profession should be preparing the public for. Community resilience building would be first on my list.
Three generations of men in my family worked in the oil patch in one capacity or another -- geologist, electrical engineers, operator, and if it wasn't for the oil boom here in TX, my family would've never come out of the Depression (that is the Great Depression). Three out of four of them turned up with cancer likely related to the toxins to which they were exposed before there were safety regs. But those times have passed and so has the time of Oil. The oil boom has passed its peak and no longer benefits my fam and humanity in general. Neither does it benefit "all beings" on this planet. It is time for change.
I am active with the local Dems here and was a delegate at the State Convention where I met tomtech at the environmental and energy caucus. I gave him my card and told him I'd been keeping up with the Gulf Watchers -- he pretty quickly invited me to write a special gulf watch diary on the psychological effects of the spill, which I happily did.
So there you have it folks!
jamess on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 10:36:40 PM MDT
programmer and database analyst
by trade,
currently in a govt gig
in natural resource management.
native Michigander,
living in the grand NW for
the last few decades.
Dayhiker extraordinaire.
and Male, Loner, born in late '56,
still looking for my true calling,
and can't wait for retirement.
seriously.
Or one those mythical "greener" opportunities,
in the data analysis, clean energy, or a writing arena.
Been posting on dkos, since about March 2007
page 25 of my still ongoing work here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
jnhobbs on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 02:30:18 PM MDT
I'm a 60 year old male , musician who travels a lot for work. The last two and a half months have been a really busy time , and the live blog has kept me up to to date , and as these things tend to be on dkos, been a real education, taught by experts.
Watching the muleshoe go on just now was a real thrill, and it was great to share it with folks who have been watching this together since the beginning.
My thanks to all the diarists and contributors.
Julie Gulden on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 09:48:45 AM MDT
68 years old & loving retirement
Fishgrease is my hero...it's his diaries that got me hooked. I follow the ROV's casually...first thing I do every morning is rec the mothership.
The people who have stuck with it and keep providing the diaries are incredible. They are the ones who make me proud of being here.
Kairos on Fri Jul 23, 2010 at 08:35:58 AM MDT
Real name Rick, 51, former aircraft mechanic, 10 years at IBM, worked for the USFS, volunteered for NPS. Had a bad work accident 9 years ago and broke my back. Went back to school and am now nearly finished with my thesis for a Masters in psychology.
I love the outdoors and have been a rock climber for some 20 years, and still do it. I healed pretty well from the fall at work.
I have a blog at Cremnomaniac where you can see where I spend the rest of my time :)
I love animals. Had 2 pooties of 15 years and it broke my heart when they passed. I have another that I recued last Christmas, looking for a second as we speak. I also breaks my heart to see the hurt in the creatures in the Gulf.
I wasn't too interested in politics until I got hurt. Then I sat around and read stuff. What an eye opener. I found my political orientation is somewhere near Ghandi from one of those political surveys. I loved Ghandi. It pleases me to have found a place with others of similar stripe.
Kairos #2 on Fri Jul 23, 2010 at 09:17:33 AM MDT
I live in the Beautiful Northern part of the Sierra Nevada, between Tahoe and Yosemite. [snip]
Here's a link to Wiki that explains Kairos.
Its an ancient Greek word. Essentially, its two parts that appealed to me. The first is the "moment in time when something special happens". Like Obama being elected. I identify it as moments and events we make progrees toward a better world. Politically, its our ability to take advantage of circumstances and change to create the change we seek.
