January 4, 2021
My plan today was to work out, finish updating my blog's templates and CSS to make them more mobile-friendly (I started the other day), and then get some work done ahead of our official return to work tomorrow....
December 31, 2014
I used to feel bad about the fact that I didn't sit down to write on a regular basis anymore, and I've resolved many times to write more often, as much to chronicle this part of my life as to practice stringing coherent thoughts together. It was only when I saw the caption on an Instagram photo of one of my contacts, recently—a person whose blog I used to read regularly—mentioning that she'd blogged for the first time in...
December 30, 2009
It's not quite New Year's yet, but I already have a couple resolutions that I want to make. One is to spend the three days that I have off this weekend taking photos. It's been too long since I've just walked around, looking for the beauty in everyday things. And the women at the Walgreens photo counter are starting to miss me and my negatives only + CD orders, too....
September 8, 2009
This ("Do Interesting Things", from zenhabits.net) is so good. Thanks to @stellargirl and @alexknowshtml for pointing me to it. Among my favorite suggestions:...
April 1, 2009
I finally cleaned out my Inboxes last night after being in California for about 10 days, and I came across the April NaBloPoMo e-mail. The theme is GROWING (UP), which kind of makes sense for April; by this time last year, I had several seedlings well on their way. This year I've yet to plant anything (yes, I know, I'm way behind in gardening as in many other things), but I PLAN TO. So I gave some thought to...
November 11, 2008
I had a Mrs. Kennedy moment this morning. I woke up, rolled over, and thought, "I wonder if I'm ever going to meet juliloquy in person." I thought about the missed connections at the playground—when we said we'd be there after tee ball and then ended up skipping tee ball—and how I'd run into HPR once at Trader Joe's, but Julie and I never seemed to run into one another, despite visiting the same places frequently....
May 3, 2008
I started the day sleep-deprived (on account of staying up late to see the west-coast Sharks beat the Dallas Stars in overtime—woot!) and a bit depressed, and there was a moment where I almost burst into tears for no particular reason except that I was sad and not liking the feeling. BUT! things improved as the day went on, mostly due to three important factors: (1) Al recognized the malaise and most generously offered to stop the car along...
November 12, 2007
Yeah, so NaBloPoMo is pretty much over for me. I'll keep writing when I can—and for all I know, that might be every day for the rest of this month and into December—but it's just not my first priority these days. Keeping myself above water emotionally, writing my version of my annual review (yep, it's even *more* fun this year, when I feel like a total failure—woo!), giving feedback on no less than five colleagues, fixing bugs, paying bills,...
November 1, 2007
I was trying to think of a name for this post before I started writing it (sometimes a good idea, but just as often it's better to wait until I'm finished), and Fat Boy Slim's "Won't Talk About It" is playing on my iPod at the moment, so there you go. I was worried about signing up for NaBloPoMo this year, especially with my full plate and the still-trying-to-keep-myself-on-the-upward-spiral situation (I've been mostly successful in, if not exactly staying...
September 19, 2007
So guess what? Yesterday Schmutzie commented to say that she'd given me an award: The Rockin' Girl Blogger Award. I think it makes me sound a bit like a 22 year-old punk rocker banging out the angst on my keyboard—in other words, hipper than I actually am. If it weren't for the hair, I wouldn't have much credibility on the hip front....
August 13, 2007
Thanks to Mrs. Kennedy, I cannot stop humming Lovecats by the Cure. I may have to download the damn thing off of iTunes if this keeps up....
August 7, 2007
I have a sticky note on my monitor and a sheet of notepaper in my purse with a list of things I need to blog about, and I've been trying t decide whether to stick them all in one post or spread them over separate ones. I think I'm going to go the latter route mainly so the posts are easier to categorize (and for readers to scan). I'm also debating about whether I should post in chronological order;...
July 24, 2007
This, from Mimi Smartypants, was wonderful:...
June 14, 2007
Mainely Madge's four year ordeal, which at times seemed to resemble a sicko version of Deal or No Deal, is finally over. Congratulations are in order....
March 19, 2007
My to-do list has reached a length—and the items on it an urgency—that has brought me back to Outlook's Task List and its useful reminder system. It's time to Get Things Done, and not be paralyzed by this sense that EVERYTHING must be done first....
February 23, 2007
A few decisions Al and I made in the past month (namely, to put the Beaner to bed at a regular, earlier time each night; to spend less money on frivolous things; and not to sit in traffic needlessly) have meant that we've been eating out less lately. Probably the colder weather also has something to do with it, as we're less inclined to walk to restaurants in the dark when it's 20 degrees out. We've been eating pretty...
