with eyes bright and boots on

i'm going to be moving to an office with a view* on monday, so i guess it is finally safe to report that i've been promoted. on monday i will be starting a new role as rectangle's strategic partnerships director. in this new position i will soliciting public and private foundations, managing all promotional copy and overseeing the 'tangle's volunteers and interns.

ever since my promotion was unofficially announced, my colleagues have alternated between congratulating me and sternly warning me "not to become an a*shole" on account of my new position.

for my part, i know that i am already an occasional a*shole and i am not focused on increasing the frequency or diameter of the latter anytime soon. however, i'd be lying if i told you that these consistent admonitions have not, to a degree, got to me. for that reason, i have constantly been reminding my colleagues that i have always been focused on our participants and would not take the position if it did not help the participants achieve more independent, prosperous and meaningful lives. i've been so insistent on the purity of my intentions that on a couple of occasions i have told colleagues that i am considering hanging one of the pictures of my successful students on the wall. underneath the picture, i told them, i plan to have someone with far better handwriting than mine write, "it's all about the participants."

the last time i launched into the latter apologia, i actually got a lump in my throat and my voice cracked. in the moment, i thought that my visceral reaction was simply evidence of my sincerity. however, on further reflection, i fear that i've confused sincerity with a mistaken belief in my own bullsh*t.

regardless, full of sh*t or not, i'm pulling up stakes on monday. here's to hoping that in my new role, more often than not, i find innovative and effective ways to help all people and all things grow up into him who is the head.

* of the parking lot, but still.