This is my proof that my husband corrupts our puppy! More pictures from the December 9th Six Feet Under night.

A beautiful sunrise from the 520 bridge, taken with my D70.

I branched out a couple of times recently and ate at Jersey Mike's Subs near work. I'd heard it is good. They were a bit presumptuous the first time I went in, assuming I knew the drill and being impatient when I didn't. Despite that, the food was pretty decent. My only complaint is that both my sandwiches tasted mysteriously peppery.

The day after I bought my new D70, I took this picture. One is with flash and one is without. For some silly reason, the comparison really strikes me. What can I say? I am easily amused. Anyway, this is the stuff I got for a Giving Tree kid who wanted a baseball and mit. I had no idea there were so many to choose from! Thank god for the helpful former little league coach working at Sports Authority. :-)

Here's Maple with one of her compressed rawhide rings. Note that the couch she's on doesn't have a cover on it. This is because she went through a mysterious week-long period where she peed on it three times.

Movie: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Good chick flick This movie stars the girl from Joan of Arcadia and the girl from Real Women have curves, along with a couple others. So far so good. I think this was a super cute movie. It’s a chick flick, but a good one. I thought the idea of the magical pants was dumb, and maybe it is, but it is effectively used as a thread to tie the plot lines together and as a symbol to summon inner strength.

Movie: Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Mediocre Mr. & Mrs. Smith starts out better than expected with a contrived but fun premise (two spies married to one another, but neither knows the other is a spy). It continues along at a good clip and stays pretty enjoyable and sufficiently believable, but in the last quarter it takes a big dive. When we learn the underlying plot line we discover it is completely ludicrous and unbelievable. Further, the final climax is overdone and seems like it would only worsen their problems, not fix them. As these things go it isn't terrible, but I wouldn't recommend it either.

More time with Benjamin in my office. :-)

Two more presents for the Giving Tree.

Book: Monster-in-Law

Just bad I knew this movie was going to be bad, but I thought it would be bad in that "guilty pleasure" way. Instead, it is just bad. Painful comedy that isn't really funny, plot lines with no basis and so forth. It redeemed itself at the end, but by then it was too late. I like cheesy Hollywood flicks as much as the next girl, but this is not worth your time.

New baby

rbanks / Three of us

My former design "mentor", now living in the UK, had his first baby the week before Christmas.

The same weekend as the tea, I brought home my flat panel from work and let Benjamin try it out. He hooked it up to his Shuttle PC in my office so he spent the weekend in there with Maple and I. It was kind of fun. Now I think he even likes CSI. ;-)

Benjamin generally forgets to put milk in my tea. But when he brought it to me this one Sunday, he also brought a shot glass of milk so I could add it once the tea had steeped. :)

The first Saturday in December, Benjamin & I went to a holiday party hosted by Piper's friends Graham & Christy. Maple came, too. Graham & Chris have a little Boston Terrier named Fannie. Maple and Fannie ran around all night and provided the entertainment for the evening. Aside from jumping on the furniture, Maple was very good! More photos.

I use the little milk cartons at work to make my weekday oatmeal breakfast. They recentlychanged brands and now the milk cartons have this silly, cute cow illustration on them.

Benjamin got a go phone and a bunch of pre-paid time for one of the Hopelink girls. This is it under the Giving Tree at work.

On December 1st, our friend Pete took a bunch of us out to dinner at Bucca di Beppo. It was great fun. Someone told the waitress that it was Pete's birthday, but the waitress misheard and so everyone sang happy birthday to "Trevor". It was great. More photos.

At the beginning of December we had a few snowy days. As per usual, we all used it as an excuse to go home early.

On Tuesdays at our cafeteria they serve various stir fry dishes. It's one of the few palatable options, especially after more than 5 years of the same cafeteria food.

I don't remember whether I've mentioned it before, but Maple has an issue with treats. As soon as they're soft enough, or if she thinks you're going to take it away, she gulps them down. Not so good. We've were experimenting with ways to minimize this problem without having to stop the treats altogether. This was my one-day clamp experiment. I figured she wouldn't try to swallow the clamp. Unfortunately she pulled so hard she kept pulling the rawhide stick out of the clamp.

