Anita Rowland and her husband Jack Bell made sure to go see Dave Winer when he was in town earlier this week – after all, as Anita posted, he’s the one who brought them together.
Do you have a craving to see Dave Winer in real life? …I’ll be there with my husband Jack Bell. You know I’ve always had a soft spot for Dave because he brought Jack and me together back in 1998.
She linked to her journal page, which described a bit of their story:
When Dave Winer got all upset about something a columnist wrote about geek guys, I wrote Dave and allowed as how I was looking for one (scroll to the foot of the page to see my mail). Jack saw this, followed some links, and wrote me, and we’ve been corresponding since.
I wish I could see Dave’s original post on Geek Boyfriends – the link is broken –
but her journal entry is still linked to the email she wrote – a fun read and fun story! I got a geek boyfriend too but in a very different way, without seeking one specifically. It was something that just happened; perhaps I’ll write about it sometime later.
Anita also posted notes from Dave’s appearance at the .NET Dev Users Group meeting Monday night.
I didn’t get to meet Dave when he was in town but I hope to meet Anita and Jack sometime soon.
Note: Before posting I decided to do a Google search and found Dave’s original post on Geek Boyfriends (but his link to the San Jose Mercury News column is broken – oh well it has been 6 years)
Hey, get this, we’re not pets. What a demeaning, limiting, arrogant and unhappy attitude. Where did it come from? What happened to loving a man for who he is? What happened to respect and The Golden Rule?
[…]
I think programmers are seekers of truth and beauty, and can be the most loving and caring people you’ll ever meet, if you just let us be ourselves.
[…]
Listen and ask for details. Geeks can be meek. It may take a while for him to warm up, to trust you, but if you learn how to listen, he can bring you love and happiness. In buckets.
Love and happiness in buckets indeed! I’d recommend a Geek Boyfriend or better yet a Geek Husband like mine any day. And I wasn’t even looking to get one – but perhaps I should have been!
2 responses so far ↓
1 Anita's LOL // Feb 13, 2004 at 9:42 am
Dave Winer, Jack Bell, and Me
How funny — Dave did remember what I told him about Jack and me getting together, but Julie gets the traffic!
2 Fran // Feb 13, 2004 at 10:10 am
That is so sweet. My husband is a MSFT test engineer and though I wouldn’t presume to classify him as a geek, he does have all the good qualities listed by Dave Winer in your excerpt. When I met Tom, I had never dated a computer guy before, so luckily had no stereotypes in mind. (That was in Chicago in 1995.)