Aspects of Myself

The 100 Things About Me list seems to be an increasingly popular web meme. So, here's mine. However, never one to leave well-enough alone, I've modified the format into categories. There are fewer than 100 categories but well over 100 items. So I've given the whole list what I consider to be a more descriptive title.

If you copy the idea and do your own list, I hope you will send me a note so I can visit meet you through your aspects.

Aspects of Myself

Basics

• Name: Vicki
• Long name: Victoria
  As I was told, my Mom wanted to name me Vicki. She "came up with" Victoria as a longer version so I'd have something to use when signing papers and checks. So Vicki isn't short for Victoria; Victoria is long for Vicki. Please don't call me Victoria or Vic. Thank you.
• Birth stone: garnet
• Zodiac sign: Aquarius

Physical appearance

• Hair: red (more auburn than carroty, thank Fate!);
  My hair is long (below my shoulder blades) and curly/wavy; I used to get it cut every summer but the summer after my Junior year in H.S. I letit grow. Other than a trim, it's been long ever since. trim it myself.
• Height: 5' 6"
• Weight: over :-(
• Eyes: blue (medium blue, not ice blue) with yellow highlights
• Eyesight: I wear glasses. I'm myopic; I've worn prescription glasses since third grade (and empty frames since kindergarten!) I have never had the slightest interest in contact lenses. I have a vague interest in laser correction, maybe, someday, perhaps... My sister had LASIK a few years ago; I'll wait to see how that turns out as more years pass.

  Now that I'm over 40, I also suffer from presbyopia. Sigh. I never minded myopia but this drives me nuts. now wear progressive bifocals. At least I can read comfortably again.

Background & Family

• Birthplace: Central Pennsylvania
• Grew up in: Central Pennsylvania
• I lived in the same house until I went away to grad school
• I have one sister (three years younger), now in Texas
• Pets: When I was growing up, we had one cat (mine) and several (sequential) dogs (largely my Mom's)
• My parents still live in Central Pennsylvania, still with each other
• I had two grandmothers living through all of my growing up time and into my adulthood. My paternal grandmother lived to 95; my maternal grandmother to 100.

Current Living Situation

• Current location: San Francisco Bay Area
• I live with Richard, my best friend and spouse of 20+ years.
• We have no human kids.
• We have four (at present) happy feline fur-children we call the heatercats.
• We own (with a mortgage) our home.
• Our house is a single-family two-level "tract style" home on the border between the burbs and the country.

Personality

• Intelligent (Mensa member)
• Technophile (and proud of it)
• Nerdy/techy type
• "Show me the Data"
• Good sense of humor
• Generally quiet but occasionally "expressive"
• I prefer evenings at home to going out
• I prefer one or two friends to large groups
• I prefer planned activities (and dislike surprises)
• Meyers-Briggs Type: INTJ

Style

• Techie casual (jeans and t-shirts or collared polo shirts)
• Lee jeans (black or grey)
• Velcro sneakers (black)
• Makeup: none
• Hair: bangs on the forehead, long in back, pulled back from the sides

Education

• 19 years of school
• Favorite subjects: Science (all but Physics), English
• Least favorite subjects: Phys Ed, Social Studies
• Problem areas: I had some difficulty with Mathematics until 8th grade; then things clicked and everything was fine after that. I hated Phys Ed.
• Grades: mostly As
• BS (Microbiology)
• 1.2 graduate programs (8 months of Forensic Science)
• Masters Degree (Microbiology)
• Thesis topic: Computer-analysis of microbial data
• No interest whatsoever in "going back to school"

Profession

• Microbiologist by education
• Programmer by practice and preference
• Scripter, web weaver, technical writer by specialization
• Interests: Data manipulation, Process improvement, Quality, Internet
• Dis-interests: compiled languages, management, meetings, Data Base Administration

Employment situation

• Currently unemployed (2 years and counting) but looking
• History: 20 years as a professional programmer (and related job descriptions)
• Types of Jobs I've had: Unix specialist, Quality Lead, Scientific programmer, Technical writer, Project Manager (not people manager!), Web weaver, general Perl programmer...
• Most of my work history has been fulltime employee status but I have done some W2 contracting as well. Overall, I've decided that what matters most is how I am treated (and how I treat the job). My "tax status matters less than I thought it would.

Technology

• I am a "techie"; I love technology; I have always loved technology and Science.
• I like to "play" with the computer.
• I have a Mac and prefer a Mac to Windoze hands down.
• I like and understand Unix.
• I like my Handspring Visor but don't use it a lot.

Sports & Exercise

• I like to go for walks
• I have a deep abiding loathing for team sports
• I was on the archery team in College
• I enjoyed the fencing class I took in College Phys Ed, but never continued with the sport
• I hated PE in High School
• I can paddle my way across a swimming pool (and stay afloat)
• I use a stair stepper (when I think about it)
• We got a used (but very nice) treadmill.

