Let us talk about me. :) And then you talk about you, and that’s almost like a conversation!
My LJ list is chock-full of both people who’ve known me for a dozen years and people who met me last month… and some of those new people might know me better. So here I am with the get-to-know-me meme, with my own twist on the final Q…
If you’ve had people say things like “Since when were they working there?!”, feel free to do it yourself.
Don’t forget to elaborate, or it’s no fun, I say!
1. Name: Skennedy. I picked up the nickname a long time when I was 17 (aka Scott “Not Yet 18” Kennedy), and it disappeared for years. The funny thing: I respond easily to it, but I’m still really irritated by someone calling me “Kennedy”. You’d think, working in journalism where everyone does it, I’d be used to it by now.
2. Age: 31. A few months from celebrating 32 with my favorite peoples at SkennCon. It didn’t bother me before, but now that we’re on the 3rd annual trip, I feel a certain warmth to my birthday I never had before.
3. Location: Plymouth, MI. It’s a mile away from all sorts of stuff, and yet kind of feels like the middle of nowhere. I live in a complex with winding roads, hills and plenty of trees.
4. Occupation: Video Director / Editor. Also videographer, graphic designer, occasional photographer, CG/chromakey/compositing, hardware support, web template manager. I work for a national journalism company with 30 different publications. We recently built a 3,000+ sq ft studio space, which means I’m no longer trying to edit inside the newsroom.
5. Partner?: blue_lucy is my soon-to-be wife. We’re planning our May wedding while she’s in the midst of studying for her board exams, in the midst of externships, planning for her residency and our future from there. No pressha. Sometimes she’s bombastic, but we giggle, cuddle, and play together a lot, and she is always taking care of me in ways subtle and obvious.
6. Kids: None yet. We haven’t decided on kids vs pets. Weird to think we’re at or near 30 and still feel like there’s growing up to do. I like to think I’d be a good dad.
7. Brothers/Sisters: One sister, or half-sister if you care, Rachael. We share a father in common, and she’s ten years younger than me. I never knew about her, since I didn’t keep in touch with that side of my family. She hunted me down on the internet when she was 10 – I knew that kind of geek had to be my family. ;) She lives on the east coast, far closer to the rest of my family than I.
8. Pets: None yet, but I’ll be inheriting rats, for however long, and inevitably we will get pets. I’m marrying a vet, I’ll count myself blessed if, five years from now, I’m not trying to bottle feed a black bear or an emu.
9. List the 3-5 biggest things going on in your life:
– The Wedding. We have lots of stuff figured out – the cake, the dress, the location, the colors. But the things we don’t have figured out are looming.
– The Job. I tend to work a lot, and they want me there even more. I’m pleased at the professional and personal growth I’ve had through this job, but it’s hard to feel fulfilled when the holiday party is now “potluck in the office” and the christmas bonus doesn’t exist this year.
– The Girl. She’s living at my place for 3 weeks while she finishes her externship in Ann Arbor, and then we have the holidays coming. Afterward, she’ll be off in externships outside the state an awful lot, so we’re getting in time while we can.
– Other Video. I sometimes take contract jobs to edit video. More often I collect video myself I want to edit, or I offer to put something together for a close friend. They, uhm, pile up.
– Gaming. I believe in gaming as a powerful way to bring people together, to express creativity, to laugh, and to tell stories in a collaborative way. I haven’t done an Alternate Reality Game lately, but I am playing all sorts of games when I can find the time. I almost cried the other day when Fable II rewarded my hard work with a free house for my wife that I stole from a vindictive ghost.10. Parents: Mom lives nearby in Berkley, my father died a year or so ago. He’s always been my counter-rolemodel – someone I could look at and say, “don’t be that guy.” I feel bad that he dissembled so thoroughly, but maybe I wouldn’t be a person I’m as proud of if I hadn’t had him as a cautionary tale.
