Guess who was picked

to say grace last night.

Christmas with the neighbors

is awesome.

Merry Christmas, yo.

I love you guys.

Talked to everybody on the phone.

*smile, sniff*

Lost my voice.

"As Development Lead, I...

led the development."

I am so not good

at writing self-assessments.

Pictures from the

Trail of Lights.

Why I love the Drafthouse

(Number 87 in a series):

When I ordered a cup of tea,

they brought me honey.

The hobbits make me cry

every time.

Hobbits in 5.5 hours!

Hobbits in 5.5 hours!

Woo!!

Variations on a theme:

"Dialog"

is not a verb.

Dude.

That's the best I've made out

at a White Elephant ever:

Ray Bradbury anthology.

Woo!

Now that's friendship.

You strain your back

and can barely bend over.

You certainly can't

put on your shoes and socks.

So your friend does so for you.

Thanks, Toshi. *sniff*

Okay,

forget the manual.

Just read my freakin' email.

And now the sun is shining.

I don't get this climate.

And then it grows darker...

Alien landscape:

Thick, obscuring fog

and lightening!

Terms of endearment

from my sweetie:

"Thanks for not liking

stupid, useless junk."

Awwwww.

I can't imagine

this blog is particularly engaging,

but it sure is cathartic.

Thank you.

It never ends.

"FYI"

is not a verb.

Guilty confessions:

"If I complete a task

that's not on my list,

I'll add it,

and then check it off."

"Me, too!"

Lest you think I am all

gloom and doom,

I've gotten a ton of stuff done

this morning, and I'm feelin'

pretty fly.

I wrote a song!

I'll see if I can make

an mp3 for you.

My fingers

have to heal first.

Passed in the hall:

Christmas tree

with CDs poked onto the branches.

Tee hee,

geeks.

Winter's hard for everybody,

innit.

Hi.

Happy,

contented,

too full.

Oh,

to heck with it.

Let's go grocery shopping.

cold + rainy

= sleeeeeeepy.

Anyone have use for a

sleepy Sherbie?

Jon and I had the best vacation!

We saw the sights

in our own home town.

Relaxing, fun, restorative.

*Smile*

"Feedback"

is not a verb.

Criminy.

Deployed.

Installed.

No complaints...

WOO HOO!

I got a paper-cut

with the cover of a 3-ring binder.

I am wounded!

But my code is done.

^_^

My code is done.

I slept for 8.5 hours last night.

Yes!

Ah, bliss...

I'm in disbelief.

Code has been locked down.

Someone's installing my files

into the test environment

Right Now!

Or, rather,

I feel like I did

when I was in college.

I feel like I'm in college.

SELECT blog_post FROM stuff_to_say

WHERE content NOT IN

griping_about_hours_worked;

/

no results found.

For a radical change of pace,

I came into work today.

Dude,

tell me a joke or something,

please.

It's Sunday again, so

Final Count:

93.5

'Course, I'm still here...

For those following along at home:

Hours worked since Sunday:

82

It seemed like a good idea:

In a glass of Coke-a-Cola,

non-dairy creamer

sits on top of the foam

and won't dissolve.

Because I am morbidly curious:

Hours worked since Sunday:

66.5

Got to the top of the

vertical wall!

(With a little help from my friend.)

That Beatles song,

"Eight Days a Week"

makes sense now.

Hours worked since Sunday: 56.

If I could just get over

this silly addiction to sleep...

I'm going cold turkey.

The end is in sight.

And I mean that

in a good way.

But I did

work out

again today!

Terrible habits:

I've got some kind of mental block

against eating the last dregs

of whatever's on my plate.

You only have to sign in

after hours.

The security guard

remembered my name.

*sigh*

On the up-side,

I am learning tons.

*blink blink*

What genius!

Prevent multiple submits

by making the on-click event

first disable the "submit" button.

It's what the YACCS code does.

There's no typo

like a typo etched in glass.

Twice.

Worked out at the gym over lunch!

Then had left-over steak.

Mmmmmmm.

Portable computers

can be left behind.

*sigh*

Something strange has happened.

All of the 11s were too big.

The 10s fit.

I have shoes.

wall!

the

of

top

the

touched

I

night,

Last

Dude!