kait on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 12:36:29 AM MDT
It's a bit intimidating to post a bio here. I'm a nurse, about 30 years, with writing as my avocation. Bit of a political junkie since I was a teen, also a DFH, and who doesn't love babies and animals, even if you are an ardent population control advocate? Leftist but not entirely dovish, but glad there are plenty of people to disagree with me. I hate gossip, bluntly ask people to spare me, which of course means I get to hear way too many secrets that I wish I didn't know. On the other hand, I love to hear peoples' stories, almost better than anything, and I'm drawn to cranks, curmudgeons, and those I guess ignorant people would call crazies. I like to count myself among them. As a military brat, we were stationed mostly coastally, and now I live more than too close for comfort to this heartbreak. I'm not a Southerner, except as it sneaks its way inside you permanently. I think of Pittsburgh as both home and one of the nicest cities in the U.S. I was both born and have lived overseas, and I think that experience might really be useful for most Americans. Very Irish heritage, so I have a temper and enjoy swearing, but I couldln't hold a grudge on a bet. Like gossip, it's a soul killer, and besides, we have actual problems to work on. I don't think I have anything to contribute to these diaries, but they have certainly contributed to me. Booming School was the first time I laughed after this happening, and it was like the first time we gave ourselves permission to laugh after 9/11. You collectively have peeled me off the ceiling more than once, which is good since I'm the caregiver to a fairly sick but very calm woman who really doesn't need my agita. So thanks for accepting lurkers, being very patient with questions, and despite all the advanced science degrees, doing a pretty nice job with therapy as well!
khowell on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 07:28:50 PM MDT
I'm a 30 y-o (OMG - I think that's the first time I've typed it) female parrothead and coast rat who grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I responded to Garret's comment in the very first Top Kill Liveblog of Tom's, thinking it would be a nice way to spend the weekend.
And I'm still here. All of this is breaking my heart. I come here for information and community - I hear every day about another person who's been out to the islands and gotten oil on them, or another shrimper who's trying to get another job where there aren't any.
Sometimes it feels like a bad dream. Like I'll wake up and I won't have to hear friends and family cry about this disaster.
I have an unfortunate tendency to get maudlin about the oil that's destroying the vistas I loved for almost my entire life.
Professionally, I'm a grad student in US history and run an academic dean's office for a community college with a large military presence. I've worked in marine biology, habitat restoration, and various other coastal pursuits.
Lorinda Pike on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 09:10:24 PM MDT
Screen name from Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here". I'm past fifty, and a current resident of Mississippi; blue dot, red state... I have 3-D design, geology, and philosophy as education credits; did about 15 years in broadcasting.
The remainder of my many and varied ventures into employment only look good on a book jacket...
I currently consider myself a working artist in metals and mixed media.
Lorinda Pike on Fri Jul 23, 2010 at 12:17:56 PM MDT
Just posted a bit on Phil's original diary; here I'll expand a bit.
Mid 50s, married, no kids, many cats, live in the South (but planning to retire north - the heat is tough here). My education is art (3-dimensional design/mixed media/metals), philosophy and religion (emphasis Oriental and Native American), and geology (glacial and periglacial geomorphology, and cartography - not much petroleum).
Worked in various fields, including broadcasting (radio and TV), securities - both the financial sector AND the kind where you carry a weapon - not at the same time, though. In all of that, I also acquired a barber's license, taught scuba diving, jumped out of perfectly good airplanes, hung on cliff faces by my fingernails, and drank enough whiskey for a lifetime...
Currently I make sterling silver jewelry, restore antique Oriental rugs, garden, play music (flute, guitar, bass) take care of kitties, write a little poetry, and hang out with other crazy people on blogs...
Luma on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 09:02:52 PM MDT
delurking for a sec
I'm Sandi...a 37 yr old female. I'm an out of work accountant and going back to school for respiratory therapy. I'm also working with the census. In off time I volunteer at a dog rescue and am in training for my dog to do hospital therapy.
*[goes back to lurker status]*
Lusty on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 12:04:35 PM MDT
I am a 47-year-old woman (who feels like a girl) living in California with my partner of 8 years and our two cats (used to be 4).
My background in petroleum engineering drew me to the ROV diaries in the beginning. I have a degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M. Grew up in the panhandle of Texas and lived in College Station for 15 years: 4 yrs of college, 2 years working in a copy shop, and 9 years at a prestigious petroleum engineering consulting firm.
I then threw that old life away and ran off to California to become a unix system administrator ;-) I've been here about 15 years now and never looked back.
