Name: Julie Goodrich
Age: 34
Location: Florida
Where were you born? Dunedin, FL
Have you ever lived in any other state?
I've also lived in Virginia (Norfolk, Chesapeake and
Virginia Beach) and North Carolina (Greensboro and
Raleigh). I would move back to any of those places in
a heartbeat because the weather is much more to my
liking.
What's the best thing about living in Florida?
The best thing about living in Florida? Being close
to my family. I live about 30 minutes away from my
mom, dad, brother, nephew, grandparents, aunts, uncles
and cousins. I really like being able to see them
whenever I want to, because they're a big part of my
support system.
The worst?
The worst thing about living in Florida is the weather
during the summer. I lived in this state until I was
24 so I never knew any differently, but once I moved
to Virginia I realized that there actually are four
different seasons, not two (Tepid and Freaking Hot).
Florida is uncommonly beautiful from November-March,
but outside of those months it can be brutal. My air
conditioning bills in the summer are disgusting.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A veterinarian.
You changed your mind?
Yeah, I changed my mind because as much as I love
animals - and I am a total sucker for them, with two
cats, a betta fish, and a hamster (who bit me this
weekend - my fault) inside the house and a flock of
backyard birds to feed - I realized that I probably
wouldn't do very well in a profession where I had to
see animals suffering and dying a lot. Even if I
could ultimately help heal some of them, it would just
be too hard for me.
Tell us a bit about your current job.
My present job is a source of much mystery to my
friends, I am told. No one knows what I actually do.
So I will tell you! The short version is that I'm a
technical writer. The longer version is that I'm a
content architect. Some of the things I do in an
average day are writing help text that helps users
navigate the software systems the company develops;
researching and developing original content for our
clients; editing client-provided content; working with
clients to figure out what types of content they want
in their systems, how they want it structured, and
then designing a hierarchy that meets their needs. I
also do a lot of research into workforce/labor issues,
contribute to the company's newsletter, and this year
I'll be spending a lot of time working to develop new
functionality for our systems.
Confused? If you want to see some of the stuff I've
done, visit http://www.vosdemo.com. Click on the
graphic, then select Option 3 - Guest Access. Choose
to enter the system as an Individual. The Community,
Unemployment, Veterans, and Youth and Senior Services
are all areas that I have developed.
Here is one of my recent newsletter features -
http://www.workdevonline.com/article.asp?id=45
What were mealtimes like for you as a child? If we ate
at the table, silent. But we almost never ate at the table.
Did you eat in front of the television?
You know, I honestly don't remember. Probably in
front of the television, yes. But we probably ate at
the table a lot too. I guess mealtimes were never a
memorable event for me. Now ask me about the time
that Midnight had her kittens in the storage room, or
when I found my kitten Bubbakee dead, and I've got
flashbulb memory-like recall of those events. But
meals, not so much.
Did you ever like any of your school photos? In
elementary school, yes. And I like my junior year
photo from high school, because I'm all gothed out.
Did your parents ever object to your style?
My parents were extremely cool about it, actually. I
think this was at least in part because, other than my
physical rebellion, I was a "good kid." I got really
good grades, I lettered in track all four years of
high school, I didn't mouth off, I wasn't into drugs,
I called if I was going to be home late, etc. They
gave me a lot of leeway as a teenager (I had a car
when I was 16 and my curfew was 2 a.m. on the
weekends) but I earned it - and kept it - by being
responsible.
I *did* listen to weird music and I shaved/dyed my
hair a lot, and I wore black and spider web earrings
all the time ... but my parents made the decision that
if THAT was the extent of my teenage rebellion, then
they could live with it.
What was your first date like? It was a group date
in 8th grade.
What is in your vegetable bin? Shredded carrots,
organic broccoli, baby spinach, cantaloupe,Bio-Spira
(aquarium cycling medium)
Do you eat much seafood?(sorry Otis)
Poor Otis. He's sick right now (I think he has a
parasite). I don't eat any seafood, really. I just
never really liked it. I will occasionally eat tuna
fish salad (water-packed tuna, light mayo, green
onions, and dill relish) on wheat bread, but that's
about it. I would eat fried shrimp if you forced me
too, as long as I had a lot of ketchup or cocktail
sauce available.
Oh, wait - I also love fish sticks. Mmm, Gorton's.
We had fish sticks and yellow rice all the time when I
was a kid. I haven't had that for years, though.
What color is your car? Silver blue
Are you having a good hair day? Why yes, I am.
Does the humidity ever wreck your 'do?
It would if I had much of one! My hair is straight
and fine which basically means it doesn't do a whole
lot but sit there. I don't use hair spray because I
hate the way it feels, so I basically work with what
my hair wants to do naturally anyway, and leave it at
that. I do use volumizing stuff, though, because
without it my hair is flaaaaaaaaaaaat. And I use John
Frieda Secret Weapon smoothing cream stuff on my part
to smooth down the little baby hairs that stick up.
Those are my nemeses.
What is your favorite cologne? If I could only
use one, it would probably be Marc Jacobs.
What is your middle name? Lynn
What type of books do you like to read? Anything
that teaches me something about a subject I don't know
a lot about (but find interesting).
What is your favorite type of cookie? Snickerdoodle
What are your thoughts on the upcoming season of Big
Brother?
I am cautiously optimistic, as always. Mostly I'm
looking forward to Hamster Time coming alive again. I
miss all of the people who post and recap there. I
hope that we have a better season in BB5 than we did
last year (Alison, UGH). I also hope that EZboard
holds up. That one day during BB4 that it was down
was pretty hellish.
I don't know if Shapiro will ever be able to top BB2,
as far as I'm concerned. Your first is always
special to you, isn't it? I guess that holds true
with Big Brother seasons as well.
Many thanks to Highwaygirl for letting us get to know her better!
