The long-awaited (ok, just about a week) iPod Shuffle showed up today. Incidentally, FedEx Ground's online tracking system sucks. I think they update it once a day, in the dead of night. With something useless like "Arrived at FedEx location" or "Departed FedEx location".
My favorite, though, is the email notification system that only emails you when it's been delivered. Well, duh. I already knew that because I have the freakin' package in my hand.
I worked from home for the first half of the day today to wait for the box, since it required a signature (at least the tracking site told me that). The Shuffle is actually even smaller than I thought. It's cute and doesn't seem nearly as fragile as the nano. I loaded it up with 168 songs (1GB) so now I'm ready to rock. I guess the 240 songs claim is if you use the Apple format for all of them. MP3s are bigger (nearly twice as big, it seems) so I got less songs. I'm definitely glad I got the 1GB player - it should last me a while before I have to switch out the songs.
Now I'm rocking out to the Black Eyed Peas' "Monkey Business". I LOVE this album. How can you not love a hip-hop album that has a song in Tagalog, and a sample of a Sting song!
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
If you want to destroy my sweater
I went shopping today. Bought two sweaters and a long sleeved shirt. I guess I'm finally admitting that summer might be over. I also bought a really cool sterling silver necklace with a star hanging from the clasp for $30, marked down from $120. I love finding deals like that - Macy's jewelry clearance has some pretty good stuff if you look hard. It's nice having some disposable income. I have some pretty strict criteria for purchases, though - I have to absolutely love it before I buy it. That makes me feel better about the money I spend. There are actually shopping trips where I come home empty-handed. That never used to happen!
I tried on a bunch of clothes and I am happy to report I am definitely a size 12 now, no question. Woo hoo. A few more pounds lost, and I'll weigh less than Tyra Banks, famous supermodel. (We'll ignore the fact that she's about 7 inches taller than I am...)
Spike is communing with his Squeaker, Peanut is flopped in the exercise room, and TJ is walking on the treadmill watching some awful Western. I'm just waiting for the new Law and Order episode to start so we can watch it together. Work is crazy busy, mostly because I'm still catching up from being sick. But busy is good and I love what I'm doing at work.
Well, it's L&O time. See ya later!
I tried on a bunch of clothes and I am happy to report I am definitely a size 12 now, no question. Woo hoo. A few more pounds lost, and I'll weigh less than Tyra Banks, famous supermodel. (We'll ignore the fact that she's about 7 inches taller than I am...)
Spike is communing with his Squeaker, Peanut is flopped in the exercise room, and TJ is walking on the treadmill watching some awful Western. I'm just waiting for the new Law and Order episode to start so we can watch it together. Work is crazy busy, mostly because I'm still catching up from being sick. But busy is good and I love what I'm doing at work.
Well, it's L&O time. See ya later!
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
I'd just stare out my window
It's nearly midnight and I can't sleep. I came home early from work and slept for 2 hours because my cough was worse today. My own fault, I guess, because I didn't use the inhaler in the morning. It makes me shaky and I don't like it. But I guess the alternative is to keep coughing, so I guess I'll live with shaky.
We watched Commander in Chief" today - the new show with Geena Davis as the first female president. I really wanted to like it. It wasn't as horrible as it could have been, but it just seemed like a bad West Wing ripoff. Geena Davis had some damn fine presidential suits though - it *almost* made me wish I had to dress up for work. I'm willing to give the show another shot. The background music was really cheesy and the dialog not much better. Oh well, I don't really *need* another TV show to watch.
School starts on Saturday - woo hoo! I think I've finally recovered from my summer class and am ready to start again. Hopefully Technical Writing will be interesting, and from the sounds of the course description, will actually be something I can use at work. We learn about writing RFPs, marketing docs, help docs, etc. Should be fun, plus I have those new textbooks, TabletPC and messenger bag for my first day of school! I'm such a geek.
Well, I should try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is almost all meetings for me. Boo.
We watched Commander in Chief" today - the new show with Geena Davis as the first female president. I really wanted to like it. It wasn't as horrible as it could have been, but it just seemed like a bad West Wing ripoff. Geena Davis had some damn fine presidential suits though - it *almost* made me wish I had to dress up for work. I'm willing to give the show another shot. The background music was really cheesy and the dialog not much better. Oh well, I don't really *need* another TV show to watch.
School starts on Saturday - woo hoo! I think I've finally recovered from my summer class and am ready to start again. Hopefully Technical Writing will be interesting, and from the sounds of the course description, will actually be something I can use at work. We learn about writing RFPs, marketing docs, help docs, etc. Should be fun, plus I have those new textbooks, TabletPC and messenger bag for my first day of school! I'm such a geek.
Well, I should try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is almost all meetings for me. Boo.
Monday, September 26, 2005
An's Book Club #6: The King of Torts, John Grisham
Grade: D
Yes, I admit it. I've read almost all of John Grisham's books, except for the cheeseball Christmas story one and the other one he wrote about his childhood in the South, or whatever. I *love* Law and Order, so it's not a surprise I like his legal thrillers.
But this book absolutely sucked. So much, in fact, that I could not finish it. I was *that* bored. Despite being on a 5 hour flight from Atlanta to Seattle, I could not keep reading this book. Boring, one dimensional characters. Horribly boring plot (if it could be called that). I made it about halfway through the book and decided that listening to music on my iRiver, staring out the window into the pitch blackness, and catching up on sleep was a better plan.
Don't waste your time. Don't read this book. Even if it's free and you're stuck on a desert island.
Yes, I admit it. I've read almost all of John Grisham's books, except for the cheeseball Christmas story one and the other one he wrote about his childhood in the South, or whatever. I *love* Law and Order, so it's not a surprise I like his legal thrillers.