Current hobbies include social partner dancing and gardening. Over the past 4 years we've ripped out most of the previous landscaping at home and replaced it all with California native plants. This has greatly reduced the amount of water we pour into the ground, and exponentially increased the interest level around the house, both visual and critter-wise. I also volunteer on the organizing committees for a local native plant gardening group and a native plant garden tour.
I'm on the waiting list to get an all-electric Nissan Leaf, possibly as soon as December. Next step, solar panels.
Before the 2008 election I did not participate in politics in any way. I was inspired by Obama and the Prop 8 fight in California, and there's no looking back now.
mamamedusa on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 01:58:47 PM MDT
Pushing-40 nurse educator at a public university in the midwest; mostly a lurker in the ROV diaries. I try to tip and rec a lot in humble appreciation of those who are investing so much time to keep this vigil going.
The ROV diaries have helped me maintain some groundedness throughout this disaster. I've had days of near despair from time to time since the Deepwater Horizon blew up, but this crew's reality-based, compassionate commentary has kept me from buying in to some of the more hysterical disaster scenarios out there. I've shared bits of what I learn here with my Facebook community in hopes of nurturing a similarly reality-based perspective among people who aren't as information-obsessed as I am.
I like to think of myself as someone who tries to anticipate the likely outcomes of alternate courses of action and then works to help bring about the best possible alternative-- which is, I guess, a fair summary of what we nurses do all the time.
marabout40 on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 09:44:42 AM MDT
My name's Dionne. I'm a 41-Y-O Jamaican transplant. Been here 20 years. Half that time I lived in NY, now I'm in FL (thinking about moving back to NY next year though). Mother of two boys (3 if you count my 6-Y-O Weim :)). One's a chef who just got a job working with Royal Caribbean. The other is still in HS. Spent the last 9+ years working for the MIC as a process/communications specialist until I was laid off at the end of February. Recently divorced. Recently diagnosed with S2 BC, but trying to stay hopeful and take one day at a time.
I didn't become a political junkie until 2008 when began to support Barack Obama in the race and I joined BarackObamaForAmerica (now OFA) and the DKos community.
I love to run with my Weim, read, watch movies, cook, and hang out with you guys here.
marleycat on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 10:29:09 PM MDT
female, almost 55 (in August),
I own a retail nature store with my husband of 34 years. Mother of 3, oldest just graduated from college, youngest a senior in high school. Love gardening, reading, watching birds. Could stand to lose a few pounds.
marsanges on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:33:38 AM MDT
Basic facts, German, male [45], studied Geology when world revolution didnt pan out, worked a while in academia (post doc circus), mostly teaching successive generations of students. That got me to Holland, where my field of research (hard rock geology-geochemistry) was canceled in one of the topical vogues that sweep geosciences. So there I found myself out of a job and so I ended up in the steel industry, where I´m working now. I´m an Exile and ever will be so and I envy all the people who have a home. (That accounts for you, Yasu!) The cat that recently has taken up residence in my flat makes me very uneasy. Can´t have people depend on me.
mrsgoo on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 10:48:31 PM MDT
I'm a 50 yr old ex IT chick. Programmer when computers had radiators (wait - isn't that the new cool thing?) Systems Analyst and finally QA software testing and customer service liasion between the phone phorce (it's a bug) and development (it's a feature) until the evil America's Cup winner bought out PeopleSoft and killed the company just like he said he would. I hung on until Jan 2006. Long story short, in 2005 hubbie had to take over the family business. We wound down our "stuff" and I came out here to the Ca Delta permanently in January of '06. Now I sell berths for boats, RV sites for campers and bait. Couldn't be happier in a way. I have Barack Obama's commute and way less issues to deal with. Of course that is simplifying matters a ton. We have the CA water wars, which if Westlands Water District gets it's way will turn the Delta into a swamp. We have the current business climate in CA in which nobody seems to give a damn at all about small business (I mean REALLY SMALL) mom and pop like. And politicians that want to piss on your leg and tell you it's raining. Then came the BP Oil Castrophe. I'm a lurker mostly. But I have run my mouth! I'm 14th in the Saltiest Sailors Catagory. So - FuckYou,YouFuckingFucks! I need to add to my total of potty mouth points. My interests are Government, Water, Health Care and Environmental Issues.
