| My name is Cathy Hanlon. I am a native Californian and was born in San Francisco in December, 1950. I am an only child. I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area all my life. I mostly attended Catholic all girl schools. I wouldn't believe all you hear about girls who went to Catholic all girl schools, but from there I went on to become a hippie. I moved out on my own at the age of 19, alone, to San Francisco. My first marriage took place in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, 1973. My first husband was a hippie street artist. I have two children (boys) from that marriage, The Scientist and The Jock. Where have all the flowers gone? That marriage ended while I was pregnant with The Jock. When the marriage ended, so did my years in San Francisco. We moved to the Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area. We managed on our own for a couple of years. I met my second husband at Applefest, Moscone Center - San Francisco, 1983. He was selling cheap software. I owned an Apple II. We were married three weeks later. A sales job with an East Bay territory took us to our current location. The location stayed, though the marriage did not. It lasted 14 years and produced The Kid and The Child (boys). So The Hippie, The Jock, The Kid, and The Child live happily crowded in a three bedroom rental in the Valley of the East Bay. The Scientist is off on his own having graduated from UC Berkeley and working in the Biotech field. I get by with little help from my friends. Romance? Well, it's all around me. I guess you could say I have been playing the field, or at least running through it, the last two and a half years. I'm full of passion, always have been, hopefully always will be. I have this dream ... I am happily (yes, that's possible) employed at an answering service. It's a job. I work graveyard shift, alone. I could no longer live creatively with the business I had for 10 years, direct sales. I gave it up for set hours and set pay and nothing to take home with me but a weary body. My work is interesting, at times stressful. But when the day/night is over, it's over. There are some slow times on the job. During slow times I can read, write, I could even knit if I knew how. On the nights I work alone I can be very busy, but even then I find time to think, write a little, dream a lot. I have been journal writing since I was a teenager. I think it started out being a way to keep myself company since I didn't have any brothers or sisters. But, I now think I knew. I knew I was going to have an interesting life, that I was open to many possibilities. I have all kinds of journals scattered around. Some in fancy books, some on yellow lined pads, some in spiral notebooks. More than a year ago I started to keep my journal on the computer. I find it's been great for the inspiration. I seem to enjoy having my fingers tap dance to the beat of my mind. And now, a few months after having started my web site, I have decided to put my journal online. The online entries are actually excerpts from my journal. I do believe journals should be private; however, I seem to amaze myself with my brilliance at times and feel brilliance should be shared. I also tend to be a bit quiet in the real world; my online journal fills my need to shout. And then there is my passion for writing. And then there is just my passion! The web site and journal are a sort of file cabinet for the plethora of this and that's that I seem to accumulate. Eventually these this and that's come together as a story or a poem. The remainder go on post it notes, napkins, envelopes from bills, and in my journal. The journal entries are, of course, my opinions - be them what they may. They are my rants, my problems, my successes, my dreams. They are the way I see things at any given moment. I don't intend to offend, but my thoughts are uncensored. Though I may be quiet, I have always been open. I admire openness, I respect it. I enjoy reading online journals because I crave the openness of others and I usually find some substance, another thing I crave. I do, however, respect the privacy of others. I mention real people in my life in this journal. I have given them nicknames. Comments are always welcome. But, enter this site at your own risk. It's my site after all. I'm thinking that this Bio is merely an excerpt as well. I'm not finished. My web site is an attempt at offering my writing to the world. I have a long way to go. So as I end this for now, I think about an old TV show that I really liked, "Northern Exposure." Remember the guy that had a radio show? Chris. He just sat there and spoke off the top of his head, not caring whether anyone was listening or not, saying whatever this and that's came to mind ... that's what this journal is ... That's all it is ... |
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| The Why And Wherefore ... |
| I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times; but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers. ~Helen Keller |