Me

I’ve been faithfully exercising on my treadmill at least four times per week (goal is five) for the past three months or so.  The sad thing is that I have owned this treadmill for at least 5 years and for approximately 3.5 of those years, it has sat there unused by me.  My reasons for starting up again were several: 1) to reduce stress specifically stress caused by unemployment, 2) to be healthy and 3) to look better.

My new found motivation is good to get me on the treadmill but I need a distraction to keep me on it for any length of time.  I used to listen to music but honestly I don’t feel like putting together upbeat playlists that last for the 45-50 minutes that I’m on the treadmill.  I would have to create new playlists to rotate daily so I wouldn’t be bored with the same songs.

What I have found that works is watching an “hour-long” show on Hulu.com; I watch these on my netbook which is the perfect size and shape for my treadmill.  With the ads on Hulu and without all the commercials that accompany the shows when they air on TV the shows are approximately 45 minutes long which is just perfect.  I especially like to use Hulu Desktop as it is easier to navigate while I am running or walking than the website.

Some of my favorite shows to watch while on the treadmill have been:

• 24
• Flash Forward
• Fringe
• Legend of the Seeker
• Ugly Betty
• The Wanda Sykes Show
• Glee
• Burn Notice
• Psych

Several of these series have ended or are ending this season.  Also the season has ended for others so I need some new shows to watch.  I’ve recently subscribed to Stargate Universe but I need other weekly hour-long shows to make time time pass quickly while on the treadmill. I saw that Burn Notice is going to begin a new season (I don’t understand the various TV seasons different shows use.)  Hopefully, there will be some new Psych episodes as well.  With those three shows, I still need two to have something to watch for five days.  I will likely have to incorporate shows that aren’t on Hulu which is fine.

So what should I watch?

According to this particular Flickr mosaic meme, this image below represents me.

The rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? 
3. What high school did you go to? 
4. What is your favorite color? 
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink? 
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up? 
10. What do you love most in life? 
11. One Word to describe you. 
12. Your flickr name.

I threw in an extra image to balance out the mosaic.

Attribution: 1. Gabbra woman – Kenya, 2. Mango, 3. Deep Creek, 4. green & turquoise, 5. The Haitian, 6. macro water drop, 7. Santorini – Oia – Greece, 8. Cinnamon Ice Cream & Raspberry Sorbet, 9. Don’t Worry Be Happy, 10. My Wild River loves you!!! )), 11. unsure…, 12. The Road Home, 13. BONUS • HITOP

I saw this in a SkyMall catalog some years ago and had to have it.  It’s a replica of Arwen’s Evenstar pendant from The Lord of the Rings.  Thanks to the BF for getting it for me.

Yeah, I’m a geek.

I have been registered to vote for the past 18 years.  I’m not a member of any political party because I believe that political parties and all the shenanigans that go along with them are ridiculous.  I understand the concept behind them but in modern day America they don’t seem to be working (look at Congress).  Maybe it’s really the two-party system that I have problems with as I don’t feel that I fit in either of the two major parties. 

Because I am independent, I always get my share of partisan folks that seek to convince me to vote for their candidate each election season.  Most of this “convincing” has not been very effective.  As a result, I’ve put together a list of some of the things that these people have done.  This list will serve as what to do if you don’t want to convince me to vote for your candidate. 

