God, I Miss Daria…
I don’t think I would have liked this video parody as much if I didn’t adore Maneater by Nellie Furtado. She didn’t really get credit in that video, so I thought I would make sure you knew where to get the song.
I don’t think I would have liked this video parody as much if I didn’t adore Maneater by Nellie Furtado. She didn’t really get credit in that video, so I thought I would make sure you knew where to get the song.
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I just found out that my grandpa has pneumonia, so I have to go to Billings, Montana. I don’t really want to go, but I feel like I should go. It feels like a responsibility and that someone should be there. I’m spending my iPhone money on the trip up there. It’s worth it, though.
I would hate to have any regrets about what kind of granddaughter I was.
Mike and I have some business to do here, so we can’t leave right away, but we are leaving for Montana soon. I should look at this like it’s an opportunity. I could take pictures and video while I’m up there. I can have lots of things to write about.
I didn’t want a trip right now, but suddenly, I’m traveling again. I am trying to look at this with grateful eyes, but I’m having a hard time doing it right now.
I’d much rather my grandpa was healthy and didn’t need an emergency visit.
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Drunk Underwear Karaoke
Click at your own risk! :)
For more information:
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Download this video for your iPod
If you look carefully, you can see pelicans, ducks, geese, seagulls and a brief glimpse of a female starling. It was like we walked into a bird sanctuary.
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Okay, the idea of writing on your blog might already be insane to some people, but there are those of us out there who take our writing very seriously. Sometimes, however, you want to write, but nothing comes. What do you do then?
Write Anyway
I write anyway. I usually sit at the computer or sometimes I do it offline, but I give myself 15-30 minutes and just write. I don’t let myself stop writing. Even if I have to write, “I don’t have anything to say,” over and over, I still keep writing.
Eventually something good comes out of it.
Mostly, it’s crap, but there usually is a kernel of a good idea that comes and I am able to write.
Read A Lot
I like to read a lot of weblogs, magazines and books so that I have lots of ideas floating around in my head. This can be a procrastination technique, however, so watch yourself.
Take a Walk or Go For a Run
Sometimes when I’m really stymied, I’ll go for a walk or a run without my iPod. It doesn’t matter if I walk outside or on the treadmill as long as I don’t distract myself with TV, videos, music or other external distractions. If I am walking with my thoughts, I tend to get ideas.
Meditate
Now, there are a million ways to meditate. Most of them don’t work for me. I use these meditations:
To Do List: I sit comfortably with a pad of paper nearby. I try to meditate and when my mind wanders, I write down whatever I’m worried about. I go back to meditating. If my mind wanders back to the same item, I dismiss it with the thought, “I have that written down. I’ll deal with it when I’m finished,” and go back to meditating. If a different thought comes to mind, I write it down. When I’m finished, I’ve found that I HAVE to actually take care of the things on that list or my mind doesn’t believe me the next time I meditate.
Staring at a Moving Thing: I like candles and windchimes, but lava lamps will work as well. Just focusing my mind on the movement helps me calm down and think of ideas.
I usually set a countdown timer on my watch to go off in a few minutes so I’m not always checking a clock.
Take My Computer Somewhere Else
The beauty of a laptop is the ability to take it anywhere to write. The same is true for a notebook if you don’t mind transcribing once you get back to the computer. Just changing your location can make things fresh and new.
And Now For Something Completely Different
Sometimes I just do something completely different, like drawing or photography or videos. Changing to a different medium is a good way to keep from being bored and gives me something to write about.
Stop Taking Myself So Seriously
I’m not creating great art here. The minute I start thinking that I’m creating Great Art, then I freeze up and I’m completely unable to do anything. Seth Godin’s idea of being The Best is a really good idea, but every time I focus on The Best, I just end up paralyzed. Instead, I focus on just telling my small piece of the human story.
Don’t Let It Go Dark
I always imagine my weblog like a theater. If I don’t post one day, it will “go dark” and people will come to the theater, shake the locked doors and wonder where I am. I imagine those people vividly and I don’t want my blog to be that theater. Even if I post something small and simple, it’s better than going dark.
Write In My Journal Every Day
I have an offline journal that I write in every day. It allows me to get all the junk out of my head so I can actually write the “good” stuff. It’s my secret weapon.
Don’t Give Yourself An Excuse
When my blog does go dark, it’s because I’ve given myself an excuse to let it. When I refuse to give myself an excuse, I end up posting something and sometimes it’s better than I imagined it could be. Most of the time, I just post crap, but every once and a while, something good comes out of my fingers onto the keyboard.
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Bad news for us ugly folk…
Something about this research makes me feel so sad.
“This [study] suggests that attractive faces may have a particular attention and emotion grabbing effect. The effect seems so strong, it seems to work even when a face hasn’t registered in our conscious mind.”
It reminds me of that book I read:
Despite the advances, plastic surgery isn’t good enough to make an ugly person pretty. I guess we’ll just have to realize that we appall people subconsciously and run with it.
Boo!