But this book absolutely sucked. So much, in fact, that I could not finish it. I was *that* bored. Despite being on a 5 hour flight from Atlanta to Seattle, I could not keep reading this book. Boring, one dimensional characters. Horribly boring plot (if it could be called that). I made it about halfway through the book and decided that listening to music on my iRiver, staring out the window into the pitch blackness, and catching up on sleep was a better plan.
Don't waste your time. Don't read this book. Even if it's free and you're stuck on a desert island.
He said she reminds him of me
Well, it's week 4 of the Cough that Won't Go Away. How annoying. I haven't been to the gym in the entire month of September. I can feel my muscles wasting away. I guess I should be happy that I actually *want* to go to the gym, cuz that almost never happens!
I did pretty well on the WW plan this week, even including my nacho splurge on Wednesday (planned). I think the medications and lack of exercise screwed things up, though, because I was up half a pound. But just to make myself feel better, I weighed myself this morning and was down two pounds from last week. But since it's not my Official Weight Tracking Day, I won't count it.
The (sort of) cool thing is that I felt really ill on Saturday night after eating a bunch of junk (soda, chips, pizza, etc.) that we had when we played poker. I guess I'm slowly getting used to eating healthy food again.
The Ruddock House Poker Tournament turned out to be more of a low-key poker night, where we just played Dealer's Choice. Leslie has got an encyclopedic knowledge of poker games - who knew?
On Saturday we went to the Seahawks-Cardinals football game. TJ bought us season tickets for the remaining 7 games. The seats were pretty good, and I now understand enough football to make it sort of interesting. We're also right near the lounge, which is a nice warm indoor area that will come in handy when it's really cold out. Football, as it turns out, doesn't have the most diverse crowd. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised...
Tip of the day: Do not use "Simple Green" cleaner. It smells nasty and I highly doubt it's that environmentally friendly. I like Restoration Hardware's Surface Cleaner instead - lovely scents, works great, and definitely non-toxic.
I did pretty well on the WW plan this week, even including my nacho splurge on Wednesday (planned). I think the medications and lack of exercise screwed things up, though, because I was up half a pound. But just to make myself feel better, I weighed myself this morning and was down two pounds from last week. But since it's not my Official Weight Tracking Day, I won't count it.
The (sort of) cool thing is that I felt really ill on Saturday night after eating a bunch of junk (soda, chips, pizza, etc.) that we had when we played poker. I guess I'm slowly getting used to eating healthy food again.
The Ruddock House Poker Tournament turned out to be more of a low-key poker night, where we just played Dealer's Choice. Leslie has got an encyclopedic knowledge of poker games - who knew?
On Saturday we went to the Seahawks-Cardinals football game. TJ bought us season tickets for the remaining 7 games. The seats were pretty good, and I now understand enough football to make it sort of interesting. We're also right near the lounge, which is a nice warm indoor area that will come in handy when it's really cold out. Football, as it turns out, doesn't have the most diverse crowd. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised...
Tip of the day: Do not use "Simple Green" cleaner. It smells nasty and I highly doubt it's that environmentally friendly. I like Restoration Hardware's Surface Cleaner instead - lovely scents, works great, and definitely non-toxic.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Snapping her fingers and...
I just did it. I broke down and bought the 1GB iPod Shuffle. This is the 4th MP3 player I've bought in 7 years. The very first one had 64MB storage (imagine that!), which was replaced by a free one I got in 2000 as a Christmas present for working on a consulting project at ChevronTexaco, which held 192MB. That one served me well into this year, holding about 3 hours of WMA format music.
Then I wanted more. I wanted a 20GB iPod, but it was just too expensive and you had to buy all the accessories separately. So I bought the iRiver iHP-120 which also has an FM tuner (great for watching TV at the gym) and can be used to transfer data files as well. One drawback was that I had to re-burn all my music in MP3 format so I could use the "shuffle" feature of the iRiver. So I'm still working on that, what with the 200+ CDs we own. But it's nice to have that much space and tons of music, especially for long plane flights. Unfortunately, I also discovered that brisk walking (and definitely running) with the iRiver caused all sorts of skipping, due to the moving parts of the hard drive.
I needed a flash memory-based player with no moving parts. I really thought hard about the brand spankin new iPod nano, which is a work of art.
However, it seems a bit more fragile than the Shuffle, and I don't really need the color LCD screen or the worry that I might sit on it and snap it in two. The 1GB shuffle is half the price of the 4GB nano, and I don't really need more than 500 songs anyway. That's what my iRiver is for.
So I bought the 1GB shuffle, and with the Apple student discount, it came to less than $130. It includes the lanyard thing to hang it around your neck. I'll start with that. My new toy should arrive sometime next week. Yay! Maybe by then I'll be ready to go back to the gym.
Then I wanted more. I wanted a 20GB iPod, but it was just too expensive and you had to buy all the accessories separately. So I bought the iRiver iHP-120 which also has an FM tuner (great for watching TV at the gym) and can be used to transfer data files as well. One drawback was that I had to re-burn all my music in MP3 format so I could use the "shuffle" feature of the iRiver. So I'm still working on that, what with the 200+ CDs we own. But it's nice to have that much space and tons of music, especially for long plane flights. Unfortunately, I also discovered that brisk walking (and definitely running) with the iRiver caused all sorts of skipping, due to the moving parts of the hard drive.
I needed a flash memory-based player with no moving parts. I really thought hard about the brand spankin new iPod nano, which is a work of art.
However, it seems a bit more fragile than the Shuffle, and I don't really need the color LCD screen or the worry that I might sit on it and snap it in two. The 1GB shuffle is half the price of the 4GB nano, and I don't really need more than 500 songs anyway. That's what my iRiver is for.
So I bought the 1GB shuffle, and with the Apple student discount, it came to less than $130. It includes the lanyard thing to hang it around your neck. I'll start with that. My new toy should arrive sometime next week. Yay! Maybe by then I'll be ready to go back to the gym.
Just another day
Lots of random ramblings today, nothing coherent.
