Miss Tified

The other day I decided that I wanted to reinvest in my TypePad blog by taking the really personal stuff out and focussing on some sort of review model. I chose to use TypePad instead of Vox since (1) it's good for me to use multiple platforms and be familiar with the limitations and benefits of all of them (2) I wanted this blog to have AdSense integration (3) I wanted to be able to experience blogging from both the personal (Vox) and Commercial (TypePad) perspectives.

So I decided that I'd write about beauty and makeup at a blog called Miss Tified. My description of the site explains why: ...
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Where I've Been

Just a heads-up that I'm posting more over here on my Vox blog. And, right now I'm testing out Windows Live Writer. It allows you to use the tool to publish to weblogs that support the MetaWeblog API.

I have to say that this is a very nice editing experience -- especially the preview portion of the application.

Four Things

After I saw David get tagged today, I thought for sure that he would tag me to post my four things. When he didn't, I felt safe (but disappointed) that I had escaped the meme. Thanks to Anil for remembering me and finally getting me to get that June 13 off the top of the page.

And, like Anil, I love the fact that this crossed from LJ to the popular blog world. Memes, quizes and polls will get the most reluctant person to post.

Four jobs I've had:

Volunteer Library Worker
Hostess & Salad Maker, Mary's Pizza Shack
Web Designer (all jobs prior to Six Apart since I was 18)
Co-Founder,...
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Performance Anxiety

Link: Seed of extinct date palm sprouts after 2,000 years.

The Judean date is chronicled in the Bible, Quran and ancient literature for its diverse powers -- from an aphrodisiac to a contraceptive -- and as a cure for a wide range of diseases including cancer, malaria and toothache.

No pressure there, little plant.

Wall O' Hot Brains

On one of the walls of my office I have a growing collection (where growing means two) of pictures of guys that meet the criteria of "Hot Brain." So, I of course have received tons of grief about tonight's episode of The Daily Show which just happens to put these two hot brains in one room together.

Considering that Steven Johnson will no doubt see this post, I guess my secret is out.

Now, Jon Stewart, if you want to do crossword puzzles with a cute software developer in California, just email me.

Self-Esteem Builders for $500, Alex

From the just when I started feeling good about myself department:

So my plane home to San Francisco is delayed for two hours and I manage to get on an earlier flight as a standby passenger. It's only after I've been sitting on the plane for ten minutes, reading my book, that the steward calls out my last name to say I need to take my belongings and get off the plane.

The reason: The plane load is too heavy.

Despite the fact that I do understand I'm being removed because I was standby, that sort of answer just stings a bit too much.

Looking Back Fondly

This may be the two-margaritas-on-an-empty-stomach talking, but I got a real chuckle today reading some old entries from dollarshort.org -- posts I don't even remember writing. I miss the days when I could write this shit (because of free time and my lack of fear about offending people). Still, I'm glad that I have a record from this part of my life.

Here's some posts that I enjoyed today:

With Much Hope: I recount why I never think I'll be ready to have a child.

Five Steps to a Better Me: Ben heckles a priest and I try to improve myself.

Random Vignettes from the Past Week: Ben once again pretends he's listening.

Fiery Furnaces

In our relationship, Ben is the one who explores new music. I’m the one who, on first listen to Ben’s music, will then disparage Ben for being an artsy-fartsy fuck who needs to listen to obscure shit or pure pop to feel better than me. Of course, this is all insanity on my part. The thing is, almost without fail, I end up loving the stuff Ben introduces me to. Of course there are exceptions: I will never ever like Scritti Politti on principle alone.

So when Ben introduced me to the Fiery Furnaces last year,...
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Flat Stanley

Here's the thing: I'm a shitty cousin.

My cousin, who's in 2nd grade read a book called Flat Stanley where "Stanley" travels the world in an envelope or something Here's the backstory. Anyway, because I travel all the time, I was designated to be the person who would send postcards to my cousin, Alexander.

Since I can barely remember to bring my toothbrush on trips, I wasn't the best travel companion for Flat Stanley. He is due to return back to my cousin at the beginning of May.

Sadly, Flat Stanley (me) only sent him 4 postcards.

Here's where I could use help. If you live anywhere in the world (preferably Europe or Asia)...
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You should see the tribute to the Chinese

Last weekend we went on a hike up in Marin, followed by dinner in Tiburon. For those unfamiliar with Tiburon, this page about Tiburon should sum up the city -- basically, the median income in 2000 was $106,611 and the median income was $1,000,001.

So, you could imagine how seeing something like this little guy in a public area of Tiburon (the main parking lot) was a bit disturbing.

My reaction:

Mena: Oh my god, please tell me that they don't have a black lawn jockey in this parking lot.

Ben: What?