Technology That I Don't Get or Can't Figure Out How to Make Work for Me. (Generally meaning I tried for about 3 minutes and then went on to something else.)(Not intended to be a complete list.)
podcasting
RSS
sound files
hands free
my phone at the office
BBEdit
del.icio.us
social network websites (probably due more to my relative decrepitude)
Flickr Tags
any sort of scripting or setting up hot keys for frequently used computer actions
virtual pets (yes, I realize this is so 10 years ago, but I found my Yoda pet recently and I never could figure out what to do. I killed Yoda.)
any sort of digital watch programing
anything on my cellphone not directly related to making and receiving calls
Things I Can Work
anything on my cellphone directly related to making and receiving calls
DVR
load the dishwasher like nobody's business (doesn't really count in this context but I'm throwing it in anyway)
FTP (I can FTP, that must count for something.)
Sunday, February 19, 2006
The Lease of my Troubles
On Wednesday I found out that Holiday is closing the yoga center at the end of March. I don't know all the gory details but it has to do with the lease and the building. The building apparently thinks it can get bigger, higher paying tenants and Holiday doesn't want to wildly raise the price of classes. She's looking for alternatives but the studio as we know it will be no more.
I started studying with Holiday 10 years ago in March and I don't think I've ever been away from the studio for more than 2 months, and even then, just a couple of times. It's hard to convey, without sound like a cheesy women's magazine article, what a huge part of my life this has been. Our culture loves to stupefy everything in big dramas about how something (yoga, Prozac, TiVo) changed someone's life. But yoga has changed my life.
I'm not going to elaborate because that would be boring and stupefy it, but commit yourself to some sort of intense regular self-study over a 10 year period and there's bound to be changes.
I have a solid home practice so I look to class for continued inspiration and to remind me about poses that I avoid at home. And also, during the weekdays it's usually my only time to practice. Upon hearing this news I thought about alternatives.
I also attend classes at Yoga Bhoga and I figured I'd shift to more classes at this location. The attraction to both of these studios is the teachers but as luck would have it, they are both optimally located to the office. Once my car is parked downtown, I don't have to move it for class.
This weekend I attended a workshop with Bob and Ki and while I was there I learned from a classmate that Yoga Bhoga is moving across the river at the end of April, also the victim of a building lease problem. As Auntie would say: fukola-dola.
Now I need to find a new yoga base. One woman at the workshop teaches at Shanti Yoga in Vancouver and that sounds like a good fit so I guess I'll start there and see what happens.
On Wednesday I found out that Holiday is closing the yoga center at the end of March. I don't know all the gory details but it has to do with the lease and the building. The building apparently thinks it can get bigger, higher paying tenants and Holiday doesn't want to wildly raise the price of classes. She's looking for alternatives but the studio as we know it will be no more.
I started studying with Holiday 10 years ago in March and I don't think I've ever been away from the studio for more than 2 months, and even then, just a couple of times. It's hard to convey, without sound like a cheesy women's magazine article, what a huge part of my life this has been. Our culture loves to stupefy everything in big dramas about how something (yoga, Prozac, TiVo) changed someone's life. But yoga has changed my life.
I'm not going to elaborate because that would be boring and stupefy it, but commit yourself to some sort of intense regular self-study over a 10 year period and there's bound to be changes.
I have a solid home practice so I look to class for continued inspiration and to remind me about poses that I avoid at home. And also, during the weekdays it's usually my only time to practice. Upon hearing this news I thought about alternatives.
I also attend classes at Yoga Bhoga and I figured I'd shift to more classes at this location. The attraction to both of these studios is the teachers but as luck would have it, they are both optimally located to the office. Once my car is parked downtown, I don't have to move it for class.
This weekend I attended a workshop with Bob and Ki and while I was there I learned from a classmate that Yoga Bhoga is moving across the river at the end of April, also the victim of a building lease problem. As Auntie would say: fukola-dola.
Now I need to find a new yoga base. One woman at the workshop teaches at Shanti Yoga in Vancouver and that sounds like a good fit so I guess I'll start there and see what happens.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Valentines in History
The first time I had a boyfriend and Valentines Day at the same time, I was a senior in high school.
I took him to Love's Barbecue. My memory's a little fuzzy on the details but I seem to recall Love's BBQ being a big chain, at least in southern California. My web research reveals only two locations now, neither the site of the date I'm about to share with you. You'd think a place called Love's BBQ would go on forever.
Love's had some sort of lovers special for Valentine's Day and I made reservations for this. It probably involved ribs and coleslaw for two with a sundae for dessert. Sadly I don't remember the specifics but I do remember this:
At some point during our meal, the manager came out and introduced himself. He was a sort of big and sweaty guy and seemed sort of nervous. Since we signed up for this lovers special, he was presenting us with a certificate of our love. And I remember people in the restaurant watching this and smiling. And I remember my teenaged "it's all about wonderful me" mind noticing the nervous manager and smiling people and how these must be glances of envy and admiration - what with us being so young and adorable with our whole lives ahead of us.
What I realize now is that all of those people could barely keep themselves from laughing to death. Can you imagine? A certificate of our love. The manager probably sat in the back clutching his belly and laughing until tears squeezed out of his eyes. No wonder he was sweaty.
The first time I had a boyfriend and Valentines Day at the same time, I was a senior in high school.
I took him to Love's Barbecue. My memory's a little fuzzy on the details but I seem to recall Love's BBQ being a big chain, at least in southern California. My web research reveals only two locations now, neither the site of the date I'm about to share with you. You'd think a place called Love's BBQ would go on forever.
