Your Mileage May Vary

Wordle

Background Noise: Oldies

Last Visited: My pictures of Scott's gorgeous Lotus 

Random Thought: The Times UK just rocked their online archives: full search and lookup back to 1765

Mood: another demo down...

I've just been playing with Wordle which, can i say? Quite entertaining. In an odd, that's cool, but couldn't i - just - move - that - word - over - here - damnit kindof way. 

Ahh well, the point is cool. And i threw the whole text of Pride and Prejudice at it and the script ate through it with impressive efficiency. 

Happy Monday, everyone! Now let's hope i remember to actually go to my eye doctor appointment. It only took me 6 months to remember to make the damn thing, it would hilariously sad if i missed it. Especially since i'm wearing my last pair of contacts right now. Knock on wood i don't do something stupid like rip them or loose them before i'm able to get more. 

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Oh my Science indeed...

Background Noise:  South Pacific, Best Revival of a Musical. (Sorry, George)

Last Visited: reading the morning interwebs; mmm, tasty.

Random Thought: Happy Birthday, NPH!

Mood: crawling, slowly, into wakefulness

It took way too long for me to figure out if they were joking. Because we all know there are only five elements in the periodic table, indeed. Oh my i might have to own a few of these tshirts... if only they didn't actually say "teach the controversy" on them... someone might think i'm serious. Then again, that could be a good litmus test. 

In other news, the Ice Cream Grade in the Santa Cruz Mountains? I swear on sunday morning actually smelled like ice cream. Then i realized that was pretty much because i was skirting a wildfire, but that's not really the point; the point is the smell was enchanting. What an appropriately named road, i thought. A fun drive, too. Anyways.

... I might be redefining "scattered" today. Just fyi.

PS: Thrillist is my new 'net best friend; true this is on very little evidence, but they already hit it out of the park with the SF Beer Map and the heads up for Riesling Week... way to go, boys. Does it say something that i like the Men's Daily Candy better than, well, Daily Candy? Nah, i didn't think so either. 

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Alex Trebek really wants to be Sir Ian Mckellen

Background Noise: Rebellion
Last Visited: the interwebs
Random Thought: No, apparently we aren't over it; Suck it, Trebek!
Mood: goooood morning :)

I actually heard this on the radio when i was driving into the office this morning; freaking awesome:

Many an evening my dinner is a salad from the salad bar at my local Whole Foods; i like the arrangement: they clean and prepare a myriad of fruits, veggies, and other randomness, i choose what i want that evening, season as i like (salt, pepper, a little olive oil, and way too much balsamic), and pay by weight. Every time i finish making my salad (after tossing frequently to mix the ingredients) i pick a fork from the friendly little fork jar; now, i know that Susie's little girl or Jenny or Jeff who's hands have been lord knows where have possibly touched my fork before I actually chose it, but i try not to think about that.

Instead, i concentrate on making sure from the time I choose my oddly ivory plastic fork it doesn't get dirty - it doesn't touch the cardboard container hosting my salad, it doesn't touch whatever drink i've selected, it doesn't go on the check-out belt and i don't let the checker-outer person handle it. As the smiling person rings up my salad, I keep a hold of my fork, only throwing it in the little paper bag now holding my dinner after said person has finished loading it up.

Usually this bout of childishness gets a smile, a smirk, or a laugh.

But i don't care: it's my fork, dammit, and my dinner, and i'd like to believe that it will be clean when i get it home. So there.

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Many happy returns

Background Noise: Hallucinations, Bud Powell
Last Visited: my facebook inbox
Random Thought: why is it that online stores selling women's watches always have an additional tab of information about the watch - so that along with "overview" and "details" you get "outfit ideas"?
Mood: oh what a beautiful morning

Larry Lessig gave a talk at TED a few months ago on how creativity is being strangled by the law; not only is it insightful, around the 10 minute mark there is a hilariously awesome video clip from "Jesus Christ, the Musical." Check it out.

In other news, i managed to do and file my taxes yesterday - and besides the minor momentary heart attack when i thought that i might owe $8K (don't worry, i don't), it turns out that this year, finally, once more, i'll be getting money back. Thank Goodness.

