taxi + bus + boat + taxi = beach

We are finally on the beach in Koh Phangan!! It is lovely, although the rainy season is still trailing a little bit so the water isn't perfectly clear...but the weather is warm and there's nothing to do but beach relaxation...

It was, however, an adventure to get here from bangkok:
- 2 hour taxi ride in HORRIBLE bangkok traffic. We are lucky we didn't get the train tickets we wanted because we surely would have missed our train and been stuck in bangkok. Since we took a bus, they waited for us! Very very nice of them.
- 11 hours bus ride. This was hard. The seats were uncomfortable and the most comfy ones were downstairs but they smelled like diesel! so they just weren't manageable. The bus had one stop at a series of markets in the middle of nowhere. I got a snack of watermelon which was perfectly refreshing at midnight.
- 2 hour wait at the river dock. At this point i was cranky from the contorted sleeping and missing my bed back home deeply. I don't miss the beds at the Shangri-La, or Le Meredien or the Davis because frankly beds in Thailand are hard and low to the ground and i much prefer my high, soft bed.
- 3 hour boat ride to Koh Samui and then to Koh Phangan. The boat ride was really quite nice.
- 45 minute taxi ride across the island to get to Thong Nai Pan Beach. This was a fun taxi - it was an open bed truck. We sat in the back. It started to pour! we got sooo wet. We moved inside the cab. Which was a good move because the ride was very bumpy.

After all of this, we arrived to our nice, very rustic, beach bungalows. We are literally on the beach! Yesterday we walked around, got in the water and ate delicious meals. Today I think we are going to kayak and I am definitely going to get my first Thai massage.

i will eventually post pictures of all of this to flickr...

happy christmas!

Another christmas, another year of wonderful adventures. Here's wishing you all of the best. I'm in Thailand now (great shopping in bangkok let me tell you) and lots of fun chaos as all of us (jasmine, joslyn and sheils) have arrived....adventures to be tracked online soon...

ads in gmail...

so i've been noticing lately that the ads in gmail are getting really good -- and by good i mean useful, relevant and things i just want to click on for more information.

This may in part be to seasonality - right now a lot of my e-mails deal with shopping (gifts for the holidays, my mother's birthday) and travel (i'm going to thailand and my sister and I are writing back and forth about where to stay and what to do)....

The other thing I've noticed is that the number of ads changes. Sometimes I get 3, sometimes 4, sometimes 3 on the rail and one in the web-clip. Sometimes I get a search link. Sometimes not. Hmm. Those google kids are definitely getting crafty!

There are of course those really, really irrelevent links...like the link to buy sushi at Target:
Sushi
Sushi online Shop Target.com
www.Target.com

Sushi? at Target? I love target but not for fresh fish.

I'm curious, are others finding the links to be better? More useful?

snow!!

It is snowing *right now* in seattle/redmond/washington. YEAH!!! SNOW!!!!

big puffy wet sticky lovely snowflakes.

I am totally delighted. I've been IMing people all day to let them know. Most of them are in CA and their response has been pretty much the same: "it's raining here!" "no, it's raining!!!" " We are getting rain." "lucky lucky It's just raining out here."

apparently, it is raining in SF. but it is SNOWING! in seattle! w00t!

home (in CA) for 39 hours

i'm in the midst of a travel whirl...LAX-SFO-SEA-ORD-SEA-LVS-SEA-SFO-SEA... and I just got to my mum's house in Mountain View. There is something so special and wonderful about coming home that reminds me that (a) I am so very much a californian at heart and (b) that i love my mum's home.

Perhaps it is that I walk into the house and get covered in enthusiastic kisses from the world's best dog -- Brizzie -- and then get treated with vague indifferency by MY cat (tuvi). But i think it is more the comfort and that special feeling of being somewhere so familiar, so loved that reminds me how good life is and just how lucky I am. Plus, I just love my mum's house -- there's always something new (they are constantly remodeling and changing things about) and yet the place is always the same to me. There's never food in the fridge that I would choose to eat, yet there are always yummy leftovers to nibble on. The plants are always alive and thriving and getting special mum-care. The computer always has a new virus that needs to be dealt with. Walking down the great hall I see memories, friends and family. It makes me all warm inside. Even though I am home for such a brief time, and with a packed schedule, i feel rested just being here. awwww.

new wheels!

I finally got new tires. These have been a long time coming...in fact, i have to say ... perhaps too long.

Mike and I went to costco to buy them as I had been hearing about how price efficient they are and at this point i just *needed* new tires. This is the third set of new tires I've bought for my car -- I have about 160,000 miles on my very trusty Honda -- and i decided that this time I wasn't going to go all zany trying to find the best tires for the price. I've done that before, and from what i can tell, tires are pretty much tires - if you buy good ones and rotate them regularly. All i wanted was a nice all-weather, rain-handling set of wheels. I ended up with Michelin, since they had a deal.

While costco installed my tires, mike and i shopped at costco. Oh my. We spent about 2 hours going religiously through every aisle. We looked at everything..."oooh, a new dyson!" "oooh, candy for halloween" "ooooh, 500 bajillion onions for a $1." Mike had also mentioned that we were going to eat lunch at costco. I was skeptical. I mean who goes to costco to eat food? Wow, was I wrong. Clearly everyone there is there for the food samples. On every aisle, in every nook, in every section there are people handing out food of all types and varities. Cheesy gooey things. Toasted things. Blended things. It was too much. The only thing they weren't handing out was water. Which is exactly what you need when you are snacking on an assortment of salty Costco samples.

When we were finally done I went to get my car so we could load it up with all our goodies. My tires looked so nice and shiny! Except for one thing. Green Caps! Costco fills their tires with Nitrogen. Which is apparently better than air -- more fuel efficiency and the pressure is more stable and longer lasting. (Read more about it here) All of this is great, but green caps on my wheels? on my silver car? no no no. Costco was nice and gave me replacement black caps. Me along with another couple who didn't want green caps. They use these caps to identify that the tires are filled with nitrogen. I asked if this was a safety issue and they said no, so i switched. It seems that most people switch. Maybe they should have a green stripe on a black cap instead of a green cap? As no one seems to like the green caps. We are really a fashion conscious people. ha!

jb in da house!

My very good friend JB is visiting from Washington DC for the weekend. We've known each other for almost 15 years and he's not only one of my favorite people, but one of the best wine drinkers and chefs i know. Right now he's prepping for our dinner -- halibut with some sort of walnut olive tapenade, fingerling potatoes and yummy brussel sprouts -- with BACON! i love bacon! It is so wonderful to have him here visiting.

Also, it is his birthday today! wooohooo! Happy Birthday JB! Get back in the kitchen! (don't worry -- he is getting spoiled, i'm taking him to Zoe tomorrow night for a celbratory dinner).

Adding a picture of us at Zoe on Sunday. We had such fun! and He loved the restaurant :)

lost

for some horrible reason my comcast dvr did not tape tonight's episode of Lost. I'm totally devasted. seriously. do i read the forums? do i try and download it? i just don't know. :(

almost off the grid...

something wierd is happening with my internet. I can't access my gmail account AND i can't access bloglines! Given that probably 50% of my online time is spent between these two locations (the other 50% spent searching, del.icio.us'ing or tadalist-ing...and excluding time spent IMing)...i'm feeling pretty out of the loop. at least i can blog.

what is wierder is the message i am getting from the bloglines plumber:

Hi,

I'm the Bloglines Plumber. Bloglines is down for scheduled maintenance. We will be back at 10:15Pm Pacific Time, Friday Sept 9, 2005. Bloglines will be all better when I'm done with it.

Thanks,
The Bloglines Plumber

September 9th?? am i in some time warp?

Gmail is giving me the standard, annoyingly cute:

Server Error

Gmail is temporarily unavailable. Cross your fingers and try again in a few minutes. We're sorry for the inconvenience.