Leisure Time Pursuits

• Reading!
• Reading while listening to classical music
• Playing with the computer
• Playing with the cats
• Going for walks
• Watching videos (occasionally)
• We prefer DVD to VHS
• We don't watch television

Creative Recreation

• I used to do a lot of crafts
• I still take an aesthetic enjoyment in seeing crafts well-done
• I do a lot of writing
• I program and create web pages for fun

Colors

• Favorite colors: reds and greens, specifically the "blue" reds, dark reds, maroon, and the dark greens and teals
• Least favorite colors: most yellows, oranges, and tans
• I prefer dark colors to brights and brights to pastels

Food

• I'm overweight; I obviously like food. Spouse and self have decided to use (primarily) the South Beach approach to low-carb eating. So far it's working.
• Favorite food: that's a toughie
• Favorite breakfast: Eggs Florentine followed by eggs pretty much any way (and no, I'm not worried about the cholesterol; do the research)
• Favorite sandwich: bacon and tomato w/ mayo on sour dough toast, hold the lettuce
• Favorite dinner: also hard to say
• Favorite cuisine: Japanese, followed by Thai, good American, Italian, Greek...
• Favorite desert: Tiramisu
• Favorite salad: anything with spinach as a base. Or Caesar
• Favorite vegetable asparagus, broccoli, spinach (w/o garlic)
• Favorite fruit: pears, strawberries, ripe peaches, bananas (with just a hint of brown in the skin), apples (preferably Fujis), blueberries
• I don't eat: mushrooms, eggplant, summer squash & zucchini, red raspberries, turnips and their ilk, radishes, wasabi, cucumber, raw carrots
• I actually like: liver, lamb, acorn squash, most vegetables, zucchini bread (but not zucchini raw or cooked plain), well-cooked carrots, red bell peppers

Drink

• I strongly prefer tea to coffee.
• My favorite soft drink is iced tea.
• I do like iced coffee.
• I'm partial to lemonade but don't drink it often.
• I like to make my own lemonade by squeezing lemons into my water in a restaurant (no sugar!).
• I prefer orange juice to be freshly squeezed.
• I prefer Cola to "Un-Cola".
• I prefer Coke to Pepsi. I actually dislike Pepsi.
• I prefer Diet Coke to Classic Coke.
• I prefer Orange Soda to Cola.

Ice Cream

• I prefer vanilla to chocolate (which is odd because in all other things I prefer chocolate). I actually don't care for chocolate ice cream.
• Favorite flavors: mint chip, vanilla swiss-almond, peanut butter cup, coffee, butter pecan, mango, peach
• I don't like: most chocolates, cherry, bubble gum, most flavored ice creams (as opposed to vanilla-based with mix-ins)
• I like chocolate milk shakes made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup

Chocolate

• I like chocolate - Duh! (well, some people don't :-)
• I prefer dark chocolate; I like semisweet Baking chocolate best
• I prefer my chocolate "naked" - no nuts, no fruit, no filling
• I don't care for chocolate ice cream

Movies

• We wait for most movies to come out on DVD
• Favorite genres: science fiction, fantasy, action/adventure, animation
• Favorite actors: Jackie Chan..... (there must be others!)
• Favorite movies: (a very partial and recent list): Ballistic (Ecks vs. Sever); Pirates of the Carribean; Monsters, Inc; Chocolat; Who is Cletis Tout?; Harry Potter...; Lord of the Rings...

Books

• Favorite genres: fantasy, mysteries, light science fiction (more plot, fewer rivets), some contemporary romances, good "youth" fantasy
• Favorite authors: Mercedes Lackey, Barbara D'Amato, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, many more, too numerous to list here
• I collect old books

Music

• Favorite style: I prefer Classical and "Air Pudding" (a term coined to by Garry Troudeau, in Doonesbury, to describe "new age" music).
• Favorite artist: Enya
• Runners-up: Yanni, The Canadian Brass, The Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra

Travel

• I've been to more than half the states in the US and several countries in western Europe and the UK.
• More recently, I've developed a strong dislike for travel.
• If a job required travel I would refuse it.

Animals

• I love cats; I am a cat person
• Dogs are OK (I don't actively dislike them) but we have neither the time, nor the room, nor (truly the inclination to have a dog
• I enjoy wildlife; we have raccoons, birds, squirrels, skunks, and opposums come into our yard. We feed the squirrels, birds, and raccoons. We have deer, rabbits, snakes, and lizards within a mile of our house.
• I like to go for walks on the trails in the semi-wilderness recreation areas.
• When we visit another city, I try to go to the local Zoo or Animal Park.