Love's had some sort of lovers special for Valentine's Day and I made reservations for this. It probably involved ribs and coleslaw for two with a sundae for dessert. Sadly I don't remember the specifics but I do remember this:
At some point during our meal, the manager came out and introduced himself. He was a sort of big and sweaty guy and seemed sort of nervous. Since we signed up for this lovers special, he was presenting us with a certificate of our love. And I remember people in the restaurant watching this and smiling. And I remember my teenaged "it's all about wonderful me" mind noticing the nervous manager and smiling people and how these must be glances of envy and admiration - what with us being so young and adorable with our whole lives ahead of us.
What I realize now is that all of those people could barely keep themselves from laughing to death. Can you imagine? A certificate of our love. The manager probably sat in the back clutching his belly and laughing until tears squeezed out of his eyes. No wonder he was sweaty.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Compost Me
Last night I finished my book: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. How to describe this book? It's funny, induces squirming and is super interesting. I learned a ton.
I did not know that cadavers are used in auto safety testing. I did not know embalming is very temporary. I did not know a whole lot of gruesome details about early medical procedures (used to illustrate how doctors learned about medicine without cadavers in the olden days) and I could have remained happily ignorant on that. There's a bit about studies of guillotine victims and whether they have any consciousness after the big separation. I've always wondered this: do you die instantly or do you feel your head bounce around in the basket?
There's a chapter on cannablism which includes a hilarious scene of the author visiting China to track down a story of a crematorium worker who allegedly whacked off a bit of flesh here and there and gave it to his brother who made it into dumplings at a popular restaurant around town. Can you imagine you and your translator getting a meeting with the director of that funeral home to ask about this story?
Before I read the book I was not excited about the idea of donating my body to science. Just the idea of people poking around my saggy dead boobs and shriveled privates and making jokes made it unappealing. Both the author here and the author of The Undertaking (Book #18) point out that once you die, what happens to your body is irrelevant to you so no point in getting worked up about it. Also, there is some good work to be done, like research to help develop protective gear for people who work around land mines. My cadaver could do that.
And then there's plastination -- my cadaver could be made into a big rubber model that would last for 10,000 years!
Actually my favorite is the compost. Freeze dry, shatter and throw me in the garden. After a long healthy and happy life. That would be my first choice.
Last night I finished my book: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. How to describe this book? It's funny, induces squirming and is super interesting. I learned a ton.
I did not know that cadavers are used in auto safety testing. I did not know embalming is very temporary. I did not know a whole lot of gruesome details about early medical procedures (used to illustrate how doctors learned about medicine without cadavers in the olden days) and I could have remained happily ignorant on that. There's a bit about studies of guillotine victims and whether they have any consciousness after the big separation. I've always wondered this: do you die instantly or do you feel your head bounce around in the basket?
There's a chapter on cannablism which includes a hilarious scene of the author visiting China to track down a story of a crematorium worker who allegedly whacked off a bit of flesh here and there and gave it to his brother who made it into dumplings at a popular restaurant around town. Can you imagine you and your translator getting a meeting with the director of that funeral home to ask about this story?
Before I read the book I was not excited about the idea of donating my body to science. Just the idea of people poking around my saggy dead boobs and shriveled privates and making jokes made it unappealing. Both the author here and the author of The Undertaking (Book #18) point out that once you die, what happens to your body is irrelevant to you so no point in getting worked up about it. Also, there is some good work to be done, like research to help develop protective gear for people who work around land mines. My cadaver could do that.
And then there's plastination -- my cadaver could be made into a big rubber model that would last for 10,000 years!
Actually my favorite is the compost. Freeze dry, shatter and throw me in the garden. After a long healthy and happy life. That would be my first choice.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
SomethingAwful.com has hilarious Star Wars valentines. You should go to their site instead of hotlinking here.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Tips for Shoppers
I still felt crappy when I woke up this morning and I was thinking: enough already. That headache.
I did some yoga and took a shower and ate the rest of my peaches and felt closer to human. I dragged my butt to the grocery store so we'd have something to eat.
You know how you should avoid grocery shopping when you're hungry because everything looks so good? Pop Tarts, yum! We should eat franks and beans! Tater tots never sounded so delicious. Let's get a 2 lb. bag!
Well how about shopping when you are not and haven't been hungry for a week? I had a list so I did put food in the cart. I skipped the entire deli aisle. Cheese? We'll never eat that! Later I told Bob this and he agreed, who wants to eat cheese? I should explain that under normal circumstances, Bob and I eat tons of a wide variety of cheeses every day. But not this week.
We still had a lot of food in the fridge because we hadn't been eating much. I had to clear out some old icky stuff. This is something I am pathological about: a cleaned out fridge. I don't want anything close to past due hanging out in my fridge.
When I came home from the grocery store I was exhausted and rested on the couch for a few hours. But I'm coming around. I'll be at 100% tomorrow.
I still felt crappy when I woke up this morning and I was thinking: enough already. That headache.
I did some yoga and took a shower and ate the rest of my peaches and felt closer to human. I dragged my butt to the grocery store so we'd have something to eat.
You know how you should avoid grocery shopping when you're hungry because everything looks so good? Pop Tarts, yum! We should eat franks and beans! Tater tots never sounded so delicious. Let's get a 2 lb. bag!
Well how about shopping when you are not and haven't been hungry for a week? I had a list so I did put food in the cart. I skipped the entire deli aisle. Cheese? We'll never eat that! Later I told Bob this and he agreed, who wants to eat cheese? I should explain that under normal circumstances, Bob and I eat tons of a wide variety of cheeses every day. But not this week.
We still had a lot of food in the fridge because we hadn't been eating much. I had to clear out some old icky stuff. This is something I am pathological about: a cleaned out fridge. I don't want anything close to past due hanging out in my fridge.
When I came home from the grocery store I was exhausted and rested on the couch for a few hours. But I'm coming around. I'll be at 100% tomorrow.
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