Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Brazen Self Promotion

Oh, I'm not above it.

See those 2 new badges to the right? I have submitted those photos to JPG Magazine. And if my photos were to get enough votes, they would be published in the next issue. How cool would that be?!

So click on those pictures and vote vote vote! I’ll lower taxes. I’ll fix Social Security. I’ll balance the budget. I am not a crook.


Update Aug 9th: Voting has now closed so I've removed the badges. Thanks for your support!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Counterbalance

After the last post I feel I owe you something sweet. So, because I care...

Photos from Grandma!


My teeth hurt.


Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Despotism, Godless Terrorism and Love

There are some books that should be banned. From me. I’m reading Overthrow – America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. You know this can't be good for me. It’s all I can do to not get out of bed each night and bang my head against the wall. oh. my. god. the stupid is frightening. And I’m only as far as Nixon and Chile. And did you know that just one man was responsible for the events in Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam and Chile? One completely insane man. But it’s easy to get a lot done when you are the Secretary of State and your brother runs the CIA!

The worst part of this is that it is ruining NPR for me. I can no longer listen blithely as I drive to and fro. Not any more. Now my brain screams “Liars!” “Don’t believe the hype” etc. to every story out of Washington. It’s kind of annoying. Yes brain, I know, now please use your inside-my-head voice.

I only picked up this book because the one I wanted on the history of the CIA won’t be published until next month. By the time I finish that book I should be certifiable. This is the kind of stuff that will push me right over the edge. Soon I’ll be roaming the streets babbling to myself. Hmm, I’ll need to relocate to Santa Cruz – they embrace the weird and might not even notice me. And I’ve got a place to stay there. Hey, I might be willing to stand on a corner bad mouthing the government by day but I’m not going to give up a comfy bed at night – I ain’t that crazy.


On a more happy healthy hale and hardy* note – yesterday was my wedding anniversary. Chris and I have been married 2 (insert “wonderful” or the synonym of your choice here) years. Now others might get all lovey dovey and tell you how wonderful their husband is and how much they love him and can’t imagine life without him blah blah blah. But not me. I don’t do sappy. As true as it all is, putting it into eloquent words with violins playing softly in the background is just… icky. Chris knows how I feel about him. And I know how he feels about me when he makes me go to sleep at a reasonable hour every night completely against my will. So, no cards, no flowers, no trips to Hallmark – maker of fine holidays everywhere. You know, if Hallmark had better lobbyists, they could get Sweetest Day declared a national holiday and sell more cards on the west coast.

See? No good can come from reading.

Now I’ve got to go and practice snapping my fingers.



* this is the standard answer you’ll get from my dad when asked how he is. As Chris says – I didn’t have a chance.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

If you ain’t first – you’re last

First –

It is with a very sad heart that I inform you that I have returned to work. Yes, it’s true. None of my whining or complaining could prevent the inevitable. But I sure tried. So now I’m back. And I don’t like it. Nothing is as I left it! While I was gone my Canadian company was bought by a nice big American company. Now this does have its benefits (Yay! State taxes are being withheld from my paychecks!) but it also means that I don’t know who does what in the corporate office anymore – especially since there are now at least 3 of them! We had 2 new regional managers join our team. Plus our office expanded into the suite next door to make room for a new training center. Now this wouldn’t have been a problem except my desk has been moved and I lost my window! The view to the outside world that I have fought tooth and nail to keep for over 7 years? Gone. Damn.

And it is hard to get back into the rhythm of an office. My brain hasn’t had to function in this way for over 4 months. Trying to do more than one thing at a time - hey what’s the hurry? Trying to make sense of the 10 things the boss just asked me to do - I have no idea what he is talking about. Trying to remember how to put someone into our voicemail system - sure, that doesn’t sound difficult to you but you haven’t met our mailbox system. It entails hitting at least 23 buttons in a very specific order! Thank god Sharon was there to talk me through it. She basically has had to retrain me. Well at least tell me where everything has been moved to. I still haven't seen my utility knife. And I might need it if I decide to stage a bloody coup to get a window.

Last –

Kyle is now half way through the first week of his annual 2 week southern California vacation. He is currently camping at Lake San Antoine and wake boarding every day. Next week he’ll go down to Oxnard for a few days and then on to Calabasas in the hills above Malibu. I’m sure I have mentioned before how he suffers. He’ll suffer riding the horses. Suffer cruising around on the quad or driving the golf cart. And don’t forget the surfing! How could life be so cruel?!! Poor baby.

But I had better stop thinking about him lest I begin to suffer. Moving on.

Last –

Tomorrow – Friday the 13th! – Erin will be 3 months old.* She has changed so much. Not only is she huge, she’s funny. (Lookin') She’s smiling and laughing all the time now (especially for her daddy). And she tells the most amusing stories! She’s also learning to use her hands as something other than little flying fists of fury. She now will grab hold of what ever happens to cross her open palm. And half the time the seized object will make it to her mouth. This child is truly amazing.

But her first love is still the ceiling fans, especially the one above our bed that she flirts with every night. She’ll notice it and a huge smile spreads across her face and she’ll coo. Then she’ll turn her head and give “fanny” a sideways glace and a cheeky smile. It’s big love I tell ya'.

Last –

Man, I already feel like I’m falling behind on everything. I have a million and two photos to upload to Flickr. I haven’t told you about Eric’s visit. Hmm, I think I’ll save that for one of my famous photo-heavy entries. There. Now you have a reason to get up in the morning. I also have photos that need to be printed, matted and framed. So much to do! And we are going to Santa Cruz this weekend, which will put me even farther behind. I could use a vacation!


* Chris made a point of mentioning that the van is 4 months old today since we got it one month and one day before Erin was born. Geek.