I really dislike the notion of a page About Me and my previous About effort makes me feel all kinds of queasy. Secondly, I totally get why pages About People are useful. I totally totally get it. I always read the About Mes of other people, and I find them quite helpful.
Probably the most important thing to know about this thing
is that it contains multitudes. Honestly it's all over the place. Web writing how-tos always begin with something like: "Choose a topic" Or, "focus on a theme!" Well, yeah, sounds like good advice, but.
Regarding myself
I work at Cooper, an interaction design company in San Francisco, California. What is interaction design? Even after doing it for 10 years, I still have a hard time explaining it. Maybe that's a sign. Anyway, when someone asks me what I do, I usually say something like, "Well, I try to, you know, imagine ideal relationships between people and the electronic stuff that we use to try to, like, do things, and …" and then my wife will helpfully offer, "He's an interaction designer," and surprisingly THIS WORKS.
Other things
- I live in California, and I don't own a car. I'm excited for the year 2025, when I'll be able to ride my bike from the East Bay to San Francisco, but until then I hitch rides from others, or I just don't go because honestly, don't get me started on what San Francisco has become.
- I'm not always a hater of cars. In fact, I love driving. Behind the wheel, I become everything I hate about "caged motorists," as my motorcycle safety instructor called them. I curse slow-moving pedestrians and clueless cyclists — because honestly more of them need to pay attention.
- I was an English major, and I have a job — for the moment anyway. So perhaps I'm the exception that proves the rule. To my fellow English majors: Not sure how this happened. But apparently it's possible.
- I hiked most of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2001. It's a trail that runs from the US-Mexico border to the US-Canada border, through California, Oregon and Washington, and in retrospect it was a non-stop blast, except of course when it was so painful that I wanted to cry or quit or both. The day after I flew home, planes crashed into the World Trade Center.
- I am a runner. If I don't run for two days in a row, I get a little angry, crazy, antsy, irritable, and generally a pain in the ass to be around. So it's better, you know, if I just get my run in.
- Myers-Briggs: INTP (ca. 1995) -> INTJ (ca. 2010). In my old age, I've become more judgmental, and might I say, rightly so.
- Star sign: Leo. Gregarious, charming, the center of attention? Lol. Yeah. No.
- Chinese Zodiac sign: Rat. For your consideration: A list of "famous rats" from a Chinese astrology site. Included: Marlon Brando. Mozart. Plato. Sounds about right.
I wrote this in 2003, when I joined Friendster. It's mostly still true.
I like sleeping in, getting up early, throwing things, eating Asian pears, drinking beer out of bottles, and swimming. I like writing letters, and drawing things. I ride my bike a lot. I like making things, I think in words, I learn by doing, and I surround myself with puzzles and projects, nearly all of which are not done and may never be done.
One reply on “About”
need to ask you how much you'd cost to recreate your london kerning map into two other cities, like Beirut and Cairo or Dubai and Abu Dhabi… (middle eastern cities).
Dude, i work for Leo Burnett Dubai — but we ain't loaded, so please don't think we've got money coming out of our ears.
Can't wait to hear from you
Simon