11. Who are some of your closest friends? No. I’m not really a fan of this question… I think it’s probably more important for you to know the names you’d see most frequently in my journal. So I ran the top commenters program, and I thought I’d describe them for you. This is “of all time”, so some people comment less now than others. :)
Top Commenters on
| 1 |    644
Ah, K.T. She’s my “Best Chick” or my “Woman of Honor” or whatever you want to call her. She and I used to live less than a mile away from each other, but that only lasted a few months. The last time I saw her, she let me lie on her like an easy chair in the dogpile underneath the Rock Band projector screen. I taught her the first tiny spec of sign language and she made a new profession out of it, while I went into her old profession, editing. She has two huge dogs that are like her children, and has a laugh you’ll recognize from across the Renaissance Festival grounds. |
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| 2 | 596
Jeska and I dated around 1999 – we toured this side of the country to see a number of bands, and otherwise adventured together. I’d go pick up chinese food and we’d tell the security guard not to set the alarm on the liberal arts building as we stayed up all night. We fought an awful lot, but in the years we spent apart, we grew up a lot (as tends to happen). We’re now, I like to think, very good friends. |
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| 3 | 509
SarahKate and I dated around 2004 and 2005. She introduced me to the part of The Lansing Crew that I didn’t already know, and otherwise introduced me to a more primal state of being. She has a son now, Robbie, and the three of us (sometimes with Lucy) will sit down for dinner once in awhile. Yet again, even though we’re long past dating, we’ve found our way to a great friendship. |
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| 4 | 438
Ann and I met through mutual friends (and confusion, if I remember correctly). I have always enjoyed her company, though I have never spent as much time with her as she deserved, when she lived nearby. She was the first person to teach me that a hug without ulterior motive doesn’t have to be a moment’s touch – sometimes you need more, and that’s okay, too. We’ve always discussed philosophy and personal motivation, and while we often disagree on the fine points, I’ve always respected the way she walks her path. My favorite story of her, often told, is of our road trip to Montreal wherein the border guard asked, “What’s a pocketknife?” Her reply, “It’s a knife that fits in my pocket.” |
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| 5 | 367
Skipford J. Crampton knows what ICQ 98b is. He is a science fiction author and part of my Lansing Crew. He has a wife and three boys, and seems blissfully happy with that. We went to raves together, and bailed people out jail together, and I often invade his personal space. I have a great picture of us next to the yule tree in the capital, Lansing, where I’ve wrapped one leg around him and he is clearly tolerating me. I like to think of that as a metaphor for our relationship. ;) |
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| 6 | 322
Trase was my connection through my friend Joy that got me into my current job, after a fashion. Speaking of fashion, she is very much into 50’s style kitsch, and is an expert garage-saler. She gifted me with at least half of the old typewriters, video cameras, and projectors in my possession. The saddest day of my job was when I found out she wasn’t coming back in, but she seems to be pretty happy with her husband and son out in BFE. If only they had a reliable internet connection! |
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| 7 | 303
Nancypants always seems delighted to see me. Even if I’ve driven two hours through heavy traffic, her shout of “Skennedy!” always lightens my load. She plays stellar handbells in a handbell choir, and also has a very lovely voice. She has joined in on our SkennCon trips to Chicago, but one of my favorite memories of her was going to listen to the Star Wars orchestration at the DSO. |
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| 8 | 242
Lil D is my Zelda/Metroid homegirl. She’s my photoshop compatriot. We’ve been friends for the better part of a decade, and she’s graciously allowed me to photograph her reading. :) She hermits, sometimes, and we don’t speak often anymore, but I like to think that no matter what time passes, we will always be friends. My favorite memory of her is photographing her after the Polar Dive in brighton – I have a beautiful photo of her grinning from the hot tub, steam boiling around her, eyes flashing. |
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| 9 | 236
Clayfoot is a beekeeper. And by beekeeper, I mean he loves bees. And by “loves bees”, I mean we met through an Alternate Reality Game called I Love Bees. We hung out in Chicago together, and I can always trust him to delve into the deepest, knitty-grittiest aspect of a problem to find a perspective no one has thought of before. |
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| 10 | 233
Kim’s another friend who I met through the I Love Bees posse, though when I think of her most it’s of her knocking on the window of my car, where I slept the night due to cats at our friend’s surprise birthday party that I drove a good 9 hours to get to. She was in her hoodie, I think, and we busted out of there for coffee. I took a charmingly reserved photo of her at a bar in Ann Arbor, brandishing dolla’ bills, tongue askew. :D |
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| 11 | 232
Alex is the night in shining saran-wrap, the kilted baker. He runs servers in his basement, which help keep his fermenting mead warm. He usually brings a stunningly tasty mousse to events, and can be quiet until you get to know him. He isn’t shy (nor is his kilt), though, as the girls of the SMOScast can tell you. My favorite photo of him is the one where we’re clearly riverdancing our way through a convention ballroom. |
