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Friday, January 31, 2003

 
7:45 PM: [#] [0]

oh, i know what's bugging me about safari! i can't set the cache to check for changes every time! it's been slowly driving me crazy.

 
7:21 PM: [#] [0]

god, i love unix. i was looking for a little converter to change the mac line endings to unix line endings (or else when i pico something it comes out as one giant line with a bunch of ^Ms). i found how to make tr make the conversion and made a tiny shell script:

tr '\r' '\n' <$1 >$1.unix

and now i can work my juju on any file: "mac2unix Bookmarks.html", for instance. :) i might fiddle with it after i'm sure changing the line endings won't kill it in other programs, so that i then don't have to manually "mv Bookmarks.html.unix Bookmarks.html".

now, if i could just figure out how to make ^o work on a remote connection....

 
1:42 PM: [#] [0]

i finally got dan's lavacam working! after all this time thinking it was a mac thing, it was really a firewall thing (port 8889 if you're having trouble). that's good, because i had been very disappointed with the guy who sold me my very first mac ever (dana!). ;)

 
1:06 PM: [#] [0]

chuck & i just had a talk. i feel a little lighter now, though i still dread the meeting monday.

 
10:07 AM: [#] [0]

whoah. i just realized teresa's involved in the next instructional development meeting monday. that can't be good.

 
9:40 AM: [#] [0]

i woke at 5:30 this morning and fretted for 45 minutes about the garrett situation. i finally got up and wandered around my apartment, trying to think of nothing. i slipped back under the covers and slept peacefully until 7:30.

Thursday, January 30, 2003

 
5:53 PM: [#] [0]

oooo, look! blogfodder! :D

 
4:57 PM: [#] [0]

jay wants to meet next week to talk about the database. i'll be gone two days next week (and then i'm gone for a week) and my monday is pretty solidly booked. can't anyone here plan more than a week in advance? argh. i told him maybe he should just work with garrett.

 
2:37 PM: [#] [0]

i was foolish to think yesterday's explosion would be quiet today. and garrett's not even here, which means tomorrow will be painful, too. jennifer is angry, and chuck says we're taking this out of context, which are the reactions i expected, but aren't reactions that are going to change anything.

 
11:39 AM: [#] [0]

i finally made a date to talk to someone in HR. the meeting's next week, right before i leave, which will give me some time to really detail & date my issues (and then i won't have to worry about what happens next because i'll be gone! whee!).

i don't know what i'm hoping for, really, except maybe some options to get through the next year and a half. if this is what working with garrett on my "team" is like after the first semester, i don't know how i'm going to get through another four. and i need an unbiased opinion. i really love michael, but he's hearing through my filter, and everyone else is biased in their own ways, too. i'm not sure i don't expect the HR people to be all pro-garrett (he's good that way), but i have to try something new.

 
11:19 AM: [#] [0]

chuck wants to be included on the idteam email alias. is he insane? doesn't he have enough to do?

 
10:16 AM: [#] [0]

oh, blogger's back. that's nice.

Wednesday, January 29, 2003

 
6:29 PM: [#] [0]

why do we have to waste all this energy on stupid, inconsequential stuff? i'm fighting with garrett about whether to manually add students to the webct global db, even though we've been doing it ever since we had a global db. i think about what i was able to accomplish at usc and i look at what i'm accomplishing here and it's all i can do to wake up in the morning.

i came home to a bag of mysterious lemons on my door and new shoes waiting in a box on the patio. yay. *small smile*

 
1:09 PM: [#] [0]

"Maybe we need some more clarification about how we split up the work; what do you think? It seems there are some gray areas like what "server administration" means and how far supporting a course goes."

grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.........

 
9:24 AM: [#] [0]

i haven't mentioned this yet i guess because i am so overcome with jealousy ;), but michael's bought a 17-inch powerbook (the kind w/ the backlit keyboard! eeeeeeeeeeeeee!). now he's just waiting for it to ship. he's going to call it nenya (why, yes, that was my idea, thank you!).

