mirror-textfiles.com/history/unicorn.txt

Hi Jason,

There is something so pure, so precious, so pleasing about what you've done.  
Just looking at the black screen terminal with the green florescent letters 
brings back a flood of memories.  I was there, in 1983-85, learning and 
discovering this "new tech space" that none of my friends (my personal friends)
knew existed.  I am a unicorn for sure.  I was a 17 year old, African-American,
female, mid-westerner by way of the deep South (all of my chromosomes come out
of Mississippi and Alabama).  Thanks to my anscetryDNA test swab (that I did 
last year) I now know that I am primarily Nigerian and Scandinavian.  What a 
combo.  Nevertheless, I was a freshman college student at Akron U (majoring 
in nursing) and I fell head of heals in love, love, love with the first 
Macintosh.  Jason, it was the best thing I had ever touched in my entire life. 

I started off in the world of desktop publishing.  I used this machine to make 
money typing papers for myself and others, but soon figured out there was more 
to this.  I started out wanting to develop applications on my own.  I made my 
way over to the Science and Engineering College because I thought I could take
some elective classes in coding to establish a basis for learning how to code
myself.  It didn't take long for me to figure out that I didn't have a love 
for coding, yet I'm glad I learned about COBAL, FORTRAN and Pascal.  It gave
me my basis for learning about what was going on "behind the scenes" of that
wonderful GUI.  The dots later connected after several years of self-study.  
When I discovered Prodigy, Compuserv, Telnet etc. it was part of my self-tech
learning journey.  I had a few "geek" friends who were active and busy hacking 
away. 

My worlds of nursing and tech were so vastly different.  I graduated from 
college in 1987.  As a new RN, I thought my tech and nursing background would
lead me down the path of biomedical engineering.  I worked in the ICU mostly
thinking about how I could better design IV pumps, telemetry monitors or 
improve ventilators.  These were the tools I worked with daily in 1988.  
Instead, I found myself transitioning to post-acute healthcare by 1989 
because at that time there was a big push to move people out of the hospital
and start doing high tech treatments in their homes.  This meant discharging 
patients on IVs, ventilators and with monitors to their home.  I was so ready
for this movement.  This new area attracted nurses who were comfortable with
the technology in the homes of the patients.  Obviously the patient and 
family had to get used to this equipment being in their home, but they 
also needed a nurse to operate the equipment. 

It all synced up for me by 1993 when I quit my home health employment and 
started my own consulting firm.  I was only 24, but I knew I had to find a 
way for my nursing and tech background to intersect.  I started 
self-publishing regulatory manuals for my industry and eventually 
developed the first phone-assisted electronic clinical documentation system 
for home health care back in 1996.  It's patented and today my technology 
invention is being mandated in several states.  

Example of a State Mandate - https://www.dads.state.tx.us/evv/

Anyway, I sold my shares in that company and moved on to other things, but I 
still live at this intersection of nursing and tech.  Interestingly enough, 
one of my other hobbies is song-writing.  I recognized the impact of music
on human life when I worked with my patients and families.  Do you realize
that music is an amazing vehicle of memory for those with Alzheimer's.  And 
if you play music with a dying hospice patient it sooths the process for the 
patient and the family?  Music therapy is as important to the patient as 
oxygen or prescriptive medication. 

I started exploring the world of music for my patients and started working 
with music artists.  I listened to their pain and struggle about music 
going digital and how they couldn't make money anymore etc. and as a problem
solver type, I worked to develop technology that would allow them a platform
where performance and profit could be realized in a practical way.  Through 
my study I found Fandalism/Distrokid and then I found you.  I want to thank
you for putting together textfiles.com.

Sincerely,

Michelle Boasten, RN
Founder, LawnFest Live (and so much more)