Spike is still obsessed with the blue Cuz toy. Unfortunately it violates our size rule, which means it can get stuck under the couch, and then Spike will whine and bark until you come and rescue it for him. We really need to put something along the bottom of our couches so that the dog toys can't get stuck down there.
Went to lunch at Flo Japanese restaurant in Bellevue today to say goodbye to a coworker Jack, who's leaving to work at Google in the Bay Area. Jack is super smart and I know he'll do well. The sushi was great, and it was a fun group of people (coworkers from my old group at Microsoft). I'll definitely go back to the restaurant. Sushi is the only way I can eat fish - I hate cooked salmon, halibut, etc.
Went back to the doctor today as my cough is worse, though I've been taking the steroids and antibiotic diligently. Chest XRay yielded nothing (except maybe some unnecessary radiation exposure for me). She gave me an inhaler prescription. I'm not comfortable taking 4 prescription drugs at once so I think I'll just ignore the inhaler until the steroids and antibiotics are finished. I may also switch doctors as she hasn't been able to diagnose any of the cough or sinus problems I've had in the past couple of years. She's very nice and actually calls to follow up, though, which is rare for a doctor. But if she doesn't know what's wrong with me, I guess I'm just wasting my time.
Played some catchup at work this week, but it's slow since I'm not feeling 100%. Company Meeting tomorrow, should be fun. Hopefully it won't be as cold as it was in 2003, though the fleece blankets they gave away were a nice perk. I'm dressing warmly just in case. I'll need to pack some healthy snacks as the box lunches aren't usually that good (or healthy) and it's a long time to sit there without a snack.
Hope your week has been going well!
Spike is still obsessed with the blue Cuz toy. Unfortunately it violates our size rule, which means it can get stuck under the couch, and then Spike will whine and bark until you come and rescue it for him. We really need to put something along the bottom of our couches so that the dog toys can't get stuck down there.
Went to lunch at Flo Japanese restaurant in Bellevue today to say goodbye to a coworker Jack, who's leaving to work at Google in the Bay Area. Jack is super smart and I know he'll do well. The sushi was great, and it was a fun group of people (coworkers from my old group at Microsoft). I'll definitely go back to the restaurant. Sushi is the only way I can eat fish - I hate cooked salmon, halibut, etc.
Went back to the doctor today as my cough is worse, though I've been taking the steroids and antibiotic diligently. Chest XRay yielded nothing (except maybe some unnecessary radiation exposure for me). She gave me an inhaler prescription. I'm not comfortable taking 4 prescription drugs at once so I think I'll just ignore the inhaler until the steroids and antibiotics are finished. I may also switch doctors as she hasn't been able to diagnose any of the cough or sinus problems I've had in the past couple of years. She's very nice and actually calls to follow up, though, which is rare for a doctor. But if she doesn't know what's wrong with me, I guess I'm just wasting my time.
Played some catchup at work this week, but it's slow since I'm not feeling 100%. Company Meeting tomorrow, should be fun. Hopefully it won't be as cold as it was in 2003, though the fleece blankets they gave away were a nice perk. I'm dressing warmly just in case. I'll need to pack some healthy snacks as the box lunches aren't usually that good (or healthy) and it's a long time to sit there without a snack.
Hope your week has been going well!
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
We're here where the daylight begins
Yay! Vienna Teng is coming to play the Triple Door in downtown Seattle in November. I've seen her live 3 times already in Seattle and her music and performances are awesome. Plus, she has a CS degree from Stanford and used to be a software engineer at Cisco. What's not to love?
Not to mention the Triple Door is my absolute fave place to see a show these days. They have actual tables and booths, and you order food from the Wild Ginger menu, which includes some truly decadent desserts. What could be better than awesome live music in a great setting with yummy food?
I've got about 3 friends interested in going with me so far. I can't wait!
Not to mention the Triple Door is my absolute fave place to see a show these days. They have actual tables and booths, and you order food from the Wild Ginger menu, which includes some truly decadent desserts. What could be better than awesome live music in a great setting with yummy food?
I've got about 3 friends interested in going with me so far. I can't wait!
Monday, September 19, 2005
Better than anything else that I've tried
Spike and Peanut each got a new toy this weekend. Spike got the small blue Cuz and Peanut got the giant green Cuz. I selected the colors carefully at Urban Dogs in Bell Square last weekend because I read somewhere blue and green are the only colors dogs can see. Based on the prices I've seen on the Internet, it appears I got ripped off. It's such a cute store, though, and Spike and Peanut loooooove their new toys.
Actually they both love the small blue Cuz since it squeaks easier and the green one is too heavy for either of them to easily pick up. But Peanut is learning the difference between his "green toy" and Spike's "squeaker" and Spike seems to be catching on too (sort of. as much as a beagle can, I guess).
There was some toy contention today, but Spike held his ground, growled at the Peanut, and the Peanut backed off. Go Spike!!
Is it any wonder
Um, I just counted 9 different kinds of cheese in our fridge, and only two were TJ's (Velveeta slices for The Sandwich and shredded mozzarella for Boboli, pizza, etc.)
Hmmm, d'ya think that's why I've been dieting half my life?!!
Hmmm, d'ya think that's why I've been dieting half my life?!!
Your anger looks so ugly
First it was Roid Rage Peanut, now watch out for Roid Rage An!
I went back to the doctor today as it's getting annoying that I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in two weeks, thanks to this cough, and a week's worth of antibiotics haven't made any difference. Lucky me - I got a prescription for more antibiotics, prednisone (scary-ass steroid) and a cough syrup with codeine. So I guess I'll be pretty loopy. And angry.
TJ thinks I should take this opportunity to go to the gym and build up some muscle. Which I may need to, since prednisone makes you gain weight. BOO!
Apparently I'm not well enough to go back to work yet. Just finding a parking space this morning made me really, really tired. But I had some urgent things to take care of, and I got my email Inbox down below 100 items, so I feel a bit better. Plus the constant hacking and snorking is unpleasant for my co-workers.