Tuesday, January 28, 2003

 
1:12 PM: [#] [0]

two more quizzes...

i am a moon goddess:

"Beauty, yet a sadness lurks about you at times. But hey, pain is beauty, right?" *skeptical* uh, huh..........

and i am the color blue:

"You are somewhat innocent, in the fact that your genius only extends to the physical world. You have a false sense of contentness. You are usually the quiet one, the genius. Everyone can count on you to help when they have problems, but you only fall short of being able to solve your own." yeah, yeah, yeah. but i wanted to be red.

 
9:56 AM: [#] [0]

hee! i laughed so hard i cried:
litterbox: the original heavy metal cat band
& alien encounter (control the alien w/ all the keys on your keyboard!)

thanks, fleming!
rob calls litterbox "the most relentlessly, singlemindedly, stupidly funny thing I've ever seen/heard in my life."

 
9:32 AM: [#] [0]

jennifer says skittles has already disappeared. hopefully she'll come back. it wouldn't surprise me.

Monday, January 27, 2003

 
7:31 PM: [#] [0]

i went home *gasp* at 5 p.m.! the sun hadn't even gone down yet, and everything was glowing and golden. i could even see the sun on the ocean, 10 miles away.

and then the laundry fairy came. yay!

 
2:44 PM: [#] [0]

the preliminary injunction against google has been denied. lawmeme has the ruling & more info. in general, i'm not sure if the differences between PageRank (a number from 1-10 assigned by google to factor into their overall formula) and "page rank" (the placement of the site in a specific search result) are being adequately distinguished.

 
11:14 AM: [#] [0]

so i finally saw the matrix: reloaded trailer (like, you think i watched the superbowl? you've got to be kidding! only michael was that silly. ;) and i'm not sure what to think. i'll be extremely disapppointed if it only turns out to be a vehicle for special effects. and i have still have bad dreams about the star wars sequels. otoh, i didn't have high hopes for the original matrix and it blew. me. away. so i'm willing to give it another shot. even with keanu reeves. :)

 
10:08 AM: [#] [0]

wouldn't it be cool if safari used the cocoa "drawers" concept to show a live history? it could keep little screenshots of previous pages/sites, either automatically or via user input. os x already does something like this quite well in preview, i think. and i hate having to click the bookmarks bar to get to my history. that's a huge usability violation. :P

Sunday, January 26, 2003

 
8:38 PM: [#] [0]

i knew i'd feel better after i cleaned the room w/ all the art supplies. i swear i breathe a sigh of relief now every time i walk past. :)

 
2:03 PM: [#] [0]

jennifer's family has taken skittles home with them (and i hope they give her a better name than that! :). i'm so grateful. amelia doesn't quite believe it, i think, but at least she's come out from under the bed.

Saturday, January 25, 2003

 
6:52 PM: [#] [0]

the ants! damn all their tiny black swarming hearts! they found the cat food, after spending so many months in blissful ignorance. if i were to create a short list of things i really disliked about california, ants would be on it.

also, my apartments are going to start charging us separately for water, sewer and trash. that'll be about $35 extra a month, which means $35 less per month to spend on credit card debt, which is my major goal this year. (it also means $420 less per year to spend on anything). the only good news on that is that they've decided not to increase the rent, too, so i'll have another year at $875/month , which sadly is a median price for a 1-bedroom in the area.

Friday, January 24, 2003

 
4:09 PM: [#] [0]

o'reilly's open p2p has an excellent article which expresses my lingering reluctance to buy a tivo or other dvr perfectly. (incidentally, it's also why i'm not keen on cable/dsl broadband. i would love the service, but the "cost" is too high.)

 
3:22 PM: [#] [0]

*huge sigh of relief* nick from the helpdesk had moved the files. garrett had been making copies of the file every time he made a change and nick couldn't tell which was the most recent. so garrett will now be moving the copies into the archive folder and the helpdesk will now be looking at modified dates if they're confused. :)

 
2:29 PM: [#] [0]

oh, dear god, no. the helpdesk spreadsheet has disappeared. we've used it four 5 or 6 semesters now, and only this semester are we having a problem. :(

 
1:41 PM: [#] [0]

i'm stuck using i.e. to create bookmarks so that i can access them via the web. so i find a url i like, launch i.e., copy & paste the url, add it to the favorites bar, return to safari. safari needs a better way! come on, chant it with me: safari needs a better way!

