I'm trying out the new blogger fancy template thing. While there are some changes I do like quite a bit, there are others that drive me positively crazy. I knew the old template very well and could do pretty much whatever I wanted with it... but the new capabilities entice me with sleek additions like widgets. Besides, I strive to continue to learn, always.
Anynow, the jury's still out.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Sometimes I Just Can't Find a Title
Life continues - the big changes camouflaged in a myriad of little ones. Today I had news of something that makes me sad, and while it not the sort of thing that can accurately be said to have changed my day to day life, I can't help but feel (as nonsensical as it may sound) that it has changed my future.
I spend a lot of time thinking lately about the future, and the route I want to take while getting there. While thinking, I drift along smoothly, because the future comes to us, whether we pursue it or not. There are a few hopeful glimmers on the horizon, but I'm too far out to determine whether they will amount to anything. So, while I wait to see, today I invested a sizable amount of time in scrubbing at the discolorations at the bottom of the bathtub. I know perfectly well these are permanent stains from before we moved in, which I cannot get out. But I still try. And while trying I wonder if it's strange that I worry more about exposing myself to the toxicity of the cleaning chemicals than the bathroom germs.
On Friday we rode our bikes to North Liberty with the Eppens for Mexican food. That was very fun. It's nice to develop some new friendships, and long bike rides bookending food and drink are extremely fun. Last night we had a sleepover with Molly, Oliver, and Isabelle because their parents, Adele and Peter, are out of town. They are a very well behaved dog and couple of cats, but even after one night away it felt good to come home.
Oh, and I accidentally redesigned vitzy's and the gallery website again. Oops.
I spend a lot of time thinking lately about the future, and the route I want to take while getting there. While thinking, I drift along smoothly, because the future comes to us, whether we pursue it or not. There are a few hopeful glimmers on the horizon, but I'm too far out to determine whether they will amount to anything. So, while I wait to see, today I invested a sizable amount of time in scrubbing at the discolorations at the bottom of the bathtub. I know perfectly well these are permanent stains from before we moved in, which I cannot get out. But I still try. And while trying I wonder if it's strange that I worry more about exposing myself to the toxicity of the cleaning chemicals than the bathroom germs.
On Friday we rode our bikes to North Liberty with the Eppens for Mexican food. That was very fun. It's nice to develop some new friendships, and long bike rides bookending food and drink are extremely fun. Last night we had a sleepover with Molly, Oliver, and Isabelle because their parents, Adele and Peter, are out of town. They are a very well behaved dog and couple of cats, but even after one night away it felt good to come home.
Oh, and I accidentally redesigned vitzy's and the gallery website again. Oops.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Of Potters, French Matts and Doping
Lately, I've spent a great deal of time doing three things - working, watching le Tour de France and reading the latest Harry Potter. Of these pursuits, oddly, work has proven the most satisfying.
Le Tour has been exciting this year, but has been rather drastically dampened by the steady stream of expulsions and firings due to the racers getting caught doping. I know this is a complicated issue, and I don't necessarily condemn the men who've been proven guilty, even though I certainly don't support the use of drugs. Currently, I am both feeling disappointed that the final time-trail is not going to prove nearly as interesting now that Rasmussen's out, and somewhat uncomfortably aware that it is the desire of the fans to watch exciting performances that pushes such athletes to dope... and yet if it weren't for the fans, the racers would have no sponsors and without sponsors the races would not go on. The answer? I don't know.
At work I've been learning all sorts of new things - from custom paper bevels to French Matting, (which doesn't involve anything that Brian might be jealous about but does require loose ink, a ruling pen and very steady hand). I love learning new things, and Nick is a good teacher. I've become, finally, very relaxed in my workspace and my only dissatisfaction with the job remains that sometimes I wish there were more hours for me to work.
Finally: Harry Potter. I started reading the 7th and final book yesterday. As odd as it may sound, I do not read Harry Potter because I want to. I give Rowling full marks for creativity, but I find her books poorly written and a little overfond of convenient coincidences and random killings and/or drastic shifts in fundamental character traits. Yet, I was admittedly too interested in the outcome of her saga to be satisfied with reading about the book. What I really wished was that someone else could put in the time for me - read the whole staggering number of pages and then just pour the knowledge of what happened, blow by blow, conveniently into my brain. Of course, such solutions only exist in Potter's world, so I had to do the grunt work. I read the book as fast as I possibly could, and now after many hours of solid reading, although I can't say I'm disappointed because my expectations were too low to allow for that, I can say I'm glad there will be no more Harry Potter books to take up my time in this manner.
On the upside, Brian's currently serenading me with 80's music, (maybe because I rescued him today) so my life is certainly pretty darn good.
Le Tour has been exciting this year, but has been rather drastically dampened by the steady stream of expulsions and firings due to the racers getting caught doping. I know this is a complicated issue, and I don't necessarily condemn the men who've been proven guilty, even though I certainly don't support the use of drugs. Currently, I am both feeling disappointed that the final time-trail is not going to prove nearly as interesting now that Rasmussen's out, and somewhat uncomfortably aware that it is the desire of the fans to watch exciting performances that pushes such athletes to dope... and yet if it weren't for the fans, the racers would have no sponsors and without sponsors the races would not go on. The answer? I don't know.
At work I've been learning all sorts of new things - from custom paper bevels to French Matting, (which doesn't involve anything that Brian might be jealous about but does require loose ink, a ruling pen and very steady hand). I love learning new things, and Nick is a good teacher. I've become, finally, very relaxed in my workspace and my only dissatisfaction with the job remains that sometimes I wish there were more hours for me to work.
Finally: Harry Potter. I started reading the 7th and final book yesterday. As odd as it may sound, I do not read Harry Potter because I want to. I give Rowling full marks for creativity, but I find her books poorly written and a little overfond of convenient coincidences and random killings and/or drastic shifts in fundamental character traits. Yet, I was admittedly too interested in the outcome of her saga to be satisfied with reading about the book. What I really wished was that someone else could put in the time for me - read the whole staggering number of pages and then just pour the knowledge of what happened, blow by blow, conveniently into my brain. Of course, such solutions only exist in Potter's world, so I had to do the grunt work. I read the book as fast as I possibly could, and now after many hours of solid reading, although I can't say I'm disappointed because my expectations were too low to allow for that, I can say I'm glad there will be no more Harry Potter books to take up my time in this manner.
On the upside, Brian's currently serenading me with 80's music, (maybe because I rescued him today) so my life is certainly pretty darn good.
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