Seven hours

'til rock climbing.

Burritos that don't leak

rock the Casbah.

Yo.

Woe shared by speaker phone...

Oh, you poor person.

If you'd let it dry out completely

before attempting to turn it on,

it might have worked again.

Project Idea:

content, navigated with "go east,"

"go up."

Not a game; exploratory literature.

Like, "Let me show you my house,"

or "My Brain."

Did I ever mention

the time I met Neil Gaiman?

The mighty wind,

if contained,

is naught but air.

(Inspired by Meg.)

Tee hee,

rock climber lingo.

Tweaked a hip

but flashed a pitch.

It was a good day.

^_^

Should I be concerned

that I prefer

Trident For Kids?

Met at the rock gym today:

TOWN

Dude.

I heart

the "Peter Gunn Theme,"

as performed by Art of Noise.

Wah-uhn wah-uhn wah-uhn wah-ah...

Status

is not a verb.

Thank you.

Straw poll Jon was conducting:

In your opinion,

what are the 5 best

movie comedies since 1970?

Pelted by stones,

I thought the windows might break.

Hail storm at midnight.

Thunder and lightening, too.

Eep!

Interface

is not a verb.

Thank you.

He climbs while I spot.

Then I climb while he spots.

Collaborative success.

Rock climbing as a metaphor

for marriage.

I'd rather be

rock climbing.

This week, three men here

have suddenly gone

yellow-flower blond.

Did I miss a memo?

You people know stuff like this:

Who composed and performed

the theme to Futurama?

Thanks.

Today's exercise:

Relinquishing control.

You can not put in enough

hazelnut non-dairy creamer

to make even a passable

cappucino.

Oh, how I suffer.

What work is like:

Went grocery shopping

to calm down.

Opened the sun roof this morning.

New movie forming in my mind,

The Story of a Man,

set to the Beatles One album.

And,

I have your Christmas present.

(Wait long enough,

and it's early.)

Meeker,

I sent you mail.

I miss you!

Write me, baby.

There's another blog

on my list.

They're breeding.

They like me.

They really like me.

Or my web work, anyway,

which is good enough.

I wrote a piece of JavaScript,

and it worked on the first try.

Who knew?

I'm behind.

Of course.

Think fast,

programmery thoughts at me.

Where could I find

an elegant chess clock

(analog, windup, wood)?

Thanks, ever so.

I'd always thought

Texas wouldn't have

a flu season.

*sniff*

Revisiting some fond memories:

My parents' big Texas visit

Guh.

I hate typos I can't fix.

Once again,

proving that I am special:

I blue-screened WinXP.

Code snippet, found today:

End If

' End Hack

Gift idea:

Distant Suns

I am falling

asleef;jldkaaasdavsdm

I think

in blog posts.

URLs have replaced

last names

for identifying e-quaintances.

Bulletin Board: "T_E FISH COMMITTEE"

She: "I need another H."

Me: "Remove the 'T_E.'"

Why is she arguing with me?

Correction:

Good friends

and hours on the lake.

Should've skipped

the karaoke, though.

Team off-site today.

Horseshoes

and karaoke.

Yaaaarrrgghh.

I nearly forgot.

Avast!

Switching

Blogger

servers

worked.

And, I'm back.

Too short.

*sniff*

Leavin'

on a jet plane,

in 8 hours.

Yay!

Can you tell

I don't feel like

getting started?

My commute

=

American Pie

+

And We Danced

It is way past time I read

Stranger in a Strange Land.

Not that I need any more books.

My mailbox is over its size limit.

And they send emails to tell me.

Sigh.

I propose an alternative:

Print-your-own coupons

are brilliant.

Coupons are free anyway,

to get you to try their wares,

and now: no printing costs.

I stand in awe.

Oh, wait, that was you?

So I think I've created

a monster.

Who knew?

This

was fun to write.

(Iambic sticks inside your head.)

(Help.)

Jihraffgaoucheraiyout?

No more movies.

Going outside now.

Seen Most Recently: Waking Life

Beautiful art.

Lots of philosophy mumbo jumbo

(watch it with a smart friend

and pause it a lot).

Very Austin.

Meeker,

do you live here yet?