Thursday, January 23, 2003

 
10:23 PM: [#] [0]

i just played rock, scissors, paper w/ michael over the phone (and lost). hee. :)

 
7:55 PM: [#] [0]

did you know today is national handwriting day? neither did i! nor did i know there is actually a writing instrument manufacturers association. sheesh. i feel so... used. ah, the letter project will make me feel better. :)

 
7:17 PM: [#] [0]

*gasps* look at what bubbles do on a cold, cold day! they shatter!
michael says, "it would be interesting to hear what they sound like when they do that."

 
4:25 PM: [#] [0]

finally, pictures of the little scrap of a cat my neighbors abandoned, and who i am currently referring to as "skittles" because she's incredibly skittish until she decides you're her best friend ever and then won't shut up. :)

pix: 01 || 02 || 03 || 04 || 05
carlos says, "she is very mysterious-looking! :-)"
rob begs, "can I have that kitty? pleeeease?"

 
12:48 PM: [#] [0]

hey, yay! icommune will live! this is good news in part because it will be independent from itunes, which i don't use.

 
9:18 AM: [#] [0]

rob mead just called electroclash "the linux of the 21st century." hmm. sounds like something i'd be interested in. :)
rob corrects me: "i said 'electroclash is the linux of 21st century MUSIC.'" thanks for keeping me honest, rob. still. he said linux. :)

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

 
6:18 PM: [#] [0]

how do i say, "no offense, but do we have to email each other over every little change to /resources?" without offending anyone? *sighs*

 
11:01 AM: [#] [0]

eeeeeeeee! a google hacks book! eeeeeeeeeee!

in other googley news, lawmeme analyses their response to the searchking suit. (and may i just say that this guy deserves what he gets. google's ranking is what makes it valuable. if we didn't think so, we wouln't use it! opinion should remain protected expression.)

 
10:45 AM: [#] [0]

sbc thinks it owns patents for using tabs & frame navigation in websites. in fact, it has demanded royalties from musuemtour.com. *pauses for effect* bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha! i'm sorry; it's not funny. sbc has the resources to wipe out little sites that use tabs & frames. *sighs* stupid patent office!
it's obviously begun making the rounds; dan sent me this in an email just hours after i posted it here.

 
9:53 AM: [#] [0]

brian wants us all to read "a plan that my boss and I can agree to." and maybe mine.

 
8:50 AM: [#] [0]

animal update: yesterday when i was driving to work i saw my possum smooshed in the middle of the road! :( (of course i don't know it was my possum. but it still makes me sad.) and after i had removed the cat door so that the abandoned neighbor's cat couldn't come in anymore, i decided if amelia could tolerate her, then we could certainly share the warm apartment and food until i can take her to the animal shelter or find someone to adopt her.

speaking of animals, the next installment of fup. store cat. is out.

Tuesday, January 21, 2003

 
4:24 PM: [#] [0]

rob's ALIVE! you can call off the hounds now.

Monday, January 20, 2003

 
9:20 PM: [#] [0]

michael finally bought tickets to come see me! i'm so relieved i could cry. finally, something to look forward to.

 
5:59 PM: [#] [0]

google has a tour of its services now! and a new product search called froogle, which easily found the reeboks i have to replace every year or two and have trouble finding.

 
12:55 PM: [#] [0]

garrett & i just don't work the same way. it drives me crazy he doesn't care about consistency; it drives me crazy he doesn't use the instructor's full names in the online courses index; it drives me crazy that he doesn't see why we should try to make online course statistics as accurate and verifiable as possible. and since these things require cooperation, i either need to stop caring about these things, or go find a place that does. are there other options i'm missing?
brian, who can't see anything on the left-hand column using netscape 4.73, asks: "do you know whether anyone in the college of education is doing research into on-line teaching? if so, you might be able to team up with them in a way that could get some management support for doing defensible statistical measurements."