Given that it has been two hours, i'm thinking there is something afoot...

today...

is my birthday..it is also international talk like a pirate day. hard to know which one deserves greater celebration. ahem! eventually i will post pics from my birthday dinner (at la bodeguita, of course!)...

in the interim check out the flickr pics for talk like a pirate day...

upside down

so. it looks like my mac died. completely. like no recovery, everything is gone. i have one last hope - sending my computer to DriveSavers.com -- for about $800+. I'm going to do it...as I just can't wrap my mind around actually losing all my data. I haven't cried yet, but i know it is close. the worst part is I have an external back-up drive, that i just don't use. I've been lazy with the move. ugh. lesson learned.

going to go cry now...

labor day productivity

My sister came out for the weekend and we had a great time -- it is sooo nice to have family come and visit. She provided much needed perspective, comfort and fun. We were also insanely productive. Check out our tadalist: http://natala.tadalist.com/lists/public/103412

Here's the quick rundown:
Friday - she got into town late, dinner at 5 spot then went to her friend's magazine launch party at the War Room. I bailed on the war room due to sleepiness, but sheils got to see her friend and check out the seattle scene. The Donna's were spinning -- plus her friends new zine - illicit - is HOT!

Saturday: Lazy morning, walked to Macrina Bakery around noon for brunch. Sheils then reorganized my study! It was awesome. That night about 14 people came over for a BBQ to celebrate that we didn't go camping...we cooked up smores, drank 8 bottles of wine and talked until 2am. It was lovely. Maya and Oliver brought their friends, Tonya & Jon, from the SF comedy/film group Killing My Lobster. If you are in SF, you have to check them out. Mike and Buddy put up lanterns in my tree -- something i've been wanting to do forever. It wasn't quite camping...but we were outside and there were marshmallows...I took a ton of pictures, which i intend to upload to flickr...but well, read the monday section.

Sunday: After a slighly hungover start, we went for brunch at the 5 spot with Matt and his wife (friends of my sis) and my very cool neighbors, Dave and Diane. Then it was off to bumbershoot and finally to dinner with the other Sheila in my life -- my friend Sheila Talwar. It was fun to have the two sheilas meet! We went out for ethopian at Queen Sheba. It was yummy. We then got lost trying to find the movie theatre to see Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (the remake) and ended up watching Born Rich at home. You've got to see this HBO edition of America Undercover.

Monday: Woke up and my mac was, uhm, dead. It wouldn't start. So we grabbed some bagels, and headed over to the apple store. There were 8 people in line with us and the store wasn't opening for another 30 minutes! Eventually we got to see a "Genius" and it turns out I need to have my hard drive revamped...so my little powerbook is getting some R&R for the next fews days at the store while i try not to completely freak out about potential data loss. Then a quick walk around greenlake, cupckaes at Cupcake royale, a trip to Office Depot and Fred Meyer for more office supplies to complete the organization adventure. Finally, we hung up all the stuff in my bathroom that needed to be put up (like the towel ring and tissue holder...) and knocked a couple of holes in the wall before watching a few episodes of Sex and the City and finally dropping off my sis at the airport.

In the midst of all this, we talked a lot about New Orleans and the hurricane. We were and continue to be glued to CNN...and the grief, sadness and disappointment around this tragic situation. I think this pretty much sums up a chunk of our thinking.

ok go

i'm going to see OK GO tonight at the Crocodile. *sweet*.
















Check out their hot dance video.

me, bill & maya - 5w337!

On Friday MSN had a 10 year anniversary party...and Bill Gates spoke about the last 10 years and the next. He was great -- so nerdy cool and enthusiastic.

Afterwards, I grabbed maya and said: "We have to get a picture with Bill!" She said, "but I'm shy..." and I said, "this is no time for shyness!" and we went over and asked him if we could get a picture together. We introduced ourselves and a co-worker snapped the picture. Bill was great - and I think the picture turned out pretty well too.

celebrity blogs: worth a read

eonline has an article on celebrity blogs (because you know, everyone and their dog blogs now...) the article is pretty amusing - esp if you like pop culture / celebrities. I particularly like the format:
- his / her space - which is a link to their blog, interesting that they call it a space...
- his / her thing - what they blog about
- why you must read it - synopsis of the juicy bits
- why you might hate yourself after - how reading this blog will make you think about things you never ever wished you were exposed to, you know the really juicy bits that you'll love to hate.
- quote - an actual snippet from their blog.

Celebrities covered: Pam Anderson, Rosie O'Donnell, Barbara, Tom Green, Bruce Willis etc.

the only thing that would have made this article better? a nice little orange RSS box so you could subscribe to each blog. :)

heard via my sis...

Ezra Sun Wallace (2-1/2 years old) while in the kitchen with his mama...
"Oh look, a spider mommy! Where'd it's website go?

going on vacation

i'm off to Echo Lake which is near Lake Tahoe for a family reunion that will involve a lot of rest, kayaking and curry. I can't wait. This is my third summer going to echo and i know exactly what to expect: sunshine, cool water, beautiful hikes and really mangy people coming off of the Muir Trail as they hike along destination wilderness.

Good times to all!

do you see what you see?

check out this link on visual perception:
http://www.echalk.co.uk/amusements/OpticalIllusions/colourPerception/colourPerception.html

I'm still stuck on illusion #1 -- seriously, spooky!

Thanks amit for the tip!

maybe it is carma?

yes car-ma... i've been super busy lately and over the last 24 hours my car has forced me to take it a step slower. I thought I was having the most ridiculous 24 hours, but in fact, the end result has been a slightly more relaxed me.

here's the deal:
yesterday i left work a bit early to carpool home with my friend julie and to get home early to prepare for my dinner guests (mike and buddy were coming over for bbq so i could thank them for putting my grill together!). We got down to my car and i push my alarm clicker to turn off the alarm on my car and unlock the doors. the clicker is DEAD. hmmm. So, I open the door with the key (which felt really novel, you know to actually unlock the door...i haven't done that in years) and the alarm goes off, but i'm thinking that I can put the key in the ignition and the alarm will recognize that I have THE key and turn off. Not so. In fact, quite the opposite. My car turns itself completely off. I guess I had one of those alarms that when it is going off and someone trys to start the car it thinks it is being stolen so it turns off the starter. Which is, uhm great as an anti-theft device...but well, not so good for me at this particular moment. It turns out I need to turn the car alarm off using some switch that I can't find and tapping some combination... i have no recollection of EVER being trained on this part of my car alarm....as we quickly realize we aren't getting home in my car, we bum a ride from our saviour, Morgan! The upside is that we were legally able to drive in the HOV lane all the way home! yeah! and i didn't have to drive in traffic! double yeah! Dinner with smuga and buddy was great, we chatted, walked around the neighborhood and imagined all sorts of things....

So on sat, after walking to breakfast, Julie (saviour #2) drove me back out to Redmond to pick up my car -- thankfully I have a second set of keys with a working alarm clicker. With all the car stuff settled, I decided to get some errands done.

One of the fun things I get to do as a result of my remodel is laundry at the *laundromat*! yes! My washer and dryer are out of commission for the entire summer as my basement is completely revamped. Did you know that the laundromat doesn't take quarters anymore? You have to buy a special debit card with a smartcard chip. Seriously for $3! Anyways, so i am doing my laundry and I go back out to my car to get my lavendar softner and realize that I have LOST my car key! Really. This means I have to walk home, get my other car key and then walk back. My home is about 1.5 miles from the laundromat -- downhill home and uphill back. It is 85 degrees outside. ick! But alas, I make the walk home, get my keys and Kinsey (the dog who's with me for the weekend) and trek back uphill to my laundry and to retrieve my car....

net-net: as a result of not having the car for 20 hours I did a lot more walking. My body is tired, but I feel good. I would like to say that I am considering giving up my car, but i'm not. but i do think that adopting more walking would be a good idea. hmmm.

weather 98119 = rainy

i've been complaining to JB about the crap weather we've been having in seattle. Where is this sunshine people keep talking about??? He sent me the images below, which did completely brighten my day. I particularly enjoyed that it was overcast and hot and humid in his zipcode (DC).



weather in 98119 =

happy birthday sheila!

today is my sister's birthday. yippee. my mum is throwing her a suburbanite party tomorrow at their house complete with an ice-cream cake. I sent her the picture below as a well wishing..we've been suspicious about our cat's origin for some time and this picture defintely prooves his foreign origins.

