Wait, that was exercise?!?

I was tricked into several workouts this week. The first workout in disguise came Tuesday. So early in the week to be exercising; we should have been recovering from Monday, not out inflicting exercise upon ourselves.

Some of the guys from work told me we were going climbing. And sure, that's what it seemed like at first, but now, looking back at the facts (increased heart rate and the sore muscles in the days that followed) I realize I was fooled. That wasn't pure and innocent fun, that was exercise!!! I really believed I was having a great time too.

Then some ex-coworkers sweet-talked me into helping with a project over the weekend. The seniors seemed so innocent. They spoke sweetly and brought out tray after tray of succulent snacks. Alas, I was too busy climbing up and down ladders to actually eat the homemade treats. Devious old ladies!

Then, to top it all off, I opened an email, feeling safe in the belief that it was spam as I didn't recognized the sender. But no. It was an invite to a dance. A meeting of Cal and Stanford swingers (No no no, get your mind out of the gutter. Swing DANCE.). I arrived expecting to break up the whole scandal and send Cal home peacefully, but they pulled me into the frenzy and swung me around until I was too dizzy to save myself.
(Kudos to the organizers of this event and its twin in Berkeley by the way, it's not easy to get students to cross the bay for less than a rivalry and half of those attending crossed the bay or more to attend.)

My friend today scolded me for not going to the gym with her. You people never rest do you. Must you infect the whole world with your exercise and your health before you are satisfied? This isn't over...


Tags: exercise, climbing, rock climbing, dancing, swing, berkeley, stanford

Felipe Says "hi"

Twice. Awww, how nice. (Who's Felipe?)

The weather in the Midwest hasn't been so good to me since I moved to CA. I spent Saturday walking through the neighborhood learning to play Frisbee Golf (My arm was sore the next day!). It was 80º, sunny, and windy. Perfect. The only thing that could have made it better was a storm. And so on Sunday it stormed. I listened with Kaleb to the Thunder rolling outside, a big smile on my face every time.

I returned early this morning to the warm CA sun negated by the cold CA air and the announcements of trains that would be 14 - 50 min late. And though it still baffles me that airlines overbook their flights, I don't think I've ever been so happy to give up my seat so that I could get up at the crack of dawn to catch the next flight. I made Kaleb get up at 5am after working until 2am, but I enjoyed the extra night so much that I'm having a hard time feeling guilty about it.


Tags: felipe, weather, storm, omaha, thunder, frisbee golf

The Invisible Fool

People don't listen. We don't care. Most of us would rather talk about ourselves than listen to what somebody else has to say. We want to feel validated by having everybody pay attention to us. We want everybody to know all of the cool things we've done. The audience's attention and laughter makes us feel cool and important.

Ever sit listening attentively to somebody talking and suddenly you're reminded of a great story of your own. You spend the rest of the other person's story waiting for your chance, planning and hoping it will still be relevant. Or, you simply cut in when the other person takes a breath. I know I've spent my fair share of time waiting for my turn to speak and planning how to give my punchline. I also know that I have a tendency to jump ahead, figure out what the person is going to say and cut them off. Ouch. I suck.

I observe this happening around me. I see people's attention start to drift as soon as they're not the center of attention. I find that people often don't hear what I'm saying and I often feel invisible and foolish. Perhaps this isn't such a bad thing though. I often feel just as foolish when the words I say are heard. Perhaps I should learn to love that they aren't. I won't be hurt or annoyed when friends talk more than they listen. I'll hear and learn a lot more. And perhaps I'll be a better friend even if I'm not the life of the party all the time.

I used to think that being quiet, as I was through most of my pre-college life, was something to overcome. I'm beginning to realize now that although I may have had the wrong motivations, being so reserved and quiet served me pretty well.


Tags: listen, talk, friend, invisible

Hit by Goomba at Usability Conference

Blogging from a Web Guild conference and as I open my laptop to take notes (in the middle of the conference) the speakers blast a sound bite from Super Mario Bros. The speakers are great. =) The moderator not so much. Not incredibly personable and some of the questions are stupid (interpretation: unenlightening, boring, flat, unintelligible). The speakers are doing a great job answering them though, pretty impressive. Some good information and ideas mixed with some humor and some friendly jabs at fellow speakers. Google as always is a good host, though it seems there's a little passive-aggressive behavior toward Yahoo! ;-)

Overall a good experience.

