[Courses] [Spineful Living, lesson 1: Dreams]

[Carla Schroder]

On Friday 30 March 2007 12:30, Carla Schroder wrote:
>
> What do you want?

I'm so glad I asked me! Here are a few random snippets for anyone who wants a 
peek inside the Head of Carla:

* beer
* chocolate
* comic books
* snoring cats

Oops, wrong window. Let's try a different one:

I'm going on 50 years old. That's right folks, mark the date on your calendar- 
August 6, 2007. I accept loot of all kinds. And I have an actual on-topic 
point to make here- in recent years, I've come back to a lot of my childhood 
dreams. When I was a wee tot, I was both the ultimate bookworm and the 
ultimate tinkerer. I wanted to know how everything worked, how to fix it, and 
how to make it better. Most of the time I was frustrated because no one would 
teach me. My dad is very accomplished and can do all kinds of things, but he 
didn't teach us kids much of it. What few things I did learn were awesome, 
like photography and using a darkroom, a bit of woodworking, and a bit of 
auto mechanics.

I was absolutely nuts about the space program. I had models of the Apollo 
spacecraft and the moon landers and the Rover and posters and books. I 
thought I wanted to be an astronaut. In hindsight I'm glad I didn't go that 
route, because the space program turned to poo.

Then I thought I wanted to be an astronomer. But I didn't know how and didn't 
know how to learn. In high school I went totally off the rails, and spent 
most of it getting high. I graduated, thanks to lax standards.

The biggest defect in the way I was raised was my parents never taught me how 
to set goals, how to dream big, or how to work to get what I want. I spent a 
good part of my life figuring that out on my own. The most valuable lesson I 
ever learned, and have to keep re-learning, is this:

The person who knows where she wants to go will get there.

I wasn't taught how to work with people, or how to ask for help. I'm still 
figuring that one out. 

My personal dreams fall into roughly three categories: professional, material, 
and personal.

Professional
Work from home. Have my own personal way cool home office set up the way I 
like. Set my own hours. Become sought-after enough to be choosy about 
assignments. Climb to a pay scale that lets me take a lot of time off. Build 
a reputation as someone who is independent and reliable, not like a 
typical "journalist" shill, and be respected by computer geeks.

Material
Own a nice home on beautiful acreage. Clean air, good well, nice neighbors, 
lots and lots of elbow room. Have a nice garden, some chickens, a workshop, a 
luxurious whirlpool tub, and an upstairs bedroom with a great view. Get a 
little RV and explore the backroads.

Personal
Find someone totally awesome to share my life with, with no compromises or 
thoughts of "meh, it's Ok, I could do worse." Learn to play the violin. 
Re-learn piano. Play oldtime country and western swing music in a band. Have 
more time and money for play and travel. Learn better people-coping skills 
and don't get pushed around. Lose weight and get fit enough to hike 8 miles 
in the hills without having a heart attack.

I'm thankful to say I have accomplished some of these. My real list is way 
longer, but I shan't weary you with the whole thing.

Your turn!

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Carla Schroder
Linux geek and random computer tamer
check out my Linux Cookbook! 
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxckbk/
best book for sysadmins and power users
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