• Sci-Fi teaches us that pacifism sucks. http://bit.ly/oO8h #
• RT @TheBloggess: http://tinyurl.com/ca9so5 This girl is a close friend of mine. Educators? Lawyers? Any advice? #
• @meriwilliams Hey, girl! RU going to SXSW this year? We’re trying to decide whether to drive or fly. #
• 404: Room Not Found http://bit.ly/dQScs Hilarious photo from @kitykity #
• Hey, SLC coworkers looking for a home. It looks like something is coming our way. Check it! http://www.montagecoworking.com/ #

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Just in case I ever want to run for president, I now have the posters to do it.

You can make one for yourself.

• Obamicon.Me – Home

I know it’s possible to do this myself using Photoshop, but this web app made it so easy that I didn’t even have to think about it. Photoshop needs an Obamicon plugin.

Via: susana on Flickr – Photo Sharing!

• Awesome photos from the inauguration. People look like ants! http://tinyurl.com/7j4f83 #
• Downloading Open Office for my Acer. I decided to skip MS Office this time. #

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• Thunderbird: Display images: mailnews.message_display.disable_remote_image should be FALSE http://tinyurl.com/cmbnd7 #
• How to make nail flowers with fingernail polish: http://tinyurl.com/dc6wwp #
• Subwoofer Cat: http://tinyurl.com/6ukakq #

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• Hitting the work HARD today. Check out the Gadgets Page for the CES stuff I saw. Twitter out. #
• How to link to an individual author’s post: http://www.gadgetspage.com/?author=3 #

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I LOVE this video of celebrities talking about their childhood and Barbie.

Kevin Sorbo blew her up into a million pieces with firecrackers. Lisa Edelstein (from House) sent in for a Miss America Barbie Doll and held onto the anger for two years when she never showed up. Michelle Kwan used to make her Barbie figure skate and gave her a haircut.

It all just made me smile to see this.

I think the reason I’m so reluctant to enjoy current science fiction is because I’ve been betrayed so many times. I will fall in love with a television show and it will be canceled three shows into the season. Or, I’ll love a show and it will never get resolved until the network finally cancels it three seasons and too many questions into the plot.

Case in point: there was a show that came out when Mike and I were first married. I think Babylon 5 and Star Trek Deep Space Nine had just started, so that would put it about 1993 or 1994. One of the big three television networks (ABC, I think) thought it would be a good idea to jump on the sci-fi train and came out with a show of their own. It was called Star Raiders or Space Raiders or Space Riders or something generic like that. I asked Mike about it and his fantastic memory found it. Turns out it was called Space Rangers and it was aired on CBS.

I LOVED the show.

It was like an early version of Firefly (another sci-fi show that got canceled WAY too early). There was a guy who had a ship and crew that did odd jobs around space. There was one particular episode where he was trying to impress an alien. He had to compete in a some sort of fight. Before the fight, he said a great speech and tossed his father’s antique coin to the alien. The alien caught it, but the metal in the coin reacted with the alien’s skin, causing burns. He was taken away for trying to hurt the important alien.

That’s the only episode I remember and I’m even sketchy on that one. I couldn’t find ANY record of the existence of this television series that was canceled three episodes into the season. Only Mike was able to dig the show out from the dregs of Google. Here’s what he found:

• Space Rangers
• SCIFI2K: SPACE RANGERS

Yet that vision of the alien catching that coin and the metal searing into his flesh is etched into my mind with a laser. No one on the planet remembers that alien but me and Mike.

THAT’S why I wait until a show is canceled to start watching it. Then I know ahead of time whether it was worth the space in my memory or not.

They aren’t lost to obscurity. You can watch them at NetFlix:

• Netflix: Space Rangers

I did and I took these screen shots of the scene with the silver dollar. Here’s Boon talking about the coin. Yes, that IS Claudia Christian (of Babylon 5 fame) playing the part of Marla (ex-girlfriend of Boon and trade negotiator).

He tosses it to the alien, who catches it. You can see the smoke rising from his palm.

Not even Marla knew that silver was poisonous to V’lons.

