1. One of the things that struck me about your user-info when I first added you was your statement “I talk to homeless people.” Any unusually-memorable conversation come to mind? And what are your thoughts on the way we handle/deal with homeless issues in this country?
2. When did you decide to become a vegan? I’m assuming that means no egg-products as well… but do you eat soy and tofu? (I LOVE soy and tofu…)
3. I work with the government a lot as well… as a contractor. My biggest frustration is the speed (or lack thereof) at which projects get off the ground and get completed. What is your biggest frustration???
4. Where do you see yourself in four and a half years???
5. Art and I almost moved to Minneapolis actually… it was on the list along with Portland, San Diego and Austin. Portland was too rainy (and too long of a flight to DC where I fly often) and San Diego was too damn expensive cuz we wanted to own after a while, not rent. We ruled out Minneapolis cuz I have a driving phobia (since a bad accident) and can’t stand snow/ice. It’s still, however, a beautiful city in my opinion. what brought you there and what do you like best about it???
1. Particularly memorable experiences talking with homeless folks? I remember several, but none that stand out as terribly amazing or transformative. My point in including that line was that I recognize the humanity of homeless people, even those that are unpleasant, low status, and personally annoying. And, I don’t exempt them from basic considerations. And I think that we do treat our homeless folks as subhuman. And that’s a tragedy. I could get alot more specific, but that’s the basic point. Respect and care. No more and no less than the people with homes.
2. Oh my yes, I eat soy and tofu. If you are what you eat, I’d be like 48% wheat and 50% soy. And yeah, no eggs. I’ve been vegan since January of 01, so a little over 5 years now. I’ve varied in my adherence to it, but it was a fairly natural progression for me. I was raised vegetarian with no eggs until I hit my teens. I went vegetarian when I started college, with vegan goals. I experimented briefly with veganism (5 months) in college, but gave up in frustration. In a dark mood early this fall, I flirted with dropping it, but but didn’t end up doing so. I may not stick to veganism while traveling through Europe. We’ll see.
3. My biggest frustration with my government work to date has been inflexibility. In particular, their inability to hire me before I completed my master’s degree, despite their apparent, great satisfaction with my performance. I understand why (rules are there for accountability), but it still annoys the hell out of me. I viewed going to policy school as a necessary step to getting a job, because nobody hires policy analysts to learn on the job. If I could have, I would have started off making less and skipped the master’s degree. Alas, that’s not the way the game is played. I’m sure I’ll develop more as time goes on, but so far, I strongly prefer working for the government to working for private industry, based on my very limited experience.
4. 4.5 years into the future is a rough call when I’m not sure what’s going to happen next week. However, I’ll take a stab. I’ll be comfortably ensconsed in a major city, working for the GAO, probably getting ready for the first promotion since my initial hiring on. I’ll be living with a friend or two in an apartment not far from downtown on a major rail line, or bus commuter line. Big uncertainties include whether I’ll move to work on the team I want, which team I’ll be working for, whether I’ll have met some guy(s) to settle down with, and if I’ll actually be ready to take care of a kid and still interested in that. Another big uncertainty is how much longer I’ll be staying at the job I’ll be at then.
5. What brought me here was grad school. I was looking at several options. My first choice was UC Berkeley, which has an amazing reputation, awesome instructors, would have been cheap tuition, and was 5 minutes walk from where I was living at the time. Sadly, they didn’t accept me. Either time I applied. I checked out 7 schools, total. U Chicago (too expensive), U Wisconsin (too new/unstructured a program, too small a town), U Vermont, U Illinois Chicago (my safety schools), Cornell (a long shot), UC Berkeley (*sigh*) and University of Minnesota. It was either
If you want me to interview you, just ask. Though if you’re going to make me come up with questions, I expect you to put it in your journal, too. =) I may not be speedy, but I’ll get around to you.
U Wisconsin meaning the main campus, or a branch? Some of the branches are pretty dinky. And I understand rejecting a too new, unstructured program. But Madison as a city, I think you’d like. It’s smaller than places I know you love, but in a lot of ways it’s a lot more concentrated. Like all the hippy fun of a place like San Francisco concentrated into a much smaller place. Yeah, I’m biased, but Madison is one of my favorite cities on the planet, and that list also includes Prague and Hong Kong!
Madison. In retrospect, it might have been better. But they really don’t have an environmental & tech policy setup there the way they do at UMN. By which I mean the one instructor they hired in the fall of my second year. So I shrug.