February 9, 2007
In an alternate universe 700 miles and one day away, I am also having afternoon tea....
January 31, 2007
I have a bunch to write about and hope to have time to do so later today, but for now I wanted to make sure these two posts by other women got a read. (I'm sure they will, since both blogs are far more widely read than mine, but in case you missed them...)...
January 16, 2007
I want this beautifully-produced video by the brother of a friend makes its way around the Internet, so I'll do my small part to expand its audience. Please go read the story behind the "Four Generations" water buffalo movie, and then watch the video. It's an amazing video, and an even more amazing story....
January 4, 2007
Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself: That just because I've waited until January 4 to make any resolutions at all doesn't make them invalid. Not allowing myself a resolution would sort of be like eating the whole bag of cookies because what the hell? you've already eaten four of them!, only the opposite... or something....
December 14, 2006
Eden was just talking about the burden of being named Eden, and how her husband trumped her by being named Jack Kennedy. From Fussy I cruised over to the NY Times website, where I happened to find this quote in an article about how circumcision can cut the risk of getting HIV from heterosexual intercourse in half:...
December 7, 2006
I didn't actually plan to take a blogging break after NaBloPoMo (I won prize for sticking with it, btw—yay!), but I'm actually on a roll with work at the moment, and I haven't wanted to take time out between snuggle breaks with The Beaner to convert all the notes I have on my desk into blog posts. Sorry about that....
November 30, 2006
I actually started working on this post on Monday, but I didn't have enough time to make it coherent that day, and other events caused me to post something else, so decided to post it on Tuesday. On Tuesday I edited and added and tried again to be coherent, but again I ran out of time and other more pressing events were blogged about, so I put it off until Wednesday. On Wednesday... same thing. So here we are...
November 4, 2006
As I suspected would happen, I'm actually finding it harder to blog on the weekend, when I theoretically have no other obligations, than I do during the work week, when I'm supposed to be, well, working. I can think of plenty of things to write about on the weekends, but finding the time to actually write about them is difficult because I'm on parent duty, and I don't want to be too selfish with my personal time. I already...
November 1, 2006
Ok, don't laugh, but I've finally signed up to participate in NaBloPoMo (nothing like waiting until the last minute, eh?). The reason I procrastinated for so long is that I wasn't sure I'd really be able to keep up the pace of 1 blog entry per day. Well, actually, that's not quite right. What I'm most worried about is being able to post every day here on avocado8 while also posting at least weekly on my hockey blog (I'm...
August 22, 2006
Suddenly it's clear to me why grocery-store checkers say, "thank you, sir" when handing me my receipt. I can't blame ratphooey for my haircut or my bone structure, but I *can* blame her for linking to this:...
August 6, 2006
I still haven't made my way to the sites of all the women I met at BlogHer, partly because my blog-reading time is limited by work and family obligations, and partly because as I read each woman's site, I end up getting sidetracked by her archives and photos and links to other sites. I'm finding myself down fascinating side roads this way....
August 5, 2006
As a kid, I was NOT a fan of Star Trek. I WAS a fan of Star Wars, and it used to bug me royally when people would confuse the two or mistake me for a Trekkie. After I married Al, however, Star Trek started to grow on me a little. It's still probably not a show I'd ever watch on my own, but I enjoy watching it with Al, who explains all the relationships between the characters and...
August 4, 2006
I'd really like to be honest about my BlogHer experience, but I think it's also probably wise to be a bit circumspect. I apologize in advance if I hurt anyone's feelings with my honesty or bore anyone to death with my circumspection....
July 31, 2006
Hi, yes, I'm back from BlogHer (after a few flight delays in Denver that caused me to miss saying goodnight to Austen), and I hope to write up a postmortem in the next couple days. Austen also turned 20 months yesterday, so I need to summarize the past month in parenthood as well. Luckily, I've already sort of done all the photo bits with my recap of our busy pre-BlogHer weekend, so I'll just need to review the developmental...
July 29, 2006
I realized that I haven't blogged at all today, which is probably a good sign—it means that I'm actually out socializing and interacting and watching presentations rather than hiding behind my computer. This is really the first session that I've felt like I could listen partway while blogging at the same time....
July 28, 2006
I rallied for a little bit during the Q & A part of the podcast session to chat with Mrs. Kennedy about ice hockey and haircuts and our living/working arrangements, but now I'm taking a break in my room. I'm hoping that Al and Austen get back from the King of Pizza in the next 10 minutes, so I'll have time to video chat with them before going to the Design/Style/Customization session at 5:15....