Interestingly enough, those lovely refunds of mine should be deposited in my checking account right about the time i'm landing in NYC... looks like i might have to do a bit more shopping than i had planned. Darn.

Also, I look on track to give myself one hell of an awesome half-birthday present; all of a sudden i'm looking very forward to monday.

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Money, Spending, and Technology Adoption Rates

Background Noise: seems like a GG afternoon
Last Visited: Horseback riding near Bodega Bay
Random Thought: we can't be lost, we don't know where we're going
Mood: good

OMG, i got flowers for Darwin Day! awesome!!!

Darwin Day is an international celebration of science and humanity held on or around February 12, the day that Charles Darwin was born on in 1809. Specifically, it celebrates the discoveries and life of Charles Darwin -- the man who first described biological evolution via natural selection with scientific rigor. More generally, Darwin Day expresses gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity.

Now that is a holiday i can get behind.

Sort of switching topics, i find this chart by the New York Times displaying how American's spend their money quite fascinating; want to know the breakdown of the lowest, middle, and highest income brackets? want to watch adoption rates of technologies over the last 100+ years broken out by income? what to see how the general population breaks up their budgets as a comparison factor for how you live? It covers a lot of ground, and i keep seeing new things each time i look at it. Anyways, happy Darwin Day!

ps: sigh, Senate Approves Telco Amnesty, Legalizes Bush's Secret Spy Program

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I dunno... Philosophize with him!

Background Noise: Hip Hip Chin Chin
Last Visited: facebook
Random Thought: maybe running in the morning *is* a good thing...
Mood: coffee kicking in

So apparently one of my pictures from Ann Arbor a few summer's ago is on the short list for a photo competition for... descriptive pictures of Detroit, i suppose, run by this interesting little mapping company called Schmap.

... Which is cool, considering they found me and not the other way around. Their email was cute "While we offer no payment for publication, many photographers are pleased to submit their photos, as Schmap Guides give their work recognition and wide exposure..." since, really, i'm not a photographer - but it's nice that they're calling me one! So thanks Steve for letting me steal your point and shoot canon for an hour to run around A2 so i could grab some pictures that day; you know, i really should get prints of these, come to think of it.

Completely off topic, we have a little competition going on in the office right now to name some conference rooms. And once again, though they aren't offering a prize per se, it's still a fun game to come up with 14 names revolving around a centralized theme that can sort-of eventually be tied back to Pro App type activities. So last night B and I had a bit of a brainstorming session coming up with a bunch of different themes and trying to boggle our way towards 14 items that wouldn't be totally girly, too geeky, or completely inappropriate when used in the sentence "i'm going to ___" or "the meeting's in ___". And while i don't want to give away all of our ideas, by far my favorite theme is: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

Rufus, Socrates, Beethoven, Freud, Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Ghingas Khan, Napoleon, Billy the Kid, Phonebooth, San Dimas, Steps, and Columns

Now, before you scream at me "wait! you didn't list Bill and Ted! Or the Princesses! and what's up with 'Steps' and 'Columns'?" to which i have the following replies:

a) including bill and ted as rooms is just too obvious and too generic - though we could use them later i suppose and,

b) the first thing the Princess's actually say is "Rufus introduced us to a place called 'the mall', and something called, 'credit cards'" and i don't know about you, but i don't want Engineering using that phrase ever or have it ever be implied. Heck, i don't want Marketing to have rooms that imply that either. Really. No Princess's. Besides, "Princess's" will be shot down as girly and no one actually remembers the girls names (Elizabeth and Joanna) enough to have them make sense in context. OH! And Bill and Ted never actually bring them into the phonebooth - Rufus does that. Enough reasons? I have more but... naa, i'll stop. ok, and,

c) when Bill and Ted are describing Ancient Greece they compare it to Houses of the Holy - "there were many steps and columns - it was most tranquil", and since "Houses of the Holy" as a conference room name isn't exactly, um, appropriate, and "steps" and "columns" can be used as and represent computer engineering terms / actions / objects, they seemed appropriate.

