I write proposals. Big ones and small ones. Hard ones and easy ones. Long ones and short ones. I write lots of proposals.
Give me $3000 and I'll build you a web site that computes Bayesian probability networks.
Give me $30,000 and I'll build you an open source MapWindow plug-in.
Give me $300,000 and I'll give you 5 master's theses.
Give me $3,000,000 and I'll make all your wildest geospatial integrated modeling dreams come true.
Today I helped finalize a $2 million proposal to build a geospatial outreach program. (Hopefully it will be funded!)
One day in March, I submitted my biggest proposal ever. Don't tell anyone, but I didn't even go through the Office of Sponsored Programs. There was no signature from the Authorized Agent of the Performing Entity, no Routing Form, Budget Sheet, Executive Summary, List of Current and Pending Support, Bond Guarantee, or Detailed Scope of Work.
It was just a brief four-word proposal in which I asked for nothing less than everything she had. I wanted it all and I wanted it forever.
Incredibly, my proposal was successful and I won the best contract of my life.
--------------------------
Posted on December 11, 2008. Updated in 2020. Posted again... :)
--------------------------
DALL·E image prompt: Artistic painting of a marriage proposal with a caucasian man on one knee proposing marriage to a blonde caucasian woman in the candy isle.