Onomastic on Thu Jul 15, 2010 at 07:41:32 PM MDT
After reading about so many fascinating people I'm pretty sure I don't have much to say.
But here goes anyway.
60 1/2 year old grandmother, mom and SO to a disabled Viet Vet. We greatfully live in the beautiful state of Maine.
Writer on occasion, mostly poetry and plays.
Most time these days is taken up with helping take care of my 3 beautiful grandboys who are 9, 3, and 2 years old.
The natural world has always been my heart's home, since I was a little girl. The beauty and wonder of what surrounds us is what I always try to share with my children and grandbabies. If it's the tree leaves tight whorl of colors in the spring, sunlight dancing on the waters, or the sweet hush of a flickering firefly twilight, I want them to "see", to "know" the beauty that surrounds them.
My deepest fear is that it will be lost to them and to their children's children.
This gathering of folks to bear witness to the heartbreak in the Gulf has been a profound joy and comfort. I honestly don't know how we would have made it thus far without one another.
I'm deeply profoundly grateful to this community.
Overseas on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 09:31:39 AM MDT
67, female and retired so I can watch this kind of drama in between researching some ancient Ireland stuff.
Pam LaPier on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 04:26:28 PM MDT
My name is Pam LaPier and I am a computer technician, a passionate animal lover, a total bleeding heart liberal and a recovering alcholic/addict. I grew up in Rensselaer county in upstate New York and still live in upstate NY in a city called Schenectady. I work for a company called ACS and go to school at Schenectady Community College where I major in
history. In addition to the ROV's at Daily Kos, I also love books, history, good movies (and some not so good ones) and my cats. Yes, I am the original cat lady. I even published a diary on that subject. But enough about me, let's here from the rest of my fellow Gulf Watchers.
Phil S 33
67 year old male, & a news junkie; who spent his career in retail management----managing big box discounters LIKE Wal-Mart.
If there is a big news event (non-celebrity type), I'm on it. I go back to my days at college--majoring in political science (don't ask); I've always followed the news--from Ed Murrow on. The only thing that keeps me away from a big story will be a baseball game---my favorite sport. Go Red Sox.
politik on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 09:42:53 AM MDT
54 y/o female
career in diagnostic medical imaging (radiography, CT, sonography), including a few years with major ultrasound system company in new product development. now self-employed, semi-retired.
been with the liveblog since the first weekend when we were full of hopes that top kill would work.
remember top kill? seems ages ago...
princesspat on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 11:10:29 AM MDT
I am 65 yrs old, and retired. I live in the PNW, and look at Puget Sound every day. The fourth largest oil refinery on the west coast is about 40 miles from our home....and BP owns it. They just paid a large fine for numerous safety violations, mostly involving valves and worker safety. Sound familiar?
I grew up in Nevada, where my families cattle range became the nuclear testing area. I watched the mushroom cloud come up behind my school, saw the intense flash, and felt the impact. Each bomb made me more cynical and afraid. This oil hell (thanks CV) seems to have tapped into a primal sorrow and fear for me.
Reading the Gulf Watchers diaries with the powerful combination of information, emotional support and humor is an experience I will always be grateful for. My thanks to all.
princesspat #2 on Fri Jul 23, 2010 at 07:11:05 PM MDT
As I have mentioned before, my childhood on a Nevada ranch left me with both an enduring love of the land and of my environment.....and a deep fear of the ability of humans to ruin it. Atom bombs are a powerful reminder of the power mankind can unleash....as is this oil spill.
I graduated with a degree in poli sci, with every intention of working in government. But life happened, I married an academic psychologist, we had four children, and parenting them became my primary focus. My husband's work progressed through the academic ranks, ending with 10 yrs as a Dean of a College of Arts and Science. So education has been an important part of our life.
I worked part time when the children were small...mostly for an excellent antique store, as I am an unrepentant collector. In 1988, as college expenses loomed, I created a small business designing, fabricating and installing custom window coverings. I was fortunate to have an in home studio, and I was very busy with creative and challenging work until 2005, when an as yet undiagnosed autoimmune illness made early retirement a necessity.
