Image credit: losmininos
Sandie at GeekedOff has tagged me for 8 random facts. They’re (mostly) business relevant:
8 Random Business Bits About Me
- I hate maintenance
I love projects, though! I’m slightly successful with keeping BBB updated because I’ve psyched myself into seeing each post or series as a project. I go tharn when I think of composing posts day after day after day after day after…<shudder> I’ll be so very golden when I can write the week’s posts in a day or two. Other dreaded maintenance tasks: laundry, flossing, housecleaning, eating breakfast, exercise. - I’m a sucker for business ebooks
I’ve always loved to read, so instant access to any book is way tempting. Even moreso if the PDF has color pictures and a groovy layout, and promises to make my dreams come true: an empty Inbox, a clean house, a second car and a happy worklife. I would be unrecognizable if I actually did everything I read in my mighty collection of MMO and productivity ebooks. Dan is worried he’ll be marked as an enabler if he gives me a much-coveted Kindle for my birthday. - I don’t like sarcasm.
The quickest, most permanent way to turn me off of a relationship, business or otherwise, is an overuse/abuse of sarcasm. Same for people who vent bitter snarkiness, then wave a dismissive hand with a smile and a “Oh, I’m just kidding.” Talking with those folks isn’t worth the effort of guessing if they actually meant what they just said. - I’m a mystery/thriller audiobook junkie
If I had means, I would own every mystery/thriller narrated by George Guidall, Richard Ferrone, Michael Beck, Simon Prebble, Martin Jarvis, Scott Brick, and Frank Muller. How this pertains to me and business: If I didn’t have bills to pay, I’d gleefully accept Audible.com gift certificates from my clients. - I love baskets, bowls, and glassware
I whimper at the windows of Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel. I hustle through entire sections of IKEA with both hands blinding my peripheral vision. My usually indulgent fella has forbidden me to bring home any more baskets. He drew the line when he realized we had baskets full of ——wait for it——baskets. I’m an accumulator. It’s how I’m built. This blog is the product of my accumulations. - I love structure but hate rules
I’ll invent limitations to brace myself against if a project doesn’t have enough structure. I’m not the best at anything, but I’m at my best with a box to think outside of. Unreasonable boundaries typically yield creative and clever results. However, some rules rankle: You must eat lunch between 11 and 1. You must not take more than 30 minutes. The first 30 minutes worked after your normal clock-out do not count as overtime. Grrr… - I’m not fit to work in an office
I deleted anymore from the end of that because I don’t think I was ever suited to an office life. The at-home workstyle is perfect for me. I’m free to avoid crowds at the grocery store and rush hour traffic. I can close up shop to meet Dan in DC for dinner or my friend Chris in Baltimore for lunch. I’m free to turn the music up really loud when I’m drawing and also to turn it off so I can write in complete silence.
And I’m free to work when I’m at my best (early afternoon through dinner, then near midnight into the wee hours), and to actually do my best without “making other people look bad” (Yup, I’ve had coworkers turn rabid on me for this…supervisors, too!). - I enjoy solitude but don’t always like being alone
Working on Mondays is always tough because the apartment is sooooo quiet after a weekend of hanging out with Dan and my loud, nutty family. I have a list of nearby coffee and sandwich shops with free wi-fi for days like that. It’s good be around people, even if I don’t know or talk to any of them.
I would wither without Twitter’s incessant chatter. Twhirl is always open (though often minimized), even on days when there’s no time to join the many threads of conversaton. It’s fun to “eavesdrop” when I’m eating my lunch, or need to rest my brain for a minute or two. - I love balance, but I don’t like even numbers
The rules (shamelessly stolen from Sandie’s Brett’s Rudy’s blog) are:
- Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
- At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
- Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to read your blog.
I’m trying to avoid tagging folks who’ve already been tagged, so I don’t have 8 (another sign I need to get out more!)—
Becky McCray [Small Biz Survival]
Chris Guillebeau [The Art of Non-conformity]
Chris Pommier [Words & Tricks] — Chris’ 8 Random Things
Jeremy Davis [Jeremy Adam Davis]
Sterling Okura [Bizlîft] — Sterling’s 8 Random Business Bits
But enough about me 
Got any random business bits about you to share? Lemme know down below!
Crystal,
I am one of the most sarcastic people ever, it’s a wonder you haven’t tossed me overboard yet. I suppose I rein it in a bit in type, but probably not much. And I hate emoticons to make things “clear”!