I was very turned off when I talked to one of the policy students, and asked if he knew of any homos in his department, and he and his buddy both gave me a deer-in-the-headlights look. I asked if I was the first person to ever tell them I was gay. And they affirmed it. I’ve been told this is not representative, but still…
Gotta go with the better department, definitely. But the students who seemed shocked are not typical in Madison. There’s a very active gay community. Madison is a lot like Athens in a lot of ways, only bigger. But when you’re going for a particular program and they don’t have it, you’ve got to go with the program, not the city. Which is why Madison got crossed off my list when I was looking, even though I hated to do that! But they’ve got nothing in sociolinguistics. The linguistics program in Madison is great in other ways, but in what I was looking for, they’re pretty weak.
Cool answers. Yeah, feel free to interview me if you want. (But I’m exempt from posting again, lol)
1. Why did you move away from DC? (I can think of a list of reasons a mile long, but I’m wondering what yours were 😉 How did you come up with your list of places to move to? What do you like about Austin? How can you take the heat in the summer?
2. What have you done professionally aside from your current job? What features of your current job appeal to you most?
3. When did you start lifting? Why? Did you experience any major lulls once you got started? What do you do for aerobic activity?
4. Where did you get your pets, what are their stories?
5. How did you and your partner meet? What ups and downs would you be comfortable sharing here? Any special joys or irks?
Interview away! 🙂
Cool answer about the policy job BTW. I did my undergrad in pol sci and my father worked for the Canadian government for 35 years. I’ve partaken in policy consults for the federal and provincial governments but they won’t hire me either without a master. The Health Minister wanted to hire me but that was to remove me as his thorn lol He’s a tranny chaser so I thought better of it.
But yeah… I still think about a career in the public service and I don’t know what to think anymore.
Annoying as hell isn’t it?
I think the US (and maybe Canada too, not familiar enough with how things are there) has rebelled a bit too much from Max Weber. No, bureaucrats are not angels, but they are often hard working people motivated by a genuine desire to serve the public good. Heavens knows if it was a kooshy, high paying job I was after, I’d be doing something else. =)
I <3 Canada from my brief visits. Right after Bush got his second turn on the merry-go-round, I really wanted to transfer to U Toronto (my lack of love for my school played into this as well). What drew me back was the hope that by staying I could help save, as I put it, one lesbian preacher's daughter from suicide. I still waver occassionally, though I doubt I'd have much of a chance at a job with tho OAG (I love that GAO and OAG make a palindrome). If you know any fun, eco-conscious, fit, furry, preferably open-relationship-oriented guys in the Toronto or Vancouver areas who really dig guys with American accents and would like to marry one, please do pass along my info, he may swing the balance. =)
You mean other than myself? Well marriage and I aren’t the best of friends (what with being non-monogamous and stuff) and I’m starting to get more eco-conscious, though most Canadians do better than most Americans strictly because even condos get penalized now if too much of its garbage should have been in a blue bin. I wonder if they will ever find a way to introduce the green bins within a condo.
I’ll look around 🙂 And answer yours questions shortly.
Well, you’re definitely cute, but the 8 year age difference could be an issue. And probably a bigger issue is that I don’t know how the ftm thing would play out with me. I’d be interested to find out, but I’d rather not make anyone feel like a zoo animal. *shrug*
And I have limits on my eco-friendliness too. Better than your average american, sure. Probably worse than your average Zimbabwean. Check that, given my electric consumption, definitely worse than your average Zimbabwean. (though I suppose I should consider what they burn to cook… *shrug* I don’t really know).
Curious now…
What do they usually burn to cook?
To be honest I don’t know about me and cisgendered men. I had some intimacy with one recently but I’m still figuring it out myself. I’m attracted to men, but I suspect it will take bottom surgery before I feel more comfort with cisgendered guys. The thought is to be uncommitted until at least the 1st surgery. I will of course revise that last statement if I fall head over hells for someone lol
1. I’m interested in Greek mythology, though in retrospect I wonder how much of it was the statues. I read the greek section of Bulfinch’s Mythology repeatedly in elementary school. I’m pretty sure I never read the story of tyresias before reading your user info. How did you get started on Greek mythology? What do you find most interesting about it? Where did you find that particular story?
2. I’m a once-in-a-blue-moon climber. Based off your bouldering interest… How often do you climb? How long have you been climbing? Where do you climb, what do you like most about it?
3. Tell me about the activist efforts have you been involved in. What have you done? When have you done it? How has it been for you? What groups have you been involved in?
4. What’s one of your favorite policies or political causes? How does it stand currently? Why does it interest you? What do you think will happen with it? What do you hope will happen with it?
5. What do you do for fun? Sports? Games? Reading? Cooking? Marathon TV watching? Maintain your mastery of pop culture? =) Please be specific and include some detail. =)
Re: Curious now…
I slept with women first but I began sleeping with transmen the same year. It’s a different experience (especially if he’s on T) and I generally prefer sleeping with transmen.
lol yes there is a lot more to a sexual partner than their gender and physical bits. I’ve essentially decided I don’t care about the parts but far mroe about the personality that comes with them.