I have four grandchildren now, and caring for them and nurturing their love of learning and the environment is both a pleasure and a privilege....and , as my husband just added, exhausting!
We live on Puget Sound in Wa. State. As I look at the water and enjoy it's presence in our daily life I am committed to doing whatever I can do to preserve our environment.
profewalt on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 10:36:37 AM MDT
Long time KOS Lurker. 53 y.o. Professor of Environmental Policy/Management. Expert on Marine Pollution and it's mitigation, member of several international bodies that define and limit ship born pollution. Member of the IMO-MEPC (points if you know what that is). Research / Policy Interests Arctic Marine Transportation esp. international regulation in the face of global warming. Groundwork for an binding Arctic Treaty, similar to the Antarctic treaty.
Politically very liberal.
I make the occasional comment to diaries but do not post any of my own.
Though I do find it amazing that the "baggers" have remained silent regarding a British Company, Chartering a Marshall Islands Registered Oil rig belonging to a Swiss company, supplied by a Dubai company...within the exclusive economic zone of the United States...And security and media access controlled by the USBPCG (formally the USCG)
rscopes on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 08:39:36 PM MDT
Interested observer from south Alabama near the coast. I manage rental properties in Baldwin County. 53 years old and married male with three children.
rsmpdx on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 09:40:18 PM MDT
You can call me "rsm".
I hail originally from the Gulf Coast. I learned my first seamanship out of my home ports of Galveston and Houston. I still have family and friends in that area, though I live in Portland, OR, now.
I am a male, older than dirt. A retired software engineer and project manager.
I have followed the whole spill from pretty near the beginning. I appreciate the opportunity to stay informed through this liveblog and other media.
rubyr on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 07:46:26 PM MDT
I am a person who does not believe in time limitations. I was born in Mississippi and grew up in Baton Rouge, La. Our life was spent on the beaches in Miss. and on the water in La. I built piroques and bateaus and rowed them into the Atchafalaya Swamp, one of the most mysterious and exotic places anywhere.
I am an artist since age 10 and worked as a professional photographer in Louisiana for years. I was the photographer to a Republican governor who chose me to be his photographer. He would say, "Get the girl" when I needed to work. He knew I was a flaming liberal but didn't care.
I work as a medical editor/textbook editor, often from home, when I am lucky. I've lived in New York City for a long time now, in the East Village, but marsh and birds and salt water and sand and everything that is being destroyed is deep within my cells. The shining particles of my beautiful dead mama hover over that blessed place and this is the worst thing...the worst...so much worse than 9/11, and who would have thought anyone could ever say that.
Senor Unoball on Thu Jul 15, 2010 at 05:51:23 PM MDT
Lurker in these diaries, primarily.
Learner in these diaries every day.
Real name: Steve, 52, Bay Area of California.
Technical editor/writer
Former newspaper reporter in Arkansas and Alaska.
In Alaska, I ran the Valdez Vanguard. Not during the spill, but a couple of years after. The town, and Prince William Sound, was still greatly affected by the disaster. And, of course, 21 years later, they still are.
Our paper covered the oil industry like, well, oil on rocks. We were sticky and you couldn't scrape us off once we had a good story. Rikki Ott was on speed dial, as were many other outstanding sources of information, including people who worked at Alyeska Pipeline.
At the same time, I counted as a friend BP's port captain in Valdez, and was well acquainted with the Exxon tanker captain who was one of the true heroes of that clusterfuck -- the man who safely offloaded the Exxon Valdez into another tanker and helped prevent her from turning turtle and spilling every single drop in her holds.
All that is said to let you know that I've got a pretty good layman's knowledge of the oil and shipping industry, at least as regards land-based drilling.
That is why the Gulf Gusher has hit me hard, and why I have been following the news of this disaster so closely since it began.
And there's nowhere that has provided so much analysis and information and, yes, rage and humor, as the ROV diaries.
I'd rather the bluefin survive and BP die off.
