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HOME > JOURNAL > AUGUST 2002

Journal (The Ember Update)

Wednesday, August 28

Too busy

I have a bunch of stuff I want to write about, but I've been too busy to have a journal-breather. In short: I've entertained a bit; Rash took me away last weekend to Mendocino for a lovely time; my friends Larry and Sue are in town for ConJose with their 2 1/2 and 5 year olds—A.J. and Xander; and I've been working a lot. I also have several pictures to share. Please forgive the sparseness and brevity!

My birthday is Friday, I'll be 35*. Tonight Rash made me two loaves of the most scrumptious peach cakes!

* Does 35 sound old? How old are you?

Sunday, August 18

Spending time

I've been insanely busy between work, meetings, finishing up my XML class, house/Toby sitting (Rob's dog ... why can't Toby be a cat?), and cooking and baking for Rash and the occasional guest. Rash and I have been having a good time hanging out. :o)

Oh, and I seem to have wasted a bunch of time watching a slew of mediocre, incomprehensible, dated or obscure movies on video (The Last Wave, Walkabout, Planet of the Apes [1968], Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Ulee's Gold). Rash and I went to see the 41-minute documentary "Adventures in Wild California" at the San Jose IMAX dome. That was worth it. The promotional Silicon Valley short at the beginning nearly justified the price of admission itself, as did the flashy IMAX demonstration piece. Despite some plot and continuity holes, Minority Report from a couple weeks back was pretty good too.

Should I bother going to see Goldmember? Pandora said I should, but a review I read made it sound terrible. Rash refuses to see any of the Austin Powers movies, but I really enjoyed the first two (despite the fact that comedy isn't usually my cup of tea). I think what I need to do is find someone excited about going to see it and go with them. But who?

Traveling

Kristin has determined that she would like my assistance with usability on SuperFred, and has lured me Back East for a long weekend in the middle of September. Even though I won't have time to visit with many of my friends (save my brother, of course, but unfortunately my Mom will be out of town that weekend), it'll be great to help out Looney Labs and hang out back at Wunderland. Not only that, but I've been growing a list of items I have repeatedly missed having in my possession (like my bronze mortar and pestle for cooking), so I'll be spending a handful of hours rooting through the stack of boxes still in my mom's attic.

In addition to that trip, Rash and I have plans to spend a long weekend in Mendocino for my birthday at the end of this month, and an early September trip to Tahoe (thanks Uncle Bill!). Then in October my mom will be in Anaheim for a Girl Scout conference, so I'll either be traveling down there or she'll be taking a detour up here. In November Rob and I plan to attend a conference—also in Anaheim—trying to lure Rash to come along; December I'll be Back East for Christmas, and again in early January for my mom's 70th birthday festivities.

On top of all that, evolt.org is having an "evolticon," one of our nearly annual get-togethers, this time in London in November. I can neither afford nor justify a trip to London right now, so I guess I'll have to miss this one... :o(

XML and XSLT

My XML class ended last Thursday. My final project was an XML document translated by XSLT (with a linked CSS file too). It's basically a close mirror of the purely XML-CSS project mentioned here previously, and seems to only work in Internet Explorer (6.x PC, or 5.x Mac). If it's your cup of tea, take a look at the files (and view source):

Wednesday, August 7

Balls, stripes and pie

Just a few odds and ends to share today. Kerin was down visiting and we were doing a bit of temari (I've started my first "compound ten" as Kerin would put it). Rash got out his box of temari—the remaining ones he hasn't given away—and poured them out on the carpet for us to examine. Here are a few pictures, including Rash explaining a ball to Kerin, and nearly every ball in the house:

The next day Rash, Rob and I happened across a similarly colorful sight during a walk to downtown Mountain View. The photo to right is of a nearby church being treated for termites. We're not sure of the details or accuracy, but Rash heard somewhere that often when selling in this area, the house/building must be sealed and fumigated to kill any termites. Termites are a serious problem throughout the region, and the church looked like it had been wrapped in a circus tent. The sealing/fumigating process takes only a day, but it's not infrequent to see buildings wrapped like this.

This last photo shows that I did something happy on August 2nd: namely, I baked one large and three small peach pies, from fresh ripe peaches Rash brought me. Pies are my specialty, and these were made after a delicious recipe in a past Penzeys Spices catalogue. (If you click on the picture, you'll see that Rash was getting tired of posing.)

Work work work

I keep forgetting to report it, but I've accepted a job. About two weeks ago, Rob asked me to be his first full-time employee. Since the computer we ordered hasn't arrived yet (a top of the line G4, plus a 22" flat Apple Cinema Display!), I'm still mostly working from home. Eventually I'll be commuting to Oakland 3-4 days a week.

Because I'll be helping to get the business organized and running, my title is now COO. Believe it or not ... fact is stranger than fiction.

I'm hoping to take two classes this fall, from my same fabulous XML teacher, Bob: Ecommerce as well as Web Strategy and Marketing. I've already got us writing a business plan. Even if things don't work out exactly the way Rob and I hope, this'll still be a great learning experience. Bob's lent me a couple books on tape, and one is the very interesting Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. Bob, Rob, Rob, Bob. Work work work...

Friday, August 2

One year

My father died a year ago today. I've been trying to figure out what I want to write, but the only thing I keep thinking is the old adage, "You don't know what you've got until it's gone." If they're still around, call your parents and tell them that you love them. I sure wish I could tell my dad one more time how important he was to me.

I will leave you with this, a brick bearing my dad's name which can be found in the garden at the childhood home of Bill Clinton in Hope, Arkansas, the same town of my father's first 18 years. My mom and I visited Hope on our cross-country drive from DC to California last fall.

Also if you haven't already, please consider reading this account of how my father was treated when he collapsed. I request this with the hope that it will sensitize a few more people to the need for helping someone in distress.

Thanks.

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