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No freakin’ comparison! Just using the EDGE network to log on was faster with the iPhone. The screen looks like the real screen on WordPress, so it’s much easier to navigate and even entering text on the virtual keyboard is easier.
I could fall in love with the iPhone of I’m not careful. I guess I have to say goodbye to Sprint and start saving my money for a new phone.
I am trying to give myself an excuse not to buy an iPhone. Being able to watch videos on the Treo is one thing I’ve conquered, but being able to really blog on the Treo is something that I’ve kept telling myself that the iPhone is better at, despite the virtual keyboard. Alas, I’ve figured out a way to really blog from the Treo. The Treo 755P is $300 cheaper than the iPhone and that’s if I don’t count the mail in rebate.
Decisions, decisions…
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If you ever wondered where your cat goes when you let it outside, this website gives you a peek into the cat world:
Mr. Lee takes a trip and meets up with many other cats, enjoys the view of the birdfeeder and hides out under the car. I found it quite interesting to see what his cat does when no one is watching.
Via: Cute Overload – Ever wondered what your cat is doin’ during the day?
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I’m particular about my handwritten journals. I create my own pages on Excel and print them up and bind them using a comb binding system. All that so I can write my thoughts offline every day. If you would like to print up your own journal, here is where you can get started.
Create your journal pages with Microsoft Excel (or Open Office Spreadsheets)
I have been using Excel to make my journal pages for years. I prefer my journal pages to be 5 1/2″ X 8 1/2″, but you can make them any size you choose. Here is a template for my journal pages:
Now, you’ll have to format these pages to your liking and to work with your printer, but they are a good start. You print them on one side of an 8 1/2″ X 11″ page, and then reprint them on the other side for double sided sheets. One cut down the middle of the paper and they are ready.
Binding with a comb binder
Mike and I bought an inexpensive comb binder about seven years ago. I have broken it in so many ways, but it still does the job I need it to. They don’t make the one we bought, but this one looks very similar to ours and maybe a little more sturdy: CombBind C75 Comb Binding System at Amazon.com.
Additionally, Office Max, Office Depot, Kinkos and a few other copy shops have comb binders that they will allow you to use for no charge. You could print up a year’s worth of pages and punch them all without having to invest in the binding system.
When you are punching the holes in a 5 1/2″ X 8 1/2″ sheet of paper, you have to position it carefully so you don’t end up with a half a hole at the top or bottom. It’s different for every machine and you’ll probably sacrifice a few sheets learning. Once you know how to use your machine, though, you’ll be able to do it without thinking.
Cover
The cover is a lot more complicated. You want something firm enough to write with, but not so bulky that it takes up a lot of space. I usually just use the binder covers you can buy from the office supply stores for the front and back and then sacrifice the back of a legal pad for stiffness. I put the cardboard backing between the pages and the back cover.
Boring
My journal is just a boring black. I kind of like to think that my words are enough to make my journal interesting. Of course, my journals are filled with the most boring tripe you’ve ever read in your life, so maybe that isn’t the best justification. If you want to make yourself pretty journals to match your beautiful words, here’s a tutorial:
I think I’ll just stick with my boring journals. They don’t attract much attention, but they work for me.
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Download this video for your iPod
You have to turn on the camera to clean the lens. You don’t have to inadvertently push the start button and record the whole process.
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My work schedule is finally back to normal now that I have the desk put together and in working order. I have a bunch of junk to either write about or dispose of. I’m going to take a day, put it in a stack and just write all day to get rid of it. Other than that, this set up is working much better than the standing desk I had and the vanity that I had working in a pinch.
On another note, that chair, is a back saver. When I was in high school, the desks were perfect if my back was hurt a bit. I could lean back and they would pop my back in the exactly right spot. This Jules Chair from IKEA is exactly the same. If I had known that, I would have bought one years ago when I first saw them in an IKEA in San Diego. Instead of back issues, I bought this chair because it’s pretty and simple. Lucky me, it’s a great chair as well. I’m tempted to buy an entire set for the kitchen. At $50 apiece, they cost half of our current chairs and are much more comfortable.
A special thank you to Michael, who helped me put the desk together, fixed things when I screwed up and put the wrong cams in the wrong places and made me go to bed when I was so tired I didn’t know it. Also, thank you, Michael for putting Chicken of the VNC on my Mac, so I could use it to control my HP computer. I only use the PC to test things and burn the Starling Fitness DVDs, but those are two important things, so I couldn’t sacrifice the PC. Fortunately, Mike made it easy for me! Thanks, babe!
I noticed that this month we have a Friday the 13th. I feel like I should write something about it. All that unlucky stuff, you know, try to keep the weblog current.
The garbage truck just picked up the recycling. I had stuffed all the IKEA boxes in the recycling bin and I was worried that they wouldn’t come out of the bin or that the garbage men wouldn’t take them at all. Instead, it all fell into the big crusher just fine.
I have been increasing my running and weight training. I only exercise Monday through Friday, so I am almost done for this week. My muscles ache all week and I rest on the weekends. Putting the desk together was physically taxing as well, so I’ve been living on ibuprofen. I’m looking forward to this weekend because I can just rest.