Tags: usability, mario, goomba, google, yahoo!, netflix

Technorati Widgets

We have a bunch of new widgets. Unfortunately, unless you host your own blog or have a blogger blog you can't have them. We'll be working on submitting them to platforms that don't allow users to edit templates or add javascript though. So hopefully they'll be more accessible soon. I'm also working on getting the backgrounds changed to be transparent... Yikes.

Tags:technorati, widgets, blogging

Look What I Can Do In Heels

I know it's a little blurry, but you don't actually expect me to be able to do that in heels and be still do you? And though it felt like it for a while during pictures, this was not prom. Just a little note: prom is similar to what they say about the first time you have sex, it's supposed to be great, but mostly, it's probably going to be a big disappointment and you've just got to get it over with. This was not a big disappointment. This was the 1931 Hollywood Oscars Party, and it was a blast. Short hair plastered to my head, pearls, long, sleek red dress, strappy gold shoes and all.

I discovered the ball Friday afternoon while checking the details for a dance I was planning to attend that night in PA. This one seemed much more interesting, so I held my breath. I had a friend visiting the next day and she had an early flight out the morning after. I wasn't about to make her go or ditch her and go by myself. To my delight though she seemed happy to join me for the ball.

Hy and I spent the day eating with friends and family, visiting campus, and sitting in the bushes downtown PA blowing bubbles at the trees and passersby. (I'm hoping to get pics from her soon as I didn't take my camera.) We then returned to the house where Hy worked some magic helping me with jewelry and makeup (She did my eyes, so she has no excuse now ;-).



We spent the night dancing and laughing, grabbed some fast food on the way back, and got to sleep around 2am. I don't know what else to say. I had so much fun, and I can't thank Hy enough for being such a good date. Not many friends would have been so willing to go on such short notice while visiting from across the country. I wish Kaleb could have accompanied us, but Hy has set a high standard and he'll have to work to live up to it ;-).



Tags: ball, dance, ballroom, costume, hy, dress, red, 30s, oscars, prom

Friday Cat Blogging

Yeah, I know, technically. But I'm still up, so it's Friday.

They really can sleep in any position. I think she stretched, and just fell asleep again mid-way.

Tags: cat, friday cat blogging, technicality, stretch, sleeping

Rambling About Free Time

I've had a nice last week or so. For some reason there seem to be fewer things on my plate to take care of. Perhaps it's in contrast to the weekend before last when I was working from home, or perhaps it's because my taxes are done. Whatever the reason I feel like I have some free time. I spent the weekend helping some friends move, watching Heroes, taking care of orchids and relaxing at home. I had the house to myself for several hours over the weekend which gave me some time to relax and re-energize as well. I feel like I have time to study Japanese at my leisure rather than feeling guilty for reading instead. I feel like I have time for both, which means that instead of avoiding Japanese because I want to read and not reading to avoid guilt I actually do both. And I enjoy both. Amazing.

(Something else that's amazing is that I really like typing. I'm realizing this now because I'm frustrated that I type the letters but am forced to wait for them to show up. I'm frustrated because it ruins the easy fluid feeling that's some kind of magic for me.)

Perhaps I don't actually have less to do or have more free time, I just think I do. Perspective has come up a couple times for me this week. It affects everything. If only it weren't so hard to keep certain perspectives. Kaleb has actually forced me to question some perspectives that I've adopted over the years and remember some that I'd forgotten. I thought I was doing an ok job for a Midwestern girl, but though I've been living a little on the surface I've been getting old underneath. At what age did I start to think more about skinned knees and bruises than wind and sunshine and fun?

Anyway, I've had this free time (or feel like I have) but there are still things I'm not keeping up with. *ahem* So, I'm getting out a sharpie to write a reminder on my hand...


Tags: free time, time, perspective, typing, guilt