Today’s prompt from Shimelle is: Write about your first job and ask
your blog readers to share their first job stories too.
Another interesting one for me. In Turkey, it’s not common for teenagers
to work like it is in the US. So I never had a real paying job until I
moved to the US. It all depends what first job means to you. The first
time I got paid for doing something was proofreading for the college
newspaper. The first “corporate” job I had was for Bell Laboratories my
Junior year in college. I was a programmer. And the first
“real/fulltime” job I had was as a programmer at Goldman Sachs. Most of
my career has been about programming or managing people who are. Now I
manage products and not people, but it’s still about the code I suppose.
I had a brief period where I taught 5th grade which was the most
interesting and the most dreadful year of my life.
So I guess, career-wise, my life hasn’t been incredibly interesting. But
it’s also not horribly boring. Something in between. I’ve almost always
been lucky enough to work for reputable companies and with intelligent
people. I can’t ask for more.
Well I can. But not yet.
Today’s prompt from Shimelle is: Tell your blog readers about your
favourite game.
This was an interesting one for me. I used to love playing games.
Backgammon. Bridge. Scrabble. Cards. But since I met Jake, we play
almost nothing. Backgammon really really rarely and every now and then I
meet with my Google friends to play Mahjongg (which I do love). And even
more rarely, I play board games with my friend Cole. But I do miss
playing games. Especially cards. I’ve always liked them. I need to find
a way to bring this back into my life.
And finally the prompt from today: The things that inspire us are
often linked to what we label as quirks in our personalities: things we
like that others seem to dismiss. What quirk could you share with your
blog readers to see if they really dismiss this or if it’s something you
have in common?
Well I don’t know if it’s a quirk but I can never leave an art piece
unfinished. Not a layout. Not a journal page. Nothing. I can’t leave it
there and come back to it later. I have to do it all the way. Now or
never. I used to think that this was a bad thing. That it was a sign
that I could never be an artist. Artists can walk away from their art
and come back to it but since I can’t, it’s another sign that I’m not
really an artist and won’t be one.
Then, yesterday, an
artist that I admire greatly made a post that talks about some of
her life and art. She said this:
DO YOU EVER STOP AND START A PIECE OVER BECAUSE OF HOW IT’S EVOLVING
OR NOT EVOLVING? No. I push through it. Art is about what is happening
right now. IT IS WHAT IT IS IN THE MOMENT I WAS CREATING IT. And that
could be crap. But, if I stop a piece I will likely never go back.
And it immediately made me feel better. Maybe there was a chance for me
afterall.
The prompt for yesterday was: Choose one point on each line to share
with your blog readers – one thing you have accomplished and one thing
you hope to accomplish. Bonus points if you have a photo from the event
on the first line.
I thought about this a while ago and I’ve decided that my biggest
accomplishment was getting into Carnegie Mellon and getting to come to
the United States. That’s where all the rest of my accomplishments
started. My citizenship. Teach for America. Jake. David. Goldman.
Google. None of it would have happened without moving to the United
States for college.
As for the second line, I guess one of my current aspirations is to
complete a full painting. I’m working on it and taking a class but it’s
not something I’m inherently talented at so it requires a lot of effort.
Here’s the prompt from Tuesday’s Freedom class: Share a list of links
with your blog readers, leading them to the websites that inspire you
most.
Let’s see: chromasia, Paulette, BPS , Becky and Shimelle and on my list this week.
I am catching up to all the “Freedom” prompts so you will see three in a
row. Here’s the one from Monday: Share an old photo of yourself and
a current photo of yourself with your blog readers. Tell them a little
something that has changed and a little that has stayed the same.
Here’s the first photo that came to my mind. One from a long time
ago:
And One from May of this year:
Let’s talk about what’s changed:
Hair Color. Hair Length. Weight (Free food is great but not for your
weight.) New York vs Palo Alto. Goldman vs Google. Coding vs Not So
Much. Single vs Married. Not a Mom vs a Mom. Back then I didn’t have a
fancy camera and wasn’t nearly as into photography as an art. I hadn’t
begun scrapping. I was writing novels. I had never gone camping. I
didn’t really know how to drive. Creative Therapy.
Let’s talk about what hasn’t changed:
Working. Trying to balance it all out. Trying to figure things out.
Taking photos. Reading. Blogging. Jake. Many of my friends. Pursuit of
Happiness and Peace.
Friday’s Freedom prompt: How do you prefer the pace of life? Do you
wish things would speed up or slow down? Illustrate with something
that has been on your mind or on your calendar or share your
preference between working slowly or quickly on a crafting
project.
This one is interesting to me because I’ve been thinking about it a lot
lately. When I decided to move to San Diego from New York, everyone told
me I’d hate it. They said the ultra-type-A me would go insane with the
relaxed Southern California pace. Honestly, I was a bit worried, too.