7-day rentals

are a lovely thing.

More Recently Seen:

Tremors 3

Two words:

"Ass Blasters."

Delivers as expected.

We love Michael Gross.

More Seen Recently:

Signs

Good horror. (3 screams)

Weak sci-fi.

Wondering just what

all the buzz was quite about.

Seen Recently:

Memento

Intense, gripping, intelligent.

Psychological thriller.

Highly recommended.

Oh, joy!

MPR archived

the Gaiman interview.

Today is my day, baby.

Like a present on a Thursday:

Realizing I'd forgotten to read

two posts

from Imaginary Year,

and reading them back-to-back.

Aren't I

too old to get

poison ivy?

*sniff*

Relishing

unexpected

pleasures.

Four-hour staff meeting.

I have lost the capacity

to think.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Oh.

*sniff*

MPR keeps their broadcasts

for only a week.

I never had a chance

to catch the Gaiman interview.

Shucks.

The reward for completing a task

is another task.

Neil Gaiman

on All Things Considered

second hour on Thursday

Yay!

Jon And Sharon Week has begun.

One-year anniversary,

and it's been a great year

with a great friend.

What we have here

is a failure to communicate:

There's something

morally satisfying

about being at work

at this hour.

Woah, Nelly,

big lightening!

BOOM!

(ctrl+s, ctrl+s, ctrl+s)

How to make it rain:

Get baseball tickets.

*sigh*

Because I said so.

Finally,

an opportunity!

Got a new manager today.

Man.

Resolving those stickler issues

is so satisfying.

Yeah, baby.

Sweet!

Sailed through every green

on the way to work this morning.

Bliss.

Better question:

For how many days

will I keep typing

the old password?

How many times today

will I type the old password?

*Sigh*

Theme party ideas:

Jellical Ball

Victorian parlor games

Ice-cream buffet

Ah ha! Google knows all.

Why that "stay or go" song

always sounds like "The Globe":

Same front-man,

one sampling the other.

(Guess which I heard first.)

Huge, scrolling, gas station sign

on the highway to San Antonio:

"CHEESEBURGER"

"DSL"

...?

Oh, wait. Diesel. Right.

So he says,

"I'm in Texas!

Come visit!"

Sheesh. Yankees.

(It was so worth the drive.)

A compromise

with unexpected results:

In my decaf Earl Grey tea,

the cinnamon non-dairy creamer

is surprisingly wonderful.

Wow.

For a movie,

Minority Report

is really enjoyable sci-fi.

I'm impressed.

Dang.

Getting my inbox down to 30

was so short-lived.

Sigh.

Here are the folks I met last night:

josh.rocket,

ototoro,

Prentiss Riddle,

and blogless Rob.

And Jon was there, too.

Hallo, MeetUP friends.

Cool discussion last night.

Web trends, electronic music, writing,

in a hip coffee bar with bubble tea:

I felt very Aughts.

I am wearing

my kitty hat.

Rock climbing (in a gym)

last Saturday.

I feel so studly.

Or is that sore?

Hallooo?

So many of my blogs aren't publishing.

I'd thought I had too many,

but now I miss them.

I probably don't need

to point this out,

but I have very silly friends.

Scrapbooking my wedding photos,

reliving beautiful events.

Fun!

What are you doing

if your document contains section

2.1.1.1.5.1?

...Creating software specs

inspired by Microsoft processes,

apparently.

Comfort food

of the new millennium:

Decaf Earl Grey tea,

soy-based creamer.

A little brown-green gekko

greeted me this morning.

Hello!

"Sometimes fate

looks like

a dirigible."

-Jon

Overheard in my Texas cubicle farm:

"Yeah, we did some fireworks."

"You ever try the, uh,

artillery shells?"

meep!

Zen and the art of

web design

Former manager leapt into my cube,

clapped me on the back,

"Been hearing such

good things about you!"

and was gone.

*blink blink*

Etiquette question:

A co-worker just asked to borrow

my $900 digital camera

for two weeks

in Germany.

Mrr?! Is it okay to say no?

Eep!

The walkway between buildings

is flooded up over my ankles.

Good thing I have extra shoes.

My kitty hat

was delivered last night!

I imagine pictures will be up soon.

I'll let you know.