... and now i really have to get back to my self review before yet another day of meetings starts. Oh! And Cathy is flying in today! Hurray! K, Bye!

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I ♥ myPhone

Background Noise: The Kooks, Naive
Last Visited: West Wing Season 1 and Season 2 on iTunes
Random Thought: dude, V-Mars and Alias are on iTMS too? Sweet!
Mood: ecstatic, yet... feeling vaguely foolish....

So, remember, like a few months ago, when i got a really cool phone that i gushed on and on about, that i was honestly a bit embarrassed to say i carried but still didn't care because it was the coolest thing ever?

And remember when i said i knew it was so much money but i just needed a phone that worked? And that i'd keep my BlackJack for my whole 2 years and wouldn't complain about it? Because it was such a sweet little phone? And that T-Mobile was like awesome? Or, well, so much better than Verizon (though it was annoying i had to get the phone to switch to the cheaper plan?).

Yeah... so about that....

Apparently i just can't help myself.

Because i did it again: i broke down and bought an iPhone. Even though i'm getting a free one in a few weeks. Even though i didn't really expect to own one in the first year let alone one of the first batches.

I'm so weak. That or I'm starting to give in to the kool-aid. But seriously, i can't wait for my phone to fully activate (darn switching carriers) because, i already love it so. I mean, sure, it's forced me to do some fairly fancy maneuvering to switch my crackBerry phone book over to address book, and sure i had to actually (finally) make sure my work iMac's bookmarks were up to date. And sure i still don't know if i'm going to... um, well, i was going to say "get my email", but, is&t just helped me answer that question "yes".

Wow. I've just officially killed... serious time playing / setting up my phone and i haven't made a single call yet. And i don't care. Of course, my number isn't done being ported yet, but... this might get even more embarrassing, this gushing on and on, so um, i'm going to stop for now.

(Oh, and in case you were wondering, my phone's name is Jane.)

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May Day is... Loyalty Day?

Background Noise: In the Sun
Last Visited: Twiggs.com
Random Thought: talk about mixing church and state
Mood: Before Sunrise

I know this is getting a bit redundant, but, it's May already? Really? No, i'm not kidding, how the heck did that happen? This year is just steamrolling along; not that i mind that my trips to NYC and London are closer, but, crap B, we have to start booking stuff for London (you know this, i'm slow).

So, it's May Day again, so i just checked my archives to see if i blogged a year ago, and i did! And, as the close of that post seems amusingly relevant, i will quote myself:

Ok, i'm actually supposed to be getting work done now.... i should get to that. Wouldn't today just totally rock if there was a may-pole festival with flowers and ribbons and silly games and fun instead of work and continually annoying coworkers? Sigh. Gotta love fantasy... sometimes it beats the hell out of reality.

... Yeah, something like that picture only in color. And yet, while i'm going on about how i can't believe it's been a year since last May (brilliant this morning, aren't i?) it also seems like it's been more than a year since The West Wing ended which, according to my archives (archives rule), is actually what happened last May. Time is a funny thing, isn't it? One of my coworkers today claimed that time is just a conspiracy by the watch makers of the world to control the general populace; gotta love the Swiss... (or was that the great mystery the Templars were trying to protect? dun dun dun....)

Ok, but really, the reason for my post this morning was to try out this new polling site Twiigs which seems to be pretty cool. Of course, to try it out i had to think up a poll question, which, honestly? Didn't come as easy as i would have expected. I should have just used the "how often do you wash your sheets" poll, but, honestly? I don't want to know the answer to that question. Sorry. So i'll stick to something quasi-safe: how many of you out there in the blogosphere void are actually in to Harry Potter? I have a suspicion the answer is not as many of my friends as i think. So, um... answer the question? Please? k, i'm done.

more at twiigs.com...

Happy May Day, everyone!

