bigger on the inside

Continuing to answer comments from my Blogging Meme post.


From angstchic:

What are some things you are most passionate about as an individual?(Meaning outside your role at the job, as a mom, wife, etc.)

I'm pretty passionate about several things, but I'd have to say politics ranks right up there. It all started when I was ten and my fourth grade class did a mock campaign, right down to having spokesmen (it was the early 80's we were all men *g*) for each candidate. I was chosen as a spokesman for Reagan. I spent weeks cutting out and reading newspaper articles that were about him. I didn't always understand what I was reading, but I really liked him. And before anyone says that my parents were influencing my decision, I have to point out that at my house, my parents were very apolitical in front of me. Politics just wasn't something that was discussed at home. So, anyway, I became very enamored of Mr. Reagan. When November rolled around, we did a mock election and of course I voted for my boy Reagan.

After that, it just sort of snowballed. When I reached the tenth grade, I knew I wanted to major in history and political science. This was also the year that we went to Washington DC and I just fell in love with the place. We met our representative for Pennsylvania and I wound up asking him a ton of questions about what his job entailed, the type of policies and bills he was supporting, and if he liked what he was doing. Yeah, I sort of kept him all to myself. I didn't mean to, but I couldn't help myself.

This was also the time that I begged to take AP History which later became a defining moment in my life. In fact, when I was a freshman in college, I was one of the few who declared a major -- and then kept to it for the next four years. Over those four years, I took every military history class I could get my hands on, and as many Political Science classes as they offered, mostly dealing with International Relations Theory. My dream was to go to Washington DC and work on staff for any politician who would have me. I was determined that politics was my future -- not necessarily running as a candidate (I can't lie worth a damn), but working behind the scenes. When I went for my Masters, I majored in 20th Century American Politics. Do you see a theme here? My goal during that time was to work for the Defense Intelligence Agency because I had connections. However, by the time I graduated, Clinton had cut Intelligence jobs and there was a hiring freeze in place. So much for the dream. I thought perhaps I could become a History Professor instead. I was accepted to Lehigh University for my PhD, but the funding for my program fell through. It was a little difficult to justify spending as much money for a PhD as I did for six years of undergrad and grad school.

Eventually, I took a job as an administrative assistant at a base on the BRAC list (Base Relocation and Closure list). I even made the move down to southern Maryland with it. It was as close to DC as I ever made it. I suppose you could say if I hadn't been with SoccerRef, I would still be down there, maybe not working for the Navy, but definitely working somewhere in DC. But I wouldn't have experienced everything I have, nor would I be married to SoccerRef or have my miracle child. Things work out for a reason. In the meantime, I still support my favorite candidates and my party, and I listen to talk radio -- that's how I stay involved. It's like politics is in my blood. I can't shake it no matter how hard I try.

Continuing to answer comments from my Blogging Meme post.

From redeem147:

How did you get started collecting American flags?

That's a very good question because even I'm not sure when it really started. My best guess is that it began after I visited Washington DC for the first time in 1986. That's also the year that I realized I wanted to be an Historian -- though I may not have become one, I still did six years of college, majoring in History and Political Science.

Over the years I would pick up small trinkets that had the flag on them, but I have to say that I think my passion increased in early 2001 when we built the house. I made plans to use an Americana theme for the powder room downstairs. I even bought Americana stencils (bird houses) for the border. I was laid off in early August of that same year, so I started my powder room project -- working on the stenciling, getting hand towels, etc. Then 9/11 happened. That's when I really started collecting American flag themed items because, understandably, it became readily available everywhere.

Friends and family would also contribute to this "addiction" as they would be out traveling, see something they knew I'd like, and then they'd buy it. In fact, I think that 85-90% of my powder room decorations (bears, flags, stars, etc) were gifts. Even ESILFH even gave me something at Christmas last year that I haven't yet put up

Eventually, the decor started spilling out into the foyer and would still be there if it wasn't for a certain toddler's inherent curiosity. As it is, I have to rotate things and probably will continue to do so until Boo is older.

