Aine with the Old Fogey

When I read Aine's reply to my first question I was tempted to ask for an expansion from her. I thought our readers might want just a little more about friend Aine. Later, as I went through the entire interview I realized that I really didn't need to ask for more, Aine filled the void in later replies and made me so proud to know her.

Old Fogey: On your Newsvine Profile you give a pretty good description of yourself as compared to most Newsviners. Can you give us a short statement on who you are?

Aine: In one sentence: I am a life-long learner curious about the world.

Old Fogey: You seem proud of being a Yupper. What is it about the geography around your home that makes you so and explain what a Yupper is?

Aine: It's "Yooper" not "Yupper". :)

A Yooper is a person who lives in, or was born and raised in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the state of Michigan, and they are joined together only by the Mackinac Bridge at St. Ignace, one of the longest suspension bridges in the world (around eight miles long). Before the bridge was opened in 1957, the only land access to our region was through Wisconsin, otherwise you had to go by waterway through the Great Lakes to get here... so it's a fairly isolated area, and the culture has developed in a sort of insular environment under fairly rugged conditions up here in the northern wilderness. Still, the people are some of the friendliest you'll ever come across. (See: " What Is A Yooper?" [ http://aine.newsvine.com/_news/2006/08/10/320721-what-in-the-world-is-a-yooper ])

Old Fogey: Would you mind telling us a little more about your military service?

Aine: In high school I was recommended for one of the first slots open to women in 1976 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, and to this day, I still don't know who recommended me, but I turned down the appointment (!) because I wanted some time away from schooling. My family has a long line of military service, and I grew up on Air Force bases during the sixties, so I enlisted in the Navy during the Cold War, and served at NavSta Charleston, South Carolina, Port Services group on a Yard Oiler (YO - it was sort of a mobile diesel fuel gas station) as a deck seaman. My job onboard was to help the YO to tie up to docks, other ships, etc., and I was very accurate at throwing a line. I was also in charge of the winch and boom system on the ship, which was used to connect the fueling rig to whatever ship or barge we were refueling... a somewhat dangerous, yet delicate job which required maneuvering the whole apparatus while both vessels were afloat.

While on the job, I got hurt when a running light came off of the mast, and the shattering glass entered my right eye. I ended up being medevac'd to Bethesda National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and was operated on by the President of the US's eye surgeon (the best in the country), and gave them permission to film and photograph the entire surgical procedure, which they used for training other doctors. The lens of my eye developed a cataract within two hours of the injury, and it couldn't be saved (laser surgery was just beginning to be developed in those days), so they had to remove the lens of my eye.

While I was recovering from that and my disposition of service was still sort of "up in the air", I wasn't allowed to go back on the ships because of my lack of depth perception, so I became a Radioman, working in the field of classified military communications using computers, teletype, and various other technologies,... my exposure to technology (as well as "national secrets") began from a very early period in the '70's... and my interest in those things has never waned. (See: SpyWorld [ http://spyworld.newsvine.com/ ])

I did well in the Navy, and was named Sailor of the Quarter during the last quarter in which I served before being Honorably discharged for medical reasons due to my disability from the eye injury. I collect a miniscule disability compensation check each month because of that, and my eye will never fully recover (it's functionally blind).

Old Fogey: Your Newsvine interests appear eclectic, what do you do in real life?

Aine: Real life... what's that? *grin* But seriously, folks,... I don't really draw the line between my online life and my offline life. My friends online would be my friends offline if we lived closer together, and I think my activities online are just as important and real as those I've participated in and developed offline.

But to give you a more mundane answer: I'm a stay-at-home Mom (I have two sons, one of whom is currently serving with the Marine Corps), and my spouse and I are landlords, so we rent out houses and apartments that we're still paying for. Real estate in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is fairly inexpensive compared to many other areas of the country, so we aren't "wealthy" by most standards of what that word means. We've got about half of our real estate paid off, and don't owe that much on the rest, so once those are paid off, it will be a source of steady income for our elder years. I'm also a part-time web designer and do a little webhosting for people who don't want to deal with hosting their own blogs yet don't want to be on a big hosted blog service like Blogspot, or want their own domain names. Currently, I'm hosting and maintaining Wordpress blogs.

