My Archives: November 2006
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Huzzah! After a months-long hiatus, Julie Leung is back on the blog train. "I haven't known how to begin blogging here again. As I look through old posts, I feel a bit of distance, a difference, separating the Julie Leung typing on the keyboard this morning from the one who posted pieces months and years ago. Also my blogging style has to change. In this intense season, I no longer have hours to write late at night or during (now-nonexistent) afternoon naps. How I've loved lingering over words, playing with text and pictures, polishing posts for hours - and I am at a loss to find a new style."
(tags: JulieLeung, Blogging, Hiatus)
Posted by Anita @ 05:37 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Our adventure in last night's snow (aka Snowpocalypse 06) began because we needed to visit the phone store. Last week Jack and I took advantage of being at his parents' place with grandson R and went to a movie (Stranger Than Fiction, funny!). I dropped my phone when we were getting out of the car after getting back, and so it was rained on. -- it rained hard every day we were down there, but we had a good time anyway. I found the phone on the gravel after a half hour or so, and we brought it inside and dried it off. It regained some functionality but it was never going to be the same, and it was old, and Jack wanted to upgrade to a smart phone because it would be useful in his job. So we visited the phone store, he got a new fancy phone, and I have his old one which is much fancier than the one I was using.
The snow was falling when we were finished, but not too bad. We drove across the street to the grocery store to pick up a few items, then took a shortcut towards home. But! The snow had really increased -- about an inch had fallen in a quarter hour. And this was when most people were leaving Microsoft for the day, always a busy time. The result was instant gridlock. Jack was driving, but when we were stopped he did investigate his new phone. Grandson R was very patient in his car seat. I confess I was gripping the arm rest tightly as we slipped and slid on our way up the short hill.
When we got to 40th Street it looked like there were more problems, so Jack drove straight through the intersection instead of turning, then entered the large Archstone apartment development. We doubled back (I was in favor of parking for the night right there!) and R and I got out to walk the short distance to our place in Harper Hill. Jack was going to attempt to make the left turn on to 40th Street. I felt like a neglectful grandma when we passed another walker and she exclaimed, "Kiddo, zip up your jacket!"
When we arrived on our own street we met Jack coming to find us. He'd succeeded in getting out and driving to our neighborhood! He felt bad, but R and I weren't bothered by a short walk in the snow. Our adventure ended with hot turkey soup, warm and cozy and inside.
(tags: Snowpocalypse, SmartPhone, SeattleSnow)
Posted by Anita @ 09:23 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Monday, November 27, 2006
Ulrika goes off writing about British English vs American English and usages British authors shouldn't commit when writing supposed American dialog.
"Stop sorting quite so much. Americans fix things, they figure things out, they make arrangements, they set stuff up, they certainly get things squared away, and occasionally they might even sort things out in their own minds, but they only sort things when they’re dividing groups of objects into smaller subgroups by what kind of thing they are, like sorting laundry into whites and colors. If you don’t mean acts of separating the sheep from the goats, don’t sort. And on the subject of things strewn about, Americans clear up only that which was previously unclear. For after supper, or general acts of extracting order from chaos, try 'cleaning up' or 'tidying up' instead. If you must, you may clear away the dishes."
See also: Separated By a Common Language, written by an American linguist who lives in England.D'oh! Ulrika put this entry back on friendslock so unless you are on her friends list, you won't be able to read it. Sorry!
(tags: UlrikaObrien, AmericanEnglish)
Posted by Anita @ 09:10 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Saturday, November 25, 2006
The author of Going Jesus (and creator of the Bad Nativities collection and much other funny stuff) has had a baby. Isaac was tiny when born and had to stay in the NICU, but he's doing well and should be home soon. I love this hat his mom knitted for him for Thanksgiving! "I just used a basic hat pattern and added the stuffed turkey legs. I made up the leg pattern as I went along. It's very silly."
(tags: GoingJesus, Thanksgiving, Knitting, Isaac)
Posted by Anita @ 05:18 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Thursday, November 23, 2006
There was a very nice write-up in the Seattle Weekly blog the other day about my brother-in-law, Joe Martin. They paid proper attention to his social activism (he's been a social worker at the Pike Market Clinic for many years) and his music (he's been part of the band Clay Pipe, also for many years). "What does he do to deserve the accolades? His job. The other day, before we could go have a pint at Kells down the alley from the clinic, I waited as Joe checked his messages and found a scary plea from a man who was about to lose his home and was on the verge of suicide. In five minutes, Joe turned it around - calming the man with a social worker's grace, determing he couldn't legally be tossed into the street, and making an appointment to meet him and resolve the problem in the morning."