MIT blogger survey....

i wished they had a free comment / feedback section so that i could add some texture to my answers! Maybe they will have focus groups...

anyways...



i do recommend completing the survey.

Blog on.

phew!

Thanks to a comment from Stephen i figured out how to fix my blog format woes -- just when blogger buzz posted a fix.

This means i won't have to update my blog format immediately, but it did get me thinking that perhaps that would be fun. So right now i'm sort of doodling redesign options. I found this page of color schemes (via Amitp) ... what do you'all think of Blix and Sevenest?

formatting gone haywire...

For those of you actually visiting my blog (i.e. not reading it via bloglines/RSS) you might notice that the formatting has gone a little bit screwy. It looks like, according to a post on the Blogger Status Blog and on Blogger Buzz, that the new blogger release of image hosting has caused some blog formats to go askew -- and mine was one of them. Now, all things considered my blog template is pretty much a hacked piece of code mangled further by me :) ... but i've sent an e-mail on to blogger support and so hopefully we'll be able to save my format...if not, i may actually have to re-do my blog format which i've been considering doing for months...but need something to get me to actually *have to* do it...

If you feel the need to see what my blog used to look like, check out the wayback machine :)

43 places - ideas

43 places is cool -- the site lets users post informaiton on places they've been and tag places they want to visit. What I particularly like is that they have a page where users can suggest ways to improve their product -- and we can "vote" on product improvements by clicking the "43T should do this" button. neato.

blogging from WMW on spaces

I'm in New Orleans for the week at the WebMaster World conference. I'm planning to blog on the sessions I attend on my spaces blog:
http://spaces.msn.com/members/natala

posting an update on the keynote by John Batelle now...

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

iSight

I got an iSight camera last weekend when I was home in CA. I wanted it to improve my connections to my family -- and it is wonderful. So i was iChating + video with my sister -- she could see me and we could talk but I couldn't see her. That was a bummer -- so she made a movie on her camera, converted it in iMovie and then sent it to me. Pretty Cool -- Check out the video. LINK. (to be added see update below)

Update: I didn't realize that (a) I can't upload video to blogger (b) i can't upload video to flickr and (c) i can't upload video in .mov format to smugmug. As a result i have enrolled in Google Video (a surprisingly useful app, as is all free storage) but now i have to WAIT for them to approve the video. Interesting, I wonder, do they actually watch the videos?Once I get approved I will add the link.

P.S. Yes, I know the lighting is really bad...afterall I was iChating with my sister.

weekend in CA

Family picture - Me, Mum, Sheils + Brizzie.

So i tried to sneak back home for the weekend to visit with my family and the resident mongrels (aka our cat tuvi and the dog brizzie)... but i have learned that it is impossible to do since, well, silicon valley is a small town and i know a few people. :)

Even though my trip was last minute, I had a pretty full weekend:

Friday:
Facial with my esthetician, Fawn @ SkinSpirit. They always find a way to fit me in - which given my last minute scheduling is very very cool. Lunch at Tamarine with Inna, my financial advisor. She's awesome. Picked up conditioner, walked the doggie, and then met the girls (Dulcy, Alexia, and Pat) for drinks at my bar (aka La Bodeguita). It was a fabulous night. I had my first drink in 3 months (i gave up alchohol for my diet) -- an O Cosmo -- and it was not only delicious but i was buzzed after three sips. We also saw Lisa, she just had her 30th B-day (Happy B-day Lisa) Also ran into an ex-boyfriend (just because i moved doesn't mean he can start frequenting my bar!)

Saturday:
Woke up and went for a run with the pup. Stopped by JB's mum's tag sale - so many fun things, including a copy of MicroSerfs - which I bought for $1. Then I went to Noe Valley, to hang with my friend Amy (we went to college together) and her two lovely kids and husband Ben. Ben's considering spending more time at this incredible start-up that does Fantasy Sports. It's perfect for him :) he's running statistical models on who the #1 NBA draft pick should be (sorry i can't say!) -- very interesting stuff. Then I met up with my sister, we got manicure-pedicure's at my favorite salon in menlo park - Natalie's. I think they have a great deal - an excellent mani/pedi + a neck massage (10 min) = $55. My manicure lasts a week - which you just can't get from the average corner shop. Now starving, sheila and I went to dinner (good mexican YEAH, but i ate too much) then back to mum's to hang out. JB came over for a bit and it was fun to chat with mum, sheils and Jeeves. Just like old times with JB and mum ganging up on me.

Sunday:
Slept in -- woohoo. Brunch @ st michael's alley with Mum and sheila. Shopped at restoration hardware w/mum. Tried out sheila's B&B therapy #4 on my hair -- it is hydrating and works quite well. Then over to Dulcy's BBQ, then a quick drink @ Gordon Biersch with BK, Nico and Chris Bates - bates' band is going on tour this summer / fall - very exciting. JB stopped in for a final goodbye, and then i headed out to meet my Dad. We hung out till 11, lost his car, found his car and eventually got home in one piece.

Monday:
Overslept and missed my 6 am flight which landed me in Alaska Airlines HELL. I guess they cut the pilot's pay by 25% and they are retaliating with "turtle service" -- basically everything is delayed because they find "mechanical errors" that could cause a flight to be unsafe. Net-Net I spent 8 hours in the San Jose airport before i *boarded* my flight home to SeaTac. Not cool. Avoid alaska until they figure this one out.

Outside of learning that I can't sneak back home, I did pick up a few tid-bits on the technology front. TechTalk is probably the #1 thing I miss since I moved to Seattle -- back in the Bay Area everyone talks tech ALL the time. Yes, it can be annoying, but as a native, that's my language. Below are some of the things i noted:
- Yahoo! is everywhere. i think i saw 3 SBC Yahoo vans -- more prevelent than the here, there, everywhere Channel 7 news vans (a locals only reference). Rumour has it that Yahoo! 360 will see some major revamps, and there was lots of talk about Yahoo moving people to LA.
- Even so, people are still ga-ga for google.
- The buzz is around the economy picking up, apple switching chips (and when will the ipod bubble burst? maybe never...but what if Steve dies??) and everyone finding a new start-up.
- Entrpreneurs are running wild and there's an energy in the air that had been dead for a while.

All in all, my weekend back in california was as it should be: wonderful, relaxing and fun. I did miss rainy, peaceful seattle, but it was also nice to be home, enjoy the sunshine and spend time with everyone.

OH! and for those of you I missed (and there are many - BPD, Minnie, Sara, Amit, Elise etc.) I will be back in town in August. I'll be back for SES- coming in a few days early then, after the conference, heading up to Tahoe for a family reunion. I plan to see all of you then -- so put a placeholder on your calendars. On another note, I'll be in New Orleans for the Web Master World conference -- if you plan to be there let me know.

memorial weekend + more

ok, so i had a rockin' memorial weekend that i've been meaning to blog about:

Friday: awesome workout with my trainer followed by long walk with my temporary pet, Kinsey. Kinsey visited with me for the whole week while her daddies (Bo & Derek) were living it up in Maui.



Saturday: Sasquatch! All day concert at the gorge sponsored by KEXP with Morgan and Sean. It was awesome because (1) the gorge literally overlooks the columbia river -- an amazing setting for a concert; (2) it was really, really sunny (i got a tan!); and (3) the music was great. The main stage had Bloc Party, Jem, The Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse -- and the evenings highlight: a purple & white suit clad Kanye West. OMG was he awesome, and hot, and lavender... -- but the real fun was to be heard on the side (Yeti and Wookie) stages where Blue Scholars (i think i'm addicted to them now) and the Dears played, as well as Bobby Bare Jr. and my new faves the Frames.