Spike has a doctor's appointment today too. One of his problems is too private to discuss here so I won't. He also yakked on the carpet, shivered with chills, and coughed and sneezed a bunch yesterday, so I'm really hoping he doesn't have an infection of some sort. Did I make my dog sick? Wow, that makes me feel like a horrible person.
The cooking adventure worked out well yesterday, except for the surprise of the Tex-Mex Mac n cheese really being more of a pasta salad. (Note to self: read all cooking instructions before starting.)
I made a batch of the No Pudge fat free brownies and they are divine. TJ was really surprised they're nonfat. (This from the guy who has rejected diet Coke, diet Coke with Splenda, C2, and Coke Zero, saying that all of them taste like diet drinks.) I'm happy because a small chunk of brownie is plenty sweet and chocolaty and makes me not miss the 7 layer chocolate cake we used to get nearly every week at Claim Jumper. Yes, my eating habits were really that bad.
Well, wish me luck with the steroids. I have to take 6 pills at once since they're very small. Lame. But I'll stop whining now - I need to go prepare the treat bag (e.g. bribes) for Spike's trip to the doctor so he won't try to hide in the corner (or worse, bite) when the doctor pokes at him.
I went back to the doctor today as it's getting annoying that I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in two weeks, thanks to this cough, and a week's worth of antibiotics haven't made any difference. Lucky me - I got a prescription for more antibiotics, prednisone (scary-ass steroid) and a cough syrup with codeine. So I guess I'll be pretty loopy. And angry.
TJ thinks I should take this opportunity to go to the gym and build up some muscle. Which I may need to, since prednisone makes you gain weight. BOO!
Apparently I'm not well enough to go back to work yet. Just finding a parking space this morning made me really, really tired. But I had some urgent things to take care of, and I got my email Inbox down below 100 items, so I feel a bit better. Plus the constant hacking and snorking is unpleasant for my co-workers.
Spike has a doctor's appointment today too. One of his problems is too private to discuss here so I won't. He also yakked on the carpet, shivered with chills, and coughed and sneezed a bunch yesterday, so I'm really hoping he doesn't have an infection of some sort. Did I make my dog sick? Wow, that makes me feel like a horrible person.
The cooking adventure worked out well yesterday, except for the surprise of the Tex-Mex Mac n cheese really being more of a pasta salad. (Note to self: read all cooking instructions before starting.)
I made a batch of the No Pudge fat free brownies and they are divine. TJ was really surprised they're nonfat. (This from the guy who has rejected diet Coke, diet Coke with Splenda, C2, and Coke Zero, saying that all of them taste like diet drinks.) I'm happy because a small chunk of brownie is plenty sweet and chocolaty and makes me not miss the 7 layer chocolate cake we used to get nearly every week at Claim Jumper. Yes, my eating habits were really that bad.
Well, wish me luck with the steroids. I have to take 6 pills at once since they're very small. Lame. But I'll stop whining now - I need to go prepare the treat bag (e.g. bribes) for Spike's trip to the doctor so he won't try to hide in the corner (or worse, bite) when the doctor pokes at him.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
A little piece of heaven
I'm listening to a horrendous remix of Roxette's (?) "Listen to Your Heart" on XM Radio. I was trying to stay in touch with "music these days" by listening to the Top 20 Hits channel. Most of the songs are R&B crap. I did hear a couple of decent rap songs, and some crappy pseudo-rock (a la 3 Doors Down, etc.)
I lost two pounds this week. Woo hoo!
I was a little afraid since Leslie, TJ, and I went out to dinner at Ibiza Dinner Club with Paul, a Caltech friend from Portland we haven't seen in years, and his lovely wife Trista who we'd never met before. It was a fun time. The food wasn't spectacular, but it was good, and rich. We got a bunch of tapas to share. Except for TJ who just got a big old steak. Try the churros for dessert - they look like they're made out of Play-Doh but they're really, really good. Especially when dipped in the chocolate sauce.
Leslie mentioned the restaurant looked like places in Miami, which is the kind of look they're going for, according to the reviews I read. It wasn't as full of the "beautiful people" as I thought it would be. Maybe they show up later in the evening, when the band starts. There were some bouncer guys out front when we left, with the velvet ropes set up (and absolutely no one in line!).
TJ went to the track again today, and is going back tomorrow. Zoom!
I'm still getting over this stupid cough. I did get out of the house today to get a haircut and manicure so I look much more presentable now. Let me repeat: Lindsay at Paule Attar is a genius when it comes to hair. If I ever become really, really rich like Oprah, I will pay Lindsay handsomely to be my Andre.
I have a full day of grocery shopping and cooking ahead of me tomorrow. Here's what's on the menu: Tex-Mex mac n' cheese, chipotle turkey and corn soup, another zucchini/mushroom/onion quiche (I devoured a whole one over the past week), green bean and tomato salad. Except for the quiche, all of the recipes are from the September issue of Cooking Light magazine. (Thanks Muffie and Karen for the awesome wedding present!).
If I'm feeling ok, I may go for a walk outside - it's been weeks since I got any exercise. The Extreme Body Makeover class just isn't going to work out for me this month (sorry Lisa!) as I'm still trying to get rid of this cough and it's already week 3, and I haven't been to a single class yet. Except for the first one where they took our measurements.
What are your Sunday plans?
I lost two pounds this week. Woo hoo!
I was a little afraid since Leslie, TJ, and I went out to dinner at Ibiza Dinner Club with Paul, a Caltech friend from Portland we haven't seen in years, and his lovely wife Trista who we'd never met before. It was a fun time. The food wasn't spectacular, but it was good, and rich. We got a bunch of tapas to share. Except for TJ who just got a big old steak. Try the churros for dessert - they look like they're made out of Play-Doh but they're really, really good. Especially when dipped in the chocolate sauce.