SoCalHobbit on Fri Jul 23, 2010 at 06:50:42 PM MDT
40ish construction nut. Houses, ships, vehicles... Never done a bridge. That'd be cool.
shanesnana on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 07:17:23 PM MDT
Came to dkos just for these liveblogs!
I was so angry at the media (no cable) for basically not reporting anything in the beginning. Heard something on NPR on booming, so I googled to check it out. Led me here to the now famous fishgrease diary and the liveblogs!
You are all unbelievable! This community of smart and friendly and compassionate folks feels like home. I generally catch up at night while hubby is snoring, and so don't comment 'cause by then you have had your bombing run and are all quite tipsy.
Don't want to interrupt your fun! Now that the diaries have slowed down I'll be able to comment in real time.
59 year old female. A nurse now working in health profession education. I teach "standardized or simulated patients". If you have a medical school near you it is a great way for retired or out of work people to make extra money. Google it!
Big Jac, I have always been the family "caregiver" besides working as one. My oldest son (adopted) had leukemia and went through years of chemo. Took care of both mine and my husbands parents. Dear hubby was partially disabled from polio as a baby is now losing all mobility due to a terrible syndrome known as post-polio. (interesting FP diary on immunizations). I know what you mean by needing support. No one who hasn't ben through the kind of situation you have been through can really understand. Thanks for the link to the grief diary.
The liveblogs for the gulf disaster, besides providing news and technical expertise are full of compassion and caring. Yasu is amazing! Many of you have great insights into human nature. Although born and raised in Wm. Penn's "Greene Towne" I am a southern sistah raised on grits and fried chix, greens and beans and family and tradition. Mom was from and deep South and Dad liked to say that he was from the South too, South Jersey! My granddad was a "bayman" or oysterman just like gulfgal described in her beautiful diary on Apalach1cola (sp ?)
Thank you Jac and all of you for being here!
sometv on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 12:08:42 PM MDT
Male born in 1960 in redwood city CA. Lived in California from Palo Alto to La Selva Beach (Santa Cruz County) to San Diego to New York (one year in England when I was 10 which is why I am about to watch Spain vs Holland.) and now back to Los Angeles where I live with my wife a choreographer and my two daughters 12 and 14, almost 13 and 15.
Edit video for a living - mostly that fabulous reality competition stuff and now and then a concert show or a stand up comic show.
Recently, last year, completed a video "installation" of my own that featured four monitors with shots from the middle of an 87 crown victoria. Four different streets, all static shots except that the car was moving. Very early version of a "ROV video", except it was not a mile under sea. Am a big fan of motion pictures that have very few cuts, and enjoy them even when they are showing color bars or green screens of nothing.
I am now almost exclusively only reading the ROV diaries here at KOS.
Thank you for doing this Phil S 33, I have been most curious about the demographic here as well.
sometv #2 on Tue Jul 13, 2010 at 11:42:19 AM MDT
mfa in visual arts University California, San Diego, 1987...in painting but a department devoted to more than just traditional art making. I would say work became an extension of the other, had to do something other than wait tables while I was living in new york...
speak2me on Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 08:34:43 PM MDT
My user name is speak2me, a reference to my occupational life as a speech-language pathologist (SLP). I've been working as an SLP since 1997 & I specialize in preschool/school-age language and literacy development w/ an emphasis on low-income, non-mainstream culture issues.
About 6 years ago, I decided 2 degrees were not enough. Really, I wanted to be able to do research in the field. So, I packed up & went back to school at Florida State (Tallahassee). I graduated in 2007 and now am in my 3rd year in a tenure-track position all the way across the country now (Reno, Nevada).
I miss the Gulf. It saddens me to think that I may never see St. George Island, Apalachicola Bay, St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge, and all of the river systems that support the manatees in the summer whole again in my lifetime.
sullivanst on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 02:26:03 PM MDT
33 y/o male, software engineer
News junkie like Phil. Baseball fan like Phil, but a Mets fan.
Immigrated to the US from England in '05 to get married.
