Julie's blog

In our childhood, most of us seem to at one time or another dream of being an actor or singer. As we grow older, most of us realize how impractical these types of career goals can be, and we find new pursuits that are more realistic and more in-line with our adult personalities and goals. As a woman in the prime of my quarter-life “crisis,” I'm relishing the unique opportunity to reassess my past goals, present skills, and future plans. My 25th year may in fact be the very best time to look back at the dream jobs I've yearned to pursue in the past, and how they may yet apply to my future.

While in recent years I have been more inclined to focus on the tasks and goals of day to day life, this week’s Sorbate topic has afforded me the opportunity to indulge in some long overdue daydreaming. With that said, my top three fantasy travel destinations, in no particular order, are below.

While researching technological singularity this week, I kept finding myself barely able to comprehend the concept. This is not surprising in light of the fact that Singularity is based on the idea that technology will one day become so advanced that we cannot predict or fathom its future capabilities and how they will change the world. The easiest way I found to interpret Singularity is to look at novels, television shows, and films that have toyed with its implications. The Outer Limits, I, Robot, The Matrix, and Artificial Intelligence all imagine a future where technology has matched or surpassed human ability.

We’ve all heard of Proposition 8, Matthew Shepherd, and thanks to Hollywood, even Harvey Milk. But when I learned that this year, June 2010 was declared Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride month, I realized I had very little knowledge about the significance of the month of June for GLBT persons or their other significant historical moments aside from those that occurred after my birth.

Imagine growing up in the '80s and '90s with a college-educated, working father and a mostly stay-at-home mother. While this nuclear family structure was experiencing some decline in those decades, it is all that the child living it has ever known. Dad is the breadwinner; mom the nurturer. Father the philosophical and ambitious role-model; mother the practical and loving source of support.