Life As Nick Starr

This morning I weighed myself on my official Weight Watchers scale (even though I am not on WW) and this is the weight that popped up… I tried it a few times just to verify and was so insanely happy with the result.

If you remember , I had set a goal for myself to be down from my all time high weight of 220 and started at the beginning of the year to reach 160 by June 14th. It is 25 days before that original goal and I have not only met the goal, but exceeded it.

I am very happy with the results, but am now going to concentrate on toning up. At the gym, I still do primarily cardio, and have stuck to my Atkins meets South Beach diet pretty well over the past few months. There have been obvious slip ups, but overall I am glad I was able to stay on track.

Here is a picture of me last night (ironically I did break my diet last night, but I just really was craving a slice of pizza) waiting for my slice. Then here is a picture of me in December with Ellen at my former company’s Christmas party.

This has got to be one of the most thought out posts I have ever written. I never thought I would be writing this, but here it is…. When I moved to California, I had several agendas for leaving everything and everyone I ever knew. I wanted to be around the tech sector and all of the great people who are involved in the community out here. I enjoy going to all of the great Web 2.0 parties in the area, and I have made some great friends since being here.

I also wanted to find a job where I could feel free to express myself that would be an extension of all of my passions. I took the first job I was offered after moving and was very happy there, but I didn’t like that it was located 25 miles away from the city I drove 3,000 miles to be close to, and that I was living even further outside of San Francisco. I didn’t feel free to come and go as I wanted. Three weeks ago I gave my notice at my previous job providing 3 weeks of lead time for them to find someone to hire, and I could train my replacement before I left.

At the same time, I have accepted a job offer in a field which some may or may not understand. I mentioned earlier, I wanted a job that completely encapsulated what I care about, what I enjoy doing, and who I am. The job is essentially the same as the last company I was with, in that I am managing multiple servers, websites, newsletters, and all of the IT backend. I will also be handling AV aspects of the company, including video streaming, etc. This is a great opportunity to branch out my knowledge and passion for video which I has laid dormant since my high school days.

I really feel that my love of visual media, and love of technology management make this a great move in companies, but there is one other factor which plays into my choice in working for this company. The company is very involved in promoting the messages of safe and consensual sex between men. This is something I harp on daily on other sites where I write. I think the prevention of spreading sexually transmitted diseases is a message that needs to be expressed in the gay/bi/lesbian/straight community. This company provides a safe and secure location, as well as protection for everyone who visit their locations.

They also provide weekly testing and even someone who comes in and will sit down one-on-one to offer advice or someone to just talk to about your concerns. The company works closely with Public Health Departments, Community Based Organizations, county and state HIV/STD officials, the CDC (in U.S.), the research community (UCSF, UIC, CAPS) and many others - to create collaborative relationships which support and expand HIV and STD awareness and testing programs while also maintaining outreach initiatives that are effective, user friendly, and creatively inspired.

This is who I am as a person, and I don’t want to lie or be ashamed about that. Many people have asked me about this in the past, and until now I have been less then upfront and honest, mostly because I was afraid of what others might think. I now honestly don’t care. I have always tried to be a very open person about my life, and don’t know many people who openly admit to living in their car for over a year or any of the other crazy things I have done. I feel that in the spirit of being open and honest that I would like to express that I am bisexual. While I have never had a relationship with a guy, I feel as if I would be ready to if that opportunity presented itself, but likewise the same goes for a woman. I don’t feel as if a person’s sexuality should stop you from caring about someone for who they are.

The company you work for should be an expression of your own passions, and I feel as if I have found one that has truly allowed me use my talents while at the same time not having to hide who I am. I understand that this news might shock some people, and others not so much. I have not said any of this sooner, because up until now I have felt too scared to. Even as I write this I am trembling. Due to the nature of who I am, and based on past experiences, I do not wish to disclose the name of the company which I will be working for, and hope that you can respect this. The company is very reputable and has offices in the US and Canada, which will allow for some travel with the job as well; something I am looking forward to greatly. I will be working in the heart of San Francisco’s Castro district and have found a place to live within walking distance of my new job.

That being said, I appreciate the support of those who have found out this information through various means, you have helped me more then you could know. This is something which is very difficult to do, and I am glad to have such great friends to help me through this time. I look forward to your comments and feel free to drop me a line anytime.

Thanks for listening,

Nick Starr

So, remember the other day when I posted about my team not meeting and it turning into a problem….well it was worse than I could have thought.

I walk in and go check that my laptop works with the projector (first time doing a presentation with my new MacBook). From across the room, one of my team mates (the main advocate for me not creating the presentation) starts yelling at me that we are not using mine, we are using theirs.

This starts a yelling match, that continues for quite a while.

There was a question about my presentation which was one of their main reasons excuse to not use mine. I have 4 lines of text on top of each other, and on a flat view of the presentation, it looked like crap. However, the text would fly in one line at a time and then fly out. It never overlapped during the course of the presentation. I showed them this, and she was still screaming that we weren’t using mine.

The copy they had was created in PowerPoint, had no transitions, no animation, had pages with over 85 words on a slide, and had pratically no pictures.

Mine was created in Keynote (on a mac), had transitions that many people using PowerPoint have never seen, animations that never have been used on PowerPoint, had a appropriate visual item on each key slide, and each slide had the text reduced to the main topics. The text and presentation should only be a supplement to the verbal presentation.

Well she wouldn’t give up and kept yelling, and it was getting quite loud now. I was arguing back, and trying to show them how mine was the same, only better. In the heat of the moment I managed to curse. This set off my team-mate, and the rest of the class.

Within minutes I was whisked away in a room to discuss the situation with the teacher and my team. I was then brought into a room with some college admin staff (of which one felt the need to brag that she was also a police officer), and suspended. I was on my last leg at that school anyway, so I expect that an expulsion is coming.

BTW, they send you in the mail what is going on with your status. Even if I’m not expelled, I have failed this past class now, and if it is more than 28 days between my next class, I will lose my financial aid. Looks like it’s time to sign back up at St. Petersburg College.