The scene was pretty much EXACTLY what I remembered it to be. All in all, Space Rangers was corny and didn’t take itself too seriously. Babylon 5 and Deep Space Nine both were much more serious than this light piece of sci-fi history. CBS axed it earlier than it deserved and that’s EXACTLY why I tend to be gun shy with new science fiction shows on television.

• RT @anntorrence http://is.gd/gonS Check out the zebras she photographed in San Pete County, Utah! Awesome photo, Ann! #

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Can we just take a moment for a much belated review for Star Trek Voyager. When the series came out, I was so disgusted with it that I just stopped watching after the Amelia Earhart episode. They brought in Seven of Nine and I just assumed she was eye candy for the teen-aged boy in every man who watches science fiction.

About two years ago, however, our Tivo started recording episodes of Voyager for me. I would watch an episode and be pleasantly surprised. I still hated Kess. I still thought Seven of Nine was eye candy, but I was willing to take in an episode when I was running on my treadmill.

Something changed about a year ago. I was singularly impressed with the writing on a particular episode with Chakotay (one of my least favorite characters). He was stranded on a planet that was warring. Their language was different and Chakotay found himself involved in their fight against their enemies very quickly. It was such a beautiful episode that I saved it on my Tivo for a long time, watching it over and over. You can see it here:

• YouTube – Voyager 072-Nemesis 1/5

Ever since then, I have watched EVERY episode of Voyager that Tivo has recorded for me. It is now my absolute favorite of the Star Trek collections, knocking out even Captain Kirk and Captain Picard. I even saw an episode with Q in it two nights ago and LIKED it. Q! The epitome of what was WRONG with Star Trek! And I ENJOYED the episode!

We are living in a resurgence of great sci-fi right now. We have Battlestar Galactica, The Chronicles of Sarah Connor, Heroes, Lost, Dr. Who, Torchwood and a bunch of other series that I haven’t been able to keep up with. I haven’t been watching any of them, but I have religiously watched Star Trek Voyager for the last couple of years.

I wonder… In ten years, will I be singing the praises of ten year old sci-fi while persistently ignoring the sci-fi of the present? Why can’t I just get on the train NOW?

• @TheBloggess I’m not a robot. Please follow me back. #
• Thank you, TweetDeck, for bringing back the best of Twitter. http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/ #
• Listening to Couchcast re: CoWork Utah. Is the drive to Orem worth it? http://bit.ly/cNpf #
• @kittygutz In the interview, he said he opened in Orem because he lives there. I’m wishing for a SLC office. I’d pay the $250 a month. #
• @rolandksmith It would be AWESOME if you posted your Provident Living speech on your blog, or have Nina film it & post that. #
• @Knite20 As soon as you open up, tell me. I don’t do much video, but I need an office to see people regularly. #

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I was ecstatic to hear that someone had opened up a coworking place in Utah. It’s called Cowork Utah. Sadly, their only office right now is in Orem, which is a forty-minute drive for me. I know I’d be happier and get more work done at Cowork Utah, but spending an hour and twenty minutes driving to and back from it makes it completely out of the question for me.

I was even MORE tempted when I listened to this Couchcast interview with the founder:

• Interview w/ Jack Hadley :: cowork utah

Ever since that first Hat Factory video about coworking, I have wished for a place in Salt Lake City like it. I even considered opening my own place, but I can’t create everything that I want to exist.

When I talked about it on Twitter, I got this response from Drew Tyler:

Twitter / Drew Tyler: @LauraMoncur Cowork Utah is fantastic! I am creating a video coworking space in Salt Lake or Bountiful in the very near future.

Yes! That would be awesome! Please make it so!

