Originally posted Tuesday, December 21st, 2004 9:58 pm
Traditional first introductory post and randomly made up questions
Who are you? What are you? I’m a Voyager. Okay, maybe not, but that was an awesome show and a good precursor to Quantam Leap. I’m a thirtyish writer currently hacking away at a technical writing job that pays the bills and funds my habits, which include reading, writing, making things that aren’t words, and sleeping under a roof that doesn’t leak (at this point) for much longer*. Hurricane season has made this leak thing real. Darn it!
Not another blog! Don’t read it. Door. Ass. You know the drill.
Runs with paper? Wha? Running with paper was too long for a livejournal handle (yes, we called them handles back in the old days, youngster). The name itself was the product of a throwaway bat back to one of my coworkers in a meeting the other day.
Hey, did you write that thing with the stuff? Yes, I did. Please email me if you see it published without proper attribution. I swear, you put something on the IntarWeb once and BAM! The serial numbers are gone before you even hit submit.
You sound like you’ve been around a while. In fact, you’re recycling stuff you wrote elsewhere. Why? Why not?
So how long have you been a writer? I’ve been trying on and off for a number of decades, and I finally found companies who will pay me to do it. Working in the shade? A winner is me. Am I. Are I. Whatever, that’s why the companies hire editors.
How did you get into the writing for steady money business? I backdoored my way in, working as a temp for a food distributor. The summer was our slow season, so I re-wrote the training manuals and started training my co-workers on the finer points of Windows and Office. Eventually I convinced a now bankrupt but again reborn software company that I was what they needed as a writer for the price I demanded. But it turned out that I was just a showpiece – something to lure back old customers and convince new ones their software was The Stuff. I am currently in the employ of a slightly larger local software company; I have to say the pay and bennies are nice and I have become a bit soft in my old age.
Do you have any real questions from people to answer? Nope, I like making them up; makes them easier to answer.
What’s the point of this? You can’t tell me you’ve gone all this time without a blog. You even know the word “handle”! No, this isn’t the first. But I’m fond of tearing it up a bit and starting over again from time to time. And it’s a great way to meet complete strangers. Or um, I mean connect with my fellow professionals and explore and discuss common topics and interests across the world. Like penpals, but faster and done more cheaply. Sorry, postal service(s).
Are you done yet? For now.