• Focus on why I shouldn’t vote for your candidate’s opponent.  If you have good reasons to support your candidate, you don’t have to resort to negativity.  Even if you convince me that the other I should vote for the other candidate, you still haven’t convinced me that I should vote for your candidate.
• Attack my morals, values or intelligence.   If you attack me I’m shutting down and won’t entertain anything further you have to say.  Bullying me isn’t going to change my mind about anything.  What’s that they say about vinegar and honey?
• Tell me that I’m part of the losing team if I don’t go with your candidate.   I’ve never been part of any “in” crowd so why should I try to be now.  I was raised to be an independent thinker (although according to stories I might have been one at birth) so bandwagon arguments don’t work on me.
• Give me canned responses.   If you are telling why I should vote for a candidate you should share with me why you are voting for that candidate.  Canned talking points and direct quotes from the media or forwarded emails don’t work for me.  I want a personal story.
• Tell me your candidate has experience without telling me what that experience is.   This goes back to the canned responses.  If you have done your research, you will have something to offer instead of silly slogans. 
• Focus on propaganda and phrases that don’t mean anything.   I don’t do spin.  Keep your spin away from me.  People who won’t answer questions have something to hide.  If you listen carefully to spin, it’s obvious what isn’t being said.  This includes emails containing false or misleading information.
• Tell me that your candidate “deserves” to be President, Vice-President, School Board Chairman, etc. because he is black, because she is a woman, because he is a regular Joe, or because he is a war hero.  This list is by no means all inclusive but none of these are reasons for me to vote for someone.  I do care about a candidate’s background and perspective but simply being one thing or another is not something that uniquely qualifies someone to hold office.
• Try to appeal to my emotions and/or presume that you know enough about me to know what my priorities and issues are.  I’m always surprised at what people think I care about.  I think they project their own priorities on me.  If you are one that scoffs at my personal interests and involvement in the community, there is absolutely no way that you will be able to appeal to my priorities because you don’t understand what they are.  Knowing about my background may help you as well.
• Talk about your or the other political party as a whole.   Okay, Bill Clinton had sex with an intern, Joe Lieberman is a Democrat and Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.  If you want to talk about parties as a whole you have to take the good with the bad and vice versa; most are not willing to do that.  I’d rather focus on the candidates, what they’ve done, and what they plan to do.
• Leave out, make up or exaggerate facts.   I have a good memory so try this if you want.  I also keep the internets within reach at all times so I can check your facts.

Incidentally, most of this list also works for how not to convince me to buy something, join a particular church, go out on a blind date with one of your friends or do whatever. The second you resort to any of these tactics, you’ve lost me.  I’m just not a fan of the hard sell.

If you pick up the June issue of Northern Virginia Magazine you will find me. I’m on page 24 as the Commuter of the Month.

This came about because column writer Jan Linley found my blog post (I Hate Brake Lights: 9 Braking Offenses) and agreed with my rant about brake lights. I talked with her for a while about my commuting habits. At the time, I didn’t know that she would mention my videoblog at all. As a matter of fact, I released the specific video that she mentions, Tow-tally Screwed, after we had already talked earlier this year. When the photographer came out last month, I knew that my videos would be mentioned as I was told to bring my camera. There you have it.

I do wonder though if some of the scores of other photos taken were better than this one. At any rate, I guess I’ll just take my 10 seconds of regional fame.

A recent comment on my video blog has me reflecting on some of the weird reactions I have gotten to my name. For most of the early part of my life, people refused to call me by my name. I don’t think it’s that difficult to pronounce but some people’s immediate reaction is “What’s your nickname?” Um, sorry I don’t have one. I have been called Kendra, Keisha, Tina, Tanya, Kena, Keya as well as other names. In 9th grade this dude swore out that I was this other girl Kendra Edmonds (similarity acknowledged). Apparently this girl was in one of his classes and he kept asking me why I’m not showing up to class insisting that the teacher called my name everyday.

Growing up in Chesapeake, Virginia, I had to hear somewhat regularly “What kind of name is that?” not just from the kids but also from the adults. As a little girl I admit that it made me self-conscious. I’ve even heard this in 1991 (wow, that many years ago!) when I worked at a gift shop on Capitol Hill. (Is it ever right to ask a person what kind of name they have?)

Equally annoying are those that seek to “inform” me that Kenya is a country in Africa. I don’t remember a time when I did not know this. After all my mother didn’t just make up the name; she knew that Kenya is a country in Africa when she selected it. And she taught me that it was in Africa, were it was on the map, and that Nairobi was the capital among other things. Imagine that.

