Our Disclaimer
Hi. I am probably breaking tradition or some rule of "Web Etiquette"
or something or other but I wanted to let you know a little more about us and our web pages.
My name is Renee. My son's name is James. In addition to working full-time as
a systems analyst, project leader, database engineer and in a number of other roles and capacities, I am a graduate
student. My goal is to complete my master's degree in Software Systems Engineering in May of 1999. I am a single
parent. I do a fair amount of service (volunteer) work. We are active in our church. And I try to have some type
of a social life - although lately I seem to be spending every spare second on this computer. My son has a number
of extra-curriculum activities. So when I am not at work or studing for an exam or sitting in a classroom, I am
often driving my son around to a fencing tournament or a birthday party or whatever seems to be his passion for
the week. We also have a dog and right now we are taking her to obedience school. And then of course we are often
busy handling the things that come with being a member of society. Things like paying bills, getting car inspection
stickers, cleaning the house, finding stupid receipts that were misplaced because the dog just chewed his second
leash that cost $40 and had a lifetime warranty (this happened today).
This past Christmas, my mom bought a computer for my son and I. Now you would
think that with having certification in an Information Technology area, having an associate's degree in Computer
Information Systems, having a bachelors degree in Information Systems Management, being half-way through a masters
program and having worked around computers for the past 15 years, I would be quite accustomed to the Internet and
the World Wide Web. Well, to be honest, I have found the Internet quite useful in my academic and professional
life. But I was not familiar with the creativity, ingenuity, and love that flowed through people's personal home
pages. And so I spent alot of time at the beginning of the year just "surfing the Web". And I was often
deeply impressed and touched by the love that flowed through many of these pages. A few of the web sites actually
brought tears to my eyes! Of course, I've also been known to cry at some of the episodes of the Wonder Years.
So I started thinking to myself that I wanted to take a shot at building a web
page. I waited until the semester was over. And since I am taking courses this summer, I gave myself only two to
three weeks to create whatever I was going to create. When I started, I had no idea what my theme was going to
be. And I knew nothing about building web pages. I knew nothing about geocities (although I sort of knew in the
back of my head that I had seen some really cool web sites that had been hosted on these servers). I knew nothing
about cgi, web counters, java, perl, gif files, midi files, html tables, forms, frames or style sheets. I did not
know where to get those pretty backgrounds and midi files. I did not know what a cyber pet was. I was not sure
about copyright laws. I had never heard of a web ring. And so I bought and borrowed some books and I started to
dig around. I have spent much of these past 2 to 3 weeks putting this stuff together. A couple of times I have
actually stayed up through the night. (My friends are starting to say that I am sick and that I need to get a life!)
Of course, everything else in life has continued - I have just eliminated sleep in my quest (compulsion) to finish
this project. And slowly, I have put something together that sort of makes sense.
I had a number of reasons for putting some web pages together. For one, I wanted
to put some more tools in my professional bag. I also thought it would be something fun thing to do with my son.
(The truth is, I have been totally "hogging" the machine. And my son is not nearly as excited about us
having a Home on the Web as I am). But mostly, I wanted to join with the rest of the population and have my own
URL. Obviously, I could have chosen any topic or theme I wanted. What I rediscovered is that my passions have always
been on stuff like human relations, the health of our planet, our connection with Spirit, our relationship with
ourselves. I think of myself as having always been one of these mushy, global-minded, activist types. If I ever
put my personal story here, I think you would find it quite interesting. You see, I was born in the generation
after Woodstock and so I guess you could sorta say I grew up as a wanna-be-hippie. And believe me, this
has led me to some interesting places! Anyway, I drive my friends and my mom crazy at times with my sentiment.
And although I "try" to practice the arts of compassion, understanding, tolerance, and acceptance, I
do have alot of strong opinions.
So in my eagerness to share with you, I am posting this initial set of pages.
I am open to hearing from you how you think they could be improved. I will be brainstorming on some neat stuff
I can add. Perhaps next I will try to learn java. Anyway, I have some ideas. In particular, I am searching for
some ways in which these pages can be interactive and fun for you. I will also be rewriting the Tribute to My Mom
and Tribute to My Dad to more fully express my gratitude to these two incredible human beings. Of course, obviously
words will never really express my love. And I will be posting alot more poetry and sharings of the heart. So please
be sure to check back in a couple of months!
In building these pages, I am sure I have screwed up in some ways. I have tried
to be careful and follow Netiquette. I have tried not to offend anyone. I have tried to acknowledge all of the
incredible resources I have discovered out there. And I know that this whole set of pages is still "under
construction". So I ask you to please practice tolerance and forgiveness if I have not properly acknowledged
all those whose graphics or ideas I have used or if I have somehow been offensive. And please feel free to e-mail me. I will
try to correct anything that's broken or improve whatever I can.
By the way, I invite you to build your own web pages, if you haven't already.
And be sure to check out Geocities! 
Yesterday, I was talking with a friend about the World Wide Web. He wonders if the
Web is going to become a major source of transformation in our World. A few years ago, I attended a class called
"Leveraging the Information Super-Highway". One of the topics that came up in this class was how the
written word has always been a catalyst for change. It is no accident that many of our early American patriots,
leaders and inventors were involved in the dissemination of information in one way or another. I think that the
Web can be a powerful agent of positive change in our World. But in talking with this same friend, he asked the
purpose for these pages. I told him, "if just one person stops to consider the ideas that are presented, if
just one person goes home and chooses not to yell at their kids that night, if just one person gives a smile to
the guy behind the check-out counter because he has been reminded that we all do matter, if just one person decides
to give someone a break for their awkwardness or clumsiness or :for showing their human-ness (such as for cutting
into traffic), then I will have definately fulfilled my purpose --- Even if that just one person is ME!
Thank you for listening.
Renee