From crossreactivity:

What do you think is the biggest challenge women face today?

Wow. You've really hit me with a doozie.

If you had asked me this when I was still working and had a career, I would have said without a doubt that it was equality in the work place. But now that I'm a stay at home mom, I'm not sure that I'm qualified enough to answer this because I'm not "out there" anymore. Though I'm sure things haven't changed in six years.

I once worked for a company that was an old boys club. Yeah, that was a blast, let me tell you. Despite the fact that I had both a bachelors and masters degree, I was considered inferior to the manly engineers who worked there. Yes, I had been hired as a type of administrative assistant (because that's what I had been when I worked as a civilian for the Navy), but my boss -- a female engineer and VP -- quickly discovered that I was capable of much more. I moved up quickly, becoming a database programmer and then a project manager. However, that all stopped when the president's son joined the company. My boss had been grooming me to take her place, but with the son there, I suddenly became a non-entity especially after they pushed my boss out of the company. One day I was told by the president that I made far too much money (I made far less than those who were male and had the same amount of experience and time that I did) and that our customers would no longer want to hire me. It was a flat out lie because I'd brought in a TON of money for them over the five years I worked there. My customers adored me. I was a hard worker and a professional. More and more lies came out of the president's mouth and the other two VPs and the CFO decided that I was expendable. That's when my former boss told me that everything that was going on was because I was a woman and I was making the president's son look bad. WTF?

How could I continue to work there? I didn't. Armed with a spruced up resume, I applied to Lucent Technologies. My experience in opto-electronics with the government gave me an edge. Fortunately for me, the department head that hired me had never heard of my father-in-law (he holds three patents over forty plus years of service), but it was my last name that got me in the door. Anyway, Lucent was a dream compared to my old company. Women were held in higher regard and I was treated on equal footing with the engineers. However, that said, there still existed an attitude that women who were pregnant and then took maternity leave were some how considered less because of it, like they weren't taking their jobs seriously enough. This bugs the crap out of me.

Women are expected to be able to do it all, but when we do, it's held against us.

My job at Lucent was a dream job, but I have to wonder, if I hadn't been laid off, would I be considered inferior because I chose to start a family?

From kaelsu2:

How about what was your first scifi related event that you ever attended?

My first event was a Vulkon Buffy the Vampire Slayer event in Cleveland, OH. That was April 2003 and the first of many, many, many conventions.

The lineup: Robert Atkins Downe, Iyari Limon, James Leary, Andy Hallett and James Marsters.

I had no idea what to expect and I was feeling a little weird about going -- mostly because I never considered myself one of "those" people. You know what I mean, the kind who go to SciFi cons and dress up in costumes to live out their fantasies...think Galaxy Quest. Of course I bought into the stereotype because I didn't know any better, ya know?

Anyway, I had a blast! I got to meet so many people from the two boards that I posted to -- We Band of Buggered and BAPS. In fact, I finally got to meet acristleo, bandcandy_peach, bubonicplague (I think it was there that I met her for the first time, though things are a bit hazy! *g*), dettiot, elizard100, eviljade, rockgoddes (though I didn't know it at the time), rusty_halo (a bit hazy on this one as well), scarlett2u, taradi. I met so many people that weekend, that I'm pretty sure that I've left a whole slew of people off the list. Plus, as I said, the weekend was sort of hazy because we drank some type of purple death in a cup in elizard100's room. Yes, "Purple Death in a Cup" is what Leary dubbed it, and he would know because he looked like death warmed over the next day. Whoops.

Oh, and I posted a con report...it can be found here. Reading that now, I was so young and innocent and just so excited about it all. Geez. Now I feel old and jaded. Maybe because I've been to so many since that it's old hat. Yeah, that it. :)

So you can all thank this particular event for kicking off my con addiction. If it hadn't been for Cleveland, I wouldn't know about 80% of you.