• @WhatAboutMom The true secret to happiness isn’t humility or ignorance. It’s low expectations. #
• Acer Aspire One skins: http://tinyurl.com/a6ooua I just put Laurie’s Garden on my Acer. Looks GREAT! #
• RT @TheBloggess http://tinyurl.com/7jyclk Axis of Awesome 4 Chords. They’re all mackin’ on Let It Be, man! #
• How to make your own lip balm: http://tinyurl.com/5rbmas #
• How Benjamin Button SHOULD have been. Stream starring Whoopie Goldberg: http://www.fearnet.com/shows/stream/index.html #
• BRILLIANT presentation about Chinese Food: http://tinyurl.com/7bjvaq #

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• Lying in bed waiting for sleep to take me. I should probably consider turning off the phone. Home is good. #
• Good morning! In the Mark Miller Toyota waiting room, enjoying their free wifi. #
• Escher’s Cat: http://tinyurl.com/8bwa74 #
• Just downloaded Tweet Deck. It looks like all the cool kids are complaining about it. http://tinyurl.com/9elm33 #

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I’m back in Salt Lake City after a week in Las Vegas. During that time, I became completely adjusted to the warm weather there and the chilly air here is a shock. I know wearing more clothing is the solution, but I was having such a lovely time wearing ballerina slippers with no socks in the spring-like weather down in Nevada. My bulky snow shoes feel like extra weight on my previously liberated feet.

I am waiting at Mark Miller Toyota for new tires for the Prius. It took Mike a month to choose the correct tires for the car that would be good for both the winter roads and our gas mileage. Rumors on the forums of tires that drop your mileage from 46 mpg down to 22 mpg were enough to make Mike do the extra research. For the record, the Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grid 195/55R16 for the Prius Touring edition 16″ rims are what we went with. I’ll tell you in a month or so whether our mileage is as good.

Okay, that’s a lie. You’ll probably never hear about my tires again unless they are HORRIBLE. I’m really just putting that information here so that in three years when we need a new set, I’ll be able to remember what we got before.

I feel like I’m finally coming out of a fog that has been over me for months, maybe years. I feel like I’m thinking a little clearer and things are a little easier. I’ve been able to keep Starling Fitness and The Gadgets Page up to date for a while now and I finally feel like it’s easy instead of a burden. I know these things go in phases and for all I know tomorrow I won’t be able to put two words together, but for now, I’m enjoying the goodness.

• I think we all need a Big Sleep once a month. Good idea, Ms. Jen: http://tinyurl.com/9hr2op #
• Watch Legend of the Seeker when I have time: http://tinyurl.com/a4jf3l #
• Mike? Do you want to go see this? http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1492468/ #
• Changeable cake pan to make numbered cakes: http://tinyurl.com/8b3f4v #
• Healthy Cubby: http://appcubby.com/health/index.html Via: http://tinyurl.com/8xgvls #

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• Last day in Vegas. Sick of the city, but not the weather. after what feels like spring, I hate to go back to winter. #
• Early rise for exercise. Pack up the bags and head to St. George. Tomorrow, I will be home. #
• SLC Sundance Tweetup Tuesday 01-20-09 at 7:00pm at the Beehive Tearoom RSVP here: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1491681/ #
• Disturbing art: http://beinart.org/info/jon-beinart.php Someone’s been watching a little too much Toy Story. #
• Read this when I get iMovie 09: http://www.unlockingimovie.com/ #
• @ThomAllen Twitter has been weeding out the spam accounts, so your drop in followers is probably just a bunch of fake people getting banned. #
• Made it to St. George. Who thought it was a good idea to add a traffic circle? City planners go to traffic circle hell when they die. #
• @WhatAboutMom I thought about leaving a comment on the snowflake entry, but axed it because it wouldn’t have been as witty as your entry. #
• Instruction Manual For Life: http://tinyurl.com/8wawom Should be nominated for best short film of the year. #
• Steve Jobs taking medical leave of absence: http://tinyurl.com/8eban6 #
• Ricardo Mantalban died: http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/14/ricardo.montalban/index.html No more Khan!!! #

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• How to set Thunderbird to check all the imap folders: http://tinyurl.com/7uff4y #

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• @kittygutz I’m sorry about your cat. Sending good karma your way. #
• @Ladanea If you use Creative Commons music and give the credit in your notes, YouTube won’t block you: http://creativecommons.org/audio/ #
• Just purchased an Acer Aspire. Learning how to create an Ubuntu USB boot drive so I can go Linux on this little thing. #
• Up too early. All my Twitter friends are asleep except @rolandksmith He’s in church meetings… #
• Cat wanders into the TV studio. Weatherman snuggles & continues http://tinyurl.com/9gb72r #
• @whyisjake Blueberry muffins FTW??? I don’t think that word means what you think it means… #
• Ubuntu on Acer: Read this http://tinyurl.com/9vkh6l #
• Ubuntu Acer Aspire One Community: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne #
• @whyisjake My point exactly. Most people use “For The Win” for things that are a little more important than blueberry muffins. #

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After Apple announced that they would let me suck on lemons rather than give up their principles and release a netbook or tablet, I decided to get a netbook from somewhere else.