Leslie mentioned the restaurant looked like places in Miami, which is the kind of look they're going for, according to the reviews I read. It wasn't as full of the "beautiful people" as I thought it would be. Maybe they show up later in the evening, when the band starts. There were some bouncer guys out front when we left, with the velvet ropes set up (and absolutely no one in line!).
TJ went to the track again today, and is going back tomorrow. Zoom!
I'm still getting over this stupid cough. I did get out of the house today to get a haircut and manicure so I look much more presentable now. Let me repeat: Lindsay at Paule Attar is a genius when it comes to hair. If I ever become really, really rich like Oprah, I will pay Lindsay handsomely to be my Andre.
I have a full day of grocery shopping and cooking ahead of me tomorrow. Here's what's on the menu: Tex-Mex mac n' cheese, chipotle turkey and corn soup, another zucchini/mushroom/onion quiche (I devoured a whole one over the past week), green bean and tomato salad. Except for the quiche, all of the recipes are from the September issue of Cooking Light magazine. (Thanks Muffie and Karen for the awesome wedding present!).
If I'm feeling ok, I may go for a walk outside - it's been weeks since I got any exercise. The Extreme Body Makeover class just isn't going to work out for me this month (sorry Lisa!) as I'm still trying to get rid of this cough and it's already week 3, and I haven't been to a single class yet. Except for the first one where they took our measurements.
What are your Sunday plans?
Thursday, September 15, 2005
By my side
Ick. I've been sick for over a week and a half now and am so tired of being confined to the house. Unfortunately I'm too tired to do anything but check email occasionally and watch TV, and nap.
Rock Star: INXS was a *huge* disappointment last night. They cut Suzie loose, and she's clearly the best singer in the bunch. I don't understand that rationale, unless they were never going to choose a woman (which seems likely). Now I'm not sure I care to watch the finale as I genuinely have no preference between MiG, Marty and J.D. MiG sucked last night -- I can't believe he got to stay.
Spike is sleeping on the floor next to the computer and is vigorously wagging his tail in his sleep. I'm glad he's happy. We slept in Dog Bed last night and it was somewhat unpleasant with Spike trying to push me off the bed, and Peanut constantly getting in and out of the bed, and swatting me to "ask" each time if he could get in the bed. I guess that's a testament to TJ's good training, but heck, at 3am, just get in the bed and be quiet about it!
Well, time for another nap. I'm a little stressed about missing a week of work, but I need to relax in order to get better. Boo.
Rock Star: INXS was a *huge* disappointment last night. They cut Suzie loose, and she's clearly the best singer in the bunch. I don't understand that rationale, unless they were never going to choose a woman (which seems likely). Now I'm not sure I care to watch the finale as I genuinely have no preference between MiG, Marty and J.D. MiG sucked last night -- I can't believe he got to stay.
Spike is sleeping on the floor next to the computer and is vigorously wagging his tail in his sleep. I'm glad he's happy. We slept in Dog Bed last night and it was somewhat unpleasant with Spike trying to push me off the bed, and Peanut constantly getting in and out of the bed, and swatting me to "ask" each time if he could get in the bed. I guess that's a testament to TJ's good training, but heck, at 3am, just get in the bed and be quiet about it!
Well, time for another nap. I'm a little stressed about missing a week of work, but I need to relax in order to get better. Boo.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
An's Book Club #5: Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure, Sarah MacDonald
Grade: A
I found this book at my parents' house last month. It was hilarious and extremely easy to read.
Sarah is an Australian 30-something former reporter who moves to India for 2 years to be with her boyfriend who is working there as a journalist. She paints a very accurate picture of a Westerner's impression of the daily life in India - interactions with the household staff, the poverty, dirt, and traffic, etc. But this isn't a whiny travelogue - it's also a pretty interesting survey of the many different religious traditions (some mainstream and others that are way out there).
This book definitely doesn't romanticize India and typically didn't get stuck in the usual cliches (though it seems she thought every Indian woman she ran into was gorgeous, and somehow I find that hard to believe). Reading this made me so glad to live in my comfortable, temperature-controlled house, with clean running water and no bugs. But then again, I don't have a particularly adventurous soul.
I found this book at my parents' house last month. It was hilarious and extremely easy to read.
Sarah is an Australian 30-something former reporter who moves to India for 2 years to be with her boyfriend who is working there as a journalist. She paints a very accurate picture of a Westerner's impression of the daily life in India - interactions with the household staff, the poverty, dirt, and traffic, etc. But this isn't a whiny travelogue - it's also a pretty interesting survey of the many different religious traditions (some mainstream and others that are way out there).
This book definitely doesn't romanticize India and typically didn't get stuck in the usual cliches (though it seems she thought every Indian woman she ran into was gorgeous, and somehow I find that hard to believe). Reading this made me so glad to live in my comfortable, temperature-controlled house, with clean running water and no bugs. But then again, I don't have a particularly adventurous soul.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
An's Book Club #4: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
Grade: A+
Yikes! It's been about a week since TJ and I finished reading this book but I needed some time to recover from my shock before writing about it. First, I'd like to thank Kristine for buying this for us as a wedding present - what a nice surprise to get it in the mail!
As with all Harry Potter books, we read this one to each other out loud. (And to answer the question everyone always asks, no we don't do different voices.) I like sharing these books with him, instead of reading it separately and waiting for him to finish so we can talk about it, plus, I read really fast when I read to myself, and often miss things. Reading aloud ensures that I keep to a slower pace, and then I get to read (or hear) every word. It's a nice way to savor the Harry Potter series, which by far, are my favorite books EVER.
The book was very dark. I like how the writing and plot is maturing with the characters. I was really angry and sad about the death in this book, but it was amazingly well-written and I absolutely can't wait until Book 7 to see how she wraps up the whole thing. There was less plot in this one, and more background, and more about the character's daily lives (lots of teenage kissing!). As always there were several laugh out loud funny parts, especially snide comments made by Ron. The movie will be truly frightening, I'm sure.