Miss watching cricket & rugby. Baseball's a good substitute for cricket, but sorry, football falls well short of a good rugby game.
tapu dali on Thu Jul 15, 2010 at 05:04:52 PM MDT
Canadian. Born of Estonian parents. M 60+ yo. Theoretical physicist turned disaster planner and and risk and threat assessment specialist.
No more, sorry. Securitate is listening!
tapu dali #2 on Sat Jul 24, 2010 at 07:40:06 AM MDT
I think I can say this much without divulging too much of my identity. If anyone figures out who I am, I respectfully ask you to keep it to yourself, please! I shall trust the community to heed my wish.
Parents: Estonian. Fled to Sweden during WWII in the midst of NS and Sovjet occupations and repression.
Me: Born in Sweden. Family emigrated to Canada. Wandered about for a while until we settled down. Dad was a steelworker, mom an organist and choirmaster. Dad died quite some time ago, mom a few years ago.
Got into university and finally got a "piled higher and deeper" degree.
Ass prof for a while until I realized I'd never get tenure. Taught in a (US equivalent) community college for a buncha years until the funding was cut. (Bummer!)
Got a job with the swivel service, been there ever since. Expertise: Well, I won't say exactly what, but let's say risk and threat assessment.
Married. No kids. "E" is a musician, typographer, and editor.
temptxan on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 10:02:33 AM MDT
Here goes, 51 (boo) year old female who spent her career in retail distribution and then the beer business. Sexual harassment is par for the course when you are pushing beer in the south, you develop a thick skin fast as well as the ability to dish out the comebacks in a rapid fire response. Mom of 3 kids, 2 in college one in high school. Married to a great guy who has an amazing ability to put up with my need to announce to all that even though we have lived in the south for many years, I remain a liberal Yankee at heart. Political junkie since the 70's and working for the Jimmy Carter campaign at Ohio University.
Tomtech on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 02:29:23 PM MDT
Six year daily DailyKos alumni.
No degree that I can mention without verifying your "need to know" of a "Secret Not For Release to Foreign Nationals".
Retired early after 25 years in mechanical, electrical, electronics, instrumentation,
My nick was given to me from co-workers doing total systems integration at an almost completed Texas Instruments Semi Conductor facility. I was the team leader and lead field tech for the nations leading control systems team finishing up the premier semiconductor facility in the nation.
After that I joined the leading electronics and controls team in L.A. and was a lead tech in three disciplines, (PLC, Installation, and new customer troubleshooting) within two years.
The day after I left The Staples Center the news announces that the Fire Marshall had finally approved it for unrestricted operations. All the other team leaders had been relieved from that project and I only made three trips there with a helper.
ursoklevar on Sat Jul 24, 2010 at 09:29:09 PM MDT
67 YO woman born in New Jersey, grew up near the ocean in Florida, college in Ohio in Pennsylvania, lived in the DC area for 30+ years. MA in English Literature.
I taught English lit in middle school, then college, and although I adored it, I became a single mom and wanted to make decent wages. Happily, I went to work as a temp for a biomedical research non-profit and loved it. They took me on full-time and I stayed in the same field for decades. Started as an editor and branched out into all aspects of administration, including conference management.
My son went to college in Colorado, and I fell in love with it at first sight. I took early retirement and moved to the Rockies when my grandson was on the way. Aside from missing my friends and family on the East Coast, that move and grandparenting have been among the best adventures I ever had.
I’m a long-time, ardent animal lover, and have hosted mostly dogs, and of those mostly hound breeds. Current companion is a tweeny dachshund named Morgan Freeman.
I haven’t enjoyed particularly good health, but that’s had its upside. While in rehab after a hip replacement replacement, autumn of 2008, I watched CNN and the run-up to the election endlessly. Discovered blogs when I got home...cut my teeth on HuffPo...outgrew that...found my way to lurkerhood on DKos...and then the occasional, timid comment...and then the BP Gulf Catastrophe happened and the ROV community was born. And here I am.
