About Me

Hi, I’m Thida. I’m a writer married to C, & mom of Special K & Little T, who was born w/a huge left arm like Popeye’s. Yes, my son’s always been a fighter. The 1st 18 months of his life were spent in & out of the hospital battling a tumor. It’s shrunk a lot, but left much collateral damage. Yet he’s so happy.

I was born one night in Bangkok. And yes I do love 80’s songs. I moved to London at age two. Then I spent the rest of my childhood in California when my parents weren’t taking me and my sibs on trips around the world. My writing life began at the age of ten when my father walked her through the slums of Calcutta to meet Mother Teresa and I wrote my first story about the experience.

Despite graduating from Bryn Mawr college with a BA in politics, I became a computer geek before the term existed, and spotting a woman with a computer was remarkable. No wonder I ended up in Silicon Valley. My non-fiction essay “Gimp Geek” about my life as a computer geek with a movement disorder will be published in the anthology She’s Such a Geek in November from Seal Press.

While working full-time as a Director of Engineering, I studied for my MBA at UC Berkeley. I met my husband C in a classic Silicon valley romance: our love bloomed as his startup melted. In 2001, I planned our wedding, got pregnant and graduated, then quit corporate life to stay at home. My life has never slowed down ever.

My first name Thida means Water in English and is Burmese. I’m Anglo-Burmese. Owls have guided me at times. Burmese put a pair of paper mache owls guilded with gold for good luck. I collect Owls. Owls are associated with my alma mater Bryn Mawr. Water Owl reflects my biracial identity. My strange amugulation of parts, how folks through the years have told me I don’t exist. Yes, water owls exist!

Movements refers both to movement through time and space and also my movement disorder. In my family, people often ask “What are your movements?” when asking what you’re going to do next?

I started blogging in a desultory way when I was pregnant with my first child Special K. Most of the story is there in this blog. Occasionally I go back and fill in the gaps. Questions definitely encourage me to do so more.