exercise and sunshine. February 26, 2004

is interfering with my ability to blog. for the last week it has been beautiful outside; warm and sunny. because of that i’ve been compelled (or strongly encouraged to spend time outside walking). i’ve also been exercising a lot because i want to be more than halfway towards my goal weight by the time phase two of my program begins. so much has fallen by the wayside since i began this quest towards greater health and fitness.

a few of the casualties are:

i made it 1/3 of the way through zelda windwaker and then quit.
i only log onto star wars galaxies to check my in game email.
i no longer obessively blog before bedtime
i have not eaten chips, dips, cheese, crackers or any combination thereof since november

now i can:

see my toes
fit in an airplane seat
zip up my kick ass boots all the way
run

in four months i will:

finish my first triathlon in under 3 hours
see my feet
wear my fabulous red chinese pants
stop traffic.

b.

aaaaaarghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! February 26, 2004

i just wrote the best post and then i lose connection as it’s posting and it is gone. lost. forever. my brain hurts.

b.

we are all william. February 19, 2004

why the fascination? because inside all of us is a little bit of william dying to get out.

b.

oh the irony. February 19, 2004

just saw a lincoln/mercury luxury suv commercial with the peter gabriel song “big time” playing as the soundtrack. what?? what?? i had resigned myself to the music i brooded to growing up being used to sell stuff after mazda co-opted the smiths how soon is now? for one of their commercials. but this musical gaffe is so obvious it belies belief. can’t decide who i am more annoyed with: lincoln or gabriel. *sigh*

b.

suc cess

I’m on my way, I’m making it
I’ve giot to make it show, yeah
so much larger than life
I’M going to watch it growing

the place where I come from is a small town
they think so small
they use small words
-but not me
I’m smarter than that
I worked it out
I’ve been stretching my mouth
to let those big words come right out

I’ve had enough, I’m getting out
to the city, the big big city
I’ll be a big noise with all the big boys
there’s so much stuff I will own
and I will pray to a big god
as I kneel in the big church

big time
I’m on my way-I’m making it
big time big time
I’ve got to make it show yeah
big time big time
so much larger than life
big time
I’m going to watch it growing
big time

my parties all have big names
and I greet them with the widest smile
tell them how my life is one big adventure
and always they’re amazed
when I show them round my house, to my bed
I had it made like a mountain range
with a snow-white pillow for my big fat head
and my heaven will be a big heaven
and I will walk through the front door

my new favorite tabtop. February 19, 2004

the m200. i love this machine! toshiba went all out to experiment with utilities that enhance tablet usage. i was three sentences into my review when i realized 1: this puppy has been out awhile and 2: there are people who have done a far better job reviewing it

this is an amazingly in-depth review (granted it’s in french – hint use google translations)
good overview review (conveniently in english for those of us who chose the spanish route in high school)
photo review by lora
nice write up on the accelerometer functions

although i was/am a die-hard slate user (fujitsu 4100 followed by the nec versa-lite), i was tired of switching back and forth between my work machine (a dell axim) and my tablet. i would say i definitely use the m200 as a tablet 50% of the time and as a laptop for the other 50% (hence “tabtop”), and despite the extra weight (almost 2lbs heavier than the nec) i’m coming around to the notion of having two machines in one.

biggest drawback: probably the fact that i am monk’s long lost little sister and i obsessively clean the screen each day as they seemed to have use a special coating on the screen which makes the smudges more apparent. this. this i can live with.

b.

mel brooks is my homey. February 17, 2004

woke up yesterday with this. it occurs to me that having a case of vertigo is a lot like having the spins without the booze. two words: not fun. one word: fascinating. i’m completely fascinated by the fact that i essentially have a level in my head, or virtual whiskers. call it what you will there is something physically that keeps you standing up straight and keeps the room from swaying. seems like such a simple little thing, yet having it be out of whack is completely unnerving.

although i have to say this is way more unnerving. a 17 year old boy was surfing the internet and found himself on a missing children’s site. turns out his mother had kidnapped him from his father when he was three years old. the story was #1 on countdown with keith oberman tonight.

b.