Plants

• I like plants, but I can't grow them; I have a brown thumb.
• The cats would nibble house plants, so I don't even try.
• Despite that, we have four jade plants thriving on the front porch.
• Our back garden runs largely to the "laissez faire hack & hew" (aka benign neglect) mode of gardening
• Flower Carpet ground cover roses will grow for anyone, even a person with a brown thumb.
• Most of our plants need to be drought tolerant.
• Rich says he doesn't want to live any place that plants really like.

Habits

• I don't smoke
• I don't drink much (my doctor says the amount I drink classifies as 'none' :-)
• I like the occasional strawberry daiquiri or toasted almond (preferably on the rocks, with extra cream)
• I swear a little

Collections

• I used to collect 1:12 scale miniatures; they are all housed in four rooms in a glass-front bookcase display cabinet or in a 1:12 scale dollhouse called Elmwood Manor.
• I collect ruby red, green, and Vaseline glass.
• I collect cat figurines of all types.
• I collect old books.
• I have an enormous collection of stuffy toys.

Hobbies and Pasttimes

• I used to do a lot of needlework (mostly needlepoint and cross stitch.
• My current pasttimes are reading, writing, computer work, and spending time with Rich and the cats.

Health

• I've never broken a bone.
• I still have my tonsils, appendix, and adenoids.
• I had my wisdom teeth out at 18.
• I had my gallbladder removed a few years ago.
• I have a few small scars
• I've stayed twice overnight in the hospital (wisdom teeth and gallbladder extractions).
• I've been in two scary traffic accidents (with severe damage to the car) but I wasn't hurt either time.
• I've had the mumps (when I was little) and the chicken pox (at ages 3+ and 33!) but never the measles.
• My cousin had the measles.
• I have a cousin who had Gill ian-Barre syndrome.
• I get a flu shot most years.
• I don't have any known allergies.

Socializing

• I prefer to socialize with one or two people or a very small group.
• I don't much care for parties.
• I don't like situations with lots of people I don't know.
• I prefer dinner parties (or Dim Sum outings) to "party" parties.
• I have a small number of well-liked friends.
• I like to go out to eat.
• I prefer staying home to "going out" for the evening.

Communicating

• I use Instant Messaging (iChat/AIM)
• I generally prefer email to "chat"
• I prefer email to the telephone.
• I used to write letters but now I use email almost exclusively.
• I rarely handwrite something that could be typed.
• I'm active on several mailing lists.
• I have quite a few "netfriends".
• I'm frequently "online"
• I block "unknown" addresses from opening chats with me.
• I have a weblog (actually I have 4 ;-)

Organization

• I'm very organized in my work.
• I'm semi-organized in my life.
• I've been working at keeping down clutter in my home and office spaces.
• I can usually find whatever it is I'm looking for.
• I like to categorize things.

Philosophy

• I am not religious
• I am neither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslim, nor do I adhere to any organized faith.
• I try to be equally tolerant of all religions (considering them to be very much alike in many respects); however, I find it "very difficult" (i.e. nigh onto impossible) to be tolerant of the severe fundamentalist sects.
• If I had to choose to align myself with a major world philosophy, Buddhism probably matches most closely to my personal beliefs.
• I would be more likely to consider myself a non-practicing Pagan.

Emotions

• I tend to get "emotionally involved" with projects
• I'm trying to wean myself of this
• I tended to be rather argumentative growing up
• I'm been working hard to wean myself of this too (and making pretty good progress)
• I am more shy than outgoing
• Nevertheless, a friend once told me I was one of the most assertive people he knew (this, after I had mentioned I was listening to an Assertiveness Training tape).
• I tend not to back down when my rights or the rights of friend are concerned
• I'm not a fearful person in general, but I really don't like heights and get quite nervous about flying

Motivations

• I care abut "Right" vs "Wrong"
• I care about the environment; we recycle, we pick up litter, we disposed properly of our "Household Hazardous Waste"
• I am not politically active; I'll sign a petition but I will not work on your committee
• I am motivated by interesting technology
• I would like to see the underlying data along with the compiled results and statistics
• I'm not motivated by fear most of the time
• I'm not motivated by a chance for power or recognition

Future

• I would love to become independently wealthy and not need to work for someone else.
• For the immediate future, I would like to find a job I enjoy.
• I'm generally content with the present.

I like (really like)...

• Thunderstorms
• Fireworks
• Fireflies (we don't have them in California)
• Muppets; the Cookie Monster is my all-time favorite since 1970
• Naps (with cats)
• Listening to the rain on the roof
• Springtime and Summer
• Daylight Saving Time
• Quiet evenings at home
• Reading
• Walnuts, pecans, hickory nuts; followed by cashews and almonds
• Classical Music
• Email

I don't much care for (dislike)...

