Posts Tagged ‘all about me’
i got tagged by pip at meet me at mikes in a blog photo game! i have to warn you though, i’m going to break the rules because i’m bad like that. generally i steer clear of the chain mail type blog games and awards because i don’t want to hurt anyones feelings for not including them, or maybe even for including them! but i want to play because as far as these things go its pretty quick and easy and fun. if you want to play to i’ll pretend i tagged you and we can all pretend i’m not the terrible rogue meme participant that i am, ok?
so the rules are (yeah now i’m paying attention to the rules!) you go to the 8th folder you store photos in and you find the 8th photo (and then i think you’re supposed to open the seveth seal and trumpets sound etc). here is what i found:
it’s me! with purple hair, posing it up in front of photo booth! now, i’m pretty certain this is from september 2008. i can place the photo so well because every six weeks in 2008 i would change my hair color. if its me with blue hair, it was july. if its red and pink then its august etc. its kind of like the tree-ring dating but with hair dye! it was a bit of a silly time, my son was growing older and so i was less of a spend-everyday-in-pajamas baby-brain bubble and more just trying to remember how i was pre-baby. while it goes without saying that i adore my son, i certainly didn’t think i’d ever have a son, and so when i did i got pretty confused about how ‘mother’ fit in with who i was. to be honest, i’m still not so sure, but i’ve learned from some excellent examples that you can still be you and wipe someone else’s butt! its not ideal, but it won’t affect your ipod playlist or the kind of clothes you like (well, maybe a bit).
so there i was with purple hair. its kind of sad looking at this picture because pre-september 2008 was a very optimistic time. it was me finally getting time to get back into my groove, and i was starting to think about what bright things i could conquer next. but mid september 2008 was when my dad was diagnosed with cancer, and what followed until september 2009 was one very long, very dark year. i’d fly over to see my dad for one week ever month, and i’d be strong and enjoy the time with him, and then i’d come home and just about fall apart. then i’d pick myself up and feel better just in time to do it all over again. in a sense i went into mourning before my dad even died. not long after he was diagnosed i dyed my purple hair a very plain dark brown, and i put away my brighter clothes and wore mostly grey and black. when my mum died it was very fast, it was a sprint that was over before i knew it had begun. but my dad’s illness was a marathon, and so when he finally succumbed it was a relief that his suffering was over and it had ended with me by his side. i didn’t have to prepare myself for monthly last-goodbyes, or go to sleep worrying about a midnight call that would mean that last good by really had been the last.
i look at this picture from the other side of a tunnel, and though it was a sucky year it delivered me two things: this blog and all the awesome people and opportunities its brought thus far, and also a greater sense of who i am and what really matters to me. i feel a lot older (like about 55 years old, some days!) and a little bit wiser… but i still like changing my hair color!
tomorrow, march 10th was my mum’s birthday so i thought i’d celebrate her a bit and show you the lady who made me!my mum’s name was jill, she was a petite, redhead whose lack of height was made up for in personality. she had a quick wit and was a knockout at quiz nights and crosswords, and i have her to thank for the enormous amount of trivia i know as well as my creativity. of course i could talk forever about how fab she was, but i’m going to focus on her work, because i think about her and her work a lot now i’m in a similar position. further down i’ll tell you about my mum’s own thoughts on her work at the age i’m at now.
she was even featured in a book produced by her work in 1978: “register of women in non-traditional occupations”. its quite funny to look through now, considering a lot of the jobs talked about are no longer particularly exotic: real estate agent, lecturer, politician etc.
jill is a graphic artist in an educational organisation. she is 27 years old.
“my work involves visual work for television – any lettering, illustration or animation needed for a television program. i won a scholarship to art school while i was still at school and did five years at art school working freelance in advertising agencies and industrial design firms. the qualification gave me a wide range of training and gives me access to employment”
“my being female was a bit of a handicap in private industry, but not in this organisation. people didn’t take me quite a as seriously as they would a man. if i had wanted to make a career in advertising its doubtful if i would have been able to become an art director. the women tended to be given the quick paste up jobs, not the long term or demanding jobs that required liaison with the client. here i have more freedom to do that work.
i haven’t thought about being in an unusual situation, despite my previous experience of being the only women in the workplace in private industry. i would like to set up my own business eventually and see myself as someone committed to a career. people with whom i work still assume that i’ll leave soon and have children, but i’m a permanent worker. i assume i’ll continue to have a career, not just a hobby, and i’ll fit in all the other things i do in my life as well.”
