Tara Raine Bloyd

Wow. I just realized that I hadn't done anything to my home page for EVER, and that I didn't really care all that much anyway. So, of course, that realization made me go look at the page, which was long and just generally boring. Or so I think -- somehow I still got mail about it fairly often. But I've decided it needs to change, so change it will. If, however, you're curious, feel free to check out my old home page. If you're *not* curious, more power to you!

So who am I anyway?

That's such a broad question, and I'd be frightened if I could tell you all about myself on a web page. But here's a start.

First of all, to risk being cliched, I am a mom. And more than just that, I'm the mom of a preemie -- my son, Neil was born almost four months early, weighing less than two pounds. Talk about a quick indoctrination into a world I knew nothing about -- after 101 days of hospitalization, I can talk about intubation, sepsis, ROP, NEC, umbilical hernias, and adjusted age with the best of them! We were incredibly lucky that our little boy not only survived but thrived -- thus far, he's doing everything he should be doing at his adjusted age.

I'm also a wife -- I've been married to Peter Norby since 9/7/97, and plan on staying that way for many, many years to come.

I also work -- as president of NearSea Naturals, where you can find "Everything you need to sew, Naturally!"

Another important aspect of who I am is the fact that I'm a woman who has worked in what's traditionally been a man's job -- and, even worse, that I've some basic understanding of technology. How utterly threatening, isn't it? :) But gender issues are very important to me, particularly how they are played out in more technical environments.

My first jobs out of college (where I majored in English and Anthropology, focusing in Archaeology) were in the field of high tech sales -- I've been both a Territory and a Sales Manager for Bay Area computer companies. Sick of being called a "Sales Weasel", though, I changed career paths yet again and became a Release Engineer for Siebel Systems, based out of their Emeryville office. This job taught me how very much I don't know -- and how fun it can be to learn. Moving into engineering from sales had one fun and unanticipated result -- it makes my resume a lot more interesting...

I love to read -- everything from classics to trashy romances, from mysteries to science fiction to cereal boxes. If I get truly desperate, I even read junk mail! But somehow I have much less time to read for fun now that I'm a mom. I do try to focus on works by and about women, though -- part of my feminist tendencies, I'm sure.

Much to my parents' dismay, I've written up a semi-accurate blurb about my life... I think it's not too far from the truth, while my father thinks it's completely ridiculous. But since I have a web page and he doesn't, you can guess whose view will be most widely seen. (You should realize that the blurb was accurate as of a year or so ago -- certain things have doubtlessly changed, and I'll update the doc to reflect that at some point. Really I will. But for right now, my resume's about as current as it gets.)

And just how do I occupy myself?

I started using the web in the fall of 1994 -- years and years ago, when a very good friend created a home page for me. (In case you can't tell, he was an anime fan; I'm trying to wean him off that! :) My feminist sensibilities, of which I have quite a few, were horribly outraged, so I learned HTML just so I could create my own page. Of course, I could have just removed the page, but that wouldn't have been nearly as challenging. So over the course of the whole home page scandal and other assorted events generally only of interest to those directly connected to the situation, Peter and I drew closer together and finally got married. Wedding planning is not the most fun way to spend your time -- indeed, if you're not yet married but are considering so becoming, think about eloping. It could save your relationship, or at least your sanity! Peter and I took the easy way out and headed off to the island of Hawaii. It saved our relationship...

I'm fairly involved politically, and try to do a good deed or two every day... and I read Pollyanna when I was a kid -- can you tell? My family and friends are very important to me, and I try to balance spending time with them, my need for some amount of privacy, my job (assuming I ever manage to leave the house again!), all of Neil's care and medical issues, and even an attempt to occasionally talk with Peter about non-urgent issues. (You know, things like telling him I love him, stuff like that. :) Oh wait, there's also all those chores -- laundry, cleaning, etc (and yes, before you ask, Peter certainly does share the chores, etc -- he's proud to call himself a feminist, and wouldn't even think of any other option). Guess which usually loses?

There's lots more I could say -- I really would like to discuss more of the women's issues that matter to me, my philosophy about web pages and the web in general (yes, this page looks like this for a reason!),and other important things, but right now I'm simply too busy... and it'll probably be months before I get back to this page. So read my old page or check out my bookmarks file if you're really bored, or send some mail to tabloyd@quotidian.com ... I always read it, though my response rate is only slightly above abysmal...

Tara Bloyd (tabloyd@quotidian.com)