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| 12 | 217
Debra is the reason I have a huge pole resting against my wall. *ahem* Debra and I met through a locally-meeting internet radio show, back when I was way more blatantly flirtatious. She does marketing and graphic design for a credit union, but when we met she was the owner of a store selling handmade soaps and natural teas. We immediately bonded on our thoughts about creativity, self-motivation (I guess that’s important to me, hm?) and photography. She and her husband used to host me for weekend afternoons where we would spend hours in the darkroom and then eat lovely, unique home-made dinners. We had a falling out for awhile, and while we each moved on, it was sad to think I lost something I found that valuable. Since then we’ve picked up the pieces and moved forward, and my life is better for it. |
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| 13 | 208
It’s amazing to think this other Deb is on the list, considering we’ve met maybe two or three times, through mutual friends. She games and crochets, and we met once at CityClub, through my good friend Chuck. Unlike my friend Amy, she does -not- seem to have a “beef” with the Industrial Revolution. She’s braved through some pretty serious family health issues, for which I’ve been proud for her. Whenever I think of her, it is pretty much always followed up with “Dang, why is it we only see each other twice a decade?” |
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| 14 | 203
Mr. CJ is yet another beekeeper (boy, I do seem to collect them, haha). We don’t chat on a weekly basis anymore, but I quite admire the latest steampunkery fashions he has gotten himself into. |
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| 15 | 182
Is Leanna a small business owner? Yes. Is Leanna a philosopher? Yes. Is Leanna, on at least one occasion, a giant tampon? Most certainly. She photographed my otherwise-stressful movie premiere at the local theater, and introduced me to the Golden Harvest in Lansing. I love reading her book reviews, and while I have many memories of her, my favorites involve us chilling out at one of many local diners and sharing our thoughts. |
Heh. “Night in Shining Saran-Wrap”.. I suppose that’s better than Captain Cantankerous. ;-)
<3 Trase!
I’m feeling bloggy, but have nothing to say. I’m totally posting this one :)
Skennedy!! :D
Awww… *HUGS*
Ya know, I very rarely come on here these days. ;) But I had to come and say *TACKLEHUG* I miss you too. :) And believe me, as much as I miss seeing you and some other friends at work – I am actually much better off. If not financially, there are other positive aspects! I think the lowered dosage of blood pressure meds says something about my much lower stress levels. :D Now I just need to figure out how to make a living from home that doesn’t involve stuffing envelopes, har har. ;)
And I am hoping that Consumers Energy replacing all of their poles/lines on our road means that Charter Cable will be leasing space from them so that we can get a cable modem! So ya know, when you guys come out to visit, you can get a decent wireless connection LOL :)
I don’t doubt it! I am glad for you that you’re in a happier place, haha.
Once Lucy is done with her boards, I am certain we’d be happy to come visit ANYTIME. ANY. Time. :D So invite us, already! ;)
Some of my contract video work has made the idea of doing that from home very tempting. The unreliability of the income is frightening, but maybe I’d be able to pull it off when Lucy and I are living together. It’d take a lot of work on my part to sell myself, of course, but man, would that be easier. Your former department seems to exist solely to make my life, and my job, harder. I sometimes think I hear maniacal cackling as they leave my office …
When is she done with the boards? This month is going to be nutty because we have early Christmas with my family, then we are leaving on Christmas Day to go to NY for a week – and I am making most of the gifts, so that’s pretty much my life the next few weeks LOL :) But after Xmas things will calm down.
The fluctuating income is the trick, isn’t it? I haven’t made anything yet, fortunately I still have unemployment. I still haven’t figured out exactly what I want to do. Doing any kind of web dev is a shaky option due to our internet wonkiness. I’d like to make and sell things on etsy, but the profit margin will be really low unless I get my supplies wholesale, which I’m still investigating. So we’ll see what happens.
I’m sorry to hear about the frustrations you’re being caused. :( I tried to act as a Nonsense Buffer while I was there. I’d say it’s due to budget cuts, but long before those were in place, I felt that they didn’t have a real grasp on your hardware/software needs. Hopefully as the importance of all that online content grows, so will their understanding of providing you with what you need to make it happen.
Lucy takes her board exams this weekend. We’ve got all sorts of stuff going on, too, so just let me know when you’ve got an evening to spare. I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR THAT YOU SPENT A WEEK CLEANING FOR US.
That should only happen when parents come to visit. :D If you think you might go out to eat on a given day, or have a bunch extra at home, just let us know and we’ll hang out. ;)
Good luck on your trip! I’ve barely even thought about christmas presents yet, except a few. A little tougher this year, with no bonus.
I haven’t been on the computer much at all lately, but know I think of you often and have always considered our friendship a blessing. *BIG HUGS* Where are you guys going for SkennCon this year? (If you posted before…which you probably did…sorry for not catching it. Again, not on the net much.) I had a blast that first year and would love to go again! Maybe 2011, as my furnace financial set back will have been remedied by then. Love ya lots, my friend. Hopefully I can see you soon!