You're not going to even believe this but I swear it's true.
Yesterday, I met none other than
Eric
Raymond. That's right.
The
Eric Raymond. Founder
of Open Source movement. Author of
The Cathedral
& The Bazaar. And
much
more.
Not only did I meet
Eric
(we're on a first-name basis; though I'm really not too confident that
he remembers mine), I transported him Point A to Point B.
In my car.
That I was driving.
Proof:
(Thank goodness I had managed to clean out the car over the Memorial
Day
weekend using my all-time favorite methodology: leaf blower. Would have
been terribly embarrassing if he had seen the car in its usual
three-kids-ages-six-and-under state of matter.)
So, it was an unbelievable set of circumstances that brought me and
Eric together. It's kind of
complicated so we won't go into it. But it involved
Danese Cooper
(diva blogger. close personal friend. replies to emails I send her. but
i've never been invited to one of her parties so maybe it's not quite a
bi-directional close personal friendship yet. hint. hint.) and Linda
Murdock (one of the most important people you will ever meet, very
kind, extremely funny and makes me laugh out loud every time I talk to
her)
<pause button>
Moral of the story: you want to get something done, ask a busy woman
(or in this case three busy women).
</pause button>
Back to me and Eric...
It was neat, you guys. We chit-chatted in the car as we were on our way
from Point A to Point B. I did most of the chitting and most of the
chatting... you get the idea.
I asked him for a business card. (I collect the business cards of the
techno celebs that I meet.)
He said he didn't have one.
He told me that if I
googled
Eric Raymond I'd find him.
I told him that if he
googled
MaryMaryQuiteContary he'd find me.
(he didn't seem so impressed about that one).
Anyway, before you could say
terminfo/termcap database
we had arrived at Point B and it was time to say goodbye to
Eric Raymond.
It was fun.
My only disappointment was that I didn't have time for the ceremony to
initiate him into that tightly knit and exclusive community of techno
celebs who are my close personal friends.
next time.
:-)
mary
