My life in coins
Jan. 22nd, 2004 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rscI Don't Do Memes -- except when I do.
So I pulled a handful of coins from my pocket -- hmm, about half of those are Boston subway tokens, that's not going to work very well, let's get a few more. What do we have?
1965(dime): Well, that was a surprise. Freshman year of college. (Well, second half of freshman, first half of sophomore, roughly.) Not too bad, other than somewhat painful crush on one of my freshman roommates (although I didn't realize that that's what it was, not being out at the time).
1990(penny): My second year at the Open Software Foundation -- that was kind of a fun job, even if I did spend too much time wrestling with POSIX, counterbalanced by spending almost enough time at the Cambridge Brewing Company. Also my second year (first full year) of participation in soc.motss, which changed my life in major (and positive) ways.
1996(quarter): The year I turned 50, which I don't recall as being a Major Event. One of Boston's snowiest winters in recent memory. The Chicago motss.con, much fun, and my first actual visit ever to Chicago (O'Hare Airport doesn't count).
1997(nickel): For no apparent reason, this was the year in which I had the largest number of new sexual partners (five). This was also the year the San Francisco .con, one of my favorites. Also the year I discovered contra-dancing, thanks (indirectly) to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bratman.
1999(penny): My first full year of retirement. A series of minor but annoying health problems late in the year, causing me to miss my only Dance Camp since I started going, and a three-day virus over what most people insist was the turn of the millenium, which caused me to miss Cecilia's New Year's Day performance of The Creation. (OK, that was technically 2000.) Took the California Zephyr from Chicago to Oakland, my first big Amtrak trip. Also took a fun trip in July to the NJ shore withjwg, unzeugmatic, the latter's mother, and another friend. Motss.con in Memphis -- got to walk the entire length of the Mississippi River.
2001(quarter [Rhode Island]): The year of the Great Renovation, in which our house (mine andjwg's) finally acquired a proper third floor, and I learned to love/hate Home Despot. Visited Vancouver Island for the first time in many years, and returned home by way of the Empire Builder from Seattle to St. Paul (where we had breakfast with unzeugmatic). Went to motss.con in Stockholm by way of Iceland, returning on September 10(!). My mother (then 82) had emergency surgery at the end of November, a scary and stressful time all around (which extended into the first half of 2002).
2003(nickel): That's the year we just had, isn't it? We joined the mainstream by buying a DVD player, which I promptly celebrated by buying a 7-CD set of Der Ring des Niblungen (how much more mainstream can you get?). Lots of road trips trying to find a suitable new location for Dance Camp (ultimately successful). Given an exhilarating but ultimately disappointing ride by a certain major league baseball team. Motss.con in Ithaca, great fun. Finished the year with a lovely visit fromlcohen.
So I pulled a handful of coins from my pocket -- hmm, about half of those are Boston subway tokens, that's not going to work very well, let's get a few more. What do we have?
1965(dime): Well, that was a surprise. Freshman year of college. (Well, second half of freshman, first half of sophomore, roughly.) Not too bad, other than somewhat painful crush on one of my freshman roommates (although I didn't realize that that's what it was, not being out at the time).
1990(penny): My second year at the Open Software Foundation -- that was kind of a fun job, even if I did spend too much time wrestling with POSIX, counterbalanced by spending almost enough time at the Cambridge Brewing Company. Also my second year (first full year) of participation in soc.motss, which changed my life in major (and positive) ways.
1996(quarter): The year I turned 50, which I don't recall as being a Major Event. One of Boston's snowiest winters in recent memory. The Chicago motss.con, much fun, and my first actual visit ever to Chicago (O'Hare Airport doesn't count).
1997(nickel): For no apparent reason, this was the year in which I had the largest number of new sexual partners (five). This was also the year the San Francisco .con, one of my favorites. Also the year I discovered contra-dancing, thanks (indirectly) to
bratman.1999(penny): My first full year of retirement. A series of minor but annoying health problems late in the year, causing me to miss my only Dance Camp since I started going, and a three-day virus over what most people insist was the turn of the millenium, which caused me to miss Cecilia's New Year's Day performance of The Creation. (OK, that was technically 2000.) Took the California Zephyr from Chicago to Oakland, my first big Amtrak trip. Also took a fun trip in July to the NJ shore with
jwg, unzeugmatic, the latter's mother, and another friend. Motss.con in Memphis -- got to walk the entire length of the Mississippi River.2001(quarter [Rhode Island]): The year of the Great Renovation, in which our house (mine and
jwg's) finally acquired a proper third floor, and I learned to love/hate Home Despot. Visited Vancouver Island for the first time in many years, and returned home by way of the Empire Builder from Seattle to St. Paul (where we had breakfast with unzeugmatic). Went to motss.con in Stockholm by way of Iceland, returning on September 10(!). My mother (then 82) had emergency surgery at the end of November, a scary and stressful time all around (which extended into the first half of 2002).2003(nickel): That's the year we just had, isn't it? We joined the mainstream by buying a DVD player, which I promptly celebrated by buying a 7-CD set of Der Ring des Niblungen (how much more mainstream can you get?). Lots of road trips trying to find a suitable new location for Dance Camp (ultimately successful). Given an exhilarating but ultimately disappointing ride by a certain major league baseball team. Motss.con in Ithaca, great fun. Finished the year with a lovely visit from
lcohen.
