I loved to read when I was a kid, so I planned to become a writer.
I ended up as a software engineer, so kinda the same thing, right?
Me, too, but I’m sooooo lazy. I ended up as a systems analyst.
I wanted to be a zookeeper. I asked teachers and guidance counsellors in high school, but I could never find out what the pathway to that job was, and by the time I was finishing university, I ended up going in another direction. I don’t mind, really, but I do wish someone had at least taken me seriously and tried to help when I asked.
I wanted to be a veterinarian, right up until our vet allowed me to observe an operation (spaying our new cat). I realized that I do not have the stomach for it.
What I wanted to be changed over time:
When I was in kindergarten or so I wanted to be a race car driver.
When I was a little bit older I decided I wanted to be an auto mechanic – I was really into cars as a kid.
In middle school I decided I wanted to be an architect.
Today I am none of those things. In high school I decided I liked computers and wanted to design computer hardware, and studied computer engineering in college. In my actual career path I actually ended up as a software engineer.
I wanted to be a mathematician. Or maybe a doctor. I ended up an actuary. Lower status than a doctor or a professor, but much better hours than a doctor, and probably more pay than the professor. Anyway, i realized in college that i didn’t like to write, and that writing papers for a living was not a great career choice. That’s when i decided not to be a mathematician.
I definitely had that aspiration myself, and I am a writer. I just don’t think I registered it as a career choice. Yet when I was twelve I bought a word processor with my own money - not cheap! - and wrote and wrote and wrote. Finished my first novel at 16 backed up on multiple floppy disks. Terrible book (it was a Christian romance novel about a teenaged alcoholic and sex addict.) When I was 17 I legally emancipated and for some reason I felt compelled to get rid of every piece of writing I had. I saved only part of the novel.
Fast forward grumble years… I write grants full time and then I go home and write fiction. So I am a writer. I just finished my first “actually want to publish this” novel. As I prepare to query, I have no delusions about this replacing my current job. It comes down to whether you believe a writer gets paid or a writer writes. By the latter definition I am a writer for life no matter who buys my work.
The Grand Canyon is totally worth it, but I think you have to hike partway down to really appreciate it. The view from the rim is nice but perhaps not worth the journey.
The view from the rim is totally worth the journey. There are few more impressive features on the earth than the Grand canyon, and you get a stunning view from the rim.
Back when Europeans used to ask me what to set of they visited the US, i replied, “New York City and the grand canyon”
Yosemite is equally impressive, though the crowds are more highly concentrated.
I wanted to be a writer. I’m still working on it.
When I was a kid I just wanted to be the boss. Achieved that. Never thought about being a writer, but I did that too.
Was at the Grand Canyon just last week. Well worth the $450/night hotel stay at the Maswick Lodge. Also saw the ABQ balloon festival, Monument Valley, the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, Apache National Forest, and White Sands. The Petrified Forest and White Sands were closed because of the shutdown, but we did see them from the road and bought some fossilized tree pieces from the gift shop at the south end of PF Road where it meets 180. 2,771 miles of driving over 8 days, was a complete blast, Inna and I had a wonderful time.
We walked down to the 3-mile point in the GC. We actually made better time going up than down - as I remarked to Inna, we were in tourist mode going down, taking pictures every thousand feet or so, and boot camp mode going up, one foot in front of the other.
Maybe because i was older when i visited Yosemite? But no, i did not find it as impressive.
I gotta admit, i was blown away by Waimea Canyon, in Hawaii, with what looks like the grand canyon in one side, and fairy-tale rocks on the other. But it’s not as vast as the Grand Canyon.
We don’t keep schedules on our phones; instead, because we’re juggling a lot of stuff, I print paper calendars that are always around in the living room a couple of months in advance, and we write down appointments etc. there.
I don’t “keep a schedule on my phone”, but i extensively use Google calendars, and look at my calendar of my phone, where i display it with different colors for different calendars. I don’t have a color for “appointments”, that would just go under, “my stuff”. But i have calendars for dancing, for puzzles, for certain volunteers groups, for family activities, and i see my husband’s calendar, and have a shared calendar with my son.
Like puzzlegal, I rely on Google Calendar — which I access from my phone, iPad, browser, etc. I definitely use multiple colors: categories include general (e.g., the car service appointment I’m at right now), health, music, work, annual, and holiday.
Sadly, my visit to the grand Canyon was only a brief stopover.
I didn’t attend a No Kings rally today, but only because I’m traveling. I was there in spirit, and would absolutely have gone if it had been possible.
I did attend No Kings today in Ferndale, Michigan. It was my first protest in 17 years. It was overwhelmingly positive. I wish I felt this good every day. (I think hundreds is an understatement. At least a thousand, maybe two.)
I didn’t go to a protest because I’ve had some pretty serious sleep deprivation (averaging maybe 2 hours of sleep per night for weeks) and can’t really drive safely. Fuck….
I see in the news we had good turnout in Austin though.