The author actually did less recap than in other books, which was nice. If you've made it this far into the series, you probably know what happened in the other books. I found it useful to re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before diving into this one, as it's been a long time since we read that one. That was extremely helpful, though re-reading Books 4 and 5 would have been ideal.
Even if you're not into "fantasy" books, I recommend this series. I have very little patience for things that aren't "real" (ask me how much I hate "Star Trek" and most sci-fi) but this series has such a well-developed framework and is "real enough" that it's extremely enjoyable. Not to mention that Hogwarts Scool of Witchcraft and Wizardry seems an awful lot like Caltech. I will use this time to liken Snape to Prof. Fuller, as the professor who I kept having to take classes from though I hated them. Bah!
Yikes! It's been about a week since TJ and I finished reading this book but I needed some time to recover from my shock before writing about it. First, I'd like to thank Kristine for buying this for us as a wedding present - what a nice surprise to get it in the mail!
As with all Harry Potter books, we read this one to each other out loud. (And to answer the question everyone always asks, no we don't do different voices.) I like sharing these books with him, instead of reading it separately and waiting for him to finish so we can talk about it, plus, I read really fast when I read to myself, and often miss things. Reading aloud ensures that I keep to a slower pace, and then I get to read (or hear) every word. It's a nice way to savor the Harry Potter series, which by far, are my favorite books EVER.
The book was very dark. I like how the writing and plot is maturing with the characters. I was really angry and sad about the death in this book, but it was amazingly well-written and I absolutely can't wait until Book 7 to see how she wraps up the whole thing. There was less plot in this one, and more background, and more about the character's daily lives (lots of teenage kissing!). As always there were several laugh out loud funny parts, especially snide comments made by Ron. The movie will be truly frightening, I'm sure.
The author actually did less recap than in other books, which was nice. If you've made it this far into the series, you probably know what happened in the other books. I found it useful to re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before diving into this one, as it's been a long time since we read that one. That was extremely helpful, though re-reading Books 4 and 5 would have been ideal.
Even if you're not into "fantasy" books, I recommend this series. I have very little patience for things that aren't "real" (ask me how much I hate "Star Trek" and most sci-fi) but this series has such a well-developed framework and is "real enough" that it's extremely enjoyable. Not to mention that Hogwarts Scool of Witchcraft and Wizardry seems an awful lot like Caltech. I will use this time to liken Snape to Prof. Fuller, as the professor who I kept having to take classes from though I hated them. Bah!
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Like a complete unknown
Back from Tucson. Grandparents happy to see us.
Awful, hacking cough. Fixed blog colors. Appreciate honest comments. Need Nyquil and sleep.
More tomorrow. Peace out.
Awful, hacking cough. Fixed blog colors. Appreciate honest comments. Need Nyquil and sleep.
More tomorrow. Peace out.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
How does it feel?
Still playing around with the "look" of the page. Lord knows I was never meant to be a graphic designer. Bear with me - I'll get it right eventually!
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Make me beautiful
I changed the look of the blog a little. I wanted a template a bit different from the limited (though nice) selection on Blogger. I got the neato biology graphic from Hoover Web Design. Whaddya think?
What can I say?
I'm sick ;( Boo. I missed Extreme Body Makeover, which, as it turns out, got cancelled since the instructor was sick too.
We're going to Tucson this weekend for TJ's grandmother's 90th birthday, so I hope to recover before that. Being sick on a plane is *not* fun. I'm excited because we'll be staying at the Arizona Inn, which is supposed to be pretty nice, and is also supposed to have a lovely Sunday brunch, which we're eating with the family.
I dragged myself out of bed to go to my UW Bothell advising appointment today, which was surprisingly helpful even though I've been stalking the course listings and planning my schedule online for months now. The advisor, Dina, was great. She even suggested that I should apply for jobs when I get close to finishing the program in order to negotiate a better salary or better role. It's something I hadn't even thought about. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll hate programming when I'm forced to do a lot of it. Turns out that even if I only take 1 class per quarter, I can graduate by Winter 2009. That sounds like a long way off, but it's really not bad and the courseload shouldn't be too painful that way. I can also take Summer and another quarter off per year, if I need to, without any problems. She said about 50% of the students in the program are "nontraditional" like me. Woo hoo!
So I've decided to take Technical Writing this quarter, on Saturdays. I ordered my new pink messenger bag from eBags. It was much cheaper than the Timbuk2 and some of the money goes to a good cause (Susan G Komen foundation for breast cancer research). If it's a horrible bag, I'll go back and order the Timbuk2.
I have been stalking my TabletPC via FedEx, and it's now in Seattle. I think it should show up at our mailroom tomorrow, and should be in my grubby little hands on Thursday. Yay!!
I also ordered my books on Barnes and Noble online - they were cheaper there than the University Bookstore, and also less hassle since they'll just be sent to me. Class starts October 1, and runs for 10 weeks. I'm pretty excited. I love the chance to do college over again now that I'm "older and wiser". Or just older anyway! Plus, CS is just cool.
Off to watch Rock Star:INXS and consume more hot tea. Where is everyone lately? I've gotten hardly any comments on the last couple of posts. Makes me feel lonely. (sniff).
We're going to Tucson this weekend for TJ's grandmother's 90th birthday, so I hope to recover before that. Being sick on a plane is *not* fun. I'm excited because we'll be staying at the Arizona Inn, which is supposed to be pretty nice, and is also supposed to have a lovely Sunday brunch, which we're eating with the family.
