The Organ Grinder’s Monkey

About Me

At some point during my childhood, while eating at a Chinese restaurant, I made the discovery that I was born in the Year of the Monkey. That no one else at the table was in the least bit surprised speaks volumes about my childhood.

Various zodiac charts describe us Monkeys as clever, mischievous, witty, sociable, innovative, problem-solving, charming, self-centered, capricious, inventive, creative, talkative, big-picture-thinking foodies who are easily distracted by shiny objects, have a low threshold for boredom and a burning desire to be the center of attention.

(I see some of my friends and colleagues out there nodding their heads.)

A quick look back on my life shows just how tightly it’s orbited around this common center. Never one to stay where I was not entertained or at least challenged, which amounts to the same thing in my book, I’ve bounced around like a caffeinated Superball following the shiny.

I’ve been a a librarian, an academic peer reviewer, a life coach and a networking trainer. I spent two years in Americorps, building houses for Habitat for Humanity in the first case and working with underprivileged kids in the second. I even spent a good part of a decade on stage as an exotic dancer. These days, I’m having a great deal of fun in my current incarnation as a mercenary word nerd, marketing geek and business consultant for all things webbish and 2.0 (the Internet is pure sugar-frosted crack for Monkeys).

In each case, the Monkey’s ability to learn quickly and master new skills with little effort has stood me in good stead, and I’ve managed a fulfilling level of success in all of these ventures, at least by my own definition. At the same time, the instinct to go haring down rabbit holes in whatever interest, event or concept has caught my eye - plus the sheer ubiquitousness of shiny objects in the form of cool projects, interesting people and exciting new memes - mean that the history of my life and work suspiciously resemble those “Jeffy walks” on Family Circus cartoon. Which is fine by me, but a bit dizzy-making for those around me who aren’t prepared for sudden left turns into non sequitur land.

It gets pretty crazy in here sometimes. Sometimes my brain seems to be channeling Crazy Eddie by way of Bill Nye, with the Mystery Science Theater 3K guys sitting down in front offering a live running commentary on the whole proceeding. But I’ve always been a proponent of running with whatever you can’t shut up about anyway, so here I am.

For now, anyway.