Solitude, YES, love it, and not being alone, going to cafes on days I’m not surrounded by office clatter, yes to that too. But no Twitter for me. Checking in on blogs is as much distraction as I can manage.
#5 is great. There’s probably a lot of deep signifcance there. It goes pretty well with #6, too!
Regards,
Kelly
Hi Kelly! Nahh, your kind of sarcasm doesn’t bother me. I’ve never read you pointing it at anyone but yourself…and it’s typically funny as hell!
For self-deprecating humor, no prob. But it’s nasty when it’s pointed at other people…like as weapon and/or defense, ya know?
And ha! #5 and #6 are related! How funny is that? And how odd? Hmmm…significance indeed.
C’mon over to Twitter…it’s fun! Everyone’s there! You’ll have to squeeze big thoughts into teeny tiny posts, but it will be a good exercise
Reserve it for 1 hr on weekends only, just come.
Crystal,
Twitter: Sorry, can’t do it.
Sarcasm: I know how to point it at others, but that’s not ever appropraite here on the ‘net. I reserve that for the truly deserving.
Baskets and boxes: There’s definitely something going on!
Regards,
Kelly
Recent blog post from Kelly: Because the Side of my Head Has Been Sore for 25 Years: Prize Time!
…appropriate…
aargh
Recent blog post from Kelly: Because the Side of my Head Has Been Sore for 25 Years: Prize Time!
@Kelly You’re a nut!
And we’ll miss ya on Twitter, but that just means I need to get things better organized over here so I can get to your ‘house’ more often and hang and converse in your comments.
Later!
uh-oh…trying to think if I have flung my sarcasm unwittingly over here. I’ll try to clean up after myself. I can’t help it, I’ve been raising kids for 30 years…I might not swear like a Tei or Naomi ( I can’t help it, I’ve been raising kids for 30 years) but I can be pretty sarcastic, I’ll try to do better.
(oops, was that sarcasm? I better go now….:)
I can’t work in an office either. And I’m not fit to have a boss. Not even a bossy husband.I have a husband, but he’s smart enough not to boss me around, that’s why he get’s to stay.
Luv ya!
PS..I LOVE glass ware. If it’s shiney, see through and made out of pretty color..look out. Then,if I could have a pretty little drink out of it…….hmmm.
Recent blog post from Wendi Kelly: Inspiring Things that Inquiring Minds Want to Know
Wendi—You and Kelly are so funny! I’ve never heard either of you be sarcastic in a bitter way…always in a giggle way. And I am sooo not touching either the “smart enough not to boss” hubby line, or the “shiney, pretty, sippy cup” line
But I’m glad to have one and wish I had the other. Not tellin’ which!
Crystal- What a terrific list. We’ll have to talk containers sometime… round, I seem to like round…I love really special shopping bags too , and packaging…but don’t fence me in. Hmm, where’s Freud when you need him?
I am stumbling off to bed, but will check back in the morning…we have so much in common it’s just silly…
G’night.
Recent blog post from Janice Cartier: It’s About Relationships
Hi Janice, and thanks! Ooo, round. Ooo, shopping bags. Ooo, packaging
You might like some of the Agile Rabbit books? Small chunky books of box and mailer designs.
I may have to check Freud…or not
I’m a bit curious, but the mystery is kinda nice too!
Hope you slept well…talk to ya later!
Crystal,
I really enjoyed reading through these faces about you. I particularly appreciated what you said about rules and structure – like you, I’m a rule-breaker who struggles to live without structure.
I never thought of it that way before, so you’ve been really helpful, thank you.
David
Recent blog post from David | beplayful: Playing in the Blogosphere
Hi David! Glad you liked it
It means a lot to know there are kindred spirits like you out there!
LOL Oh now Crystal that was just like putting a shiny silver thing right in front of my nose!!!
)))
I slept well, thank you.
Maps. Did I mention maps? Chocolate maps, topography maps, ancient maps…pop up city guide maps….Rand McNally maps…
And ribbon….
I think we appreciate structure…as long as there is wiggle room and it leads us to the good stuff.
I love solitude too. But my favorite cafe was the alternative to all that alone time in the studio. My alternate workspace.
Hi Janice! Sharing that set of books was kind of wicked of me, wasn’t it?
But I couldn’t resist.
