One of my fondest memories of starting out as a computer programmer was the smelly, long-haired Berkeley dweller working as a contractor at my first job. He helped me figure out how to build real software when all I’d made before were toys. He used to routinely name files “UCantSeeMe” when he didn’t want them to be used but didn’t know whether he’d need them again. I don’t know if this is a typical UNIX geek thing to do, but it was so silly that it still makes me laugh. It reminds me of my two-year-old daughter who covers her eyes or looks away from me and says, giggling, “you can’t see me!”
Anyway, UCanSeeMe because I put a picture of myself on my website. I’m going to try to get a better one tomorrow. Why tomorrow? I’m on the hook to volunteer at a posh school gala so I’ll be blow-drying my hair and doing a full-on makeup job for the first time in two or three months. What you see in the picture that’s now up is my slept-upon Maui-style hairdo plus a few swipes with mascara and lipstick.