• Fog
• Driving in the rain, at night, or in inclement weather
• overnight trips away from home
• air travel
• Fall and Winter (especially November and December)
• Daylight Standard Time
• Team sports
• People who insist "This will be fun"
• Parties
• "modern" music
• The telephone

Skills: I'm really good at/with...

• Finding things. That includes physical things (I can often just walk to the place where it is and pick it up) and virtual things. I'm a whiz at Googling or finding a reference in a book, even when other people couldn't find the same thing after looking for it.
• Synthesizing a large, varied and widespread amount of information and distilling it down into an organized format. (Thanks to Jennifer, aka beanmom for the wording here!)
• Creating data filters
• Scripting languages (programming in awk, Perl, shell...)
• Making HTML do what I want it to do (and yes, I type the tags by hand)
• Writing: technical and expository writing. I have no particular talents for fiction.

I prefer...

• Oil lamps to Candles
• Matches to Lighters
• Mechanical pencils to Yellow pencils
• Pens to Mechanical pencils (for most things)
• Mechanical pencils to Pens (for certain things)
• Typing to Writing by hand
• Fantasy to Science fiction
• "Cozy-style" mystery fiction to "Gum-shoe" Detective fiction
• Fiction to Nonfiction
• Reading to Watching Television
• Watching Ice Skating to Watching Football
• Ravioli to Tortellini
• Whole grain to White bread (except in the case of a good sour dough)
• Spinach salad to Mixed green salad
• Mixed greens to Iceberg lettuce

Bits & Pieces

• I lived in the same house from a few days after I was born until I was 21 and "left home" for Grad School.
• I have never lived in a dormitory situation; I lived at home through College (by preference!).
• The highest floor of a building I have ever worked on was the 35th floor. The view was spectacular but I'll never willingly be that high again. I discovered (when I tried) that I could only easily walk down the stairs to the 26th floor before my legs started giving out.
• The longest I've worked for one company was 12+ years; the shortest was 5 weeks.
• I don't touch type but I know where all the keys are and I use both hands.
• I can read a small amount of German.
• I have taken numerous American Sign Language classes but my skills are rusty; I was never really fluent but I did OK.
• I've always been a good student; I liked school most of the time (with some stellar standout exceptions :-(. I got mostly A's in school unless I disliked the subject; I squeaked by in Phys Ed.
• I have zero, zilch, zippo interest in ever going "back to school". I have joked that I'd be interested in a PhD if there was a "non-thesis option".
• I was a National Merit Semi-finalist in High School (woo hoo).
• I have always loved Science and Technology; this is slightly odd because my family is more Arts & Humanities. My Dad is an Architect; my Mom is an Art teacher; my sister taught Elementary school for a year and is now a Human Resources manager.
• I don't enjoy exercise (especially if it's called "exercise"); however, I do like to go for walks.
• I drink milk. I disliked milk as a child (I don't like the taste of whole milk) but I'm quite happy with 1% or (at most) 2%.
• I try to get in a nap every day if possible and certainly on the weekends.
• I sleep better with at least one cat.
• I take my own pillow with me if I have to be away overnight.
• I don't like the telephone. I believe that Caller ID is the greatest invention in the history of Telecommunication. When I was living with my parents and sister, most of the calls were for my Mom or sister. I never acquired the habit of running to catch the phone. If I get to it before it stops ringing, I first check the Caller ID display. If I don't get to it, Voicemail pick up. (Answering machines / Voicemail together are the second greatest invention in the history of Telecommunication.) I have been known to ignore a ringing phone entirely (yes, even when I know who's calling). If you really want to reach me, send me email.
• I have no desire to have human children; I'm perfectly satisfied with my family being spouse and cats.
• I generally wake up sleepy and more than able to go right back to bed and to sleep. Once, as an experiment, I decided to see how long I could keep going back to sleep. I stopped the experiment at 4:30pm.
• I'm more of a night-person than a morning person (no way am I a "morning person"). My best, most productive, and most wakeful hours are from 7:00 pm to midnight or 1:00 am. I'm learning to understand that if I try to go to bed before that, I usually won't sleep.
• I don't believe that eating food that contains cholesterol contributes to an increases in blood cholesterol.
• Except for my senior year of High School and 4 years of College i've always been overweight. Recently I've been working harder to bring that back under control.
• I've started "lower-carb, higher-protein" eating (specifically the South Beach "good/bad fat/carb" approach.
• Eating right is much easier when you have a partner along on the journey!
• I don't have a "lucky" number but I have sympathies for 7, 17, and 27.
• I believe in magic.
• I don't believe in Astrology.
• As time passes, I look more and more like my mother (and "I am at peace with that" :-)
• I can identify 5 star constellations (Cepheus, Cassiopeia, the Big and Little Dippers, and Orion) and the Pleiades star cluster.
• My favorite constellation is Orion
• I like making lists :-)