So, Luis Suarez invited me to his “8 things you didn’t know about me” party. I’m humbled and honored to be included in his “your it” list, so first let me say, “Thank you, Luis. I’m flattered!” Second, I’m wondering why a list of eight…? It reminds me of a simple card game my father taught me when I was a child called Crazy Eights. The number 8 is just an otherwise uninspiring random number, but in Crazy Eights, 8 takes on a certain superpower. Similarly, learning about each other in a more personal way, we’re exposed to more candid layers about a person. The more our social graphs overlap, we make choices about who we want to continue to build our futures with together and who we are willing to release. Not much has changed in this basic pattern over the ages. What is different today, however, is now we do it globally and in sometimes random encounters. That’s different. Developing a more penetrating understanding of who the human beings are behind these keyboards and mobile devices is worth spending some time on. Learning a single tidbit of information, can turn a relationship on a dime in some cases. To that end, I’m going to start peeling back layers in ’08. If I lose friends based on who I really am, those are probably friends who wouldn’t sync with me over time anyway. Truthfully, I’m hopeful I’ll pick up a few friends “in my suit” who will complement my journey. So here are Luis’ comments and directions:

I thought I would go ahead and do some light blogging on a topic that I seem to have been tagged from a couple of folks already, who I read on a regular basis and who have been participating in a couple of different memes on a very similar topic: Seven things you didn’t know about me by Martin Koser and Gullible about Work / Blog Balance by Reasonable Robinson. Yes, that is right. It is another meme where the rules seem to be pretty straight forward:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules. 2. List EIGHT random facts about yourself. 3. Tag EIGHT people at the end of your post and list their names. 4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

Here goes. Eight Things You Didn’t Know About me, a.k.a. ITSinsider:

1. I always wanted to be a fiction writer. Not even sure I’m a good writer, but the first story I ever submitted to a magazine, “When the date’s over just leave” was accepted immediately. That was 1988, and the magazine was Cosmopolitan Magazine or “Cosmo” as we call it here in the States. Cosmo was always a little racy, but never as blatantly in bad taste as it is today. I had a nice chat then with Exec. Editor Roberta (Bobbie) Ashley who claimed my story kicked up a big scuffle between her and Editor-in-Chief Helen Gurley Brown because HGB wanted me to rewrite the ending. Ashley refused. (The ending was one word, incidentally.) If you’d like to read a copy of that story, it is posted here (warning: NSFW). It’s a Manhattan 80s tale about a one-night-stand, but the story is timeless and can be appreciated by both sexes. It’s good fiction. Fiction, I tell you…!

2. Although I came of age in the era of Helen Gurley Brown and the “You Can Have it All” crowd, my female idol is probably Anna Quindlen. (Who couldn’t be more opposite of HGB if she tried.) Why Anna Quindlen? She’s a Jersey girl who despite her profound success and celebrity has never forgotten her roots or the balance that is essential in life as a mother, a wife, and a professional woman. I also have tremendous respect for her decision to leave her post at the New York Times at the height of her career and venture into a new field where she might not have realized the same level of success. That was courageous. I hold her out as a uniquely gifted, understated and refined role model for my daughters.

3 . Speaking of daughters, apparently what I am best at in this world is producing gorgeous children. If you have any doubt, add me as a friend on Facebook. They’re there.

4. In the spirit of transparency, I thought I’d throw this in. I was not born of privilege. I was not really even comfortable middle class growing up in south Jersey. I guess you could say I was po’ white trash. I went to college on several scholarships– all needs based. One of which was an excellent program sponsored in 1968 by a young freshman legislator in N.J., Tom Kean, that still exists today: The Educational Opportunity Fund. So, considering I graduated in ’84 and by ’94 I was being quoted as an expert front-page, top-of-the-fold in the Wall Street Journal, I would have to say that despite my meager beginnings, it is still possible for a poor kid to climb out of poverty in the U.S. and go on to create individual and societal wealth– if just given the chance. There is actually a lot more to this , if you’re interested in these Horatio Alger-type stories. Just ask me.

5. I suppose because I wasn’t of means, wealthy people never really impressed me. I am impressed by a lot of things, but bank accounts (alone) are not high on my list. My number 5 then is William Randolf Hearst III once tried to get me to go to dinner with him. We sat next to each other at a Computer Museum fundraiser. I politely turned him down, as I was madly in love with a scraggly, skinny, yes– struggling, Boston musician at the time.

6. I was the first woman to break the glass ceiling of the Enterprise Irregulars. It was with much trepidation that Rod Boothby nominated me nearly two years ago, and perhaps he now regrets it, but hey– I’m there now, and I’m doing my part to ensure more woman are invited as well.

7. Something you wouldn’t know from reading my blog, but will be sadly disappointed to discover when you meet me is– I’m fat! Shock horror! Fat, fat, fat. How did it happen? When did it happen? Oh well, yes, it’s true: fat or my favorite label, “morbidly obese.” I
wasn’t always fat, but I am now. That may change some day if I get motivated to rekindle my vanity meter, but I was a “pretty girl” for years and years. That comes with its own set of challenges. The good news is, if you want to randomly insult me it’s super easy: I’m fat AND from Jersey.

8. I was born in a sleepy N.J. shore town called, “Point Pleasant.” A few years ago, FOX came out with a TV series about the town called Point Pleasant where the main character was “the offspring of a mortal woman and the Devil.” I had nothing to do with this series. It’s fiction. Fiction I tell you! 😉 All righty, then. What are your Crazy Eights? They can be light or heavy. Here is my random tag list:

• Todd Stephens, Collaborage blog. Also author of Trademark 2.0, which I highly recommend.
• Maggie Fox, Social Media Group blog. Ms. Fox is the IT GIRL in corp. social media. We all need to know 8 more things about her.
• JP Rangaswami, Confused of Calcutta blog. I think JP is approaching deity status; does he need an introduction?
• Stephanie Agresta, Internetgeekgirl blog. I don’t know Stephanie, but I hear she claimed “Jersey Girl” before I could. She always seems to be having a lot of fun, and I’ve been following her on Twitter.
• Shiv Singh, Going Social Now blog. Shiv is just one of those smart cats in the blogosphere. Hope he participates!
• Thomas Otter, Vendorprisey blog. Thomas is my lone EI pick. He is a man of many surprises. I welcome his secrets.
• Mike Stopworth. Mike is CEO of Cerebra, South Africa’s leading social media consultancy and one of the “planet’s special people.”
• Vaughan Merlyn. IT Organization Circa 2017. Vaughan is my lone BSG Alliance pick. I’ve been coaching him on blogging. He’s a brilliant guy; I just need him to start linking more… Sorry Vaughan! It’s a little tough love. 🙂

Update: Comments okay now on this new theme.