Sunday: Ran errands, looked at 25 different grill options, and then went over to Jenn & John's for an evening of entertainment. It was nice to hang out, catch up with friends and visit their new media room -- really a small theatre. We watched Kill Bill Vol. I ... amazing.

Monday: Went kayaking on Lake Washington with Smuga to celebrate his birthday (happy birthday smuga!) and enjoy the water. Afterwards we went to my favorite neighborhood, Ballard, for lunch. yummm.

The rest of the week has sort of whizzed by, and now I am on more vacation -- I'm back home in CA for the weekend. 1st time back in 6 months! My doggie literally *cried* he was so excited to see me. awwww.

two more shout outs:
Happy Birthday Maya!
Happy Birthday Vignetta!

i heart oxi magic!

On Saturday night I had a few of my new girlfriends over for a slumber party. The plan was to watch cheesy john hughes movies, trade make-up tricks, play truth or dare and crank call boys....but we didn't get to any of that because we ended up drinking and chatting outside the entire evening enjoying the warmish weather and my new patio furniture. It was awesome....until, at about 3 am when we headed in to sleep, I, being particularly gracious, *kicked* over a full glass of red wine spraying red wine all over my new carpet and white bedding. i was horrified then in shock and then, with the aid of my dear friends, leaped to action. Here's what we did:

(1) I poured an entire container of salt over the stain on the carpet. The salt absorbs the wine so it doesn't go into the carpet - this really works!
(2) We then vacuumed up the salt, but the wine was still there. the situation looked dire.
(3) I remembered that a friend who works in the wine industry had recommended oxi magic to me last time i saw her and so i had bought a bottle and kept it in the basement near the laundry. I ran down the stairs and found it and then proceeded to spray it over every red thing in sight.
(4) Put the sheets and bedding into the washer on the Hot/Cold cycle, leaving out softner just in case.

IT WORKED. Every single drop of wine -- including the wine that was on my white bedding -- is gone. I can't believe it. I am honestly shocked. and sooooooo very happy.

Oxi magic is amazing. Go buy some. Go!

browsers

How many browsers does one person need? Well, lately i'm not quite sure that the answer is One...Right now i have four on my mac, three on my pc for a total of 5 brands:



Firefox:
Tagline: Take back the web. or Rediscover the web.

I downloaded firefox last spring and fell in love with tabbed browsing. I swear tabs changed my internet experience. I then got my mac, and realized that safari had been doing tabbed browsing for awhile...I also have to admit that I loved the speed of firefox and the logo. The logo is hot. I'm currently using the pimpzilla skin to liven things up.


Camino:
Tagline: Mozilla power, Mac style. Could it get any better? or
Simplicity is something of infinite beauty.

This is my newest browser (downloaded today) so i have yet to mess with it much. It promises to be just like Firefox, but primed for my mac. This is exciting since I use the blogger interface on Mozilla (better tools via this browser format) over Safari (i typically blog from home on mac) but have found firefox to run slightly slower on my mac.



Safari
Tagline: A superior Web experience with outstanding performance. or
Your desktop is the new doorstop.

Ok, i love this browser. It works seamlessly on my mac and is generally speedy.

Opera:
Tagline: Simply the best web experience.

I'm testing this one out purely for the ads (screenshot) they build into the browser. I think this is an interesting idea. Right now I think I look too much at the ads because i'm curious, otherwise, I would find them annoying and a waste of space. I get enough ads via the pages i'm looking at.


Internet Explorer:
Tagline: ?

I'm not quite sure that there is an IE tagline, but the value prop for v7 appears to be "security"... and apparently the beta will be available this summer. They really need a value prop here. Update: I just spent some time looking at the pages to figure out how to download the current version, and uhm, I can't find it. I see patches and updates -- but what if I didn't have IE pre-loaded on my computer? There's no easy download...I guess I can go to Download.com. But everything seems to be targeted at the Service Pack download and not the actual app itself. That just seems weird. But then, who's really downloading IE?

For the nitty-gritty comparisons check out these links:
Use your Brain - Browser Comparison
Wikipedia - Browser Comparison Chart
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At the end of the day, I'm using IE + Firefox/Safari (Firefox on my PC, Safari on my Mac). I use Firefox at work for all my personal stuff -- i open firefox and then immediately open up a tab for Gmail, my stock portfolio, bloglines, flickr and then i open up web pages from what i read in bloglines. Sometimes I open up a tab for news (usually cnn.com or news.google.com). I do all of my work stuff on IE -- it promotes the idea to me that there is a "work" space and an "explore" space -- and that there's a seperation between the two...

Which browser are you using? why? I'd love to hear comments/thoughts on this. I know tons of people who've switched to Firefox because of the speed and their anti-evil sentiments, but really, i switched primarily for tabs. and then speed. Generally I don't use any of their special functionality (like RSS) -- although i do find the built in search box very handy.

so my mum does read my blog...

i got this e-mail from my mum today:

To: natala
From: mom
Date: 4/11/05
Subject: hmm...

Tala: exactly what does this mean? You don't want me to come up any more? You do want me to come but...

"I love LOVE having guests (my mum was just here and it was great, except for when i brought up my feelings around "persistent vegitative states") ... but it will be nice to have an empty house for a little while."--Natala's blog

do you mean the persistent vegitative state of your refridgerator?

------
i sometimes forget how funny mum can be. i called her tonight and we had a nice, brief chat where she updated me on the going's on of her favorite son (aka the dog, Brizzie). I swear i've been completely replaced by this pet.

updates / things i've been thinking about:
- i'm dealing OK with Arizona's loss in the Elite Eight. I'm truly happy that UNC won it all. I can't stand a team who wears orange and has a mascot called the "fighting illini" -- please that is almost as bad as the tree.
- How did i forget that Patrick Dempsey was soo cute? he's the new carter! and the show (gray's anatomy) is good too. i never knew you could donate your eyeballs and your skin. neat stuff.
- my taxes are being sent out tomorrow. wow, i've never been done in advance! woohoo for accountants.
- the pope died. it is sad, i liked the pope (even though i disagree with him on many things, esp. contraception-- afterall didn't the catholics invent the rhythm method?).
- my diet is going well, but i've got an infection (unrelated to diet) this week and the meds have turned me into an insomniac. this does not make me more productive unfortunately.
- i really enjoyed this article on Man Dates by the NYT.
- i've been a wee-bit homesick this week. i'm debating if this means i need to take a trip home to CA or suffer a bit longer to see what the homesickness matures into. Moving is interesting, i've been really challenged to go outside my comfort zone on a more regular basis -- meeting new people, trying things out that i probably wouldn't do...etc. Finding good friends in a new place is much, much harder than i expected. I'm a pretty friendly person (and i like to think i'm personable and interesting...ha!), but it seems to me that seattle folks are more closed-off than San Francisco folks and keep to relatively tight circles. As a result, I've noticed that i'm taking an intellectual (i.e. i'm overanalyzing things) approach to social situations. I'm more interested in the dynamics of how people interact with each other than I am in actually joining in the interactions. Perhaps this is because, feeling out of my comfort zone, i'm being a bit more reclusive? hmmm. I definitely find that i miss intimacy, that connection you have with people who know you, and appreciate your quirky neurosis. thank god for cell phones and e-mail. these are two critical links that keep me connected to friends and family.

right now i'm blogging instead of figuring out my taxes...

seriously, i hate filling out forms -- even simple online forms sorta irk me every now and then...but having to fill out a form, fax it or copy it and then submit it just kills me. I can never ever find the stamps. Truthfully these should be the simple, easy, brainless tasks that take moments to complete...but for me the whole process is bothersome. I get rebellious against the beauracracy, against the "man" and the paper-pushers...so, as a direct result, I take a long time to do these "little" things. I let them pile up. By the time I get around to taking care of all the administrative aspects of maintaining my life i'm faced with mountains of paper and it takes hours to weed through it all and i hate hate hate it. I am completely self-tortured here. i know it. aaargh.

