Cat "All Virgo All The Time"

Name: Cat
Age: 46
Sign: All Virgo all the time
Occupation: semi-retired (sounds better than unemployed, right?)
I grew up in: Bush Country (Texas)
I currently live in: Eastern Washington
You can find me: at my computer
You will never find me: in Wal-Mart
Your website or Charity you are passionate about: My former employer, Spokane AIDS Network, at www.san-nw.org.

1.) Who has been the most influential person in your life? Hands down, my dad. For good and for bad reasons. He is the reason it took me so long to come out to myself and my family. He is the reason I am so hard on myself. He is the reason I never think I am good enough. But yet, he is the reason that I am blessed financially, that I am able to do what I want to do when I want to do it, that I have been able to dedicate myself to causes about which I am so passionate. I have inherited his leadership ability, his strong personality, and his strong nose. :?) But not his politics, thank goodness.

2.) What would you want to change about yourself? I took the Myers-Brigg personality test and I came back as an ISTJ. Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging. I am way inside my head and I wish that was not the case. Sometimes those things are freaky right on.

3.) Is there something you would do differently if you could go back in time? I would take my education far more seriously. I majored in Computer Science for a time in college and was scary good at it, but flunked out of Calculus II because I partied too much. That was 1983, on the brink of the PC revolution. I could have been there with it, riding the wave. But instead, I chose to piss it away and graduated with a degree in Journalism. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

4.) How do you measure success? I measure success and wealth not by a bank account, but by the breadth and scope of friendships, familial relationships, romantic relationships, and the amount of time and energy one gives back to her community. In that regard, I consider myself successful.

5.) What is your most prized possession? If a pet can be considered a possession, then it would be my dear sweet Bella. She is my two-year-old golden retriever and I have never known what it meant to consider your pet as your child until I had her. She brings me joy, laughter, frustration and companionship. Who needs a girlfriend? LOL