I tried out the Asus, Lenovo, MSI, Sony, HP and Acer netbooks while I was at CES. That’s the beauty of CES. The stores in Utah had a total of two of those to look at. The stores in Las Vegas had four. But at CES, I was able to play with them all. I tried typing (the thing I do most when I’m traveling) on all of them and went with the Acer because it had the best Shift key.

Seriously, it all boiled down to the Shift key.

Going back to Windows from Mac is easy. Learning how to Ctrl+V instead of Command+V isn’t, but maybe there is something I can do to fix that. Oh, and I have Ubuntu running off a USB drive. That was cool and I did it almost all by myself. The wireless doesn’t work in Ubuntu, but I’ll work on that over the next few weeks.

Pretty stoked about just playing with my new toy. It makes me WANT to work!

• Grandma has some explaining to do: http://tinyurl.com/95qr2b #
• Hillarious cat/dog fight photos: http://tinyurl.com/7vortq #
• Watch this when Phill Schiller gets less boring: http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0901ouabdcaw/event/index.html #
• Watch this after I get the new iPhoto: http://tinyurl.com/8vq294 #
• Watch this after I get the new iMovie: http://tinyurl.com/7j8fq5 #
• Bacon Bubblegum at Archie McPhee: http://www.mcphee.com/items/11871.html #

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• Cat/Rat Love Affair: http://tinyurl.com/9yyfuo #

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• Proof positive that the CD didn’t work: http://www.gcls.org/drop.php #
• IKEA clock guitar amp. Cool… http://tinyurl.com/6vulbd #
• The PERFECT storage bed (Malm & Lack from IKEA): http://tinyurl.com/7a6m2y #
• Cute V for Vendetta Papercraft: http://tinyurl.com/8yf82e #
• Retweet @jeremyfranklin Watch the pilot of the United States of Tara http://tinyurl.com/8cwo8c password TARA #
• @kittygutz If you’re in Pendleton, pick up some cookies from Cookie Tree for me, willya? #

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• @kittygutz Be careful taking all that 2 Buck Chuck home. It’s illegal to bring alcohol across the Utah border. #
• Cockatoo pets a cat with his claw: http://tinyurl.com/8t5rn4 #

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• Holy shape-shifting owls, Batman! Ignore the Japanese and wait until at least the 2 min mark. http://tinyurl.com/6d4gqv #
• @missbhavens Just in case you didn’t know this, you ARE one of the young skinny pretty people. You’ll fit right in, babe! #

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• Happy birthday @TheBloggess Hope you have a wonderful one! #
• Make Your Own To Go Cup Tissues: http://tinyurl.com/98t9qf #
• iPods Save Lives: Lost skiiers found by the light of their MP3 player: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE4BQ14P20081227 #
• 1939 World’s Fair Robot: http://tinyurl.com/4hrbrj #
• The Monsanto House of the Future: http://tinyurl.com/3dk7v3 #

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• Our flight was supposed to go out at 8:55pm. Trapped on the plane and still haven’t left the gate. #

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Now that Christmas is over, Santa has a moment to cool down with a cool cigarette.

My grandmother always smoked Pall Mall cigarettes. When I was a kid, they used to make candy cigarettes that looked similar to real brands.

I used to get the Pall Mall kind because that’s what my grandma smoked.

I’m not a smoker, but I DO have food issues. Can I blame the tobacco industry for my binge eating?

Advert Via: Found in Mom’s Basement: Vintage cigarette ads: Who knew Santa smoked so much?