 
12:15 PM: [#] [0]

well, what do you know? my problem this morning was not with the on campus servers *knock wood*, but with blogger.

i've done the geek code before:
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GCA/CM/CC/ED/FA/H/IT/L/MC/PA/O/U/AT/ d-(++) s: a- C++++$
ULAO*++++$ P+ L+ E----$ W+++$ N++(-) o? K-- w(---) !O M++(-)@$
V? PS+ PE?@ Y+ PGP>++ t@ 5- X+ R(+)@ tv? b+>+++ DI++++ D+ G(-)
e++>+++++ h*>++$ r->+++ x++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
decode

and now there's the blogger code:
B6 d- t- k- s+ u- f+ i+ o++ x e+ l+ c
decode

 
12:07 AM: [#] [0]

nefarious will be down most, if not all, of the day: the campus is going dark in honor of martin luther king jr. day. no, no, that's not true, but i wish it was something a little better than "they're taking the power out on the whole campus for 8 hours the day before the spring term begins." it's been said the servers in the server room will be available, and i hope that's true, but we'll see.....

oh, and i tried the archos driver for 10.2 yesterday, which allowed the mac to mount it as an external drive, but it choked after copying 499mb of music. arrgghhhh! stupid archos!

Sunday, January 19, 2003

 
1:07 PM: [#] [0]

william gibson uses blogger. hee!

 
12:11 PM: [#] [0]

i'm not usually overly patriotic, but chinese blog-blocking reminds me of why i am glad i'm a woman living in the u.s.a.

 
12:01 PM: [#] [0]

oo! if only geekmaids had a san diego outlet!

 
11:26 AM: [#] [0]

if i was a john cusack character....

 
11:18 AM: [#] [0]

the possum came back last night: it had crawled under the chicken wire. today i left the patio door open for a few minutes and the cat the neighbors left behind ran out of my apartment! she must have slipped in when i wasn't looking. when did my apartment become the hep place for odd creatures to hang out? amelia must be inviting them over. i'm probably ruining her social life.

Saturday, January 18, 2003

 
9:52 PM: [#] [0]

i can't believe that letterforms make me all glowy. the exhibit was wonderful: it was a beautiful space with plenty of room. it was busy over by the demonstration table and i didn't get nearly enough time to look at the pieces. usually i try to sketch stuff i like, but i just forgot to even try. i cut up most of the "didn't make it into the show" pieces i had done to make into bookmarks, and taken out of context, the marks look even more exotic and abstract. i liked them mucho, but i think most everyone else preferred the fabulous pastepaper diane brought.

pamela brought me flowers! how cool was that? :D then jennifer stopped by with her mom in an attempt to keep her busy before taking her home to the surprise party. they're probably still celebrating. :) afterwards, driving home with the windows down and the cowboy junkies playing loudly, i saw a huge green-edged star fall swiftly to the earth. it left a trail behind it for several seconds.

but before i left, terrilynn stopped by near the end and invited me to dinner. she still has calendars to assemble! we had a nice evening talking about the show and glueing leaves & stars. it was nice to re-connect with her again after the holidays. brian sent me home with a bag of avocados from their tree and an extra handful of mint kisses.

 
12:11 PM: [#] [0]

i just finished the orientation for the educ501 students and am heading to the poway center for the performing arts to set up for the "play on words" exhibit. whee!

Friday, January 17, 2003

 
8:22 PM: [#] [0]

huh. there's a machine named "wupass" which keeps hitting the webct root (which should just redirect them to the courses root). wupass? :)
it turns out "wupass" is a machine that hits all the machines in the network once a minute to determine their status; if one of them appears to be down, it sends mike irick a message.

 
4:31 PM: [#] [0]

so i had wished for no major disturbances, and with today being the friday before spring begins, i thought i might get my wish. but nooooooooooooo! garrett destroys the courses index today! poof! and then not only doesn't apologize, but says he didn't like the format anyway and that this might be a good time to talk about changing it. so i have to recreate it and fend off the scorn. if i was alone i would cry.