I dragged myself out of bed to go to my UW Bothell advising appointment today, which was surprisingly helpful even though I've been stalking the course listings and planning my schedule online for months now. The advisor, Dina, was great. She even suggested that I should apply for jobs when I get close to finishing the program in order to negotiate a better salary or better role. It's something I hadn't even thought about. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll hate programming when I'm forced to do a lot of it. Turns out that even if I only take 1 class per quarter, I can graduate by Winter 2009. That sounds like a long way off, but it's really not bad and the courseload shouldn't be too painful that way. I can also take Summer and another quarter off per year, if I need to, without any problems. She said about 50% of the students in the program are "nontraditional" like me. Woo hoo!
So I've decided to take Technical Writing this quarter, on Saturdays. I ordered my new pink messenger bag from eBags. It was much cheaper than the Timbuk2 and some of the money goes to a good cause (Susan G Komen foundation for breast cancer research). If it's a horrible bag, I'll go back and order the Timbuk2.
I have been stalking my TabletPC via FedEx, and it's now in Seattle. I think it should show up at our mailroom tomorrow, and should be in my grubby little hands on Thursday. Yay!!
I also ordered my books on Barnes and Noble online - they were cheaper there than the University Bookstore, and also less hassle since they'll just be sent to me. Class starts October 1, and runs for 10 weeks. I'm pretty excited. I love the chance to do college over again now that I'm "older and wiser". Or just older anyway! Plus, CS is just cool.
Off to watch Rock Star:INXS and consume more hot tea. Where is everyone lately? I've gotten hardly any comments on the last couple of posts. Makes me feel lonely. (sniff).
Monday, September 05, 2005
No, I'm not from around here
Went to Bumbershoot today for the first time in 6 years. We left after an hour - there wasn't anyone we really wanted to see and it was really crowded. I bought the tickets a couple of weeks ago so that we could see Garbage on Friday night but TJ was too tired to go on Friday so we went today.
I had some good and bad food experiences today, but thanks to the hourlong walk we took on the Microsoft trail this morning with Peanut and the oodles of walking we did at Bumbershoot, I stayed pretty much "on plan".
First, the pumpkin old fashioned donut at Top Pot. It was good, but I still like Krispy Kreme's pumpkin donut better. I just can't seem to find a donut at Top Pot that is worth the >$1 price. Since I hadn't had lunch, it wasn't an egregious lack of self-discipline, and I ate it without guilt. Yay for me.
Then I saw a booth selling funnel cake at Bumbershoot. Funnel cake is the taste of my childhood - we'd always get it when we went to the amusement park. However, the one I got today was seriously nasty. They didn't even bother to use a funnel to drop the batter into the hot oil, so I got just a big chunk of oil-soaked batter that wasn't even crispy. Just thinking about it makes me nauseous. I ate some and threw the rest away but the damage was done.
After deciding Bumbershoot was not worth the hassle, we went to Sport, a nearby snooty sports bar for lunch. The menu is better than your usual bar menu, and each table has its own TV. TJ let me watch the Food Channel. Yay. I had an awesome flatbread pizza with spicy chicken, avocado, cilantro and salsa. That made me recover from the nasty funnel cake.
I'm coming down with a sore throat. Gotta go make some tea, and make that quiche I've been planning for this week. Hopefully I'll recover in time for tomorrow morning's ungodly early Extreme Body Makeover class. I'm already tired thinking about it. Boo.
I had some good and bad food experiences today, but thanks to the hourlong walk we took on the Microsoft trail this morning with Peanut and the oodles of walking we did at Bumbershoot, I stayed pretty much "on plan".
First, the pumpkin old fashioned donut at Top Pot. It was good, but I still like Krispy Kreme's pumpkin donut better. I just can't seem to find a donut at Top Pot that is worth the >$1 price. Since I hadn't had lunch, it wasn't an egregious lack of self-discipline, and I ate it without guilt. Yay for me.
Then I saw a booth selling funnel cake at Bumbershoot. Funnel cake is the taste of my childhood - we'd always get it when we went to the amusement park. However, the one I got today was seriously nasty. They didn't even bother to use a funnel to drop the batter into the hot oil, so I got just a big chunk of oil-soaked batter that wasn't even crispy. Just thinking about it makes me nauseous. I ate some and threw the rest away but the damage was done.
After deciding Bumbershoot was not worth the hassle, we went to Sport, a nearby snooty sports bar for lunch. The menu is better than your usual bar menu, and each table has its own TV. TJ let me watch the Food Channel. Yay. I had an awesome flatbread pizza with spicy chicken, avocado, cilantro and salsa. That made me recover from the nasty funnel cake.
I'm coming down with a sore throat. Gotta go make some tea, and make that quiche I've been planning for this week. Hopefully I'll recover in time for tomorrow morning's ungodly early Extreme Body Makeover class. I'm already tired thinking about it. Boo.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
I'm free to do what I want, any old time
Hey! This is my 100th post! Woo hoo!
I can't believe it's already Sunday night. This weekend has been quite uneventful. We went to Dave's house for his 30th birthday BBQ, which was fun. Peanut and Ginger were pretty wary of each other but warmed up to chasing each other in the yard. I'm not sure they've really figured out which one is bigger. There was some staring and a little bit of very quiet growling from Peanut when Ginger came and stuck her snout in his face, but all in all, they both behaved well.
Spike got to go to the dog park today with us, all by himself, since we didn't take him over to Dave's. I think he enjoyed it, and we got a little bit of exercise walking around since Spike doesn't run off to the water like Peanut does. So we could choose which way to go and actually make reasonable forward progress.
My UW Bothell advising appointment is on Tuesday. Once I confirm that I'm "allowed" to take only one class, and take quarters off, I'll buy the books for the Technical Writing course. And once my fabulous Tablet PC laptop shows up, I'm going to buy a new bookbag. I love back to school shopping! I've got my eye on a sweet Timbuk2 messenger bag.
Well, since I ate a lot of cookies at Dave's house, I'd better go spend some quality time on the treadmill. I think I have an old episode of Oprah left on the TiVo. We finally stopped recording the Law & Order reruns since I think we've seen all of them at this point. I've replaced it with "The Gilmore Girls". The show's witty banter can get annoying after a while, but I really like the characters. And Alexis Bledel is just too cool. Good times!