the worst part is the satisfaction i get when i'm done. it's freaking glee. you would think that feeling could fuel me through the administrative part, but it doesn't. perhaps the self-torture is more enjoyable. *sigh*

elite eight

Source: Getty Images / CBS Sportsline

ok, at this point in the tournament -- with an essentially demolished bracket -- i try not to get too excited. but well,

HOLY MOLY ARIZONA IS GOING TO THE ELITE EIGHT!!! YEAH YEAH YEAH!!

i love this team. i have the arizona fight song as my text message alert music (since i get arizona basketball scores sent to my phone). and well, every year i pick them to go to the final four and complete at least one bracket with them winning it all... I restrained myself this year -- and what good did that do my bracket? well none. So, i'm going back to my roots and we're red and blue all over:

Bear Down, Arizona
Bear Down, red and Blue
Bear Down, Arizona
Hit 'em hard, let 'em know who's who;
Bear Down, Arizona
Bear Down, Red and Blue
Go, go, Wildcats, go!!!
Arizooooonaaaa, Bear Down


Image source: CBS Sportsline / Getty Images
It's nice to see salim playing as a team member. Hassan Adams is on the right in the headband.

btw, as a sub-note: while looking for an image to put on this post i did a search [arizona wildcat basketball] and the #1 result is a pic i posted during the 2003 tournament -- when i first started to blog! woohoo. Link.

email overload

outlook: 2012 inbox, 297 unread
gmail: 496 inbox, 117 unread

ugh, i am so behind on e-mail my head hurts. i'm not even going to post about how far behind i am on bloglines...

that being said -- i'm in Seattle for the next month! yeah! (although i may go to Portland for a day trip...but that doesn't really count, does it?) and right now i'm also without visitors for the month -- which means a bit less entertaining. I love LOVE having guests (my mum was just here and it was great, except for when i brought up my feelings around "persistent vegitative states") ... but it will be nice to have an empty house for a little while.

i should rephrase that -- empty for now -- i ordered furniture! yes! for real! the first shipment arrives next week, then i get a chunk at the end of April/1st week of May and then the rest (including my beloved couch) will arrive in June. I will finally have living room furniture. I still need a dining table..and outdoor furniture...but well, this is a BIG first step. I'm sooo excited. yippee.

Also, just a heads up readers, I'm planning to have a house warming party in August...

Update: I'm adding this picture because i heart saturn.


Source: APOD/Cassini

acquisition monday

flickr has been acquired by yahoo.
ask jeeves (and myway.com etc.) has been acquired by Interactive Corp (aka Barry Diller).

wow.

I thought this quote from the flickr blog was interesting:
"Yahoo Photos and Flickr have different kinds of users with different needs, and will remain separate for the foreseeable future. Flickr would also suffer from a sudden deluge of LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! omg! so we're going to grow it carefully."

I've been thinking a bit about online communities and how they work and how I participate in them. My thoughts are pretty much in "draft" state right now -- but here's some initial thoughts:
- i like to participate as a "voyeur" -- i'm curious to see what others are up to -- but i'm not likely to make friends or "network" via interactions i have online...although this does happen occasionally.
- i'm interested in tracking the actions of "influencers" -- aka the cool people in the industry that i have blushes (blog crushes) on.
- i'm interested in a customized web experience that leads me to influencers or other items that reflect the lifestyle i want to lead (which may and is likely different from the online life i lead -- i expect that i consistently contradict myself)

I'm thinking that as more people participate in interactive, online communities -- it's likely to get overloaded with people who aren't really the type of people i want to interact with, even in a voyeuristic sense. That's why this quote from Flickr caught my attention -- "growing carefully" is all about making sure that individuals are able to connect with the right type of people -- the ones they want to connect with -- it's about seeing the trees in the forest. This is a big challenge for open-door communities where you can pretty much browse to anybody. For example, take a look at Orkut -- which has apparently been run over by Brazilians...i know i get random links for "friends" from brazilians on orkut all the time. It's annoying -- because i'm not really interested in the random connection.

so do we create participatory communities where the users share common values without creating barriers to entry that make it difficult for newbies to join? Will online communities that work become more exclusive? where you have to prove your coolness in someway in order to get entry into the truly neat and interesting stuff?

hmmm.....

i wonder who will acquire del.icio.us? or sixapart (moveabletype)? time will tell...certainly feels a bit bubalicious lately.

it's like a blind date...

my friend's, Andrea & Jenilee, bought the adorable house above. It's a "green" house -- meaning that is was built with an environmental conciousness that extends not only into the functionality of the house (water, heat conservation) but also in the products used (lots of recycled materials, scavenged wood). They were on TV last night -- it is one of the first green houses in Seattle. Of course, this being local TV, they both had great soundbites:
Jenilee "we bought the house"
Andrea "it's like a blind date" (context: as to how they picked it).
The piece was great and if i can get a digital copy i'll upload it here.

Congratulations Andrea & Jenilee!

On other notes, i'm pretty devastated this morning by Kansas's loss. I heart the Jayhawks. And Syracuse lost too! I had Syracuse beating duke...so from a bracket perspective that was significant. Actually, I had both teams going to the Elite Eight. *sigh* and Stanford lost too...(although much less surprising)...

summer skiing

thinking about calendars, brought me to my summer vacation plans...JB wants to go to Argentina or somewhere in South America to drink great wine and ski. yes, ski. it's winter over there and apparently a great time for skiing. I put the liklihood that we actually go pretty low...maybe 50%...esp. since i just looked at my "schedule" and well, i'm pretty booked in July. Laura's visiting over the 4th, my mum + step dad + the beast (aka the pooch) are visiting the following week -- and then the dog stays for a week! then, well, then harry potter book VI gets released and then i go to chicago to meet anna mae's new baby. phew. i'm tired already! should i go the following week to argentina? maybe, but then two weeks later i'm probably off to a conference in CA for work and then, since i'm there, i'll probably go to Echo Lake for a few days (again with the pooch).

but still, skiing in the summer? in argentina? with JB? it is pretty tempting. and kinda fun-sounding, i could pretend i was an adventurer or something (jb has this "romantic" -- romantic in the sense of the old movies where your car breaks down and the film is black & white -- idea that we'll drive from santiago to the mtns or something -- through the rain forest. i love the idea...)

here's a link to a place we may try: http://www.andesskitours.com/

UPDATE: Here's a pic from my last ski trip w/ Jeebs @ Squaw in...the last millennium?

ladies w/ calendars

ok, so one of the things i love about *some* of my friends is that they actually plan. this may sound like a small thing -- but it isn't. good planning (and execution) can make a difference -- and routinely does. i'm planning to go home in a few weeks to visit my family, see friends and hang out with my pup. It should be good times. However, 70% of the people i'll visit with don't have a schedule or plan. You can't ask them to do things in advance -- it's just too far away. But there are three very special women who i know have calendars and who i e-mailed weeks ago to set up drinks at La Bodeguita. I know they will be there, like clockwork. It's comforting -- esp. since i may now change my schedule and come a week earlier -- since they have a plan i can let them know and we'll rearrange. i like this.

i can go to bed now...

i have finally completed my NCAA brackets. Tomorrow, when everyone's bracket's are submitted, i'll probably post my picks here. I went with my heart in a few instances (i mean, Arizona is just a rocking team -- and Washington is HOT -- and you've gotta have some Pac-10 pride)...and old favorites in others (Kansas, UNC, Kentucky -- these are my standards)...

all, in all i think this is going to be an AMAZING tournament. i can't wait!!

(and yes mom, i will still spend time with you this weekend -- that's why i got a DVR).

self-torture

decorating is hard, particularly when you are slightly neurotic, and a little OCD -- as the visio diagram below illustrates:



i'm literally obsessed with making the "right" choices, and the sad result is that my house is still very empty. this was sorta "cute" in the beginning -- i do have these furry white bean bags...but now, since there's nothing on order, i really do think it has gone too far.

So, in order to make some sort of progress, i mapped out my living room in visio (which has a handy furniture/room template) and tested out a bunch of options. Below are notes on my current top issues -- which i really hope to resolve in the next week -- if you have any feedback i'd love to hear it!