I’m wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

One of my favorite toys when I was a kid was Tuesday Taylor. I really thought it would be cool to change her hair from brown to blonde, but she pretty much looked like Cruella DeVille the whole I time we played with her.

Both Stacey and I loved our Starr dolls:

She was so poseable and came with so many accessories, she really wiped Barbie off the map for a good year. Plus, her hair was PERMED, just like all the cool kids.

I also liked my Beauty Secrets Barbie.

Her hair was so long that it was easy to do lots of different hairdos with her.

Of course, there’s always the love for the Little People:

This set has the elusive “naughty” little boy. The one in the orange hat has a frownie face. I always thought he was a naughty boy just because he had a frown on his face.

Then there was the beloved Star Traveler:

I played with that thing until it was worn OUT. I owned it until just a few years ago when I gave it to The DI. Some little girl had a VERY happy day that day at the thrift store. Whenever I miss it, I look at these photos.

Then there’s Tuggy Tooter.

He wasn’t really MY toy. He was a toy at my grandma’s house. Here he is in action:

I also loved my Fisher Price Record Player.

The cool thing about this is that it was completely child-powered. No batteries needed. The design was ingenious, actually. On the player head, there was a simple music box. The notes were plucked by the lumps on the record. Whomever designed that little record player deserved a huge reward for saving the world from batteries!

You can see all the photos I’ve found here:

• Toys from my Childhood – a set on Flickr

• The Comic Strip Presents… on DVD. Why isn’t this available in the US? http://tinyurl.com/77rv5j #

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Maggie is very shy about cleaning other cats. I only got video of her cleaning Linda once. I’ve caught her cleaning Elvis about three times, but this is the only one I was able to get on film. I had to turn on the lights and grab the camera to capture this and by then she was almost finished.

It’s so comforting to know that Maggie has someone to play with that will keep her company when we’re not in the house. When Linda died, she was so lonely that she was with me constantly. I needed her comfort during that time as well, so it worked out for both of us. I’m just glad that she has Elvis to keep her happy as well.

• When smoking was cool: huge lighters for your coffee table. http://tinyurl.com/7vwajt #

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This video is proof positive that Sid is a saint. If you notice, Maggie is watching, far from the fray. Even Mike won’t let Elvis chew on his feet. Only Sid is calm enough to handle this kitten. Twice during the filming Sid looks at us (first to Mike and then to me) as if to say, “Can you do something about him?”

I love how at the end when Sid barks, everyone scatters, even him. Maggie runs from her observation point, Sid stands up to get away from the sharp kitten teeth and Elvis flees from his bark.

• Waiting for @NakedJen to come out of the house so we can go on our walk with the dogs. #
• Photos of the elusive Flying Fox in Sydney, Australia. http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?p=780 #

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I’m kind of embarrassed by this video because the Halloween boxes are stacked in our living room for the whole world to see, but it made me laugh so much that I couldn’t help posting it.

I love how at the end, Maggie tries to help him get the toy by jumping up on the boxes. It’s almost like she’s saying, “Umm, it’s stuck right here, dumbo.”

• Cutest baby turtle video: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smallflightlessbird/3044445401/ #
• @wardomatic YOU CAN DO IT! Cue The Offspring… #

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Here are a couple of quick videos of Elvis playing with his tail.

It’s funny how quickly kittens grow up. Elvis hardly ever plays with his tail anymore. I’m glad I got this video when I did.

I don’t know why Mike spends money on kitten toys. Elvis just loses them under the couch and he’s perfectly happy playing with a box.

I swear, that kitten needs to go to boxhab.

• Snow in Vegas: http://tinyurl.com/3moopt #
• Kudos to @TheBloggess for her best way to give to charity in the name of others: http://tinyurl.com/4k826n #
• @ErnieAtLYD Christmas magnifies everything that’s broken in ALL families. That’s what so good/bad about it. Just hold on. SXSW is soon… #

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Before Elvis came to our house, Maggie used to like to sleep under my afghan. She doesn’t do it anymore and this is why:

If you listen closely, you can hear Maggie growling from underneath the blanket. She wasn’t very amused by this game.

• Bow to the campy greatness of Turkish Star Trek!!! http://tinyurl.com/3lczsd #

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