Tag Archives: misc

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Skateboarding is Universal

Kabul, Afghanistan: A girl ‘pops an ollie’ on her skateboard as Afghan youths gather for the Sound Central Festival

Photograph: Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images

Actually I think it’s a kickflip, but either way… I like this for the juxtaposition. Too often we hear ‘Oh these people are different from us! They’re nothing like us!’ Except they’re just people, like you and me. The girls in the back are probably texting, the one in boots is clearly looking around, and then there’s the one on the right, just enjoying skateboarding.

People are people. We should remember that.

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We are not perfect

My Life,

I’m not perfect. Which is not a surprise to anyone, nor is the fact that I don’t think I’m perfect.

I’m not a perfect feminist, I’m not always paying attention to my moments of privilege. Sometimes I forget that I’m a hugely lucky person, who was able to take advantage of circumstances. I forget that by going to Montessori and private schools, I was given opportunities than are not common. I forget that I was raised by exceptional people who regularly inspire others to be great. I forget that not everyone knows they can be great. When I forget those things, I make terrible assumptions about the world that slap me in the face. I can be as misanthropic or mysogynistic or racist as the next person.

Imperfect Diamond RingI’m not a perfect humanist. I’ll say words that I ‘shouldn’t’ say. Very rarely is it out of a desire to use that word to belittle, but I have called people retarded even though I know I shouldn’t, and why I shouldn’t, and that it is offensive. I have also used words that I feel we should be able to use in conversation, when appropriate, questioning why people feel it’s alright for a Jew to say ‘kike’ as an insult to another Jew, and why is it not okay for me to ask in public about the etymology similar words. I’ll rankle when I realize that, since I’m white, it’s socially unacceptable for me to even ask about certain words, and worse if I should happen to use them (not that I would).

I am human. I am imperfect. I make mistakes. I fail.

But it is in those moments of my imperfections, my moments of failure, that I become better and stronger. I find ways to discuss, as intellectual, thinking adults, about those words. I find ways to help other people, men and women, empower themselves and rise past circumstances. And sometimes I’ll fail in those attempts, and always I will try to learn from those failures to do better.

Never do I question these: I am exceptional. I am talented. I am skilled. I am unique.

Never do I forget these: I am privileged. I am lucky. I am imperfect.

I want to share my uniqueness and skills with others. I want to share my luck. I want to give them as much of the chances in life that made me self-assured and bold that I can.

That’s why I do what I do, and how I do it. I want you to come with me.

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The Difference Of Being

My Life

Sometimes I wonder what I ‘represent’ and why.

The list of things that I am is rather large: Open-Source Advocate, coder, hacker, musician, lesbian, libertarian, bicyclist, woman, Jewish, college drop-out… It goes on and on and on. Those are all words people associate with me, and when I jokingly asked a friend, she said she thought of the words ‘hat’ and ‘WordPress.’ I’m rather glad there isn’t just one word people think of when they think of me, and rather that there are many words that make them think of me. It’s the difference between being and representing, though.

My being is complex and difficult to pin down. I’m many things, some of which confuse people (practicing Jew + skeptic), and others make perfect sense (Hybrid owner + eco-aware). My representing is broad spectrum, and sometimes it’s a thing I do under duress  Obviously I don’t mind representing my company when I’m in the WordPress forums. That’s my job, and it’s also a huge relief to be able to go “This is me! This is my company! I can tell people about it!” after all those years at The Bank. On the other hand, I hate that everything I do will be used by someone to say “Aha! Lesbian!” (or whatever it is about me they dislike).

It’s not just me, though. Everyone has that pain. Every woman knows we represent all women when we do ‘non-traditional’ things. Like women in code? It’s not that rare, but no matter what we must be aware that we’re women and we represent all of us. I hate that a lot. A huge lot. It’s annoying, and I just want to do my thing! Men don’t get off easy, though. If you’ve ever met a straight male in a traditionally female role (nurse, hair stylist, designer), they have an uphill battle too. It’s stupid, but there we are.

But we all somehow intuit the difference between who and what we are, and who and what we represent. And those moments in life when we get to glory and revel in our being without any repercussions to our representation are cherished.

There’s no point to this, other than I had these thoughts on my mind and felt like putting them down.

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Goldfinger Wasn’t Far Off

My Life, ,

Somehow I ended up on a page that went over some of Bond’s villians and the efficacy of their plots, from the point of view of an economist. It was actually amusing to see who had a clue and who was just totally off base. It’s not like anyone actually watches those movies for accuracy (otherwise Mythbusters would be out of a job).

Check out Vulture’s “Ask an Economist: Which Bond Villain Plan Would Have Worked (and Which Not)?“