ISSUES:

shipping.
I would like to order everything at once so that i can minimize my shipping / delivery costs.*sigh* this is probably the largest source of self-torture because it means i have to make a bunch of decisions at once. not that i've really made many decisions, but still...

colors.
i've decided that i would like a neutral tone for the furniture, with dark woods (but not that new trendolicious ebony, more of an espresso) with red-rose accents (for things like pillows). however, neutral is posing a challenge, because i inherently think buying creme colored couches is kinda, well, kinda silly. I mean things spill. like wine. but, i think it looks good in the house and that a dark leather couch is too "heavy"... i am trying to find a "camel" color that i like, but often they look too tan (i.e. too much yellow-orange). The secondary tone in the living room is olive. I'm hoping to pick that up, along with the red-rose, in the rug.

rug.
I fell in love with a ridiculously beautiful and expensive afghani wool rug. It's too big though, or so i thought. Now i'm not so sure. Either way, I don't think i can swallow the cost. The smaller green rectangle in the image above is for an 8x10 rug, the larger green rectangle represents the "forbidden" carpet.

budget.
i have some money set aside for this, but the total amount just makes me uncomfortable. even though i'm an amazon-addict, i really don't like to spend money. and deep inside i think owning real furniture somehow means i'm an "adult" and that just creeps the hell out of me.

couch.
I've had the couch that I am thinking of getting selected for weeks now. it is pretty much exactly what i wanted -- three pillow-couch, about 77 inches, and with a modern but elegant feel to it. I like the skinny arms and i wanted the three-pillows because i like to repeat threes in my house. BUT, i still need to settle on a fabric. The boucle linen that it comes with worries me -- i am concerned that it will catch on things. Luckily i can select any fabric from their selection (for a cost of course). Unfortunately that means i'm waiting for more fabric samples. Ideally i think i want some sort of linen (true linen) with a grain, however, i'm also considering a micro-suede because i like the texture. Texture is really important.

accent chairs.
ok, i am completely losing it when it comes to accent chairs. I don't like the ones that coordinate with the couch -- they are too boxy. I want something with a bit of a curve to it. but that doesn't look too old-fashioned or traditional -- i still want a modern feel. right now i am leaning towards these harlowe chairs -- but they are armless. will guests miss the arms? will they fall off the chair? will it be uncomfortable? i have literally run about a million scenarios through my head on this issue, and i've even gone and sat in an armless chair to test it out. it felt fine. but it still worries me. i like arms. i prefer arms. at the same time, i really like the clean lines of the harlowe armless chair...see: self-torture continues.

reading nook.
i think i have this one figured out. I'm going to get the Luke chair w/ ottoman in ambassador fudge leather. it looks sumptious, and should provide a perfect comfort zone for reading the NY times on sunday mornings listening to itunes. Mind you, i looked at about 100 chairs first, do i want bronze tacking? what about thick-stiching? how deep should it be? smooth leather or textured? pillow-back or flat back? uh-huh...

tables.
rectangle or circle. i think i've finally decided to go with a circular table - more flow. now that shape is decided, what should it be made of? glass? wood? a glass-wood combo? that would be ideal, but so far i haven't found one. I'm also thinking about getting a bench that can repurpose as a table. two-for-one.

accessories.
i haven't even started to think about accessories...accent pillows and flowers seem easy and i surely have enough knick-nack stuff to pull out some cute stuff. the key here is "grouping:" according to one magazine i read. If you have, say, random statues and little desk things you picked up in hong kong all over the house they look unrelated..but you pull them together into a group and they become a "harmonious and interesting collection". hmmm.

happy birthday Yahoo!

I read this post from john batelle month's ago, and it still strikes me as one of the more important statements to come from David Filo at Yahoo:

From the entry (filo makes a point)on batelle's blog:

[John Batelle] asked if they still believed in the vision and hype of the mid 90s - about how the internet was going to change everything... Filo came out with a great line about the early promise of the internet - that we'd all become creators and producers of content - and how long it takes to fulfill:

That was the promise of the internet from day one -when Mosaic came out the whole idea was that anybody could publish now, that was the new thing ...yet it took this long to get to simple blogging... If you said ten years ago that you could have blogging in ten years, and that will be the extent of it, people wouldn't have been that impressed. Indeed. In 1994, anyone claiming that in ten years, we'd have a robust self-publishing movement like blogging would have been drummed out of the room for a lack of vision.

Congratulations Yahoo! on making it to 10. It's a good thing for all of us.

Yahoo's also posted a 10-year Netrospective (inspired by 10x10 by Jonathan Harris):
http://birthday.yahoo.com/netrospective/

awww memory lane.

i heart itunes

it really bothers me how much i love itunes. i don't think it is healthy, but it provides such joy. *sigh*

i've just spent the last few hours perusing the apple itunes essentials collection. damn them. they've done a great job of pulling good music together AND exposing me to new music i probably wouldn't have come across otherwise. The new itunes essentials mix is really three mixes under one concept-theme (i.e. 90's indie rock). The three mix sets are categorized as (note: text is from apple unless in parens):

The Basics:
The biggest, best, and most important songs. (these are the songs you probably already know and love.)

Next Steps:
When you're ready to move beyond the hits.

Deep Cuts:
Criminally ignored. Unjustly under-appreciated. Until now.

And they deliver on their promise. Deep cuts, in the few "essential" sets that i looked at, truly held gems. Ex. "you never knew" by Hieroglyphics under "alternative hip hop"...and "the truth" by handsome boy modelling school (also under "alt hip hop").

so why does it bother me? because, at the end of the day, i can't take my music with me. I love the discovery part of itunes, and i love my ipod and my shuffle, but, at the end of the day i'm stuck on the apple platform (which i do enthusiastically use) ...but that unfortunately means my freedom is limited and that means the liberterian inside of me starts to get nervous. Yes, i understand that I bought the music under a very, VERY limited license. but still! $1 a song! i should be able to play this music on more devices. through more players and it just irks me that a product i truly enjoy essentially traps me. and i'm further trapped because i love the commercials. i love the packaging. i go "ooooh" "ahhhh" and i smile....and really i'd rather believe that there's something unique about me and that apple has the best technology and that's why i picked them and that i'm not just easily convinced by white and black boxes that contain sleek toys. but then, i look at my toys, and my friend's toys and realize...i'm just an apple-eating sheep. *sigh*

blush

blog + crush = blush.

my new term for blogs i love and then sorta relate my love of the blog to the individual who writes the blog. also known as fanaticism. or stalking...or old-fashioned blog crushes...

congratulations shannon & bryan

my step-sister-in-law** and her husband just had their first baby. awwww.




Holland Abigail Rhoads
February 20, 2005 @ 7:05PM PT
7lbs and 11oz

** shannon is my step-sister (amy)'s husband (bryant)'s sister. Yeah, it is extended family...

blogging is sooooo mainstream

i've been blogging for two years. not so long really, but given tonight's daily show, i'm pretty sure that blogging has reached that tipping point and is, well, mainstream.

here's a link to the video.

happy valentines day...

ahhh, love. sweet love. i'm posting some of my favorite pictures to share the wuv.

Timber brume

Photo Credit: Coba (via by Flickr)

Orion, night

Photo Credit: big empty (via flickr)

maldon sea salt

Photo Credit: micon (via flickr)

Another picture i really like can be found here:
http://www.kottke.org/photos/paris0603/index_17.html
A leaf in the canal (paris), by Jason Kottke (via Kottke.org)

Oh, and here's one by me...my mum snuck these into one of my boxes when my movers came to california to take all my stuff. i found them when i opened up one of my boxes -- 3 months later (because my stuff went into storage). it was really sweet. they were a gift to my parents for their wedding. My mum was pretty cute -- she said "they just need to be polished"...but i like the patina.

trendolicious

i'm home sick today -- which i'm putting out there only because i may be insane...but i've come up with a new word:



trendolicious

tren-do-li-cious (trĕn' dū lĭsh'əs)

something super cool and trendy - indicating it will be "trendolicious" for a short period of time.