I don't know how I'm going to make it to the cocktail party. I've spoken to about a dozen women so far (I know, I know—I haven't even made a dent, given that there are about 750 women here), and I'm already running out of steam. Mrs. Kennedy is sitting here with me now, listening to the podcasting presentation, but we're both mostly blogging and having a bit of quiet time. I'm finding that I don't want to have...
OK, it's almost 9pm, and I'm eating a room service caesar salad with shrimp. I'm stil exhausted, but I can now confirm that the nausea and headache were mostly due to hunger. The reason for having to re-type that last sentence four times? THAT'S due to the exhaustion....
July 27, 2006
OK, I'm sitting in the lobby of the Hyatt San Jose, and there are women with laptops EVERYWHERE. And women eating. And women drinking. And women laughing. This woman is reading her e-mail and trying to decide if the nausea means I should eat something or that I'm just freaking EXHAUSTED. Probably both. I'm seriously fading, folks. The only reason I'm in the lobby is for wireless access, and so the room has time to cool down (the A/C...
July 24, 2006
I wish Mondays weren't my short days (Hannah's here from 8am-3pm, and then I work again for a couple hours after Al gets home at 6pm) because inevitably I have weekend news to share, and no time to blog. Hopefully I'll hit a good breaking point at bathtime and use the time between when Austen goes to sleep and I do to blog instead of work....
July 10, 2006
As I was getting dressed for my walk this morning, it occurred to me that BlogHer is only three weekends away... and I totally panicked. My first thought was, "I DON'T WANT TO GO," and then the following internal conversation ensued:...
May 5, 2006
It's been a busy week here, both workwise and familywise; I can barely keep up with my personal e-mail, and I obviously haven't had time to write here. If I owe you an e-mail response, please sit tight (or send me a reminder). I'm going to use the time I would have otherwise spent on answering an e-mail or two to give an update here before I forget all the things I wanted to say. Be warned: this is...
March 10, 2006
It's kinda too late for Austen (although the sleep telemetry might still be interesting), but the Trixie Tracker has FINALLY launched. If you're about to have a baby and you're (a) anal, (b) technophilic, (c) a fan of Edward Tufte, or (d) all of the above, get yourself over there and sign up. It's way better than writing everything on little index cards!...
March 9, 2006
I've re-enabled the option to require valid e-mail addresses from commenters, so if you've already been approved as a commenter via TypeKey but haven't provided an e-mail address, you may be asked to enter one....
February 3, 2006
OK, so here's where I admit that I occasionally do wish that I were one of the Cool Kids. Most of the time I'm like, "yeah, I know the cool kids, but I don't hang out with them. Because, you know, I've got my own stuff to do," but lately several of my favorite blogs have all been doing the Four Things Meme, and I confess I was feeling a little left out. Although no one's technically tagged me,...
January 6, 2006
I love visiting Derek's site because in addition to great writing, great photographs, and great links, This Is Powazek is also full of great ideas. Today's interesting idea: create a mosaic of photos from your Flickr stream (or your favorites list, or any other photos on the web). I've used Picasa2's Collage feature to create mosaics before (most notably the one commemorating Austen's first year), so the mosaic part isn't the great idea. It's that Derek chose to make...
October 18, 2005
I'm finding a lot of hilarious (and not-so-hilarious) stuff in my referrer logs. It turns out like a third of my traffic is from people linking directly to the Red Sox logo (and by directly, I mean including the actual image in their pages with an http link, not linking to the post), which irritated me enough to turn off hotlinking of images. Let me know if this interferes with your ability to see any images in their proper...
October 11, 2005
I almost called this a gratuitous baby photo post (a phrase stolen from ratphooey), but really it's more of a gratuitous site plug that just happens to be on a baby....
October 6, 2005
I'm going to try this: Instead of writing in the little book beside my bed each night what we did that day, I'm going to write what we did tomorrow!...
September 30, 2005
So Derek had an interesting post on his site recently about the importance of putting something at the bottom of your pages to reward those dedicated souls who actually read all the way down. I hadn't thought specifically of adding the kind of bottom navigation/highlights section that Derek does, but I did give some consideration to those who read down when I redesigned my site recently. It's why the archives are listed near the bottom of the sidebar (so...