Some people seem disappointed that I don’t have an intriguing story about my name. It’s really simple: My father’s name is Kenneth and the name came to my mother as she was flipping through a magazine. She thought that it was the perfect name. There’s no story other than that – no safaris, no international intrigue – although I’ve thought that maybe I’ll make up a story (something about a Kenyan that went to Harvard) just to mess with folks. My mother grew up on a farm in Virginia and has only been out of the country once when I took her to the Bahamas for her birthday last year. At the same time, that doesn’t mean she is in anyway ignorant. She is a lover of art and literature but I digress …

Then there are those who seem extremely interested in my name in a way that seems creepy. I remember a question on how I got such an “exotic” name. Of course, I didn’t know how to take that but to reply that there were many girls and guys from my generation that have the same name. I remember meeting this girl at a gathering. I don’t remember the specifics but this girl went on and on about how I had such a responsibility on my shoulders being named after a whole country. I thought it was kind of weird (kind of like that time a lady was following me around a grocery store in New Brunswick, New Jersey saying I had distinctive features but that’s another story).

In recent years, I’ve confused and/or angered Kenyans with my name. I’ve had some sort of website since 1995. I’ve received messages from people (Kenyans presumably) disappointed by my site because they were looking for a site about the Republic of Kenya. I responded to that back then by placing a disclaimer at the top of the home page and link to somewhere like kenya.com.

There was also the time that I was stopped at the light. A dude in a truck beside me started speaking to me in a language that I assume was Swahili. I was like “Huh?” obviously confused. The guy yells “You’re not from Kenya” and angrily speeds away. I wondered how he got the impression that I was from Kenya. Well, on my keychain was a fob that was a miniature DC license plate with “Kenya” engraved. I still have this fob as things with my name are hard to come by.

The fact of the matter is that as a kid I had a hard time with my name. I always wanted a “normal” name – I don’t have one “normal” name – not my first name, not my middle name, not my last name. I have stories about my last name as well. At any rate, it wasn’t until late high school that I felt that I owned my name instead of it owning me. I don’t feel that my name disrespects anyone and I will not apologize for it. Although the combination of Kenya and Allmond does sound like some sort of coffee flavor.

There are a few people every now and then with jokes but it really doesn’t phase me. I really have heard them all. However, I have been taken by surprise though with those that are offended because they are confused by my name.

I saw on Twitter and subsequently on Chris Brogan’s blog that he had come up with a DIY Autobiography Kit. I read a couple and was like “I’m not doing this.” I read a few more and wanted to but thought I couldn’t answer these questions. Well, I did. Here goes:

A Quick Sketch Biography of Kenya

The thing most people know me for is my love of technology and computer skills. Some of my friends literally call me “Help Desk.” While some former co-workers started calling me Gadget Girl. (I think that this is weird as we were all in IT. I figured that I was normal.)

The people I associate the most with are positive, goal-oriented independent thinkers. I don’t do drama and I don’t need people who agree with everything I say. We support each other. Oh yeah, they have to like to travel as well.

People who have influenced my life are family and friends and sometimes the people who said that I couldn’t do something.

One challenge I took on and overcame was pursuing interests that none of my friends were interested in and in which I had no role models. In the old days, I remember being the only person I knew going to the computer lab in the middle of the night. There have been other instances where I have defied convention as well and some haven’t turned out so well but I appreciate the experience.

My early years, before you probably got to know me were quiet. I simply thought my sarcastic comments. Now I say them out loud.

You might not know this, but I believe that everyone is put on this earth with a specific purpose. Once you find out what that purpose is (and yield to it) not only will you be successful but you will be happy.

I’m passionate about helping others. I believe that to whom much is given much is required. Among my volunteer activities, I coach urban youths to toward college as an option to consider.

In the next year or two, I hope to organize a huge family reunion with all the ten-, twenty-, and thirty-something cousins. It’s a shame that life is so busy that we don’t know each other. (One cousin has been to Afghanistan twice and I still haven’t seen him.) We need to appreciate what we have while we still have it.

I’ve been called a computer geek by many people but according to the Nerd, Geek or Dork Test, I am a nerd. Results are below:

Pure Nerd
82 % Nerd, 30% Geek, 30% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendencies associated with the “dork.” No-longer. Being smart isn’t as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.