I have been eating a special diet of rice, white bread and oatmeal to keep my stomach pain at bay. It’s not considered healthy by any nutritional organization, yet, I’ve felt better than I have for months. The acidophilus stopped working, so my intense stomach pain came back. Dairy, fat (even healthy oils), artificial sweeteners or fats, and most meats are off limits right now. I feel like I should feel restricted, but my stomach feels so much better that I’m happy. The only problem is when I eat these restricted foods, it takes two days for the pain to hit me (it has to get through my system). The pub food I ate on Sunday doubled me over on Tuesday. The vodka sauce I had on Monday hit me on Wednesday. No pain today because I ate nothing but bread, oatmeal and rice on Wednesday. Yeah for me!
My cat, Linda, is dying of kidney failure. Gotta poke her and inject fluids under her skin today so that she doesn’t get dehydrated. At least she has her appetite. She’s eating the KD food just fine. I got a couple of cute pictures of her a few days ago. I’m trying to enjoy her while she’s still here.
Lucky? Unlucky? Man, I don’t know what that means anymore.
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Ever since the desk drama, I’ve been trying to find a place for this storage unit. I put it in a disputed spot. I thought it was okay there. Mike didn’t want it there.
Last night, Linda made the decision for us. It stays.
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I was tucking Mike into bed this morning. I hadn’t dressed for the morning yet, and Mike was just going to bed, so exhausted he didn’t even realize it. I looked at my watch.
“Mike, it’s 7-11 day today. Do you want to throw on some clothes and go celebrate in about…”
I tried to calculate how many minutes 7:11 am was. My watch said 6:54.
“…12 minutes?” Okay, so I’m lousy at clock math.
Mike turned over, tucking into the fetal position.
“It’s not as fun now that they are celebrating it.”
“Okay, well, happy 7-11 Day.”
He was already asleep.
To read about how we used to celebrate 7-11 Day, read here:
Ironically, since we’ve bought the Prius, we have been looking for excuses to go for a drive in it and going “swigging” is the easiest to think of. We’ve probably been to 7-11 more in the last month than the previous year. Not this morning, though.
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I got a new desk at IKEA. I disconnected my computer and shut everything down to get my old desk out of the way. Once I had room to put together my new desk, I opened those aromatic hydro-carbon scented boxes to find my long-awaited desk to be damaged by a forklift.
Now I’m waiting in line at IKEA to exchange it. I’m number 357.
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Note to self, stop buying those crushed bows for presents and make my own.
I just need to have lot of ribbon around the the house…
Strike that.
I tried making one out of curling ribbon and it looks like…
curling ribbon…
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This is a picture of a statue at Herman Frank’s Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Am I the only one who looks at that statue and sees a man getting a little too close to a child? Why is he straddling the boy?
Mike says I’m nuts for thinking that this statue is pervy. Am I? Am I the pervert for thinking that statue is sick and wrong? To me, it doesn’t really look like an endearing portrayal of baseball, even if the bat hadn’t been broken off years ago. To me, it looks like a recruitment poster for pedophiles.
What do you think?
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I know it’s not Self Portrait Tuesday, but I thought I’d post this one. I accidentally loaded PhotoBooth instead of a different program while I was reading my RSS. When I saw how pretty the blinds were cutting the light across my face, I took a few photos.
Of course, I played with it in Photoshop afterwards to adjust the levels and make it a little softer.
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Note to self: Order this!
Note to self: eat more cereal so I can make cool boxes like this:
The only issue I have is once the box is opened, Cap’n Crunch’s face is staring at them. Maybe I can spray paint the inside so it isn’t so glaring…
Via: Craftzine.com blog: HOW TO – Turn Cereal Boxes into Gift Boxes
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I love this photo of my mom as a child.
It’s my mom’s birthday today.
She’s a private person. She’s so private that just me saying here that she’s a private person has probably embarrassed her beyond any embarrassment I have ever felt in my life. Because of this, I never talk about my mom on this blog, so you might get the impression that we don’t get along or that maybe my mom doesn’t play a part in my life at all.
That’s not the case.
This is the best photo I have ever taken of my mom. She let me take as many photos as I wanted while she played on the swing. We went to a camping site called Camelot back in August of 2005. I took lots of photos and she followed me around until we walked into a swarm of mosquitoes. She was bit about fifteen times and she let me put Benadryl cream on the red welts. Even though we were itchy it was a good memory.
She married this guy a few years ago.We all just call him Reed. I’m so glad she married him. I didn’t know how much I needed a daddy until the day he showed up at my house with his lawn mower in his pickup. Our lawn mower had broken and the company I had hired to take care of the lawn wasn’t able to come for another week. He mowed my lawn; wouldn’t even let me do it myself. I never had the kind of dad who would do something like that for me before.
Happy birthday, Mom!
I’m sorry I’ve embarrassed you so much, but I couldn’t let another birthday go by without the world knowing how important you are to me.
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