My mother accuses in my comments section (for those of you who don’t read comments sections): “AH HAAA! Your mother tried to teach you to sew on buttons, but no, you said you were going to be chairman of the board of IBM and you would hire someone to do that for you….”
This is incorrect. I, at no time in my life, ever wanted to be chairman of the board of IBM. What she may be referring to is those years between the ages of 14 and 18 when I thought being the president of Chase Manhattan Bank, after a nice career as an international banker in Geneva, might be the thing to do. Tons of money, a penthouse apartment in Manhattan with a view of the city, fancy schmancy furniture that the full-time maid/chef kept clean, and a string of handsome boyfriends also came with that package (but not husband–never husband. The idea of husband didn’t enter my mind until I hit my 30s).
What, didn’t everyone know that at one time, my aspirations went beyond CWIT? There was a time when I wanted to have a CWIT? Yes, folks, it’s true. I spent my freshman year at the University of Texas and on my application when it said pick your school, I checked off the box that said “business.” (Ah, Texas. The only school that required no essays, no real application form. Just a bunch of check boxes. I, apparently, check boxes quite well.) Two semesters of calculus (As in both) and two in economics (Bs in both) made me realize how much I hated business. So I ran away and joined a film school.
(And for the record, it was my dear mother [yes, the artist] who said–when I told her I was going for my MFA–“Oh, an MBA! That’s a great idea!” I corrected her, “No, an MFA. In creative writing.” She replied, “What the hell are you going to do with that? An MBA is much more practical.”)