 
2:09 PM: [#] [0]

song of the day: elvis presley's "in the ghetto." we listened to the cranberries' version, too. there is just so much wrong with them that i don't even know where to begin. :)

Thursday, January 16, 2003

 
6:26 PM: [#] [0]

argh. i had a phone conversation with an instructor yesterday and don't remember a anything we said. we must have talked for 20 minutes, and i still have no idea what she needs me to do for her course. THIS IS WHY I NEED PEOPLE TO SEND ME EMAIL IF THEY ACTUALLY EXPECT ME TO REMEMBER ANYTHING!

 
4:26 PM: [#] [0]

i have thus far successfully avoided dabbling with ebay, specifically because of the wealth of calligraphic temptations. *sweats*

 
2:31 PM: [#] [0]

i haven't been in a tori or sarah mood lately, so it is with a little surprise that i find myself listening to the 80 tori songs michael lovingly created, labeled and transferred to nefarious for me for christmas. (shoot! forgot to add those to the list, too.)

i have officially removed myself from attending the cats conference. *sigh*

 
12:12 PM: [#] [0]

having brian here has been extremely useful to limit my working hours, something i might have been less resolved about during the last week before the spring term begins if he hadn't been.

i wish i knew of a way to publish safari bookmarks the way you can ie & netscape bookmarks (since those are just html pages, really).

Wednesday, January 15, 2003

 
4:26 PM: [#] [0]

the funniest thing ever just happened! (it's at least on my top-10 list of highly ironic tales).

sandy parsons was the very first instructor i worked with here and she asked me to copy another instructor's course to use for hers. i asked if she had permission and she yelled (i swear i am not exaggerating; i had worked here for 2 days) at me for not knowing that all the college of ed instructors had an "understanding" to use each other's materials. i chalked that one up to institutional culture and left it alone (at usc, i would have asked for a form from the original instructor saying it was okay).

today, sandy walks in and asks if i've given guest access to an instructor who had asked for it. and she wasn't happy to learn this new instructor had asked for a copy of the course to use for her own. fortunately, i had not yet done any work on that course and so sandy was going to "speak" with the instructor about it and send me an email telling me what to do next.

and all i can say is: bwah ha ha ha ha!

 
12:59 PM: [#] [0]

because you know somebody is asking about it, i link you to the buffy sex chart.

Tuesday, January 14, 2003

 
5:00 PM: [#] [0]

how sweet! gerrie just got me three j. herbin scented inks for xmas! (add that to the list). amber, rose and lavender. *sniffles* nobody's gotten me a calligraphic gift before....! (unless you count the heat gun michael got me last year).

 
9:58 AM: [#] [0]

eeeeeee! a webcore safari developer blog! thanks, michael!

Monday, January 13, 2003

 
4:27 PM: [#] [0]

teresa wants us to register for the cats conference, which i ordinarily enjoy but just don't feel like facing this year. i tried to get her to send jennifer instead of me, i tried to tell her someone needed to stay here while everyone else in our group was gone, and she said, "If that is really it then, OK. If this is part of a general estrangement which I sense to be a problem, then that is something else entirely."

*sighs* we're having lunch after she returns from the nlii conference, which she pointedly noted i also didn't want to attend.

Sunday, January 12, 2003

 
2:26 PM: [#] [0]

just in case you were wondering, rhymezone has the best search for shakespeare quotes.

Saturday, January 11, 2003

 
8:55 PM: [#] [0]

i've been outside on the patio for the evening, listening to christmas eve. it's dark and crisp tonight (i can see my breath!), but i've surrounded myself with all the candles i own and a big blanket, so i'm quite cozy. i got sucked into michelle savard's journal and i'm not really sure why.

 
6:42 PM: [#] [0]

gosh! i feel loved and appreciated. how about you?

 
3:34 PM: [#] [0]

the next few weeks will be crazy: brian's coming monday for a week, then the first week of school, then brian's coming back, and then michael's coming. so i was reminded i should probably clean this weekend. yeek.

