Lenses Breed Interesting Friendships

So I was thinking that my life path has perhaps been a bit detatched from what most do...like being a nuclear reactor operator on a submarine is not a normal job...in fact out of the small sub crew only 5% or so ever do that job.

In spite of how bad I have screwed up some things I am amazed at all the cool people I have crossed paths with, and perhaps some of the weird substories around them. A few examples:

• A friend of mine who could not get a job after getting out of the navy became my web programmer and one of my web designers. He is likely to eventually at least intern for Google. I bet he ends up working for them, and I may try to ping a few friends at Google to see if they can help my friend get a shot there.
  
• From a random help wanted ad for $300 I ranked an adult sex toy shop. The site was later sold, and since then I have partnered up with the guy who owned it to do other projects.
  
• A few years ago I bought drugs off a person at a concert and later they hired me to help market their website, which has to be one of the weirdest customer acquisition techniques yet.
  
• Through environmental influence and heavy drug use I better understood depression and perhaps have learned to be a bit steadier (I hope).
  
• Through most of childhood I was legally blind. But did not know it. That helped me appreciate seeing life through various lenses.
  
• My roommate I met from the boat. He taught me a lot about culture, counter culture, and even to appreciate science a bit more.
  
• I went to one of my friend's parent's house and spoke with them a bit over the new year. In 2004 he literally won the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for Astronomy.
  
• As a kid my siblings screwed with me for liking the care bears. About 1.5 years ago a really uber cool girl gave me her good luck bear to sleep with and later I found good luck. She humped me. And it was cool. My mom still buys me care bears without maybe knowing that bit of the care bear story, but if she reads this she will now know.
  
• My experiences made me heavily question authority. My nature made me want to rant about it. My nature made me write a book about making machines view people as important. Which led me to learn why people view ideas and people as important.
  
• Learning that last bit helped me meet some of the best internet marketers in the world and allowed me to do well without ever needed to be an employer or employee for the rest of my life.

I tend to get bored rather easy while in groups of people, but I am not certain if that is a fault because the people I do get to know end up being really cool. Am I passing up on meeting many good cool people, or are my exotic off standish filters perhaps treating me better than I could have ever expected?

Posted at January 5, 2006 12:53 AM