This came to me when i got an e-mail (llama what?) from daily candy and after reading went to this website. The stuff on this site is soooo trendolicious.



thanks to maya for IM-testing my new word.



ok, back to bed.



Update: I think i have an idea why I may be feeling sickish lately (outside of the fact that everyone has been getting nasty colds lately): i think my new glasses aren't quite right. Vision is so important and my eyes are constantly refocusing and unfocusing which makes me feel like i live on a boat. good thing i had already booked an appt with my eye doc tomorrow.

good line

Ok, i just heard a comedian say something funny:



I'm from San Francisco (the comedian says)...and we know how to do one thing really well protest. We protest everything...we're the most progressive city in the world -- except in one area: Progress.



Hahaha.



On another fun note (via Apophenia):

only in san francisco

The Board of Education is expected to approve the school district's calendar for the 2005-06 academic year tonight -- but not before a spirited debate among parents over when classes should begin.



There have long been arguments among parents over whether school should start before or after Labor Day, with the former winning out the past several years.



This year, however, brings a new wrinkle -- the 20th anniversary of the Burning Man art festival in the wastelands of Nevada is scheduled for Aug. 29- Sept. 5. In an only-in-San Francisco argument, several parents are demanding that school start Sept. 6 so their children can attend the event.



-- San Francisco Chronicle

life is random

Source: http://www.drunkenfist.com/graf/minx.shtm



I got my ipod shuffle today. Unwrapping it I felt like I was opening a surprise gift. Which makes no sense -- since I ordered it two weeks ago and could see what was inside the box through the plastic window...but as usual, opening up a new apple product brings with it a certain sense of joy. So it was with "minx" (that's the name I gave my shuffle). It is sooooo light. The packaging is all green and friendly looking - but it kinda bugged me that the inside envelope says "Don't steal music" in 5 languages. I don't steal music, but I don't want to be told not to steal music and I always think positive messages (i.e. Support artists, buy licensed music) are better. The product itself is nifty, if a bit cheap looking. But who cares? I didn't buy this product to be an ipod. I bought it to be a replacement for my ipod in situations where I'd prefer not to bring my ipod because I wouldn't want it to get hurt. Like when I go to the gym or out running. Which I do, like everyday...hahahahahah.



Anyways, I plugged minx in and voila! I got a gift from apple -- 13 free songs in the form of the new iTunes music sampler. The songs were:

Blow It Out --- Features

All At Sea --- Jamie Cullum

Sunshine to the Rain --- Miri Ben-Ari

Lonely --- Akon

Golden Touch --- Razorlight

Every Time You Go Away --- Brian McKnight

Bigtime --- The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Laura --- Scissor Sisters

She Said --- Brie Larson

Jus Anotha Shorty --- O'Ryan

Sleeping With the Lights On --- Teitur

Reach Out, I'll Be There --- Michael McDonald

TKO --- Le Tigre



Three of my favorite songs (All at Sea, Laura and Sleeping with the Lights On) were on the sampler -- the Teitur (Sleeping with the Lights On) song was one I discovered last summer via iTunes. In general, I found the mix to be full of new, eclectic, fun music.



SAVE HUBBLE...

On another note -- I was listening to NPR this morning and they had a story about how the hubble telescope is being "killed." Basically, Hubble is falling apart in space and we have a few of options: (1) repair it by sending out a robot to fix it or (2) move to operating on two gyros instead of three or (3) let hubble fall into disrepair and out of service. Everyone wanted to "save hubble" (bumper stickers available here). I think it is interesting that hubble has taken on a life-like form in our culture -- everyone was referring to "saving the life" of Hubble or how "bush had killed" hubble by not funding repair "missions." Does a telescope have a life? I don't know -- it just seems like we have over-humanized this piece of machinery.

ask?

My morning begins with getting out of bed, brushing my teeth, surfing the net and checking e-mail. My home page is set to bloglines and it is my primary vehicle for net surfing. And so today, when i woke up and logged on, I saw the confirmation of the rumoured news -- Bloglines has been acquired by AskJeeves. My immediate reaction was this: hmmm, now this is interesting. When I think about where and how I use the internet, Bloglines and Del.icio.us and Flickr (outside of search and email) are at the core.



Jeeves' acquisition is interesting because:

- they will keep it branded as bloglines

- they plan to leave it alone

- they realize it's a good thing

- they intend to data mine the hell out of it. yup. They've got a lot of data on me -- they know what I read, they know what I link to (via my blog and via my del.icio.us links that I also subscribe to) and they know which sites I subscribe to but don't always read...They know if I read something and then blog about it... hmmm....



UPDATE: my original image was of the box on the bloglines homepage that announced the acquisition. then i went to the Ask Jeeves blog and saw the logo above, and had to have it. I always say I HEART something. Because well, that's what i say on IM. Yep. (i insert a graphic though...). Oh, and btw, that image? It's hosted by flickr. yep.



Update #2: I decided to pull my predicitions.

dvr + superbowl

the superbowl is today and i totally forgot about it. i'm really not a football fan, and so this day means only one thing to me: cool commercials. Typically I'll slog through the game just for the half-time show and the ads. but not this year! today i'm going out for a manicure / pedicure and then couch shopping with mike. While i'm out enjoying the day my dvr will record the game...and then when i get home and find out who won (i'm guessing the patriots...) by just flipping on the tv -- i'll be able to watch the game my way: speeding through the game to watch just the good commercials and the half-time non-peep-show (if it is worth watching).



excellent.



other notes:

- arizona beat stanford at McKale last night (72-90) ending the streak (stanford had beaten AZ at home the last 4 times).

- my ipod shuffle has apparently shipped and should arrive on tuesday.

let the games begin

My uncle always says: "If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space." I think there is a lesson in there for Microsoft...



However, today MSN announced that they have taken their websearch product out of beta. For a v1 product it's pretty good -- indicative of a lot of hard work and innovation.



This is a good thing for users...my bet is that things are about to get really interesting...and that users will be the greatest beneficiary. Unlike other MS products, the consumer is the ultimate choice-maker (for free!) and they aren't going to be swayed by snappy marketing alone...they want, as MSN says (and Ask Jeeves): answers.

in need of sleep

but unable to sleep.... so i've been catching up on my blog reading and chatting with faraway friends all night.



On another note...This picture from APOD is really beautiful:

NGC 6946: The Fireworks Galaxy

Credit & Copyright: T. Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage), Gemini Obs., AURA

good stuff on tv

This last week at work has been pretty crazy. So i've needed some good, mindless entertainment to balance my mental overdrive. I'm pretty much a Go-Go-Go person, so finding downtime is hard for me. This week I've turned to the TV for a few hours of pre-recorded drama and humour. My DVR gave me 3 great shows:







The Broken Hearts Club

This was a sweet movie about a group of gay men in LA. Seriously a heartwarming romantic comedy that looks deeply and truthfully and relationships, love and friendships. Sweet, romantic, and funny -- without being annoying about gayness (aka Queer eye..)





Kumars @ No. 42

A BBC show that is hilarious -- it's about an Indian family that builds a soundstage for their son to host his own TV show. The show's been a big hit in England apparently and according to The Custard TV Guide: "

In August 2002, the format of The Kumars At No 42 was sold to US network NBC in a £6m deal. It will feature a Mexican family rather than Asians; a Los Angeles suburb, rather than Wembley. German TV has also shown an interest – its version would feature a Turkish family. "





Goodness Gracious Me

Imagine Saturday night live -- for and by Indians. It's the perfect television show for ANY Indian ABCD or BBDC (American Born Confused Desi for my non-indian readers). I laughed for the entire show -- a deep laugh due to how easily I could relate to this show. I feel like i have LIVED half of the shorts. (Sheila: you have to watch this show!)



