A Quiet Insanity:

The Life and Times of Deborah Mateik

Wife, mother, friend, daughter, manager, den leader, trainer, writer, organizer, pollyanna, and realist. Yep, that's me! A work in progess, just like these pages!

Wife

My spouse of ten years is Dennis Mateik, a Field Engineer for Allied Signal Corporation, and a part-time graduate student at University College. He should finish his degree in Technology Management in December, 1998. We'll all be most relieved when he does! We met a hundred years ago in high school during a production of Romeo and Juliet. He was Tybalt (the bad guy) and I was in the chorus ("two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Vernoa, where we lay our scene"...and that's from memory, too!). I was also costumer...he looked great in tights. It was love at first sight, but it took us nearly 14 years to tie the proverbial knot.

Mother

The greatest joy and frustration in my life comes from my three children: Alexander, Kenneth and Caitlyn.

Alex, just eight and in third grade, loves basketball (the "Bulls"), roller blading, books, puzzles, crafts, and the Cub Scouts [see below]. He's a "Monday child"--fair of face and soft of heart.
Ken, at five, is Mr. Independence. He's part tonka toy, part Hulk Hogan, and part Betty Crocker. When he's not jumping on the couch, wrestling his brother to the floor, and overseeing the play of his baby sister, you'll find him in the kitchen mixing ingredients and sampling the cookie dough.
Caity, a little miss at two, is truly the one in charge. Adored by her brothers, the light of her parent's lives, she's smart, sassy, funny, and cuddly. And, she's got rhythm...play a song, hum a tune, she's gotta dance!

Friend

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." (author unknown) "Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." (Anais Nin) "Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's head." (Chinese proverb)

Daughter

I am fortunate enough to be the daughter of two loving parents and a wonderful step-dad and step-mother. Dad, Kenneth Semple, is of Scottish and English decent, born of Dorothy Spain Semple and Ellsworth G. Semple. Mom, Jean Sheridan Semple Baszkowski, is of Irish and German heritage, born of Laura Reber Suplee and William S. Sheridan. Both of my parents were born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and I was born on the outskirts of that city in Bucks County.

Dad has been in sales and marketing for about half of his adult life (he started as a carpenter at the steel mill!); but no Willie Loman is he. He's a great people person and has a wonderful singing voice. He's recently discovered the "joy of computing" and I look forward to the day in the near future (I hope) when we can keep in closer touch via electronic mail.

Mom has been a homemaker all of her life and taught me all I know and love about cooking and nurturing. I am sad to say that she has been victimized by Alzheimer's Disease in the past five years and the light has gone out of her eyes. But she laughs and sings and talks about "the old days" and I guess she is happy in the smaller, safer world in which she now exists.

My step-dad, Thomas Baszkowski, is a great storyteller and tells the best stories about his golf game! The tales of his Polish ancestors escaping the Bolsheviks earlier this century are hair-raising and would be great material for a suspense-thriller.

It seems strange to call Barbara my step-mother, because she is much more friend than mother. She's a Louisiana lady whose pecan-squash casserole is "to die for". And, she is the only person in the world who can make Dad's name into three syllables--"Ka-ay-en"!

Manager

I have worked at the University of Maryland for 20 years, the last 15 years of which I have managed various service units within Academic Information Technology Services (nee Computer Science Center). At this time I am manager of Training Services, although I still have pretty deep roots in aITs' Electronic Information Services. I am responsible for such documents as:

and for training programs like:

Den Leader

My son Alex joined the Cub Scouts last year and so did I. I am the Assistant Den Mother for Den 8 of Pack 1688. Six energetic and imaginative little boys get together every Monday night to work on projects, learn about citizenship, conservation, or folk lore, and to keep their Den Mother Mrs. Labbe and me on our toes! We are working towards becoming 'Bears' in January. "We're called Den 8! We're doin' great! We're proud to be...a WOLF you see! Aaahhoooooooo!!!!!!"

Trainer

I have discovered my true calling. I love to show others how to use computer technology efficiently and effectively. It's not enough to just show the steps; any third rate dance instructor could do that. I like to find the bridges between concept and content and help others--faculty, students, and staff--learn by doing the things they need to do anyway.

My favorite topic to teach is Creating Effective Presentations Using PowerPoint. But I also have a lot of fun with teaching stylistic issues in web page design, PageMaker, and web-based tools like Testudo and Ares. This past summer I became a Windows 95 trainer (this from a woman who still has a Macintosh on her desk; but it's amazing how similar the two interfaces are becoming) and spent the Fall putting 100 members of the Physical Plant staff through Win95 basic training. And, the latest course underdevelopment is one on Netscape Tools--the HTML editor (which I used to create this homepage!).

Writer

I love to write, and have done so since I was very young. It started with mimicing Nancy Drew adventure novels when I was about 10, swerved off into poetry when I was in junior high, dabbled in short stories in high school, and then got very serious about writing plays in college. I've published and produced two plays, The Emply Cradle and The Curse of the Brides, a Radio Drama. I understand that they still play the tape we made of Brides in 1977 each Halloween as a lead-in to Orson Well's War of the Worlds in my old Harrisonburg, Virginia stomping grounds.

Professionally, I have been writing technical documentation, training syllabi, and promotional materials for Academic Information Technology Services for 20 years. I've written an occasional paper or two for SIGUCCS and the World Conference of the Web Society. But I miss creative writing and hope to get back to it one of these days.

Organizer

My nickname is "Madame Logistics". 'nuff said.

Pollyanna

I'm the kind of person who always sees the glass as "half full". Nearly every cloud has a silver lining. And, for every time there is a season--I most particularly like Winter (if it snows) and Summer (at the beach).

I genuinely like people; I have a lot in common with Will Rogers AND Pollyanna that way. For me, it's important to find the good in any person or any situation. I like making other people feel good about themselves. And, my greatest delight is cooking for other people. My friends and colleagues find themselves eating a lot of brownies and cookies, freshly baked in my kitchen.

Realist

When it comes down to it, though, I'm the one to roll up my sleeves and get a job done. Nothing is gained by complaining. Everyone benefits if you make a plan, enlist concensus, and follow through. I'm not a "woman of mystery"; folks pretty much know who I am and where they stand with me.

Life is good...if you have realistic expectations.

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Thanks for joining me in the insanity for a bit. It's a chaotic existence, but it's mine...and I love it!

If you have comments or suggestions, email me at zdeb@umd5.umd.edu