Laurie Mann's Home Page
"On my last day, I want to have dessert."
Anne Lamott
"Listen to your own voice, learn to be your own judge...You are responsible to no one, except the truth."
David Chesky, The Agnostic
"I really resent the idea that the only reason someone might
be good or moral is because they're religious. I do what I do...
without hope of reward or fear of
punishment. I do not require heaven or hell to bribe me or scare me into acting
decently"
Anne Edwards in Mary Doria Russell's
great novel, The Sparrow
God..."loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful,
all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money!"
George Carlin
"I never dared to be radical when young for fear
it would make me conservative when old.
Robert Frost
I'm Laurie Mann a feminist geek who maintains (and has moved) many Web sites. I'm currently working as a contractor for a consulting firm on a large document conversion program. Jim and I had a very enjoyable 30th anniversary. And, only 22 years late, I finally graduated from college in April 2001.
In 2004, I was on a few panels at Noreascon 4, ran the FANAC table, and edited one of the Guest of Honor books, Dancing Naked, by William Tenn.
I've been doing a little of this and a little of that since graduation, the "big that" being co-running a Worldcon Program Division in 2001.
Here are relatively recent photos of my family and me:
| Jim Mann, December 2001 | Leslie Mann, March 2002 | Laurie Mann, April 2001 |
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My Dream House - Adapted. Well, actually, Jim and I bought our dream house in early 2006. It's way out in the country, but it is new, and it has space. It also doesn't have noise.
I love the pseudo-psychological, pseudo-tests that tell you "what you are" based on a series of questions.
The Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid says I'm To Kill a Mockingbird.
Take the What High School Stereotype Are You? quiz, by Angel.
I'm a geek, which should surprise absolutely no one.
And I did pretty well on
the Inner Geek Test (Major Geek)
Which London Underground tube line are you? I'm the DISTRICT line!
What Christian Theologian Are You? says I'm Karl Barth.
Which Beatles Album Are You? says I'm Abbey Road.
It turns out my daughter loves these tests too.
And while I don't believe in astrology, I was fascinated by the details in my birth chart.
My husband and I made our long-planned trip to England in March of 2000. Ironically, we turned around and went again in December of 2001 (to use up a bunch of frequent flier points and attend our first foreign conference). Jim then went to Winchester for a business meeting on his own in the spring of 2002. We also did a quicky tour of SF/Napa before going to ConJose in 2002.
Jim gave me a digital camera a few years back, which I've used to take pictures at the 2000 Nebula Awards, Boskone and at the Feminist Expo 2000.
1999 was an extraordinarily busy year, between conventions, a hectic work schedule (and "oh the horror" - working for a company that purchased software for a major project that was buggier than most beta software), and managing the hotel and other local aspects of the Nebula Award Banquet that was in Pittsburgh last May. But, at least I learned XML and a little XSL, two languages which will be in wide use on the Web in the future. (2008: well, this has been taking a little longer than I anticipated! ;->)
Immediately after Boskone in 1999, I went to New York City for five days (two as a tourist, three as a person taking a class). I saw two Broadway Shows (Ragtime and Death of a Salesman) and ate at a couple of pricey but interesting Indian places and an inexpensive and excellent Thai place. While I wouldn't want to live in New York City, I enjoyed my visit there. We've been back twice since then because we liked it so much.
I read an excellent book by David Brin on privacy in the computer age called The Transparent Society. I highly recommend The Sex Side of Life: Mary Ware Dennett's Pioneering Battle for Birth Control and Sex Education, an extraodinarily interesting book about this largely unsung American feminist who helped to topple the Comstock laws.
Jim and I have had a long-time relationship with the Star Wars movies. In 1977, we got married days before the first movie was released. Back in '97, I hit 40 while watching the re-release of Star Wars (and so did a bunch of other people that year). We attended a special showing of The Phantom Menace early in the morning of our 22nd wedding anniversary. And the latest installment came out days before our 25th anniversary.
While I generally like the Pittsburgh area, there are some things about this area I don't like, and the Gammage case pointed out that bigotry is still alive and well in the Pittsburgh area. Also, a minority of cops in the area behave as if there is a "devine right of police" or something, and that they don't have to account to anyone, especially not their "employers," the taxpayers of Allegheny County. The fact that the KKK has considered this area a hot recruiting zone isn't a good sign either.
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On a lighter topic, I met Patrick Stewart in person in '96, and can attest to the fact that the man has an even better voice in person than on TV. In addition to meeting him at the local Borders, we all went to see him perform with the Pittsburgh Symphony. He performed Shakespearean soliloquies, and the orchestra played pieces like "Overture to a Midsummer Night's Dream" in between. Periodically Stewart stars in a one-man show of A Christmas Carol, a piece he immortalized on audio. |
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Among my hobbies - building Web sites, attending/managing conferences, reading, blogs and movies.
Oh, and travel, but given the new house, we probably won't be travling so much for a while.
States I've Visited
Create Your Own Personalized Map of the USA
I didn't include Tennessee, because I only saw the Memphis airport and nothing more. I may have visited
Oaklahoma during a cross-country train trip in 1968, but am uncertain (it might have been overnight).
Canadian Provinces I've Visited
Create Your Own Personalized Map of Canada
Again, I saw much of Canada by train in 1968, though I've been to Quebec many times and to Ontario at least twice
in this millennium.
European Countries I've Visited
create your personalized map of europe
I visited Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland as part of a multi-state high school chorus in 1974, and have been
to the British Isles and Ireland a few times since 2000.
Quotes
"...what would bug a guy from the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?"
Ellen Degeneres, on
hosting the Emmys in November 2001.
"I would like to believe in God, but I just believe in Billy Wilder."
Fernando Trueba, director of
Belle Epoque, 1993 Best
Foreign-Language Film Oscar winner
I'm a big fan of Marian Wright Edelman's 25 Lessons for Life and Kent M. Keith's Paradoxical Commandments.
Thanks for being Web wanderer
to visit this site since 4/18/04. Counter courtesy of Pair Networks.
