The life and times of Demetrio Stratos
Demetrio Stratos’ life is surrounded by an aura of legend. He was born in 1945 in Egypt by Greek parents, studied in Cyprus, moved to Italy, founded Area, one of the most daring bands in Italian history. In the late seventies, he left the band to focus on vocal research and trained his voice to produce sounds that few people have ever been able to produce. And, as all heroes destined to obsess us forever, he died young and unexpectedly just as his remarkable and unique talent was gaining recognition.
I rediscovered Demetrio Stratos, in one of my iTune Italian music immersions. I stumbled in the 1979 recording of the concert that his former band (he had left Area just a few months earlier) held for him on June 14 1979.
Post mortem
I’ve been out of work for 3 days, and it seems that I’m going through a period of mourning. I expected to be completely happy, but I’m not yet. Should I be surprised? It’s a farewell to six years of my life and to the many people that I’ve seen for at least eight hours a day, five days a week, 50 weeks a year. I get attached to people. But there is something else that bothers me, something that has to do with living for years in an environment that required me to change my behaviors and attitudes to fit in; and thus, necessarily, to doubt myself.
Last day at work
For the few people who don’t know already (it’s amazing how fast news spread in human communities!), yesterday I left my company of six years.
You may remember how some time ago I was musing on the benefits of going to work each day if it were your last day. I was wrong. Do not go to work each day as it were your last day, or you won’t get any work done. Believe me.
So many people stopped by to say good-bye, called, or sent an email, it was almost overwhelming. It was amazingly sweet, too. It made me feel sad for all the contacts I didn’t make, the opportunities to connect I missed, the admiration and appreciation I didn’t share. And it made me realize how much I’m going to miss you all (well, except one or two people). Really.
The big surprise was the strong reaction I got from women. It was much more than the sadness of losing a colleague; it was as a part of them was leaving with me. I never made a mystery of my discomfort with some of the explicit and implicit rules that regulate corporate life. I think my women friends were sad because they felt support and recognition from my willingness to admit that from time to time we all feel out of place and find ourselves forced to chose between our soul—or our “humanity” as somebody yesterday put it—and our career. And this is true even for the strongest and most assertive of us. I so regret I never created a forum for women to talk about working in a corporation and how to support each other in this environment. But perhaps somebody can still do it.
(And again, it was not only women. One male colleague stopped me in the hallway to tell me how he found the courage to try something he really cared about from one of my posts, and he was so happy he did, even if it did not end up being a complete success. At least, he will not have the regret of not even trying.)
So, what’s next? At the end of October I’m starting my new job in a large technology company specialized in search engines that has just acquired a popular video site. Among the many cards and artifacts I received today, the “I can’t believe this” prize goes to this picture from Matt:
Thank you all. I’m not going to move too far away and you know where to find me…
Technorati Tags: career, women
Local Showcase: Fact-esque
The latest Philly Future featured blog is Fact-esque (the name comes from Stephen Colbert’s quote: “It’s been widely reported and that makes it fact-esque.”) Fact-esque is political, progressive, and anti-torture: who can ask for anything more?
Technorati Tags: phillyfeaturedblog
Tears in Paradise
Paradise, Pennsylvania, saw the nation’s third deadly school shooting in a week and the second that targeted female students. A 32-year-old man who was “acting out to achieve revenge for something that happened 20 years ago,” let the boys leave, tied the girls, all between 6 and 13 years old, and then shot them in the head at close range. He killed three girls, critically wounded 3, and injured 5 more before killing himself.
An adult, father of three, executing children tied to the blackboard in a small rural school? I really need to blame somebody, because I cannot make sense of this. If I only knew who.
Technorati Tags: amish, school, shooting
Back from BarCampNYC2
I’m back from New York City where I attended BarCampNYC2, the unconference where everybody is invited, everybody presents, nobody wears shoes, the rules change at least twice a day, people understand what you do for a living, and you get to spend the night in a Microsoft conference room.
Barcamp is highly equalitarian: not for political reasons but for geeky effectiveness. Things work when ideas flow freely and build on each other without obstacles. The rules (everybody presents, no shoes, sleep-overs, and the “two feet rule” or “If you’re not interested, change the conversation or use your two feet to move to another one”) conjure a social environment where barriers between individuals and social hierarchies crumble down and the flow of ideas is nurtured.
The BarCampNYC2 discussions were about coding, privacy and openID, social software, open source, the future of web apps, and entrepreneurship. But they were also about creating humane work practices (such as coworking) that allow smart and independent young individual to work, earn money, and have a career without selling their souls or renounce beauty and freedom.
Thanks to the organizers who did an amazing job keeping things going, finding sponsors, and feeding us; and thanks to Microsoft, that graciously and generously accepted Barcamp’s friendly takeover and let us sleep on the grey carpet.
[Read blog posts on BarcampNYC2, see what was discussed, look at pictures. Chris took pictures of my presentation and Tanya immortalized my fashionable socks.]
Technorati Tags: barcampNYC2, New York, technology
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