Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Last week I had a job interview wherein I was asked that age-old question: where do you see yourself in 10 years?

At the time I fudged a terribly evasive and awkward answer. Later I began to think: does anyone really have the luxury of anticipating this far in advance anymore?

(I also thought, "holy crap, in 10 years I'll be 40.")

I've since crafted the most honest -- yet still somewhat evasive -- answer that I can give.

While I was working in New Jersey I realized I can either live in Cleveland, or I can use my MLS, but the odds are against me that I can do both. (And now there's the somewhat complicating dimension of going car-free.) I chose Cleveland over my professional career path because I feel responsible for giving back to the place where I came from. If I can find a position that suits me and that allows me to develop that professional career path, then that's great. But if I can't, then I've decided to adapt my skill set to the needs of this local economy (particularly those employers in public transit-friendly areas, mainly University Circle), whatever those needs might be. So you can see that it's hard to anticipate exactly where I'll be in 10 years.

Where do you think you'll be in 10 years?

Five Things Every Cleveland Expat Should See

This week Megan Reardon (aka Not Martha) is visiting the land of her birth -- Cleveland -- after five years away, and she asks what she shouldn't miss. (Too bad there's not another Emerging Cleveland tour coming up....)

She wants to see things that have changed, things that she'd perhaps be pleasantly surprised by. So here are my suggestions:

1. The Windmill. Childlike delight: the only way to describe the sensation that flooded me upon seeing the windmill outside of the Great Lakes Science Center.

2. Detroit Shoreway. The main drag around Cleveland Public Theatre has built up splendidly thanks in large part to the Detroit Shoreway Development Corporation. Word has it that we'll finally be getting a west side art theater to rival the Cedar-Lee.

3. The Bier Markt and Bar Cento. I have mixed feelings about this place -- perhaps their wine and beer lists are a bit too extensive. (Yes, extensive, not expensive). But it draws a healthy-sized crowd on weekends, and there isn't anything else like it in the city.

4. Downtown: West 4th Street and the Euclid Corridor Project. I'm really curious to see what Megan makes of downtown -- whether it's going forward or backward.

5. All of the foreclosed houses. Yes, this is a bit of a departure from the first four, but it's important for the diaspora to see what we've left behind.

What would you add?