 
11:12 AM: [#] [0]

yesterday was a great day. :) i stayed home again. garrett actually fixed all the things he had done without a peep. risa & i were early to the japanese friendship garden exhibit reception, so we visited the balboa park botanical building and the timken museum of art. at the exhibit, the scrolls were exquisite (carol's actually made me lose my breath for a second). the friendship garden was nice, but very, very small. then we headed to the guild meeting, but were early for that, too, so we joined some members at the infamous chinese restaurant and then hurried back to the meeting.

and everyone told me how great my calligraphy pieces in the poway show looked. again, i haven't seen them, so i don't know, but it was both gratifying and a little embrassing to hear it over and over again. when i had a piece in the bi-annual show two years ago, i didn't get nearly this response, and i wonder if it's like poetry, which takes a certain amount of personal involvement to be appreciated. but risa had a good idea: to submit one of them to the 2004 john neal calligraphic engagement calendar, whose theme next year will be shakespeare. but it's in a vertical format and the deadline is january 24 (!). argh!

people were also shocked at the hair, though this is the length it was at when i first began attending sdfc meetings (there's a picture of me in the newsletter). but everyone remembers me with long hair. everyone said it was cute but had a different opinion about how it affected how i looked: risa said it made me look "out of time," shirley said it made me look older and sophisticated, naomi said it made me look much younger, dianne said it made me look "timeless."

Friday, January 10, 2003

 
12:16 PM: [#] [0]

i just remembered i forgot the new year's black-eyed peas this year! we'll see how much unluckier i can get.

Thursday, January 09, 2003

 
9:25 PM: [#] [0]

i think my hair and i have reached an agreement. everybody's being all sweet about the haircut. in fact, i actually stopped the north county calligraphy guild meeting tonight as everyone squealed and tugged. once it all calmed down, we learned how to make "silk fusion" paper. it was messy!

 
5:25 PM: [#] [0]

i stayed home today. it was nice. i got more work done than i've done in days. of course, it also meant that garrett's issues from tulip bit me on the ass: three of "my" instructors still have their course stuff all mixed up. i don't know how to handle this constructively, but i know i don't want to work three times as hard to fix something i begged him not to do and he said he'd fix last semester.

Wednesday, January 08, 2003

 
6:38 PM: [#] [0]

and now for something completely different: if you're in california, vote for the california quarter design.

oh, and i almost forgot: we had rain today! and a giant, full rainbow! a double rainbow, if you count the incredibly faint shadow which faithfully, if dimly, hovered above.

last night i bought the backpack i've been looking for for three years at office depot, of all places, for a lousy $30 (jourdan microfiber, though i can't find it online). i saw toni hood had one and it was slim with 80 million pockets and an excellent weight distribution. i had to make sure tess would fit inside, which she does, just barely. the only thing i miss is open outside pockets on the sides for a water bottle (or an umbrella when i was in england) or keys.

 
6:20 PM: [#] [0]

yes, this is still the "obsessed w/ safari" issue. ftp sites try to launch in the finder (yuck!). i'm still longing for the old netscape days which displayed ftp like a normal website and even let you upload. i wish i knew where it was hiding the bookmarks and whether you could link or distribute them w/ something other than rendezvous.

 
3:08 PM: [#] [0]

hey, the new apple portables only have one usb port. i guess i can't complain: they now come standard w/ bluetooth, airport, firewire 800, and audio in. with usb printer sharing in the airport, i guess that's not so bad. remind me i said this. and heck, it's not like i'm going to get to buy one anytime soon.

but speaking of which, it looks like airport extreme has been underplayed: besides being faster, compatible w/ 802.11b and offering usb printer sharing, there's a dial-in feature, support for LEAP and RADIUS, and support for wireless bridging. plus, there are peripherals! it supports directional or omnidirectional antenna extender. and it's cheaper than it used to be. i (heart) airport. :)

the bad news: they're using a different (smaller) card, and so it doesn't look like you can upgrade an "older" powerbook or ibook to airport extreme. at least, apple doesn't look like they're making one: maybe someone else will?

 
9:42 AM: [#] [0]

ah, i found the safari deal-breaker for me: it can't create a secure connection to csusm's data portal (or maybe any secure sites: can someone confirm?). internet explorer used to have some quirks with it, but it would ultimately work. this won't even display the page. :(

another nitpick: i can't use the keyboard to navigate lists & selection boxes (just the arrow keys).

