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Welcome to my web diary!
When I first saw Mike's web diary, I'd never heard of such an idea before. I was incredulous. I'm a very private person, so it seemed incredibly brave to me, posting a diary that sometimes includes fairly personal things on the web for everyone and his brother to read. But over time, I've gotten used to the idea; after all, he has complete control over the content--it's not like he has to post anything he doesn't want to. And the posting of diaries on the web is apparently pretty common these days (see diarist.net).
Still, I never thought I'd be doing one myself. So why am I? Mostly because I'm in the process of moving from the US to the UK. My family is understandably somewhat ambivalent about this, so I promised to consider posting a diary to help them feel like they can remain in touch with my day-to-day life if they want to.
However, I'm not going to write the diary with them in mind. If I do that, it will cause me to write differently, to a particular audience. (Readience?) Instead, I'm going to write with only me in mind, or even nobody. So please don't feel like you're prying, or snooping; this is a public diary (or you can think of it as a series of open letters), and you're welcome to read it.
Below are brief introductions to some characters you're likely to meet herein. I'll add more as they come up.
| Mike | Simply stated, the man I love (even though he was inconveniently born in England). |
| Dad & Verna | My father (no, really!) and his wife. |
| Linda, Tom and Eric | Linda is my sister; Tom is her husband. Eric is their son, now just over 3 years old. Until recently Linda works with those icky, squishy bits inside people (technically known as "guts"). You couldn't pay me enough to do that. Recently, though, she's jumped ship into something vaguely like pharmaceutical sales, which I understand only faintly, but enough to know that you couldn't pay me enough to do that either. Tom, until recently, managed the hospital kitchen; now he's in management for a different group. You couldn't pay me enough to do what he does, either. |
| Pete & Mel | My brother and his wife. Pete was, until recently, the tyrannical dictator of a small third-world banana republic, but was deposed in a coup and is now in hiding, protected by a loyal but small group of fanatical followers. Although hated by his subjects, he is, in truth, a kind and gentle soul, who likes to arrange flowers and practice the art of bonsai on goldfish.1 Mel mostly spends her time rolling her eyes and wondering whether there is anyone else in the world as strange as Pete. |
| Helen & Kevin | Mike's sister and her husband. |
| James & Jo, Justin, Cath | Friends of Mike's. Friends of mine too by now, I should think. |
| At iVB: | |
| Paul, Andrew, David, Bob, Nicky | IT coworkers in the UK. |
| Simon | Well, he was my manager, until he was made redundant in January. |
| Greg | My replacement manager, based in the US. |
| Mark, Kevin | Other US-based coworkers. |
| At H&A: | |
| David | Ex-coworker, with whom I used to share an office. David left H&A about the same time I moved to England, so our office has now been taken over by other people. |
| Jill, Jaime, Kevin, Carolyn, Gigi, Campbell, Chris, Bill, Masha | Other IT staff (and ex-staff, and ex-ex-staff). |
| Steve | My ex-manager. |
It's apparently traditional to name on-line diaries. "Behind These Eyes" comes from the lyrics of Pink Floyd's "A New Machine", on Momentary Lapse of Reason. I will only post the relevant first stanza2 here, because some people say that they find the whole song somewhat dismal. (I don't; I find it thought-provoking.)
1This is what happens when you complain that your "about" entry isn't detailed enough. Be warned.
2Oh, OK, here's the rest of it. Don't read if you're susceptible to angst or nostalgia, and don't say I didn't warn you.
| Copyright © 2002 Lisa Nelson. | Last Modified: 9 March 2002 | Back to Top |