This is perhaps the toughest assignment for me — I hate talking about myself. Here is my visual:

Most of my visuals seem to always include a dog by my side. This is a rare one that does not. Although I have not been an animal lover while growing up, I now cannot imagine my life without a furry one. Here is a link to where you can find more of my visuals, including ones with the furry friends: https://www.instagram.com/tapiatanova/ which brings us to the current affairs of life digital.

 The nature of my profession demands a hefty presence in digital realm. Here is my lazy way of accounting for most of it: http://bit.ly/1X3utw7. I try to do upkeep as best as I can. IFTTT has been indispensable in that respect. Even with that, I always feel I am way behind and I am always self-conscious that I am not generous enough in sharing. Outside of work, I divide my digital time mostly between Feedly, Instagram, and Etsy where I attempt to run an art shop. I am also greatly addicted to YouTube channel for “The Voice” — the guilty pleasure I don’t admit to readily so don’t tell anyone.

I am Russian but also American (well, Alaskan, although now living in Oregon with a crazy amount of other Alaska exports) — the in-betweener on all accounts. I did professional sports, I studied English, I waited tables, I was a wilderness guide, I DJed, I did art, I was a nanny, I did design (graphic and web), I taught, I sold jewelry, I raised a dog from scratch, I worked a dream job for a non-profit, and built porches somewhere there, I started and quit many things  — again, the in-betweener.

However, that in-betweenness opened up a door into my current profession — Instructional Designer. And the more I think of Instructional Design the more I am sure that this is one of the few professions that thrive on in-betweenness. You have to be a little bit between everything: teacher, student, geek, designer, coder, life coach, cheerleader, writer, optimist (especially!), a pessimist (for trouble-shooting), dreamer (for the possibilities), resilient (as in bulldog– don’t let go of that rope called Discussion Forum), artist (as in creative thinking), Ninja (as hidden in the background), bela karolyi (you can do it!), but most importantly — curious (as in what if… that drives progress). Passionate? I realize this is somewhat idealistic view. Truthfully, more often than anything you do have to be just a salesman/woman — get that buy-in. (This is suppose to be a ramble, right?) And if I were to ramble along, I would say flexible and be prepared to change your mind on hourly bases.

I love the profession I am in because of the in-betweenness. I love the fact that so far I was able to use all of my life experiences to do my job. It is not a profession for anyone who wants to go deep into just one thing (not meant to discourage anyone). You have to be a generalist.

Right. Passion for the profession — check. Onward to the protests! Animal cruelty. The beasties cannot organize or speak for themselves. Humans can. I am going to put a period there.

Sorry, this is turning out to be a rather linear progression, but such is life. The lists? What makes the life going. “To do” lists is my thing. This is what my every night looks like–making a list for the morning…

1. Make coffee
2. Walk the dog
3. Check the email
4. Drive to work (there should be a separate post about that experience. BTW, I hate people who do not use turn signals or go 10 miles under speed limit)
5. Update WordPress
6. Troubleshoot troubleshoot troubleshoot
7. Learn
8. Teach
9. Design ( 7 to 9 could be in different order)
10. Check Google and Adobe Connect feeds
11. Drive back home (experience road rage)
12. Run with the dog
13. Eat
14. Read/Netflix
15. Walk the dog again
16. Sleep

And this is what weekend list looks like:

1. Sleep till you cannot sleep anymore
2. Eat
3. Put the laundry in
4. Grab your dog and drive for a day hike
5. Do not think about work
6. Read/Draw
7. Eat
8. Walk the dog again
9. Sleep

this is me and my life at the moment in a nut shell. Signing off. The punctuation used was according to Russian rules of grammar. Do not hate me for this.