Because my week wasn’t entirely sucktastic
Two things that made me smile late this week.
First, on Friday, I tweeted this:
Honestly, I had no idea the Universe was on Twitter. I knew God was, but the Universe is another thing entirely (than God). Also, who knew the Universe used an iPhone. I’d take it for more of a Windows or Android phone type. I was pleasantly surprised to see a challenge issued:
And okay, I laughed. That Friday or whatever it was, it was pretty much the only thing I could laugh at.
The second thing happened Saturday. I was sitting downstairs doing some work for my contract that begins tomorrow (after I got Darren up to give me a break from being clung to by a sad and ill toddler), when I checked my email.
A week or so ago, I’d emailed Jenn (@PrincessJenn and her personal blog is here) to see if she could make me a banner for my blog. It was one of the things on my “BlogHer to do list” – get a banner made. I had a really vague idea of what I wanted and sent her some ideas along the lines of “including this painting and a couple of puppies”. And she sent it back to me really quickly. I was impressed with it and it was pretty much exactly what I (my gut) wanted.
I can read enough HTML to get me through; most of the time I use the wordpress WYSIWYG editor, so I was having problems replacing the banner because I simply don’t know enough about HTML and CSS and whatever to do it. So I told Jenn this and then didn’t hear from her for a few days. It wasn’t a big deal because of the rest of the stuff that was going on between work, the Poptart and whatever.
This is the email that came in today:
And then? She FTP’d it to my server for me. Talent and service.
So if you’re in a reader, click on through and tell me how purdy my blog is.
And then go hire Jenn for your own blog redesign.
Empty promises (or why I haven’t been blogging except on the rare occasion. Also, the Christmas update and why my new ereader is a pain in the butt).
I promised, awhile back, that I’d be blogging more by taking my laptop to work on the train. But then I realized that I had ONE COURSE to take through UVIC to complete this Diploma I’ve been plodding along on for a few years. ONE. So it turned out that the blogging more thing was an empty promise.
So I registered for the course (and oddly, my term paper ended up being about social media and its potential uses for volunteer recruitment and YAWN, you’d think that’d be good blog fodder but really, it wasn’t because I just wasn’t into it). And then all my time on the train became about reading and writing for the course because it was distance education and there were assignments every week plus a term paper which required weekly assignments that we didn’t get marked on per se, but needed to complete to be eligible for a mark in the course.
So I completed the course with a B+ which I would normally be not-so-happy about after not getting anything lower than an A- in all of the courses, but I was just so glad to get it done.
And aren’t you glad it’s done and you don’t have to read any more drivel like that?
So I submitted the paper and then it was Christmas and I was swamped at work and ended up missing my train home no fewer than 7 times. Right before I went on vacation a situation sort of blew up on me due to a database error and my boss made me take vacation with a “Fuck it. It can wait til the new year. Merry Christmas.”
(Have I mentioned I heart my boss?)
(Really, it was minor with few repercussions and then the situation unexpected sort-of resolved itself without any help from me in the new year).
So then it was Christmas and we hosted. Two sets of grandparents, nanny, Darren, myself and the Poptart. My parents at least stayed in their condo in Chilliwack. And the Poptart had some gastro-intestinal thing which we all passed around and it was great (not).
But the Poptart was spoiled and there are no words to explain how much her grandparents love her. She got her very own digital camera, table and chairs, rocking chair, various toys, and a large tin of Pirouline cookie things that we are not allowed to touch because according to my mom, they are for the Poptart and no one else.
The week before Christmas, I’d been out shopping for Darren’s present: a Kinect for the Xbox. And everyone was sold out. I kid you not. After doing some research, I realized that people were having issues with the old Xbox plus Kinect, so we bought a whole Xbox-Kinect package and it’s pretty cool. Kinectimals is pretty cute too.
I got a Kodak Video Camera (and it’s WATERPROOF so I can use it for contracts in the pool). And a new ereader from the Poptart. It’s an iView EB 700. Its backlit so I can use it at night without a light on (for which Darren is eternally grateful to the Poptart for getting it for me J). It’s also colour, which is nice for graphics. However it’s got some real issues with the battery (and don’t even get me started about trying to contact the company). But I still like it, mostly. Darren is working on exchanging it for me and trying to find out if there’s going to be a firmware update which might solve most of the issues (we think it’s misreporting the actual amount of charge in the battery). Of course, I loaned my old one to my mom to take to Mexico for 2 months so I have to use this one now.