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Adapt When It Counts

Background Noise: Kenny Dies
Last Visited: Make Lemonade
Random Thought: actually, that's exactly what the EPA is supposed to do
Mood: dream a little dream of me

Hanging around family can be a trip - in many ways - and it's always a bit odd to hear people talk about your younger (in this case much younger) self. This weekend? I got to hear about how cute i was when i was little, and how once when i was two and running down the driveway at the Farm my aunt called out "Annie, stop!" - which of course i did - "don't you know you'd be hit by a car?! You can't run into the street!" to which i calmly replied "They wouldn't hit me, they don't know me" and then i'm sure i proceeded to run off somewhere else to play.

I just love the wording of what i said though - implying that a stranger wouldn't hurt me, though someone who knew me might. Of course, my current answer to the "you'll get hit by a car" scolding is "well then, they can pay for my law school", but that's a different story i suppose.

Oh, and that charming looking room above? That's the Soho Grand where El, B and i will be staying in May. I can't wait - i love new york in the spring time.

Jumping around again, i actually did see Blades of Glory this weekend, and you know what? It was hilarious - a great, fun, escapist laughfest. Is it one of the best movies ever or great film? Heck no. It was Entertainment with a capital "E" - and that's just what i needed. So yeay.

But, oh! I just found the coolest command! I was being silly and thinking i could get italics in this field with a apple-I (you can't, you need the html markup) but i pressed it anyways and, lo and behold! the entire webpage ended up in a new email message in Mail with the page's title as the subject! How cool is that? (seems to work on all pages). I mean, instead of having to use screen grabs or other such nonsense to get a full page to send to someone you can just... send them the entirely rendered page. So cool.

So yeah... my weekend? Was a fun combination of random workouts, time outside, and a lot of my lying on my bed thinking "do i really have to move? because i don't want to" to which the answer most of the time was a blindingly beautiful "no." I did get through A Rather Lovely Inheritance which is rather lovely i suppose if you're not really paying attention to more than any two pages at a time - on a micro level this book is lovely and charming and easy - like lying outside in a blooming field watching the clouds roll by without much of a care for time. As a whole nothing in the book actually makes sense - the plot, the characters, the "romance" - tend to meander and wander to more fit the micro flow. Which, is fine. The book was candy. Though that micro over macro form does explain why it took this weekend to get me to get through it.

Though i did appreciate the general point of the book which is to enjoy the life you have as opposed to observing other people enjoying theirs; it's an important lesson, and perhaps particularly timely for this reader.

(Oh, and no, i'm not pleased with the Ohio State v. Florida rematch. The start of baseball, however, has me turning cartwheels; metaphorically, that is.)

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You'll Know It's All Because of You

Background Noise: hey there Delilah, still
Last Visited: NYC Garbage: cheap at $50
Random Thought: that wasn't what i thought Ira Glass looked like; reality, in this case, is better than my imagination
Mood: ready for the beer bash... 2 hours early

Yep, i'm going to see Avenue Montaigne today; tomorrow at the latest; Sunday if i really get busy, but i'm going to see it - on a beautiful afternoon like this one with the sun shining and the sky blue and the world happily ready to be transported to Paris for a few hours.

... it's friday early afternoon and i'm exhausted. And it's beautiful outside. And all i really want to do is take my book outside, perhaps with some paper and a pen to sketch a bit when the mood strikes and read and draw and be in the sun until i decide it's time to go to the movie, the beer bash, or until i have another bug, whichever comes first.

I'd probably be in a bit of a better place energetically if i stopped playing "Hey there Delilah" on repeat. The acoustic guitar is a bit too soothing. Of course, that's one of the things i like about this track but i think it gets a bit hypnotic after 45 minutes. Maybe. It's a distinct possibility.

Ok, back to repeat all... we'll see if iTunes can randomize me back into wanting to work a bit more before finally caving into the fact that i'm just ready for the weekend.

... Oh right, i should explain the picture before i go back to my daydreams: the man in the picture? Ira Glass of This American Life, formerly a staple of my weekend radio listening (thank you Chicago's NPR), newly rechristened as a television show on Showtime. Yes, Showtime. I'm a bit baffled as well. Regardless, Showtime smartly put the first episode on the web for free viewing, so i suggest you all go view. Go, go... right now; or tomorrow; Sunday at the latest if you're like busy now or something.

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