There were many reasons why I missed NYC when I was in San Diego but the
pace wasn’t one of them. I loved being relaxed. I love walking on the
beach and taking my time to let the nature soak in. When we moved to
Palo Alto and I went back to the crazy busy life style, I missed San
Diego immediately. I still do.
Yet when I scrap or paint, I still have the fast pace. It’s like I must
finish. I can’t imagine how some people leave stuff to simmer overnight.
I could never ever imagine doing that. I think this attitude hurts my
art. Doesn’t give me time to slow down and think things through. As I
told myself at the beginning of this year: it’s not about the end goal;
it’s about the journey.
Since life is all about the journey, why not savor each moment?
Today’s blog prompt from Shimelle is: Have you ever been inspired by
the words of a poem? Share the poem with your blog readers and tell
them how you came to value its words.
If you’d asked me years ago, I’d have said Nothing
Gold Can Stay or later, I would have said, Stop all
the Clocks or i
carry you in my heart or One Art. But
the first poem that jumped to my mind was:
This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
I love this poem. I love every bit of it. I can’t even explain why.
Maybe cause it’s so ordinary. Cause it’s so relateable. So daily life. I
am not sure but it makes me happy each and every time.
Ok running behind already. Yesterday’s My Freedom class prompt is:
Play a game of ‘What’s in your suitcase?’ on your blog by listing
your necessities for travel, then ask your blog readers to comment with
their own list. You can include pictures or links for items you consider
must-haves.
Well this is a boring one for me. My must-haves are all electronic
equipment and books. I must have: iPod, MacBook Pro, Canon SLR, Canon
mini camera, iPhone, all the chargers. Then I take at least three books.
Even if I’m going just for two days. Three books is my minimum. Then
I’ll take whatever I’m working on currently. Like a sketchbook, or a
recent class printout, or papers that have been sitting on my desk,
unread. That’s about it for me. Boring, eh?
What about you?
The prompt for the second day of Shimelle’s My Freedom class is “If
you could travel in time for just one day, where would you go and what
would you do?”
My first thought was to go back in time. Back to my wedding day. The day
I met Jake. The day we first kissed. The day I found out about David.
The day I gave birth to David. My swearing in ceremony. My telegram of
acceptance in to Carnegie Mellon. Walking on campus for the first time.
So many memorable moments in the past.
Then I realized maybe I could go into the future. The prompt doesn’t
mention the past specifically. Maybe I could go to David’s wedding day.
Or when we are retired. Or when my next kid is born. Maybe just go ten
years into the future and see how things work out. Or maybe not. I’ve
never been a fan of wanting to know the future. Too scared. Also, it’s
no fun. What’s the point if you already know how things are going to
work out? So the future is out.
I know I could have thought in the historical sense too but I’ve never
been a fan of history. So that’s that.
Then I thought, hmmm, do I get to go back as the now me and speak to the
then me? Can I give me some advice? How about some consolation? Can I
tell the “past-me” that I will actually get into the college of my
dreams. Or that I’ll get this job or that I will find the man of my
dreams. Can I tell her things are going to work out? But isn’t that
cheating? Would the past-me believe the present-me? Should she? Hmmm
that got too complicated too.
So how about just going back to observe. Like to my wedding day, which I
mostly don’t remember. But my logic kicked in again and said that
sometimes the way we remember things is more important than the way they
actually were. Memory does what it does for a reason. So that was out too.
I guess I am just not traveling in time after all. Well, maybe to the
far far future where I will be dead and I get to come back once more
just to see my kids and give them one more hug. Is that fair? Since this
is my imagination, I say it is.
From Hey
World, Here I am! by Jean Little:
Today
Today I will not live up to my potential.
Today I
will not relate well to my peer group.
Today I will not contribute in
class.
I will not volunteer one thing.
Today I will
not strive to do better.
Today I will not achieve or adjust or grow
enriched or get involved.
I will not put up my hand even if the
teacher is wrong and I can prove it.
Today I might eat the eraser
off my pencil.
I’ll look at clouds.
I’ll be late,
I don’t think
I’ll wash.
I need a rest.
Jake and I were talking about work the other day. I kept wondering,
what’s more important: to work with something you’re good at or to do
work that you like to do?
I think some of this point is a bit moot. Generally, if you’re really
good at something, you must enjoy it at least a little bit or you
wouldn’t have been able to become that good at it. And if you truly love
doing something, you’ll eventually get good at it. Or, at least, better
than mediocre.
However, there are real case examples where I might be really good at
something but it’s not my passion. And I could be really passionate
about something that I am just not that great at. Even if I am above
mediocre. Is that good enough? Will I constantly struggle and always get
frustrated? Should I just stick to what I know best for my job and make
the other my “hobby”?
I honestly don’t know the answer to this one.
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projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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