My former colleague and friend, Karen, emailed me today. We used to work together in the MS Hardware design group, but she moved back to Minnesota a couple of years ago to work at General Mills. She's dating someone there now and they seem to be having a good time. From the pictures she sends me, it seems like they're big on outdoor activities. Those things sound fun to me, but I am too lazy to actually do them 99% of the time. Maybe someday I'll actually do outdoor stuff more often.

This is a cute photo of my brother.

Over Thanksgiving weekend Benjamin and I did some yard work. This is Benjamin cleaning out our gutters, or at least the ones with trees near them.

I'm slogging through my backlog of photos and finally posted photos from Thanksgiving. This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with a single gathering at my mom's house. Benjamin's parents and my grandma were in attendance, in addition to Benjamin and I, my mom & Rich, and the three little dogs.

Book: The Time Traveler's Wife

The best book I've read recently I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the way that the story unfolded with so many layers and perspectives in time. Niffenegger did an amazing job of creating a cohesive and compelling narrative when it could easily have become confusing and convoluted. I don’t know if I buy into the idea of time travel or even find the concept appealing, but it was a wonderful story, well told, and it made me think. I highly recommend this book.

I just made a donation to Planned Parenthood in honor of all the great women in my life. Then I got to send them all this nice ecard. If you're interested, you can do the same. If that link is gone by the time you get there, try the get involved page. Merry merry!

Free credit reports for you and you and you

Did you know a law was passed that allows you to get a free credit report once a year from each of the credit reporting agencies. Just go to www.annualcreditreport.com and and answer a few questions.

Book: Someone Not Really Her Mother

Decent read, imagine being an Alzheimer's patient This book wasn’t so good that I would actively recommend it, but it wasn’t bad either. It’s a story about a woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and it is told from her point of view. The characters are well developed, especially considering that it is a short book. However, it never really went anywhere. On the other hand, I admit that I was somewhat distracted as a listened toward the end, so perhaps it was just me. If you’re interested in getting inside the mind of someone with Alzheimer’s, then this is an interesting read. Of course we don’t know whether it bears resemblance to the real experience since it was undoubtedly written by someone who is not an Alzheimer’s patient.

Movie: The American President

Yesterday I was out of Tivo’d episodes of my standard fare so I watched this instead. I’d seen it before of course, but it was amazing to look back and see how many of the people in that movie ended up on the West Wing. There are tons of them! Not only Martin Sheen, but also one of his West Wing daughters, speech writer, and others. It's eerie.

Book: The Conspiracy Club

I got this as a book on CD from the library, ripped it to MP3, and listened to it on my new iPod. :) It was a decent mystery. I didn’t realize until I started reading it that it isn’t one of Kellerman’s Alex Delaware novels. This book stars a different thirty-something male psychologist who gets wrapped up in a spine-tingling crime. ;)

Nikon Rob / Izzy and Shoe

Rob strikes again! This is a hilarious photo of Holly's baby Izzy.

I just called Casio to check on the status of my camera repair. I sent it two weeks ago and they received it about a week ago. When I called, their automated menus were slightly annoying and there was a little wait time, but nothing too terrible. The woman I spoke to was nice and asked easy straight forward questions to find my order (like my name, for example). She said the camera is on the technician's bench right now and I could call back Monday or Tuesday to find out when it is being shipped back. They certainly aren't speed demons, but I am happy with this process so far. It's been pretty easy and the only cost to me was to ship the camera to NJ. I am thankful however, that this is not my only camera, it being Christmastime and all.