September 21, 2005
I have so many things I want to blog about that there's a sort of logjam in my brain. It's kind of like how when I have a ton of things to do, I often get completely overwhelmed with the length of my To Do list and end up doing nothing. In college I combatted this tendency to become overwhelmed and just go back to bed by scheduling my days in 15-minute increments so I could see that it...
July 20, 2005
This whole nanny blog thing just creeps me out. (The nanny in question's actual blog is here.) Possibly because I had a dodgy babysitter experience; possibly because another potential babysitter happened to include her blog link in e-mail correspondence, and I had to fight not to be unnerved by what I read; or possibly because I myself am a regular blogger (and I've posted about the vomitous feeling the dodgy babysitter inspired), I've been thinking a lot about the...
July 4, 2005
May 26, 2005
While vacuuming the kitchen this morning, I got the cord to the vacuum wrapped around my Loobylu mug and yanked it to the hard, tile floor. Needless to say, it shattered. :( The mug had been fading for months, thanks to our overzealous dishwasher, but I was still very much attached to this mug. It captured a moment in time, a moment when I was just starting to read other blogs. Loobylu was among the first of my daily...
March 5, 2005
Christo's Gates may have come down in Central Park, but I've put the photos we took of them up at ~ lori and al ~....
January 31, 2005
Last night I had my third dream about Dooce. In addition to the girls' night out dream I had a couple weeks ago, I have also dreamed: That my friend Heather introduced me to Dooce, and Dooce replied, "are you the one who sends me all those dorky e-mails?" That Dooce, Jon, and I were nightclub-hopping in Minneapolis (how we came to be there I don't know, since the Armstrongs live in Salt Lake City and I live in...
October 26, 2004
A few random items: dj blurb opened up comments on his endorsement post, and I loved reading all most of the different points of view. (Most—but not all—commenters support Kerry, but whom each person supports not as interesting as why.) Al and I start childbirth classes tonight. This week's pregnancy newsletter from ParentsPlace.com seemed to suggest that I'd be nervous about the birth by now, but for some reason I'm not. I am loving The Price of Loyalty: George...
October 14, 2004
Not that anyone ever reads it (except you, Hoche!), but I've finally converted the 255 Characters or Less blog to Movable Type—which means I can update it with random small thoughts again. (It used to be in Blogger, and the fact that my server supports neither FTP nor SFTP prevented me from updating it regularly since I had to add entries by hand.)...
October 8, 2004
This fabulous photo from CuriousLee totally deserves a trackback ping....
October 5, 2004
Just realized I left this on Draft rather than Publish, which is why it's showing up suddenly between the pink ribbon post and the one on the vice presidential debate... This morning I got over my in-person shyness (I'm fine over e-mail, but dialing telephones and meeting people in person sometimes scare the shit out of me) and actually called my new neighbor Jim Capozzolla, of the Rittenhouse Review. Of course, I then went on to embarrass myself completely...
August 23, 2004
My husband is no fan of blogs, blogging, or bloggers. He loves me, of course, but he tries to forget that I blog. Despite this aversion to blogging—and because of the connection I feel to certain bloggers and their chosen subjects, and my penchant for telling him what I read that day—he knows who Mightygirl, Defective Yeti, Chez Miscarriage Woman, and Rittenhouse Guy are. Ladies and gentlemen, Rittenhouse Guy has moved into the neighborhood. He's literally right around the...
August 19, 2003
Why I love dooce. Stick with it til the end (and don't skip anything!): the rambling is totally worth it....
May 20, 2003
Just read the NYT article that dooce referred to in her latest post. I asked Al once if he minded that I blogged about our activities, or described conversations we had, or attributed thoughts to him (mostly on "our" site rather than this one). He basically responded that he doesn't necessarily *enjoy* it, but he knows it makes me happy to write about whatever's on my mind, and he's happy that I'm happy. That he tolerates it is all...
April 24, 2003
I love the misuse of the quotation marks on the hand-written sign: http://www.cbc.ca/news/sars/index.html (Link courtesy of LaLaLand.) Do you ever read a blog and assume the gender of the writer (because there is no about page, or because the about page is ambiguous, or because the about page is too hard to find, or because you're too lazy to read the about page), only to find out later that you were wrong? I do....
March 24, 2003
My list of regularly-read weblogs is growing. Found another woman out there who's on the fence about the war too, for similar reasons. (She's also just plain neat.) She had a link on her site to an interesting article about a guy who went to Iraq to become a human shield without really understanding what he was doing. This, at the same time that I've lost any sympathy I might have had for anti-war protestors in San Francisco. It...