Words would fail me if I tried to express what you all have helped to learn, not only about the oil disaster, but about yourselves and about myself. I’ll end with the start of a villanelle by Theodore Roethke entitled The Waking:
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep and take my waking slow.
vet on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 10:17:21 AM MDT
64 news junkie/politics Lurker. retired URW/USW worker, hobby Photography
Wee Mama on Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 01:07:11 PM MDT
57 (58 in two weeks), female, just retired from being a professor of biochemistry, serve half-time as an assistant rector of an Episcopal church. I grew up on the Tappan Zee of the Hudson River, so water is part of my world and core - makes me feel much sister spirit with those who are bereaved of their Gulf. My son and daughter both love Isle Royale on Lake Superior, their "water place" that their father and I have taken them several times.
My retirement present to myself is an iPad, called Merry (for emerita) and I have to say it makes blogging very pleasant.
Yasuragi on Fri Jul 16, 2010 at 07:51:39 AM MDT
- Professional writer and editor turned professional furniture refinisher, because no one edits me, and my clients sometimes hug me.
Parents were working class Bohemians from the old far, far left. Raised in the specter of Joe McCarthy and taught much about being protectively paranoid. Both were former union organizers, and I leapt at my first opportunity to join a union, and have stood with them for nearly thirty years, in Council meetings and on picket lines.
Left school at seventeen, because I was a chronic truant and not doing well (the truancy being a result and not the cause of my not doing well). Got a job, moved out, started a life that led me immediately to writing. Which is kind of a hereditary disease in my family: three siblings, also writers; two sort-of step-parents, also writers... I tried at first to escape into a music career, since I hate competition, but I hated performing, and writing kept calling me back.
After ten grueling years on a high-pressure writing job (weekly crushing deadlines; very little time off), I fried my brain and switched to my only other area of knowledge, refinishing.
In 2000, I moved to my current location to care for my mother, thinking what when the inevitable came to pass, I'd return to Manhattan, where I'd been born, and figured never to leave until I was too old to manage the city. But after five years out here, I found that I couldn't leave being where I can see the stars, where I know the rise and fall of the tides and the phase of the moon, where deer and smaller wildlife grace me daily with their presence. This place feeds me something I hadn't known I was starving for.
Am living very impatiently through temporary but cruelly long period of (moderate, compared to so many others) disability caused by being given a far-too-powerful antibiotic without being told the risks. [Health warning: if your doctor tries to prescribe you a class of antibiotics called quinolones {e.g. Levaquin, Avalox, Cipro) don't take it unless you have returned from the Amazon with an infection from being bitten by an as yet unclassified species of creature that all zoologists look at and say, "Eww..." when you show them a photo you snapped with your iPhone at the last minute before the beast withdrew, leaving a chip of a tooth to fester in your now-half-rotting limb. Quinolones can destroy tendon tissue. Lots of it.] And because of that, I am unable to work for the forseeable future. The ROVs have given me a purpose, and a feeling of usefulness again, which has really been a godsend. I first went there for information because I was so horrified by what was happening, but when I saw that they needed an ongoing reserve of diarists, I jumped in head first and have never for a moment regretted it.
And I want to take time, after this absurdly long history, to say that this is the finest group of people I've ever linked arms with on a cause. Not just the ROV diarists and the tech folk, but everyone who comes in to get the latest or express their grief. I've made friends here I hope to keep a lifetime, and met so many new Kossacks I'll recognize again (I hope!) in the future: and no matter what side of an issue we may be on, I'll feel that bond we share for, as bigjacbigjacbigjac says, The Time We Watched.
Yasuragi #2 on Sat Jul 24, 2010 at 08:27:24 AM MDT
I actually was a DFH, being indoctrinated young by my cousins and older friends. And having been taken to my first peace demonstration at the age of six, on my very tall brother's shoulders (he was 6'6" when he stood straight). I aged out of dope and shouting by the time I was in my late twenties, but the values still stand: peace, and up the man.
I keep my location a closely guarded secret here on the GOS. But I will say I live on an island off the East Coast. That's all I'll say. A friend in Mojo Friday dubbed it Haunted Island, because she always pictured the setting of a mystery story when I talked about this place: small community; lots of weather, and isolation from the mainland.