12-6-2001

Gal Pals

So several weeks back I went away for the weekend for the first time since the twins were born. Karen, Carolly, Diane and I went up to Wawona in Yosemite and stayed at Diane's family cabin there. I think the cabin was "grandfathered" in along with others in Wawona when Yosemite Park's boundaries were extended several decades ago. Diane's Aunt Emily had the foresight to have purchased the land many years ago and it's still within the family.

So the four of us had ourselves a "galpal weekend". We went hiking (or more like strolling, because I'm a wimp) during the day, Karen cooked and we all hung out in our jammies gabbing and playing games like poker (badly) at night. It's been a very long time since all four of us got to hang out together. We got to catch up on each others' lives somewhat, though as always it wasn't enough time.

It's been years, now, since we all met. We all got to know each other through working together as artists at various software companies. Most of those companies are long gone, but we're still here. I met Carolly and Karen at Epyx, when I first interviewed as an artist right out of art school. It was my first introduction to serious computer art and the notion that I was getting paid good money to do art was (and still is) amazing to me. I clearly remember Karen standing on a desk in the artist bullpen while everyone gathered around to look through my portfolio. :)

We've all moved on with our lives in one way or another; I went and had twins (I'm the only one who did _that_!), Carolly has moved more into game design and art, Karen is buying a house and doing tech writing among other things as a jack-of-all-trades (we all know Karen is the most versatile among us and could do virtually anything she set her mind to do), Diane is starting up her own web design business.

We were all competent professionals when we met, but now we are all well-seasoned veterans; we've survived a lot of life and career changes. It's become clear that we have grown not only as working stiffs, but as women trying to find our way. I don't think any of us ever thought of ourselves as particularly "feminine" or were particularly worried about being female in what was and is a pretty male-dominated field, though god knows it hasn't been an easy journey for any of us.

These friends of mine are all strong women, though they admit to quailing with fear at times; they each find their own unique and feminine way of coping without being weak. And they all have special and unique talents and quirks that make them priceless.

I get to realize every once in a while how lucky I am to be able to call them my friends. :)

Most recent journal entry

Previous journal entries:
9/25/2001: Flags
9/7/2001: BabyBabyBaby
8/9/2001: Moving
6/25/2001: Sleeping through the night
6/21/2001: Why Website?