In the past, I've done a lot of things on a voluntary basis (it's part of an ethos of being active in the Gift Economy, and people familiar with Open Source will know what I mean by that -- if you're curious, do a search). Some of the things I've done include the following: User-to-User tech support and Beta Tester at AOL; Beta Tester for all kinds of software, including a fantastic game by EA called " Majestic"  [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majestic_%28video_game%29 ] (2001, but never released to the public), as well as a long list of Virtual Reality development projects, by big- and small-name developers (like Adobe Atmosphere), as well as engaging in some very interesting in-depth conversations about VR and the Web with people like Philip Rosedale (Linden Labs, Second Life [ http://www.secondlife.com/ ]) and Bruce Damer [  http://www.kurzweilai.net/bios/frame.html?main=/bios/bio0029.html? ] ; I ran a 3DVR online magazine and community for a while, and wrote software reviews, including a review about a VR program that was on one of Mike Oldfield's CD's (you might remember him for the tune "Tubular Bells," which was used in the movie "The Exorcist"), and that software review was featured on the front page of his website for a time; I've been an Editor at the DMOZ Open Directory Project; I've run, moderated, and/or participated in many different online communities centered on various topics such as celtic reconstructionism, archaeology, linguistics, history, and paganism; I was the Admin at Blogshares for a while, a fantasy stock market game based on blogs (their value is determined by incoming and outgoing links, and we tracked millions of blogs and billions of links, as well as all the user transactions, in a huge database), and for a short time wrote a fictional series based around the game that was set in a world that was kind of an amalgam of '30's gangster era and modern high tech; I've been a blogger before the word was invented and longer than there's been software to do blogging with (hand-built archives are a hassle); I've self-published over 100 poems online, as well as a ton of text (I doubt anyone but me has read it all); and... now I'm here at Newsvine. I have no idea what's coming next, but I'm a big fan of the book "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson, and you'll have to read that book to see what I mean.

Old Fogey: Aine, I am sure you are aware of the esteem with which your fellow Newsviners hold you. How do you handle this and remain our good friend and next door neighbor?

Aine: I don't aspire to be a "leader" of anything (in reality, I'm kind of a shy person, so having the spotlight shined on me is a little uncomfortable), and quite often it's others who decide who their leaders are, but I find the esteem of others kind of humbling and I'm not sure I'm worthy (I have a lousy sense of self-esteem), but I try not to let any of it get to my head or inflate my ego... 15 minutes of fame is fleeting. I'm just an ordinary person with time on my hands, curious about the world, and trying to lend a hand to advance a sort of humane progress, wherever that's possible. I have issues and problems like anybody else (we're all messed up, really), and I understand suffering in a deep way... hopefully that helps me to be more compassionate, less self-concerned... at least on the inside, which people don't often see since I am shy and value my privacy. What people see about me online is just a thin slice of who I am, and what I've chosen to show them. People often form conceptions in their own minds of who you are based on assumptions, which can often be very inaccurate. But to have good friends, you have to be a good friend, and that's not something I usually take for granted,... it's something I think everyone should consistently work at.

Old Fogey: I have to tell you, your avatar makes me wonder about you every time I see it. Can you explain the symbolism? Are you really a naked angel with her back turned to the world?