roll your own film festival. February 17, 2004

i found this article on slate in late december. i had already become a big david edelstein fan from listening to him (on npr) review donnie darko and some of my other favorite flicks on the drive back and forth to msft. at any rate i found our tastes to be similar enough, that i trusted his recommends and made a mental note to try and catch some of them.

fast forward to a week later, and i’m updating my netflix queue and it occurs to me to go back and find the slate piece. turns out you can add movies that have yet to be released to your list and netflix will move them up as the dvds become available. i’ve already got american splendor and thirteen on the way. can’t wait for bus 174 and elephant.

now the ultimate feature should be a way to publish this list out with links to netflix. sort of like blogrolling for movie fans.

b.

ps_ i updated my blogroll to the blogs that i read religiously. trying to figure out how to create a reference roll for the ones i get to less often.

blogging from afar. February 16, 2004

another blogging dilemma. to blog or not to blog from remote locations? i was in vancouver, b.c. this past saturday night with my sony tr2 (japanese version w/bluetooth) and was able to hop online while on the train (gawd bless amtrak for powerplugs at each seat). i didn’t blog because it occurred to me that by doing so i was essentially alerting the world (okay the 10-20 ppl who read my blog) that i was away. it seems even sillier as i write this that i would imagine some local soul would:

a. read my blog religiously – even tho i haven’t posted regularly since october
b. know where i live
c. be inclined to commit breaking and entering
d. all of the above, and have no date for valentines day.

still for some reason it just seemed risky. so my question is, how many of you openly blog about your comings and goings – and – has that ever presented itself as a problem?

b.

so what the hell happened to me anyway? February 13, 2004

it goes something like this:

november 11, 2003 ~ started an intense diet and exercise regime offered by my health club. it’s called 20/20 lifestyles and it has changed my life in more ways than you can imagine. not only am i down almost 25lbs. (almost half-way there!), but i am running! me running! eek. if you, like me, dreaded the 12 minute run each year in gym class, had nightmares about it, did everything you could to get out of it, then you can imagine how wacky it is that i have embraced my inner runner. i’ve been also on a major food/diet overhaul. after doing meal replacement (yum – liquid food) for awhile i’ve slowly added back in each of the food groups, and as a result have a great understanding of how both hunger and cravings function for me. number one lesson learned was over thanksgiving and it is this: turkey stinks without gravy – blech. i realize now that turkey is just an excuse to eat gravy…. not sure if anyone stumbles over to be b. anymore – but if you’re here and you are contemplating a physical change then i say go go go. this is what did it for me: i realized i wanted to look as trim and fit as my star wars galaxies avatar (how low can you go?) instead of sitting still for endless amounts of time watching her run all over the place and kick bootay.

december 25, 2003 ~ set up the new gamecube next to the xbox. oh joy. i’m bouncing between dance dance revolution, tetris worlds, return of the king and zelda:windwaker (need more good gamecube recommends). i’ve also been playing max payne and american idol on my gameboy sp. as always i’m still playing too much star wars galaxies but i sense that may slow down until the space expansion this summer….

january 5, 2004 ~ i got a new gig at microsoft! weeeeeeee! i am now a proud member of microsoft learning which is the organization dedicated to training, certification, and all sorts of books/courseware/education type resources. my new world is to focus on the microsoft office specialist certification, and i cannot say enough how stinking excited i am!! i’m a little more than a month into this new job and i have learned so much already and must say i’m completely afraid of total failure (which is always a good thing b/c i try harder).

january 31, 2004 ~ i’ve decided i’m ready to be a mom. in about nine months i’m hoping to bring this bundle of joy home. checked out the breed at the “meet the breed” session at the seattle kennel club show and i fell in love ten times over. annie, a really sweet blenheim cav hung out with me and wouldn’t you know it – two weeks later she’s on the today show as one of the competitors at westminster this year.

needless to say ~ oodles going on. i tried to stop in and blog a few times, but the best i could do was pop out a headline to remind me of what i wanted to write about when i was ready to come back. so i’m back now. feel like we have a bit of catching up to do. not sure if i’ve been missed but i know i certainly have been missing. this.

b.