cellio | interviewed by alienor

1. As a Reform Jew, why do you follow kashrut?

At some level, I do any mitzvah because I believe God wants me to. Mitzvot having to do with food -- keeping kosher and giving thanks -- speak particularly to me because eating is something all animals do (usually multiple times daily), and yet this is a way to take that base act and elevate it in some way. By thinking about what I eat and how I eat it, I am more mindful of the source of that food.

This is probably also why I find it easier to be lenient out. If I'm not the one who prepared the food, I'm less concerned with the pots it was cooked in -- so long as they were clean to begin with! But in my own home, where I'm involved in every stage, it's important to me to maintain separation.

2. How did you become a technical writer? (i.e. why/how, with a programming background, did you start working as a writer)

I went to school for computer science initially. There was, at the time, no undergrad CS degree; you implemented CS by majoring in applied math and loading up the technical electives with CS courses. That sounded fine; I was really really good at math. But after one semester I found I liked CS but hated college-level math, and I wasn't sure what to do until someone suggested technical writing ("what's that?"). So I ended up with a BS in technical writing and an unofficial minor in CS; I took almost all the CS courses I would have taken as a math major, so I figured I wasn't any worse off.

My first job was at a start-up that needed half a programmer and half a tech writer. Eventually the company got big enough that I had to choose one, and I chose programmer largely because of the culture at that company. I was a programmer for several years. I was competent but not excellent.

During one job hunt I was having trouble finding a programming position (due to not being excellent). I'd been thinking about going back to tech writing because I knew I had an aptitude for it, but I wanted to be more challenged than I had been before. (And, well, I wanted my salary to not suck.) I lucked into a tech-writing position that involved writing documentation for programmers, and I was able to put my programming skills to use along with my writing skills. I found that I really liked that, and that this was kind of a specialty. It gives you a different perspective. Anyway, I found that (1) I really liked this and (2) (modesty aside) I was really good at it, so that's where I've tried to stay ever since.

3. Do you think you would be Jewish if your parents had been?

It's hard to tell. I think it would depend a lot on why and how they were Jewish. That is, if they were engaged, and if they tried to engage me in it from an early age, then probably. If they were twice-a-year Jews who didn't really care about why we do things, I would almost certainly have drifted away. Whether I came back later or headed off in some different direction is really hard to say, as it depends on so many factors beyond my control.

4. If you could change one thing about the SCA, what would it be?

Blind subservience in the mundane side of the society. There seems to be this meme that because we recreate a feudal society, we have to just do what we're told by the folks above us in the real-world side of it too. We created a monster with excessive layers of bureaucracy that's increasingly detatched from reality, and we feel some obligation to it. If I could wave a magic wand and change that, I'd remake the organization as a federation of local groups.

5. Name one skill, that if you could have it perfectly, instanteously, you would, but if you had to work to develop it, you wouldn't bother.

Oh, there are bunches -- so I'll name the first one that came to mind, carpentry. It would be nice to have basic clues about construction, materials, and tools, whether building a house or a chair. But I'll never actually put the effort in.

In case you're curious, others that came to mind almost as quickly included "electrician 101", firearms (marksmanship and safety), horseback riding, playing the guitar, and public speaking. Only in the second wave did I think of skill having to do with interpersonal relations, such as accurately reading people's moods and reactions, though that's probably the most useful thing I've listed here. (On the other hand, I actually try to develop that one, so I guess it doesn't count.)

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interviewed by alienor

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