Aine: I hadn't really thought about the symbolism when I chose this avatar although I do think it says something about me (all good avatars should), but looking at it from that perspective, I'm certainly not a perfect angel, I have faults, I make mistakes, my life hasn't been one of always making the right choices, nor being presented with the perfect opportunities... perhaps that's why the wings are black and not white. There is much about the world that I think is unkind and unfeeling... in some ways I see the reality of the world as more of a series of illusions we choose or are forced to believe, rather than what it really is. For example, we behave in the work world in a completely different manner than we do in our private lives, putting up with things we wouldn't naturally put up with if we didn't need to collect the pay check... and I see that as a forced artificiality, not being our authentic selves... and I also think that sort of artificiality, which we don't really choose but are forced to conform with, can be damaging in more ways than we might imagine. I turn my back on that world, choosing to be true to myself... my authentic self, the one I was born as, not the one whom others would have me be. And yet... the world has me handcuffed as I struggle to be free. Interesting self-analysis, no? :)

Old Fogey: I am sorry, Aine, but my questions seem to revolve as much around Newsvine as they do around you. Maybe that is because many of us see you as the ultimate Newsviner. Are you? Are you as dedicated as you seem?

Aine: Do I seem dedicated? Am I productive, as Calvin Tang has commented a couple of times? I suppose so, but I really don't think about it while I'm doing it. I spend most of my day voraciously reading things (only some of which end up on Newsvine), seeding carefully-selected (for "interestingness") stories while trying not to duplicate existing content, voting, occasionally commenting, sometimes doing what I call "outreach activities" which may involve the Greenhouse but may also involve actually writing and sending emails to writers whom I think would make worthy additions to the Newsvine community. I slack occasionally too although, being an insomniac, I'm seldom really slacking -- I'm working on other projects and content (usually on my own domains), doing research on things I find interesting, or studying and learning things I need to know about in order to be a better webhoster. I haven't been doing much writing lately, and I don't know why (it comes and goes in phases), but I don't try to force it either because it never turns out well if I try to do it that way.

Old Fogey: Continuing to focus on you as an individual, if you could be involved in one great crusade, what would it be?

Aine: The word "crusade" has so many religious connotations that the question kind of throws me because I don't believe in blindly crusading for something without knowing what you're getting into. But if I could tackle one big problem in the world, it would probably have something to do with helping people to become educated (I used to be a junior high school teacher - Math, Environmental Studies, and Computer Science), facilitating access to information that people need in order to make responsible decisions, and I like the somewhat "radical" idea that college should be available to all, regardless of their economic position... just because you are living in poverty doesn't mean you should be denied the opportunity to learn and/or obtain a degree. Ideally, I would like to see college available to all for free, perhaps online, although I have no idea how to get us there. I think Virtual Reality may play a part in that, though.

Old Fogey: If you could only write one more story, what would it be about?

Aine: A little girl who's seen faeries in her garden, and knows herself to have wings that are invisible to others, and the adventures she had throughout her life and loves.

Old Fogey: How do you link to sources when you are talking to others? I know you must do it. I can just hear you.

Aine: I offer to send them the links in email, or in Instant Messaging. Sometimes I'll write the URL on a piece of paper if we're talking to each other in person and not on the phone. Even people who don't have computers and access at home, often have access (and email accounts) through the public library, university, or public school computer labs. I got started online at a library, and I later went on to tutor probably hundreds of people in my local public library, teaching them how to use the computers and how to find things on the Internet. Eventually I was elected as President of the Library Board (but I've since moved to another region of the U.P. and am no longer involved with the Board). Funny how life goes like that sometimes.

Old Fogey: This final question may be slightly embarrassing or too intimate on my part but it has a purpose. Other than friends and family, beyond your online experiences, will you please name the one person you would like to hold in your arms and comfort? This should be someone you have never met or had any kind of exchange with.

Aine: Caroline Kennedy. I think we all know why.

(Old Fogey's Note: To those who may wonder why the bold for me and the plain for Aine I can only say that Aine started the trend when she began sending me answers. I thought about reversing the order but on second thought decided to go with Aine's lead. She is beyond a doubt the fastest answerer I have ever had. It was almost as if she were sitting in the chair across from me.)

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