(tags: JoeMartin, ClayPipe, PikePlaceMarket)
Posted by Anita @ 10:06 AM PST [Link] [1 Comment]
Friday, November 17, 2006
Jack and I are off to Orycon today, huzzah! It's my favorite large-type science fiction convention. We missed last year because I felt so crappy at that time. This year I'm not feeling bad. Grandson R will be with his great grandparents, then we'll join them on the Oregon coast Sunday or Monday. Cory Doctorow is the writer GOH. I'll miss the old hotel Orycon used to be in at Jantzen Beach (we usually stayed across the parking lot at the Oxford Suites) but this new location has a lot going for it. Jack is on a lot of programming as is our friend Jim Kling.
(tags: Orycon, Portland, CoryDoctorow)
Posted by Anita @ 04:49 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
I enjoyed Olduvai George's blog and prehistoric illustrations. He was on hiatus for a while, but now he's back! "The worst part about taking so long to write this post is that since the accompanying illustration is digital, I kept looking at and changing it. I sent a jpeg of it out to half a dozen people before this posting and each time it was slightly different. Each of the creatures has been changed numerous times. When I started the drawing and it had no deadline, I worked in a very strange way for a guy trying to present anatomical accuracy. I pulled images out of my head (some might say I pull them from elsewhere) and worked with them without reference until I thought I was getting close. Only then did I refer to bone drawings, skeletal and skull photos, and measurements."
(tags: OlduvaiGeorge, illustration, CarlBuell)
Posted by Anita @ 04:30 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Friday, November 10, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, it's the Seattle Weblog Meetup! Start time is 7 pm, location is Ralph's Grocery and Deli, 2035 4th Ave (map and directions), in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, diagonally across from the Cinerama. Free WiFi, and food and drink are available (you can buy anything in the store and consume it in the deli area, so that includes wine and beer if you want). Local and visiting webloggers talk about blog topics and lots else. Topic for the evening: TBA. I hope to see you there!
(tags: SeattleMeetup, Meetup, WeblogMeetup, Blogs, Weblogs)
Posted by Anita @ 04:56 AM PST [Link]
Monday, November 6, 2006
Coming this weekend, it's Seattle Mind Camp 3! The event starts at noon on Saturday Nov 11 and continues till noon on Sunday, Nov 12. This time I'll actually attend instead of making brief visits. It's a self-organizing, volunteer-run conference. I know Jack had a great time at the previous incarnations. There's a wiki about mindcamp, but I don't know where to find out if there are memberships still available.
(tags: Mindcamp, SeattleMindCamp)
Posted by Anita @ 05:55 AM PST [Link]
Saturday, November 4, 2006
Now that fireplace season has begun, linty firestarters might be a project I'll try. Supplies needed:
- small paper cups or cardboard egg cartons -- check!
- wax from candles that are burned down too low -- check!
- something to melt the wax in, like a large tin can or a pan from Goodwill -- need to find
- lint from the dryer -- need to start saving
Via MAKE blog, with lots of comments on the blog post.(tags: Firestarters, MAKE, Instructables)
Posted by Anita @ 11:36 AM PST [Link]
Friday, November 3, 2006
Next Tuesday, November 7 at 7 pm, it's the East Side Weblog Meetup! Weblog folks who live and/or work on the East side meet at Crossroads Mall, NE 8 and 156 Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98008. Look for us between the main area by the stage and the giant chessboard -- there will be a sign. Please pass the info along to any East Side webloggers you know!
(tags: Meetup, SeattleMeetup, Weblogs, Blogs, BlogMeetup, EastSideMeetup)
Posted by Anita @ 04:33 AM PST [Link]
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
This Seattlest post about good things in North Seattle reminded me of some places I like around there, and clued me into some new stuff, too! Shoreline Central Market? oh, yeah, I really like shopping there. Crest Theater means three-dollar good movies. New to me: the Edmonds Theater has talks by Rick Steves (or possibly one of his minions) on Saturday mornings.