I can't believe it's already Sunday night. This weekend has been quite uneventful. We went to Dave's house for his 30th birthday BBQ, which was fun. Peanut and Ginger were pretty wary of each other but warmed up to chasing each other in the yard. I'm not sure they've really figured out which one is bigger. There was some staring and a little bit of very quiet growling from Peanut when Ginger came and stuck her snout in his face, but all in all, they both behaved well.
Spike got to go to the dog park today with us, all by himself, since we didn't take him over to Dave's. I think he enjoyed it, and we got a little bit of exercise walking around since Spike doesn't run off to the water like Peanut does. So we could choose which way to go and actually make reasonable forward progress.
My UW Bothell advising appointment is on Tuesday. Once I confirm that I'm "allowed" to take only one class, and take quarters off, I'll buy the books for the Technical Writing course. And once my fabulous Tablet PC laptop shows up, I'm going to buy a new bookbag. I love back to school shopping! I've got my eye on a sweet Timbuk2 messenger bag.
Well, since I ate a lot of cookies at Dave's house, I'd better go spend some quality time on the treadmill. I think I have an old episode of Oprah left on the TiVo. We finally stopped recording the Law & Order reruns since I think we've seen all of them at this point. I've replaced it with "The Gilmore Girls". The show's witty banter can get annoying after a while, but I really like the characters. And Alexis Bledel is just too cool. Good times!
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Waiting, watching, wishing for something to happen
If you go to Google, there's a link to donate money to the Red Cross for hurricane relief via Amazon.com. Yesterday the site showed $3.3 million donated, and today, the number is up to $6.5 million. That's really impressive. Now if only the local and federal governments could get their act together...
Well, I made it through an entire week on the Weight Watchers plan. (again no small feat for my short attention span!). I love the fact that I can do this completely online, without having to attend meetings with neurotic people who take a spoon to the grocery store and finish an entire half gallon of ice cream by the time they've done their shopping. I kid you not - this is a story I heard in one of my WW meetings in the 90s, before they had the online thing. Which is not to say everyone at those meetings is like that, but there *is* a lot of whining about how folks are powerless against eating this or that. I'm just too harsh when it comes to that stuff. It's a choice, people. Eat it or not, but get over yourself.
The online program has all the information on the Web, and has a cute little food journal/database where you enter in your food for the day and check off how much water you drank and record your exercise, etc. The user interface is pretty fantastic and is "gadgety" enough that it seems like a game to me.
I guess this all paid off because not only did I stay "on plan", but I lost 2 pounds. Woo hoo! And that was even including the Baja Fresh nachos I ate on Wednesday (serious yum!) which I found out later are 35 points on the WW system. To put that in perspective, I only get 22 points for a whole day. But I had enough of the extra weekly Flex points to eat them and it was goooood.
So as my reward, I bought myself a cute new Nike workout T-shirt at Marshall's. I love that store. I also got some gym socks (the cute little ones that don't show over your shoes), a little backpack I can use when walking to work, a nice burnt orange long sleeve Columbia Athletic shirt, a sterling silver bracelet and some silverplated picture frames for the wedding pictures we're framing for our family members. All for <$100. Yay!
Oh, and at work, I am getting a new laptop! I can't wait - it's a Toshiba Portege Tablet PC! I've wanted one of these things ever since they came out. It's supposed to arrive next week and I can't wait. Maybe I'll even be able to take it to Tucson and poke at it on the plane next weekend when we go there for TJ's grandma's 90th birthday. Woo hoo!
Well, off to finish the Harry Potter book. This one is truly shocking. I actually thought I might cry after the last 2 chapters I read. I'm hoping it gets better, but I'm afraid that it might not, and there's only a few chapters left. This one is very dark.
Well, I made it through an entire week on the Weight Watchers plan. (again no small feat for my short attention span!). I love the fact that I can do this completely online, without having to attend meetings with neurotic people who take a spoon to the grocery store and finish an entire half gallon of ice cream by the time they've done their shopping. I kid you not - this is a story I heard in one of my WW meetings in the 90s, before they had the online thing. Which is not to say everyone at those meetings is like that, but there *is* a lot of whining about how folks are powerless against eating this or that. I'm just too harsh when it comes to that stuff. It's a choice, people. Eat it or not, but get over yourself.
The online program has all the information on the Web, and has a cute little food journal/database where you enter in your food for the day and check off how much water you drank and record your exercise, etc. The user interface is pretty fantastic and is "gadgety" enough that it seems like a game to me.
I guess this all paid off because not only did I stay "on plan", but I lost 2 pounds. Woo hoo! And that was even including the Baja Fresh nachos I ate on Wednesday (serious yum!) which I found out later are 35 points on the WW system. To put that in perspective, I only get 22 points for a whole day. But I had enough of the extra weekly Flex points to eat them and it was goooood.
So as my reward, I bought myself a cute new Nike workout T-shirt at Marshall's. I love that store. I also got some gym socks (the cute little ones that don't show over your shoes), a little backpack I can use when walking to work, a nice burnt orange long sleeve Columbia Athletic shirt, a sterling silver bracelet and some silverplated picture frames for the wedding pictures we're framing for our family members. All for <$100. Yay!
Oh, and at work, I am getting a new laptop! I can't wait - it's a Toshiba Portege Tablet PC! I've wanted one of these things ever since they came out. It's supposed to arrive next week and I can't wait. Maybe I'll even be able to take it to Tucson and poke at it on the plane next weekend when we go there for TJ's grandma's 90th birthday. Woo hoo!
Well, off to finish the Harry Potter book. This one is truly shocking. I actually thought I might cry after the last 2 chapters I read. I'm hoping it gets better, but I'm afraid that it might not, and there's only a few chapters left. This one is very dark.