 
9:06 AM: [#] [0]

okay, so it turns out safari's status bar is just turned off by default (dear god, why?). and unsanity makes a demetallifizer for cocoa apps which relieves me of the rage i feel when i see a brushed-metal app.

so cookies are still an issue for me, as is a lack of printing flexibility (this is a big issue for me because i do so much documentation online that i want to print out: shrink, remove headers/footers, control frames, etc.). its contextual menus are incredibly skimpy. display issues: not many, but they do mess with the site i use most: blogger. the blogger entry box is oddly half its usual size, and when i choose "post" (instead of "post & publish"), the whole window closes *poof*. but this is still beta and hopefully it will get better. i haven't fiddled w/ bookmarks yet.

Tuesday, January 07, 2003

 
5:20 PM: [#] [0]

leeann's going to be working for apple as a windows developer! will wonders never cease? she says, "It's the land of Oz with flying monkeys and people that walk on their heads contrary to any indication from the outside world that gravity forces the rest of us to walk feet first. We'll see how I get along."

 
4:51 PM: [#] [0]

it's amazing what you don't think about until it's no longer available: apple's new beta web browser, safari, doesn't have a status indicator. it's turning out to be a big deal: i use that all the time to see where a link will go and to make sure i'm actually connecting to a server. there's also no option to ask about cookies: it's all, none, or only the sites one actually goes to (as opposed to ad-affiliated sites).

 
3:53 PM: [#] [0]

i realized last night, in a sit-straight-up-in-bed moment, that i had forgotten to add my return address to the holiday CarDs. so if you get a random cd named "christmas eve" decorated w/ stars, that's my holiday card for you. *looks chagrined*

 
2:23 PM: [#] [0]

*gasps audibly, squeals* about the apple keynote: screw the 17" screen! i want the autosensing backlit keyboard! plus, it's got stereo line-in (finally!).

but can i continue to tell you how much i hate the brushed-metal iapp interfaces? why did they bother to call it aqua? and whenwhenwhen will they have an ipage app to create basic webpages? argh!

 
1:19 PM: [#] [0]

the hair is a struggle. it doesn't want to do anything but stick out oddly (and the wind isn't helping). but it's been funny walking into pockets of people who think this is a drastic change, who obviously didn't see me when i shaved my head.

Monday, January 06, 2003

 
9:38 PM: [#] [0]

i finally cut my hair again! the "hair and now" experiment is officially over. my hair is now back to year one length, which seems to be the length i prefer for the moment, both perky and easy to maintain. we'll see if the deliberate, rather than serendipitous, shaping works tomorrow; right now it's kind of.... fluffy.

 
6:07 PM: [#] [0]

15 cards sent today. whee! and then to work, tra la la. it's still quiet: even i didn't quite realize there's only two more weeks before spring begins. eep! neither garrett nor i have created the index/spreadsheet for the new term.

today's paralyzing thought: what will i do about tulip?

Sunday, January 05, 2003

 
5:01 PM: [#] [0]

well, gosh. i've been the model of industry today! i made breakfast; watched the first episode of buffy; did dishes; read an article about irish calligrapher denis brown, who i am just about to fall right in love with (look at the glass art! the translucency and layers and movement! *swoon*); cut and sorted all the art from the last issue of somerset studio; began and rejected an idea for spencer; looked for rubber ducky clip art for another spencer idea; cleaned the litterbox; spent 2.5 hours cleaning the patio and pruning plants; and salvaged a bookcase from the trash. so the last major area to straighten is the room w/ the grey wall; i don't know when that will happen.

now i'll probably go to the school & print out the "christmas eve" songlist, then come back and assemble/address the envelopes. maybe i should look into getting a cheap color inkjet.

 
9:58 AM: [#] [0]

wow! michael has become a victim of a victimless crime! apparently someone charged $1600 to his checking account (!) before he noticed and contested his charges. yeek!

my upstairs neighbor scanned in the "armed occupant" sticker from the upstairs-and-across neighbors which caused so much consternation.