The week before Thanksgiving I discovered a small pile of white dust in the basement. I don't know where it came from. There is no obvious source. There is also a small crack where the baseboard is seperating from the drywall. I think the latter problem may be a side effect of our recent basement "flood". I hope it isn't a leak from our upstairs bathroom (directly above). The powder is a mystery I have apparently chosen to ignore. Good strategy for keeping up your home. ;-)

This is a terrible photo, but it's of a Salvation Army person at our local QFC. I was upset to see her there. Recently, the Salvation Army has been embroiled in a legal battle with former employees claiming that the organizations evangelical Christian values were pushed on them and they were fired when they refused to go along. Salvation Army filed a motion to dismiss but the judged ruled against them and the case will proceed. Disgustingly, Salvation Army doesn't claim not to have discriminated against employees, but is instead arguing that as a religious organization they aren't bound by non-discrimination in employment laws. There is some question whether this is true, particularly in light of the fact that a large percentage of SA's funding is from the federal government. Anyway, after I finished shopping I asked to speak to the store manager. I told him I thought it was inappropriate for them to allow the Salvation Army to solicit there since not only were they a religious organization but they'd recently been accused of discriminatory practices. I said I was sure there were more even-handed charitable organizations they could work with instead. The manager was very receptive to my comments and said he had no idea this had been going on. He promised to discuss it with those above him. I hope next year there will be no Salvation Army bells at any Kroger establishments. Article: Salvation Army Faces Discrimination Claim

Maple got her stitches out (this is back in late Nov again) and the vet said they look good. :)

New baby!

Our friends Meghan and S. Ben just had their first baby. Last night Ben sent this heart warming email addressed to his new son Nathan.

Nathan -- You were born last Thursday, eight pounds and two ounces, and with an immeasurable amount of love. It was the best day of my life. I never wanted to say that; I always thought that would somehow mean that Meghan wasn't important. But I realized yesterday that she and I started seeing each other gradually, that getting engaged and married were small steps for us. You, on the other hand, were a sudden change. One day we're expecting you, and the next I'm standing in a hospital, you in one arm while I'm eating takeout Thai food with the other, like it's something I've done all my life, like it's the most natural thing ever. You are three days old today. You are the most precious thing in the whole world. Everybody knows it; everybody who sees you agrees (as they must!) that you are the cutest thing ever. You coo and gurgle and cluck and croak while you doze. You blink your deep blue eyes and look around, almost as if you could focus on things. And when your stubborn little self doesn't want his legs moved, you put up far more fight than any reasonable person would expect from such a tiny, tiny body. And tiny it is. Before you were born, we looked at these tiny little shirts and pants and wondered if they'd be too small to fit you when you were born. And at a healthy eight pounds, it seems like we should be able to fit two of you in there. Tiny, but complete in every respect: A tiny nose, tiny lips, tiny fingers, tiny fingernails, and even tiny eyelashes. I'm learning more about myself every day. I never realized how much I could do with one arm. I didn't think I could talk nonsense for hours on end (though your mamma might have already known). I never would have guessed that I'd be so blase about fresh poo covering my fingers. And I certainly didn't know how many songs could bring tears to my eyes when I try to sing them. "Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry." "What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy." Indeed. Speaking of strong: Your mamma is the strongest person ever; I admire her so much I can't find words to express it. From the time she woke up in labor pains to the time you were born was less than twelve hours, which is just amazing. She fought through more pain than she ever has experienced in her life, and brought you into this world fully functioning, fully miraculous. I will never forget what she went through, and how strong she stayed through it all. Watching her go through labor was scary. Now, it's scary being responsible for such a fragile, precious person. But I think we'll make it. The other night, your mamma was taking a bath, and I was holding you in the rocking chair, talking nonsense to you. To bug her, I told you, "And we'll teach you all about intelligent design, and the war on terror." Unfortunately, she didn't hear me, but you scrunched up your face like I'd said the most horrible thing you ever wanted to hear. I think we'll make it. There was so much more that I was going to say, but I'm starting to tear up again. Your mamma and papa love you more than they ever thought possible. Know that always. A postscript: It's now day five; obviously, I didn't send this when I expected to. So much isn't going as expected. True, we have now had the Endless Sleepless Night and the Indelible Radioactive Stain (we're waiting for the Long-Duration Intercounty Ballistic Scream and the Fifteen Megaton Diaper Explosion). But I haven't had more than ten minutes to sit down at the computer, some kind of local minimum for me. And also surprising, you've already gained back your entire birth weight (and a little more!). And Meghan continues to amaze me; she's producing enough milk for you and another one or two like you. I hope, when you're old enough (like when you have a child of your own), you come to admire her as much as I do. Love -- Ben