From cathyteach2:

How about posting about the best book you ever read? Or, if that's too hard to narrow down, how about *one* of your favorites?

I have so many favorite books and authors that this is really hard. When I find authors or books that I like, I tend to read them over and over. It's a thing.

Gosh, this is so hard. I could give a dozen or so different answers since I read books that are parts of series. For example, I love Stephen King, but the majority of his books that I adore are his fantasy stories which are all related. The Dark Tower series is probably my all time favorite -- hands down. But, at the same time, the other books that are tied into it are also excellent. In fact, The Talisman (King wrote it with Peter Straub) was one of my absolute favorites as a teenager. It's a rather large book and I read it in less than 48 hours. I was so immersed in the story that my parents wondered what happened to me because I only ventured out of my room to eat and use the bathroom.

For those who are unfamiliar with The Talisman, it's about a boy who travels between the present day US and a medieval parallel universe (I wasn't sure exactly how to explain it so I went to King's site). What struck me most about the story was Jack's journey -- how each time he popped over to the "Territories" he was wearing the clothing of the period and using words from that dimension. In the years since I read this book, I still remember that a sandwich in the Territories was known as a popkin. I don't know why that struck me as strange, but it did and has stayed with me ever since.

I also think that the reason I've had this book burned into my memory was because it was the very first fantasy book I ever read. I remember thinking that King and Straub got me, like they wrote it just for me. It was so easy to get involved in the plot, to empathize with the character of Jack and his quest to find a cure for his mother. Perhaps that was because my own mother had almost died when I was eight (long story and probably best for another post all together) or maybe I was a year older than the character. For whatever reason, I felt like Jack's journey was my own and I grew along with him as the story progressed.

In 2001, I was beyond thrilled when King and Straub put out a sequel called Black House. Jack had aged in correlation to the time that had passed between Talisman and Black House. He was wiser, harder and had absolutely no memories of the time he traveled to the Territories so again, the reader went on a journey with the character -- it was as if we were slowly regaining our memories as well. This time the bad guy was from End World which tied into The Gunslinger's universe. I am a sucker for stories that tie in with other stories that I love. And I am in awe of writers who do it -- especially those that pay attention to their own continuity and storylines. King left clues in every fantasy book about Roland's (the main character from the Dark Tower series) world and his destiny. They were subtle enough that only fans of that series would understand...that way if you picked up Hearts In Atlantis you could read it without knowing anything about Roland and his travels. This is why I think I have such a huge crush on Russell T. Davies. Nice segue, huh? Seriously though, I adore Rusty because of the hints he left in Torchwood series 1 for Doctor Who series 3.

So, to answer the question directly, The Talisman, by Stephen King and Peter Straub, is one of my favorite books of all time. Yeah, I know, it's not a history book. It's shocking to me too. *g*

From gokuma...

Apparently my nickname in Polish means "dog's brother". That's pretty neat, though I'm a cat person. If you do a literal translation on a Polish to English site, it can also mean scoundrel or bastard, but gokuma has assured me that it's not used in an offensive way nowadays. I think I like the dog's brother meaning better. *g*

For those who are new to my friends list, this is the story behind PSUbrat:

I went to Penn State University for four years for my bachelors degree so when I needed to come up with a screen name for AOL, I wanted to incorporate my school spirit into it. That was 1995 -- I chose PSUgirl. When I found IRC, I hung out on Efnet's #Pennsylvania. I was one of the youngest ones there and was henceforth known as Brat. I changed to PSUbrat and it stuck. In fact, I used this nick all through my time in the Buffy fandom and all of my fics are written under it.

I kept the name when I came here, but because LJ doesn't use capitalization for journal names, people became confused and didn't know how to pronounce my nick. Hence the reason I've put up the "How to Pronounce My Name" bit in my user info.

So there you go. Penn State University Brat. That's me.

Because all the cool kids are doing it...

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.