Saturday, January 04, 2003

 
8:53 PM: [#] [0]

working on holiday cards & other art; got a random urge to do laundry. other than that, not much. i think i have more "me" time than anyone i know, and i still find myself not doing anything. hmph.

Friday, January 03, 2003

 
9:41 PM: [#] [0]

risa just wrote me: "I hung your two pieces today for the Exhibit in Poway. They are STUNNING. I love them. Interested in a calligraphy art trade?" which is a huge compliment coming from her, as i consider her to be one of the best calligraphers i know, as well as possessing a keen critical eye. but it's still kind of funny: i haven't seen either of my pieces yet!

 
1:58 PM: [#] [0]

add to the christmas list: two tins of bookdarts (ee!) and one of those gorgeous handmade journals from powells. yowza. thanks, michaelmas! *swoons*

 
12:06 PM: [#] [0]

apparently i am 71% tortured artist:

 
11:18 AM: [#] [0]

hey, look at me! i'm dancing crazy! we did, after all, just miss the 20th anniversary of the internet.

Thursday, January 02, 2003

 
9:36 PM: [#] [0]

i did everything except the picking-up-of-the-paycheck. damnit. 3 hours in the dealership! they said my tires were dangerously bald, which is a great thing to find out after a 2800 mile trip. the 2000 & 2001 prius (plural like sheep) had tires which would often wear out before 30,000 miles, like mine apparently have, so they replaced them for free.

 
9:16 PM: [#] [0]

look, look! jeremy & asia had a baaaaaaby! and, uh, jeremy grew a beard.

 
12:16 PM: [#] [0]

they've been moving, moving, moving all morning long. ca-THUNK ca-THUNK ca-THUNK ca-THUNK down the stairs. no sleeping in for me the last day before i go back to work. :( plans for the day: toyota dealership (trixie), office depot (cd mailers & jr. clips), trader joe's (food), ralph's (more food), and a quick pop into & out of the school to pick up my paycheck.

Wednesday, January 01, 2003

 
10:02 PM: [#] [0]

hey! rob mead has a blog now! *spontaneous applause* he's way more prolific and conscientious than i am, so try to keep up.

 
11:56 AM: [#] [0]

so i finally put everything away. the following is a list of the gifts i received for christmas; feel free to compare it to the list my family asked me to send:

* tea & teapot, jams (thanks, dad & vickie!)
* chicken soup for the traveller's soul (thanks, grandma!)
* green sweater (thanks, grandma!)
* amelie dvd (thanks, michael!)
* amelie soundtrack (thanks, dan!)
* o'reilly's mysql cookbook (thanks, michael!)
* a gift certificate to media play, which bought a dual-outlet phone extension & 30 blank cds (thanks, dad & vickie!)
* garnet & amethyst necklace (thanks, dad & vickie!)
* a nice watch (thanks, bones!)
* calphalon cookware (thanks, dad & vickie!)
* shower shock caffeinated soap! (thanks, michael!)
* vanilla lotion w/ terry bear (thanks, janis)
* amazon gift certificate (thanks, julie!)
* chocolate & frame (thanks, teresa)
* a hair-clip-brush (thanks, julie. those french people! what will they think of next?)
* gnarl! and illegal alien (thanks, rob!)

accidental:
* head-mounted lights
* a set of small star glasses

stocking:
* mentos
* acrylic 3d puzzle
* mc escher slide puzzle
* giant candy cane
* back scratcher
* kleenex
* vaseline dry-skin lotion
* gardner's lotion
* shortbread cookies
* pez
* jetflier glider
* blue m&m train tube
* candy necklaces
* white toblerone
* frizz miracle hair masque
* multicolored mechanical pencil
* two peanut butter trees
* raisins
* cinnamon altoids
* a tiny blown-glass rose
* chapstick
* a lisa simpson ornament
* a rose barrett
* 3 packages of doublemint gum
* cinnamon hot chocolate
* santa's coal bubble gum
* two tiny bells
* a bunch of nuts still in the shell i'll never be able to crack

the whole trip, with gas, food & stocking stuffers, came to about $200. i was hoping to do my 22,500 mile checkup today, but it looks like they're closed. i think i saw the newest upstairs-and-across neighbor this morning.