TerraNova L.A.
Tagged!
Wouldn’t you know it! I get comfortably settled into my hotel room after a long day of travel, begin to catch up on some of my Flickr contacts’ photos, and Bam! I’m tagged by Flickr contact colors98. I knew this day would come, and though I’m not a super-shy person, I’m usually not one to talk much about myself either. And the funny thing was, I just happened to see that colors98 had been recently tagged too, and I had made a mental note to myself to stop by her Photostream later this evening to see what kind of dirt she would dish on herself ;-) Who would’a guessed I’d soon be one of her “Tag-ees”!
As my “Tag” notice indicated, I’m supposed to tell 10 things about myself that others may not know about me and/or would be surprised to know about me. There was no mention about a self-portrait photograph, but I’ve seen self-portraits on so many other “Tagged” postings that I decided to go along with that tradition, too. So, here goes!
1. I’m the father of two delightful, gorgeous, teenage daughters. They likely wouldn’t use “delightful” if they were asked to describe me; they’d probably say “prison warden” (I’m big on curfews and mandatory call-ins).
2. My wife and I each have jobs in THE two industry sectors that have been the most hard-hit in the current economic recession. The good news is that we still have jobs. The bad news is that those juicy bonuses we used to get (and got used to) are such a distant memory that “bonus” isn’t even in our vocabulary anymore. We pinch a lot of pennies now.
3. I come from a large family. I’m the oldest child and have four younger sisters. I think I was pretty kind to them: I didn’t beat them up any more often than they deserved.
4. I’m an Earth Scientist by education and profession, and work in a weird field called Rock Mechanics. No, I’m not joking. I study the mechanical behaviour of rocks, and do my best to keep them from falling on people, roads, houses, etc. I also devise nifty ways to blow them up. Yup, I get paid to blow stuff up. I just don’t get paid as much as I used to (remember the bonus thing).
5. I consider myself a citizen of the world. Though I was born and raised in the United States, I’ve lived and worked in Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, and Colombia. I learned, then forgot how to speak German; I speak Spanish fluently.
6. My favourite food is beer and hot dogs. You say beer is not food? OK – beer and hot dogs together qualify as food, in my book. For our wedding dinner I suggested that we just serve beer and hot dogs to our guests. My suggestion was ignored. I’m on a business trip right now: guess what I had for dinner?
7. For fun, I used to operate a certified science-grade astronomical observatory in the garden behind my home. While making some precise astronomical measurements for Harvard University’s Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory, I incidentally discovered two new, small planets in our Solar System, circling the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. I petitioned the International Astronomical Union to have one of my discoveries named for the pioneer naturalist John Muir. If you Google “minor planet” and “Johnmuir” you’ll find information about this discovery and subsequent planet naming; the Sierra Club web site has a couple of nice write-ups in particular.
8. I’ve enjoyed photography as a hobby for as long as I can remember. I was the school photographer in Junior High School, and the school’s camera was a Polariod (my Polaroid shots were mimeographed into the school newspaper.) I used to develop Ektachrome slides in my bathroom when I was a kid, too; the chemicals really smelled up the house. Which bothered my sisters, a lot.
9. Digital technology has helped me enjoy photography more than ever. My wife will definitely say I enjoy it too much. So I rarely speak about photography, or practice it at home – it’s a sore subject. The word “Flickr” has been used as a profanity more than once.
10. I enjoy the interaction with new-found friends from all over the world via Flickr, as much as I enjoy photography itself!
Tagged!
Wouldn’t you know it! I get comfortably settled into my hotel room after a long day of travel, begin to catch up on some of my Flickr contacts’ photos, and Bam! I’m tagged by Flickr contact colors98. I knew this day would come, and though I’m not a super-shy person, I’m usually not one to talk much about myself either. And the funny thing was, I just happened to see that colors98 had been recently tagged too, and I had made a mental note to myself to stop by her Photostream later this evening to see what kind of dirt she would dish on herself ;-) Who would’a guessed I’d soon be one of her “Tag-ees”!
As my “Tag” notice indicated, I’m supposed to tell 10 things about myself that others may not know about me and/or would be surprised to know about me. There was no mention about a self-portrait photograph, but I’ve seen self-portraits on so many other “Tagged” postings that I decided to go along with that tradition, too. So, here goes!
1. I’m the father of two delightful, gorgeous, teenage daughters. They likely wouldn’t use “delightful” if they were asked to describe me; they’d probably say “prison warden” (I’m big on curfews and mandatory call-ins).
2. My wife and I each have jobs in THE two industry sectors that have been the most hard-hit in the current economic recession. The good news is that we still have jobs. The bad news is that those juicy bonuses we used to get (and got used to) are such a distant memory that “bonus” isn’t even in our vocabulary anymore. We pinch a lot of pennies now.
3. I come from a large family. I’m the oldest child and have four younger sisters. I think I was pretty kind to them: I didn’t beat them up any more often than they deserved.
4. I’m an Earth Scientist by education and profession, and work in a weird field called Rock Mechanics. No, I’m not joking. I study the mechanical behaviour of rocks, and do my best to keep them from falling on people, roads, houses, etc. I also devise nifty ways to blow them up. Yup, I get paid to blow stuff up. I just don’t get paid as much as I used to (remember the bonus thing).
5. I consider myself a citizen of the world. Though I was born and raised in the United States, I’ve lived and worked in Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, and Colombia. I learned, then forgot how to speak German; I speak Spanish fluently.
6. My favourite food is beer and hot dogs. You say beer is not food? OK – beer and hot dogs together qualify as food, in my book. For our wedding dinner I suggested that we just serve beer and hot dogs to our guests. My suggestion was ignored. I’m on a business trip right now: guess what I had for dinner?
7. For fun, I used to operate a certified science-grade astronomical observatory in the garden behind my home. While making some precise astronomical measurements for Harvard University’s Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory, I incidentally discovered two new, small planets in our Solar System, circling the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. I petitioned the International Astronomical Union to have one of my discoveries named for the pioneer naturalist John Muir. If you Google “minor planet” and “Johnmuir” you’ll find information about this discovery and subsequent planet naming; the Sierra Club web site has a couple of nice write-ups in particular.
8. I’ve enjoyed photography as a hobby for as long as I can remember. I was the school photographer in Junior High School, and the school’s camera was a Polariod (my Polaroid shots were mimeographed into the school newspaper.) I used to develop Ektachrome slides in my bathroom when I was a kid, too; the chemicals really smelled up the house. Which bothered my sisters, a lot.
9. Digital technology has helped me enjoy photography more than ever. My wife will definitely say I enjoy it too much. So I rarely speak about photography, or practice it at home – it’s a sore subject. The word “Flickr” has been used as a profanity more than once.
10. I enjoy the interaction with new-found friends from all over the world via Flickr, as much as I enjoy photography itself!