(yes, yes, first-world problem. I am shallow, what can I say?)
So if you know anyone at Google who’s working on Android (because it’s an Android operating system), let me know and I’ll bake you some cookies or something in return for showing me how to pester them (I now have the world’s best butter cookie recipe. Seriously. Gobs and gobs of butter).
Update! They actually got back to me! Not satisfactorily, but at least I know the company isn’t run by hamsters. Or at the very least, the hamsters can type and write in mostly comprehensible English.
I have, in other words, been a reading fiend. Since the new year, I’ve read at least 5 books. Possibly more. To the point that I haven’t updated goodreads in awhile. I’m currently working on James Rollins’ latest Sigma series book “The Doomsday Key” and recently finished the previous one “The Last Oracle” which I thought I’d read, but it seems I’d only read the preview of it in the previous book. And those two books are just in the last week. I’ve also read several more which I can’t recall at the moment.
SO ANYWAYS, this is my really long and convoluted way of updating you and saying that I’ll be updating more frequently. No, really! I have a schedule done up, and three (THREE!) theme days planned.
Aren’t you lucky? Now you can read my drivel more!
In re: The Cusp
Date: December 31, 2010
Time: 9:05 pm
(Which means it’s actually 2011 in Toronto and New York, and in an hour, it will be 2011 in Chicago)
I am drinking a glass of wine, while the Poptart sleeps and Darren is napping on the blow-up mattress in the living room, watching Back to the Future, which seems apt, considering it is New Years Eve. There is a mostly-empty box of Ferrero Rocher, with 4 left, sitting next to me on the sofa.
My life is pretty good.
We are on the cusp of a new year, and a new decade, and somehow, this seems more momentous than the new century 10 years ago. I have Darren. I have Shannon. And I feel more complete than I’ve felt in a long time. For the first time in years, my mind is quiet and I don’t feel overwhelmed by what might be or what might not be (thanks in no small part to finally being treated for depression). I feel more on the cusp of something than I have in quite awhile. What, I’m not quite sure, however it may just start with the resolution I make every year:
To be the best person I can be.
To that end, I have:
- Signed up for The Year of Happiness Challenge 2011. There are pictures of me as a baby, being really, intrinsically, happy. I see this in my daughter, and dammit, I want it back.
- Committed with Darren to get healthy and re-vamp our bodies
- Committed to reconnecting with Darren. We lost contact every once in awhile and this stretch has been longer than usual.
So my word for 2011 is Re-: as in really happy, re-connect, re-vamp. To get over that cusp, and find what’s on the other side.
Holidaze: Vancouver Aquarium meetup anyone?
So because I am super organized, I managed to order the grandparents’ photo mugs last Sunday. Thinking they’d be ready for pickup sometime this week, I had them delivered to the Future Shop on Broadway because it’s close to work. Of course, because I’m on vacation this week, the mugs didn’t arrive in time. What that means is that I have to go into Vancouver sometime next week. Since we’ve been talking about taking the Poptart to the aquarium sometime, we thought we’d go to Vancouver, get the mugs, rescue the portable dvd player from my desk, and go to the aquarium.
So if anyone wants to go, we’ll be heading to the aquarium for about 2:30 on Wednesday afternoon.
If you don’t have an annual pass, you may want to try this trick – it actually pays off quite well if there are two adults and an under-2 going: One adult buys an adult annual pass; the other adult gets in on the one-time use free pass associated with the annual adult pass. The under-2 is free. Then you get 20% off food, gift store, etc. inside.
Pricing information for Vancouver Aquarium.
If you’d like to meet us there, shoot me an email, tweet or leave a comment.
Administrative note
I bargained with myself, finally, when I missed a deadline to turn in an assignment yesterday (seriously. And I never do this). Its my last course, probably ever, or at least until the Poptart is an adult. I have one paper to go and that’s it. And I’m so unmotivated.
So the deal is: no social media, including blogging, until it’s done.