On another note, I also decided to spruce up my Netflix movie list so that I am actually taking advantage of this service that I PAY for... and spent some time flipping through their site. I am using their new "friends" feature (I was part of a the beta group via a friend actually) and I have to say I think the friend feature is a bit creepy.



It shows the movies recently watched by your friends -- that you are connected to. So for me, it would show that I haven't watched any new movies lately because I have not rented or rated anything new. Do I want people to know this? Do I want them to know that I recently spent a weekend watching "But I'm a cheerleader" AND "Bring It On?" ... and did I really need to know that my parents (who are my friends on netflix) watched "Babe" and gave it 5 stars while they watched "Best In Show" and only gave it 3 stars? I feel compelled to call my mom and talk to her about her rating system (and my perceived feeling that it isn't well-tuned...). This whole concept of being connected to your friends online is great -- but it also brings out these stalker-like instances. I feel like I know more information about people than I sometimes want to...and I also feel like via my blog, my pictures on Smugmug and Flickr, and the friends I'm connected to through these services (and things like Orkut, Spaces, and Friendster -- not to mention Dogster) present this skewed and yet, true, idea of who I am.



Crap. I'm 20 minutes late to pick up my friends for dinner. I better run -- but trust me there is more to come on this topic.

champagne, curry & cake

I had my first dinner party at my new house last friday. It was a fun night - i brought together a mix of people who mostly hadn't met -- 10 guests, plus my mum & step-dad. My mum was the real hero as she cooked the majority of the food. I baked another lemon-coconut cake (similar to the one i made for new year's but this time with blueberries). The menu was simple: champagne (to celebrate my new friends in seattle and my new home) and curry. Curry is a simplification -- we had chicken curry, a chick pea curry, spinach curry (aka palak paneer) and the two colonial veggie classics: cabbage fougard and brussel sprouts. I really like cabbage and brussel sprouts. We drank a lot of gewurztraminer wine too! Below are a couple of pictures from the party, there are more on flickr.



Guests dine away...



Click on the photo to go to the flickr page and see all the notes!



Oliver and Buddy warm up by the fire...





Outside of warming up my house, there is another great side effect of throwing a party: you have to clean house. Before my party, and my mum's arrival, my house was kinda a wreck. boxes everwhere, projects to be figured out and just a lot of things to be done. My mum and bill really helped out -- they broke down the empty boxes and helped me relocate or get rid of unneeded clutter. The result was that i finally got my house guest ready. My mum also helped me make a significant (if long-term temporary) upgrade to my dining room. Since i was having 10 guests, I knew i was going to need a dining table -- but i hadn't found one that i liked...and it's not something you can just go out and buy. So i clearly needed a temporary solution -- the result is one i love:



BEFORE:





AFTER:





How did this happen? Well, the key is the carpet. It sets the theme for the colors in my living room / dining room and adds a lot of warmth. I found the carpet online (on pottery barn, ahem) checked it out in the store and ordered it. The reality is that when you buy furniture online it takes time to arrive -- the carpet was actually backordered but it arrived days before my dinner party. I then picked up the tables -- actually two sets of DIY nesting tables -- from Ikea. The pillows are part of Target's valentine's day promotional home collection. The carpet was not cheap. The nesting tables were about $50 for the set of 3 (so $100 for the 2 sets) and the cushions were $15. That's basically $200 for a dining room set....and yes, it's "temporary" but i think it will be around for awhile...

elves

my mum and step-dad are visiting and it has been wonderful! they spent a couple of days at the Salish Lodge spa-ing and resorting and now they are back here with me and they've been acting like little elves. fixing things. testing things. crawling in the crawl spaces and checking it all out. it has been very, very helpful. Even better they've been cooking me breakfast AND dinner. yummy!

iced in the land of ports

UPDATE (14:11): I am iced in. We put chains on my car and i drove the driveway circle, and uhm, my car slid around about 180 degrees and i think i hit the petunia plant. and uhm, so yeah, i'm going to stay the night.



I found this picture on Flickr that gives a good sense of the layer of ice that is covering parts of my car. I say parts because i spent a good 30 minutes pouring warm water and defrosting to get ice off of the windsheild and side of the car so i could make it "driveable."





Photo Credit: Freezing Rain by Shoseph.



ORIGINAL POST:

I may be stuck in portland. Here's the weather report:



Freezing Rain in Portland.



and the road report (i may never get back to seattle...):

Road Reports from Katu.

HIGHEST IMPACT

I-5 - Numerous accidents on I-5 from MP 90.00 after 183rd Ave. to MP 95.00 before Exit 95 Maytown starting 10:07 AM, 01/15/05 until further notice due to rain and snow mixedFrom milepost 88 to milepost 96.



I'm here for a baby shower -- that has been postponed to tomorrow because of the ice. I'm supposed to go back to Seattle tonight. Right now my car is literally COVERED in a sheet of ice. I ice-skated my way to my car to check it out. I wish i were joking, but really i'm underplaying the severity of it all so that I can pretend that I may actually get home in the next 24 hours.

off to portland

I'm going to portland for part of the weekend for my step-sister-in-law's baby shower. It will be great to see the extended family and spend time with everyone. Plus I've got an appointment tomorrow at my favorite spa - Aequis.



on another note: sleep is precious. Lately I've had to be into work early in the AM -- well early for me, is 8 am or 9 am. Last night, for no good reason, I just couldn't sleep! I didn't go to bed to almost 4 am... and i didn't even finish packing -- but had lots of good talks with friends (around the globe) and family. Anyways, so i get NO sleep -- and what happens? 7:20 am call from JB - cindy's on NPR. 8:15 am call from Mom, she missed her flight to Boston. 9:30 am SMS text message from a co-worker, meeting cancelled. *sigh*.

i want...

no i don't *need* it, but yeah, totally buying one this weekend...i think i can use it as validation that i actually intend to workout on a regular basis in 2005...and it is sooo small and such a nice compliment to my ipod, and cooler than the mini (which pretends to have enough space to hold valuable amounts of music, but really doesn't)....the shuffle is up front. 240 songs, that's it. perfect for the ultimate workout mix!

it's snowing!

i woke up this morning and it's snowing!! it's a winter wonderland out here in queen anne. i'm going to save a snowball in my freezer to commemerate my first seattle snow.

cute doggie

I really love this picture by Gary Porter. It won an honorable mention in the "Best of Photojournalism 2004 - Feature Photo" contest.







Credit: Gary Porter, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Going for a leap" - Mason, 6, and Melena, 7, Steffes take "Trixie" out for a "leap" in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Trixie, a Jack Russell Terrier, has a hard time staying on the ground like normal dogs, and commonly performs a three foot vertical when she's excited. Neighbors have been known to come by when she's outside just to watch her leap. May 13, 2003.

need a gmail acct?

hi. I have literally 100's of gmail invites. It's time to give them away! So, if you, or someone you know, needs an invite post a comment below and i will send you an invite.



natala

random thoughts from 1.4.05

Calculated Risks

Living life is about, IMHO, taking risks -- calculated risks.



Discoverability

What's the point of having great content or good information if no-one can find it? Building really good products isn't about making them cool by having the coolest feature set, rather it is by making it easy for the user to discover how to use the product and the key features. The element of "discovery" appeals to the adventurer in many of us.



Apple gets marketing:

The new feature iMix this week on iTunes? Jennifer Garner's "Workout Mix." Damn, that's great marketing -- as this is going to be a HUGE week for Jennifer. She's got a new movie coming out AND the alias two-hour premier! And of course - a workout mix is perfect since who doesn't want to have Jennifer's tough body?



Home Buying

Is really, really time consuming.



Children

Are the greatest social-scientific genetic experiement anyone can run.

Tsunami Relief Resources

International aid organizations:

UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)

United Nations' World Food Programme

Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors without Borders (donate!)

CARE International

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies



UK/Europe:

Disasters Emergency Comittee (DEC) - comprises a raft of aid agencies, including the below and others

British Red Cross

Oxfam

Save the Children UK



North America:

American Red Cross

Canadian Red Cross

Save The Children

Oxfam America



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