Sunday, February 8, 2009

25 Things

• My life is comprised of a lot of moving pieces right now. Everything except my dog seems to be moving fast and in unpredictable ways. I am poised to respond. 

• Chilidog is my black Labrador friend; he's about 12 or 13 and his arthritis meds need adjustment. Recently, he hasn't been able to get into the car nor onto my bed without help and sleeps a lot.

• I am planning to go to Africa and run the Zambezi River before 2014.

• I am wondering what the end of the Mayan calendar will look like in 2012.

• I only get to see my nephews about once a year. This is a real bummer.

• My house is my greatest physical asset. I've had about 30 people live with me over the past ten years that I've owned it. They have stayed from anywhere from a week to a year. Some folks are friends of friends, others are found through Craigslist. There have only been 4 significant sub-prime tenants over the past ten years. This helps pay the rent and offers a great sense of community.

• The house also has a 4 star energy rating, which I achieved with my own hard work ten years ago. I was able to leverage three different mortgage assistance programs to get a 30 year fixed rate below 4%. I am very proud and happy about both of these accomplishments.

• I wish I had an employer match to my 403b contributions right now.

• Never get me started on the insanity of health insurance coverage.

• Most folks forget or don't know that I've lived with Type 1 diabetes since 1970. This is generally a pain in the ass to manage-- but what are you going to do?

• I am working on an application to present a creative piece for Out North's "Under 30", which features one-person performance art shows that are less than 30 minutes. If selected, I'll be doing the show in January 2010.

• I love reading. I'm using my library card and receive three periodicals-- The Week, The Sun and Newsweek. Will probably ditch Newsweek when it expires.

• I can't understand parents that take their young kids to late night movies with adult themes. They should be home reading the kids a story before they go to bed. But I'm not a slacker parent.

• Only one of the tropical freshwater fish that I adopted last year is still alive, although only one progeny survived the massive "tank tanking" that occurred in December.

• --I've never married or even had a relationship that lasted longer than 3 years. Right now, I don't think that it’s my role in the world. My dream is to find a guy who's open to new experiences, happy to deal with occasional neurosis and is willing to discuss credit scores and financial management approaches before committing to a serious relationship.

• I often develop campaigns to orchestrate my personal development goals. Ranging from "Get some in '97" to “Lighten up 2000” to “Sex in '06"; I have had varying success over the years. One of my friends reminded me that campaigns can include both a specific candidate, a public education effort, or simply be a long-drawn out effort like a war. That made me re-thinks this strategy.

• I am active in community- on the "core group" of Bioneers in Alaska and on the board of Neighborworks Anchorage that fosters low-income housing. For some reason, I signed on as the chair of their board development committee last week- but people are eager so I am hopeful we can do good work together.

• I love the theatre arts and am eager to see Spamalot and laugh my ass off with my crackly friend Holly.

• I am torn between being a “free-wheeling vagabond river chick” and a “smart and savvy executive business person”. My main goal is to work with smart and fun people, always.

• I’m an optimist, but I can get pretty grumpy and stressed out under the right circumstances.

• I have an amaryllis on my kitchen table-- it is almost ready to bloom and its stalk is almost 30 inches high.

• I really like cookies, especially when I make them.

• I am fascinated with the community building connections possible on the internet, but worried that youth won’t know how to function in teams and groups when they need to enter the workforce.

• I thought “Hold this Thought” and “AK” were really cool radio shows while they lasted.

• I hope the economic downturn is going to slap a whole bunch of sensibility into Americans about what is really important in life. Hopefully folks will realize they gain more when they share…