Yesterday we had a celebratory luncheon to honor the group of employees that started 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago. It was my 5th anniversary - a pretty big milestone. Not only am I fully vested in my 401K plan, but I also get an executive telescope. Sweet.

To honor each associate, a manager gives a short speech, about 3 or 4 minutes each. It's very strange to sit and listen while others talk about you - at least in this venue, it was a shared experience. My boss gave the speech about me, and I knew there would be some chuckles in there. Indeed, I was alternately proud and embarrassed. The funny thing is that I was most embarrassed by my accomplishments, as I am somewhat humble by nature. My points of pride were mostly related to my social accomplishments.

It was strange to hear my URL read to a room full of accomplished co-workers and managers, including the CEO. And, I'm quite sure my manager gathered some of his chuckling points from these pages. I don't think about the archived content that often, but when I do, I realize that there is a lot of information packed into these pages - a lot of information about me, especially. And, I find, I quite enjoy that - knowing I have some record of things I would otherwise undoubtedly forget.

At one point in the speech, I was outed. Yes, I was referred to as "always having 101 reasons why you should buy a Macintosh computer." I tend to think of myself more as a TiVo acolyte, but I suppose he had to pick one main geek characteristic. Considering that everyone who's followed my tech advice has been quite pleased with their purchase (and those who haven't have been anything but), I don't mind. Surely some people rolled their eyes, though.

One result of my Macness was mentioned in the speech - my development as a "corporate photographer" and "video guy". I started out covering a couple events, and most recently created the 1970's Show video. That last production was probably my best social accomplishment to date - through the filming, viewings, and DVD distribution, I've made a lot of new friends, which is both enjoyable and career-wise.

One thing I like about where I work is that we're allowed to have some personality - we're not expected to sublimate our character. Quite a lot of people, including myself, wear their lives on their sleeves - family photos, vacation plans, house purchases, sports interests, religious activities - they're all out there for most anyone to see. It isn't coerced - many people choose to be more private. But for those of us who like to exhibit ourselves and our interests, it's a good way to integrate our work life with our personal life, and make work feel less like work.

Judging by the speech about me, I've been doing more than my share of sharing. Since I joined this corporation, I've gone from introvert to "closet extrovert" to, well, a mildly eccentric extrovert. Oh well. As I've said before, life is more interesting when one is eccentric. I should be some piece of work by my 10th anniversary! How much will be on this site then?

OK, Yankees win. Time to sleep. Have a great weekend!