Sure! I take that as part of the reason why I am here.
I’ve come to understand that, in many ways, I am a collection of unusual experiences. Any individual one, not so much, but taken in aggregate it presents a different picture. I can’t say why exactly, but it represents how things happened for me. Perhaps it may be useful for others and spark some different thinking to actually see this in black and white.
Things that I have done include:
- Formerly Chair, Cathedral City Public Arts Commission
- Board Member, LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert
- Driven a few race cars, most notably a NASCAR Pavement Modified, and helped a friend maintain his.
- Mechanical engineer for 43 years, including machine design, computer programming, simulation programming, and project management; held a PE license for 30+ years and have 2 patents
- Presented a paper before an international symposium
- Been to the top of a number of the tallest structures in the world including the Eiffel Tower, the CN Tower, Taipei 101, the Empire State Building, Seattle Space Needle, the Seoul Tower and walked outside around the top of the Sydney Tower
- Did stand-up
- In training to be a docent at the Palm Springs Air Museum
- Spent time in 9 countries for work including 6 years in Taiwan and 2 countries for personal trips
- Attended motorsports event all over the US from Formula 1 to USAC Midgets. Currently planning a trip to Laguna Seca in September for the last IndyCar race of the season
- Built a Hackintosh 8+ years ago for my desktop computer and updated the hardware twice
- Amateur photographer from 620 roll film as a teenager through 35mm and digital since 2005
- Mid-century architecture fan, particularly the works of Frank Lloyd Wright. Have visited 7 of his works over the years.
- I LOVE Silk! My wardrobe includes a number of silk blouses, pants and jackets (all purchased from thrift stores).
- In various homes that I’ve owned I’ve done carpentry, copper, PVC and galvanized piping, painting, roofing, light electrical work and glazing.
- About to start being a reviewer for grant proposals to the California Arts Council
As the late journalist Harry Reasoner once said:
”If there is a pattern there, I fail to discern it.”
I can’t say that I have planned a lot, but I have been good at recognizing what appeals to me and recognizing opportunities.
One of the sporting goods chains has a slogan: Just Get Out There!
To change topics, over the years I’ve read MANY messages, here and on other forums, where people say that they wished they had not denied their real feelings so long, came out sooner, etc. However, the question is: Had they done these things earlier, were they really ready at that point in time? That’s a real question mark for me and I suspect that it would be for others also. Had we come out as a crossdresser or as a transgender person earlier in life, would we have been prepared to make the necessary choices and sacrifices? I’m fairly certain that I would not have and I suspect that would be true for many others.
Anyway, the point is I think we shouldn’t beat ourselves up over the timing in our lives. I think it would have been far worse to have started doing what we needed at an earlier time, but abandoned it because we were not ready.