We have our Giving Tree up at work again this year. King County Senior Services was added to the program, and unlike previous years there were tons of requests for help buying food and medicine. It's very sad. Benjamin and I picked out several tags for gifts: a gift card for medicine, a pre-paid cell phone, a basketball, and a baseball and mit. My mom also decided to get a gift card for medicine through me. :-)

Supreme Court to review Texas political map

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court decided Monday to hear a group of cases involving a Texas redistricting plan that gave the GOP six additional congressional seats. Justices will likely hear the cases in April to consider whether redrawing the districts reduced minority voting strength. The cases also involve the question of whether courts can remedy excessive gerrymandering and if states can redraw congressional maps twice in the same decade when a valid plan exists. Entire article on CNN.com.

We're going in the way back machine to November 20th. Yea chronology girl.

On Sunday afternoon Nov 20th, I went down to Glazer's Camera in Seattle to try out the Nikon D50 camera. It was definitely lighter, but I didn't have any issues with the slight differences from the D70 in the hardware controls. It was good enough to consider purchasing. I might have bought one if I hadn't found a used D70 in great condition. :-)

Book: The Broker

I finished reading this as a book on CD this weekend. I purchased the hardback from Costco when it first came out, but never made it past the first few chapters (I am lazy about paper books nowadays). So I ordered it from the library as a book on CD and it finally came last week. I listened to the first 6 discs as CDs and then ripped the last 4 and listened to them on the new iPod I got Saturday night. :-) I enjoyed the book. It was a pretty good Grisham novel, very enjoyable. I thought it was amusing that at the end there is an author’s note saying that he knows nothing about tech and conspiracies and any similarities to reality are accidental. ;-)

Abridged audio books were sent from the devil and DRM protection is maddening. I wish iPods would support WMA. I get why they don't, but that's a problem for some of us who want to listen to downloaded audio books that are protected WMAs but also want to have a video iPod because of the awesome intersection of an audio player and a photo viewing gadget.

New camera!

Yesterday I bought a used Nikon D70 digital SLR camera from a guy at Microsoft. It seems to be in excellent condition. I got it with the kit lens (18-70mm), a UV filter, two batteries, charger, packaging, and complete documentation including original receipt. He also had an additional 70-300mm lens but it wasn't very fast and I don't need it, so I passed on that part. I'm very excited to play with it. I took some photos already but haven't had a chance to get them on my PC to post (that whole work thing gets in the way). On Friday Rob is going to rent a 35mm f/2.0 lens from Glazer's Camera so we can play with it at Six Feet Under night. Assuming I like it, that lens is going on my Christmas list, along with a camera bag or case. :-)

Music: Details by Frou Frou

This is an excellent album I like very much. My husband bought it after hearing Frou Frou on the Garden State Soundtrack. I accidentally ended up listening to the album on loop all day Monday, so I think I need to put it on ice for a bit lest I become sick of it.

Book: Julie and Romeo

I thought this book was light, fluffy, enjoyable. Similar to Jeanne Ray’s other books. Sadly I am now plumb out of things to listen to. Yipes! A library trip is in order.

Images for the Windows SideShow feature I've been working on are now available online if you're curious. Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2005: Image Gallery (5th-10th rows under Windows Vista).

Many faces of Syl

Nikon Rob / Many faces of Syl

Rob posted this on Flickr and I think it is awesome. Rob is turning into quite the artist. He inspires me (until I get home to the couch and then all motivation is lost).

This is a post sent through email. (I know, you’re thrilled.)

This is a message from my phone.

My Casio Exilim EX-Z50 camera died again, this time with a different problem. You may that it died in early October as well. Yesterday at lunch I was taking photos with it and the lens became unable to focus. This has happened before, so I turned off the camera and turned it back on. This always fixed the problem in the past. This time instead when I turned it back on the lens came out, the picture looked all blurry, and then the camera shut itself off and displayed "lens error" on the screen. I tried taking the battery out for 5 hours to perform a hard reset since this worked last time, but nothing changed. I called Casio this morning and they need me to send it in for repair. In some ways this is a good thing, because my warranty expires in a month. So off my camera goes to New Jersey. Have a safe trip little camera!