The good news: it’s due December 6. But I want to get it drafted by Monday. And this should light a fire under my butt.
(for those who are interested, I had my hand cut open and a cyst removed on Thursday. It’s fine, if a little sore)
Administrative Note: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
So you might notice a couple of changes around here if you’re really observant.
Check out the tabs on the top. The PR Friendly tab shows my policy for reviews, giveaways, etc. If you have a thing you’d like me to review, please read it before pitching me.
Also, cognizant (Sunshine, that word is for you) of the fact that some people don’t like reading reviews on the regular blog, I’ve set up a reviews blog. When I do a review, I’ll post a link here to it. There’s also a tab up top to take you there.
Yes, this is a placeholder post because (a) I’ve had an earache/sinus headache for three weeks because my head doesn’t like the weather (although my chiropractor does because it means I pad his bank account more) and (b) dammit, my hand hurts and (c) I’ve started a course at UVIC, it’s week 2 and I’m already falling behind.
Administrative Note: This Post Brought to You By the 6:44am Train
Since returning to work, my blog and involvement in social media stuff has been sadly neglected. I am still around, but have problems making regular posts. I know I could schedule them, but the whole point is that I have to write them first, and finding the time for that has been difficult.
So after this morning’s 1:45am wakeup call by the Poptart (more on the current sleep regression in another post), I was slugging down some coffee after she went back to bed (ha! Ha! Ha!), and was surfing the internet and thought to myself, “Self, you have a laptop that you use every freaking day. You could, self, take it along with you and use it on the train to write a blog post for a half an hour.” Oh and Word actually has a “new blog post” feature that’ll format everything properly.
(except for the fact that Word is kind of screwed up in my laptop for some reason and for some reason after I go into a menu or make a table, I can’t click into another area and have to use the arrow keys)
(Note to self: Self, get Darren to install office 2010)
(Oh and this allows for posts to be backed up, so if another occurrence of the Great Hacking of 07 occurs, I don’t have to go to Google Cache to find old posts)
So hopefully you will see more posts. Unfortunately, on the train I don’t have wifi access (except when it periodically goes past someone’s house and picks up a signal.
What to do if you’re not going to TCWSNBN
And I’m not at it. And I’m assuming that if you’re here, you’re likely not at it either (and if you are here and at That Conference Which Shall Not Be Named (hereafter TCWSNBN) what the hell are you doing here? Go to a session or talk to someone, or something).
So if you’re all jellus of not being at TCWSNBN, here are some things you can do.
Thing The Firste
If you’re loco local, come to the I’m Not Going to TCWSNBN Pity Party at Barnet Marine Park. Let @Crunchycarpets know too. It’s at 4, so be there or be at TCWSNBN, or be somewhere else.
Benefits: You get to meet a bunch of fantastic, charming, and generally awesome bloggers. And you get to meet me, but I’m not entirely sure that’s a benefit. You also get to meet the Poptart, which is most definitely a benefit.
Thing The Seconde
TCWSNBN At Home – Giveaways! Including swag from TCWSNBN. Chats! Bloghopping! Go!
Benefits: You can stay in your PJs.
Thing the Thirde
#HomeHer10 – created by BackpackingDad. Just use the hashtag on twitter.
Benefits: You can sit in your underwear and do this. Or pajamas. Or naked, but you don’t need to let everyone know that. There’s such a thing as TMI on Twitter.
I will be at Thing the First, and hopefully manage to do some bloghopping for Thing the Seconde.
So if you’re here from TCWSNBN at Home, welcome!
Overheard: Why tweeting well is the best revenge
The Scene: Darren and I are on the train coming home from work. I left early because my right hand is gimped and I had a doctor’s appointment. There’s a cluster of four women across the aisle and behind us who are Very Loud Indeed.
Darren: Look like someone left the door to the henhouse open again.
[silence]
Sometime later…Me: Can I smack them? Please?
Darren: No, but you can twitter about it later.
Me: But I want to smack them now.
Darren: Well, you see if you smack them now it’ll be all done. If you tweet about it later, it’ll be there forever.
Me: And it’ll be in the Library of Congress! Sweet!
Darren: Exactly.