It’s fun to flip through page after page of clever folding boxes and packaging. I enjoyed origami as a kid, so diagrams of a flat piece of nothing transforming into an elegant and interesting something is a treat.
MAPS! I so love those pocket sized pop-ups that have come out in the past few years? Just heard a family friend’s kid is going to Paris for the summer, and I immediately got her a small pop-up map with a compass and tiny flashlight pen in the spine. A very small gift, I suppose, but I hope she finds good use in it.
Now I don’t know anything about ‘chocolate maps’…you got something new for me there. Yum!
And you have it just right…the wiggle room. That’s the core difference between structure and rules that begin with “You must…” and “You may not…”. A bit o’ wiggle
And I love the term ‘alternate workspace’. Sounds so much more professional than my gotta-get-the-heck-outta-here-the-walls-are-closing in-coffee-and-sandwich-retreat”
Big thanks for the new word, new idea, and a new map to track down!
Yes, Wickedly wicked.
Do want links to chocolate maps or do you want to discover them yourself?
Jan
Recent blog post from Janice Cartier: Lavender Lingerie
Jan–Oh, golly LoL I’ll probably get into far less trouble if I ask you for a link than make a widespread hunt on my own. Well maybe not ‘less’ trouble, but at least it’ll be more direct?
Many thanks!
Thanks for the tag, Crystal and amen to #1!
You may be right, by the way. We could be long lost bloglings (that would be a mashup of “blog” and “siblings,” though it sounds more like some sort of poorly conceived Harry Potter character).
I wrote my post a few days ago, but spent time wracking my brain trying to come up with bloggers to tag. Boy, building and maintaining community is hard.
@Chris — My pleasure! Thanks to you for being up for it and ,clearly, to it. Yours was a fun, interesting and cool read. A fun meme, eh?
Reading over yours and other folks, it’s stuff we wouldn’t say at a handshake introduction, but random or no, it all seems like the good and meaty stuff we can relate to and bond a bit over.
re: picking folks to tag — Yup, like you said. The folks that first came to mind already got tagged…many by the person who tagged me. Very clear to me that my circle of blogging friends, while a treat, is too small. Enjoy your hunt for more friends!
Ha! You got the tag!
I totally relate to number 8. I have a serious problem with it as a matter of fact. I am a weird combo of extremes I guess, I am an extrovert (usually), but then I need a lot of alone time to recharge after being around people. I try to balance it but it seems always amiss. Maybe I can learn from you.
I don’t like passive agressive behavior, either. Right on remarks are one thing, but you can tell when someone is being a shit to try to psychology demean someone.
Good list.
Hi Ellen! Funny thing about #8…A career counselor give me the Meyers Briggs personality exam, and found that on the scale of Introvert < -- ||--> Extrovert, I barely tipped onto the Introvert side.
That close margin was not interpreted as neutral, but being BOTH Introvert and Extrovert. A real relief, hearing I wasn’t schizo for going back and forth for wanting to be with people, or completely alone—or both at the same time! The counselor suggested that I not label myself as either, so I feel free to be whatever, whenever. Resistance was not only futile, but frustrating
re: passive-aggressives—Yup, you’re right, we sure can tell. And they can tell that we can tell, which makes it worse lol
=) Everyone loves their alone time. @.@ Being beside a person who doesn’t stop talking is just plain blatant annoying. Anyway it’s good that you know so much about yourself. It’s pretty amazing actually. Cheers.
Hi Zohai—Yup, that’s why I love sharing an office with my cat. He voices an occasional comment, offers a yay or nay now and then, but for the most part he’s a quite deskmate. Funny things about writing for “getting to know ya” memes…you get to know yourself
Thanks!
Its always a good thing knowing more about the writters hehe. I also feel that im not suitable anymore for office job. But one need to think carefully for quiting any day job.
Wow i am impress with anyone that quit their daily job for online work. That is some decision to make. I envy them. I do hope I would do like that someday…
@Handy Reader—Welcome! Sorry I missed your comment
I agree entirely, quitting a day job takes some planning. My hubby-to-be and I always planned for me to be home and study or try a new business (or both) while he worked. I did the same for him, and when he was done it was my turn.
@Sub—If you want to hear more about working online, just stick with me and all the folks who leave comments. They are the best resources around for encouragement and ideas, and the folks who leave comments on their blogs are too.
Thanks for the comments, y’all!