Guest Post

The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

My Brother-in-Law's Birthday Gift

Upfront note from Sarah: Well, I'm not yet an IBMer for life, though this July, including my time at Sears Technology Services and then the joint-venture of Sears and IBM, my IBM service counts for 20 years.

Also, I've not re-made IBM into a place, "...Where GLBTs want to go," I don't think; I've just helped it be an even more appealing place, along with many, many GLBT and GLBT-friendly colleagues.

My apologies in advance for any liberties I’ve taken in the name of humor. Particularly the second half of the third paragraph, and maybe the whole second paragraph. Know that I love you, and wish you all the best. Hope you smile, when you read this and throughout the day.

>> G

Dear Sarah,


In North Jersey suburbs,
Where some spies reside.
I’ve a sister-in-law
Who’s got nothing to hide.

Sarah blogs about everything
under the sun.
She shares, over shares,
And maybe then some.

She swims like a fish,
And blades like a blader.
But breathes very quietly,
Not like Darth Vader.

An IBM lifer,
who woulda thunk it?
Yes, she’s taken some fresh
Big Blue cool aid and drunk it.

Sarah’s made over Watson’s
Big computer co,
To a fabulous place
Where GLBT’s want to go.

So open the windows,
yell “Proud to be Gay”
And let’s celebrate
Sarah Siegel’s Birthday.

Happy, Happy Birthday.

Your loving brother-in-law,
Gary

Age and Youth

The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

And Both at Once



This is my mom at 80. She'll be 84 in November. I'll be 44 tomorrow. I hope I look this good at 80. My dad of blessed memory designed and produced the necklace my mom's wearing. The words on the necklace are from "The Song of Songs," "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li/I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." I wish he were still alive.

We're with my partner Pat at Bookbinder's Restaurant Philadelphia in this photo; Pat took this picture. Apparently, based on the photos behind my mom, Presidents Kennedy, Nixon and Carter ate there, too.

My Imaginary Friend

The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

...That's What this Blog Is

I woke up, thinking, since it's a little earlier than the alarm's set for, I can blog a bit. And it made me so happy to think that I could spend a few minutes here.

It's such a cool confidante because just as people in prior generations used their journal as their confessor, I try to use my blog as often as I can to admit how I'm really feeling...only it's accessible by untold people.

Rather than feeling like an exhibitionist, or that I lack judgment in sharing feelings so openly, I want to believe that someone, somewhere can relate to the spirit of what I'm writing, if not to the specifics, and feels less alone as a result.

My Birthday Season is Extended this Year

This morning, I'm getting my hair cut and then spending the day with my Pat, my mom and one of my sisters and her family -- my brother-in-law, 15-year-old niece and 10-year-old, twin nephews. My other sister, brother-in-law and 15-year-old nephew are at a dance camp they go to every summer, but this was the weekend that I had free, finally, to celebrate my birthday (which was in mid-July) with whoever among my family was available.

We'll go to a museum exhibit I wanted to see and I'm also bringing drawing materials, so that we can draw outside if it's not too hot. I haven't seen my sister and her family since March, though we talk on the phone pretty often (I'm feeling better than I did during our last conversation, referred to in my prior blog entry). It should be a pleasant day, and maybe even a great day, if I can let myself be present for it.

Please, God, let me be present to my surroundings instead of wishing I could be home, working on three presentations for a panel and two workshops I'm co-delivering at an upcoming conference. And instead of missing our cats.

One more thing I have time to mention before I need to go feed Toonces and Phoebe:

I am happy to be getting my hair cut, but I hope she can cut it, so that it remains a longer style. I let it grow this summer because, at first, I didn't make time to get it cut, and then I thought, why not have a change? I have had short hair for the past 20 years. As it has been growing out, all sorts of curly cowlicks have emerged, and it's kind of fun to have some waves and curls. It makes me feel freer, more creative and more casual all at once.

My Birthday Season

The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

No Cake on My Face This Year...

When we were living in India last year, my colleague Sushma smeared birthday cake all over my face on my birthday, at the office. I will miss that Indian custom on Sunday, when I turn 43.

There's another Indian birthday custom I can follow, though: I'll bring in a big bowl of strawberries or cherries to class on Sunday. In India, it's customary to provide a bowl of candy on one's birthday, but I prefer serving friends fruit, and so I'll adopt and adapt the custom in parallel.

How I Want to Celebrate My Birthday

I hope we can go to the Lego exhibit at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center with my mom, sisters, brothers-in-law, nephews (other than Zach, who's in Canada with his other grandmother) and niece. And then I hope that all of us can sit by the lake there and draw from our imagination, or something/someone we see. I'm jones-ing for some fresh art supplies. Maybe I can get them after class tomorrow night.

When I was a kid, I took painting, sculpting, drawing and cartooning classes at the Stamford Museum and loved all of them.

Here's what appeals to me as I look now online:

• 48-piece "brush pen studio set"
  
• Fanboy Comic Concept Sketch Pages
  
• Wirebound Sketch pad --wirebound at the top, so as not to interfere with my left-handedness
  
• Willow charcoal
  
• 40 Caran D'Ache, classic neocolor wax pastels
  

Maybe I'll need to find the Caran D'Ache pastels at:
Caran D'Ache North America:
Caran d'Ache | 19 West 24th St. | New York, NY 10011
Bruno B. Loehrer
Customer Service:
US Telephone: 718.482.7500
World: 41.22.869.01.01
Web Site:www.carandache.ch/

Not to kill my own buzz, but this is starting to remind me of the many times I've wanted to write and then spent money on books on writing, or just on good fiction. Maybe not, though, as I'm less convinced about my talent as a visual artist than I am invested in wishing I were a more talented, silkier writer. We'll see what I let myself do naturally....

Switching Gears

In ~15 minutes, I'll begin the classroom Part II portion of my Conflict Resolution practicum and I'm hoping that between now and the end of the weekend, when the classroom portion ends, I'll have a good idea for writing a 12-page paper to apply what I've learned. So far, nothing's gelling around a concept for it.