Flash-flood warning around town.

What do you do

about a flash-flood warning?

I am so unprepared.

Having a pretty effective day.

Raining...

Not much new here.

You?

Oh,

and my damn script works.

Finally!

Yesterday was a big day.

I am now

an Advanced Toastmaster, Bronze.

You may all address me as

"My Lady."

~_^

*blink blink*

Who blithely picks up the phone

to call Austin

from China?

Wow.

A corollary to live by:

Any technology

distinguishable from magic

is insufficiently advanced.

from the Jargon Lexicon

Funny.

The web's gone quiet.

Too quiet.

It's my anniversary!

Two years at Dell.

Stealing an idea from Ben,

which he stole from a book,

I give you:

600 seconds

Ben offers a writing exercise.

Let's collect entries,

and I'll find a place to post them.

(Ben's blog is a definite candidate.)

"If you look down,

you don't kick as high."

--Margaret

Ooh!

Install done!

Successful,

and early.

Cross your fingers for me.

Install, tonight.

Words to live by

from my soda bottle:

PLAY AGAIN

*blink blink*

Beethoven.com is playing

"Stairway to Heaven,"

as performed by the London Philharmonic.

And it's great.

Oh, the Cyndi Lauper dress (below)

was made by Natosha

for the Toastmasters prom.

Okay, the Paperclip,

tossing its eyeballs into a box

every time I save a document,

is just gross.

Oh, uh, Episode II

slated for Sunday.

A lunch

packed with washed and stemmed

strawberries.

He's too sweet.

Earl Grey,

milk,

h-- well, sugar

--er, actually, Equal,

but close enough.

Ahhh...

Things that make me nervous:

Regarding a doc I wrote,

Program Manager says,

"I mad few grammatical corrections."

Gad, really?

I'm eating my successors

on the food chain:

mushrooms.

I owe many folks mail

and thank-you notes.

Not as a replacement,

I will state here:

I love you and appreciate you.

Sorry for the delay.

A weekend, briefly:

Spider-man!

O. Henry Pun Off

Flaming Idiots

Magic show

whew.

Also,

in the Detail Planning Phase

of overhauling invisible-city.com.

*Tingly*

Spider-man,

Spider-man.

Tonight!

Hee hee hee.

My goodness.

I'd fallen off the internet.

Wait, people read this?

...

um...

Hi, Meeker!

Office peeve:

Being on a conference call

does not mean

you need to use

speaker phone.

Purses

consolidate everything important,

so that you can lose it

much more efficiently.

Programming like a

mad fiend,

at home and at work.

Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.

Yogi Tea

"Stomach E-Z"

helps a lot.

My friend Ben



is very strange.

No.

You don't understand.

I need chocolate.

From AggieCon:

Neil Gaiman could read the

phone book,

and I'd listen. I'd wait in line to listen.

Best Fangirl Moment:

"Oh, that was you?"

*beam*

Back.

Miss me?

Overheard in my cubicle farm:

"You have to think outside the box."

"But I'm going in circles!"

My manager is not my manager.

My team is not my team.

My job is...

now half my job.

sigh

My world has just changed.

It is warm and sunny outside.

I am not outside.

*sniff*

"Nervous," defined:

Eating pizza in a white sweater.

Jon's at work.

I'm trying to program.

I don't want to.

*sigh*

Woah, waitaminute!

This blog,

in one incarnation or another,

has its two-year anniversary

today.5

(2/29/00).

Feeling very grown up:

Made a ton of reservations—

plane, hotel, conference (x2)

Had a room full of Toastmasters

shouting "I am awesome!" with me.

I won the speech contest.

Houston,

we are GO for launch!

...

IT WORKED!

Software going live tonight.

I'm so nervous I could pop.

Perhaps the tea isn't helping.

And in the streets

the children screamed...

A dear soul has given me

CTY classics

on a CD!

*Sigh*

Ate lunch outside!

Rejuvinated, refreshed,

and just a little bit tan.

Geek bliss!

Cable modem,

router,

...LINUX!

'cept I can't figure out

how to do anything. *sniff*

Or, really,

more knowledgeable,

as Grandpa Joe

would be quick to point out.

What doesn't kill me

is making me

smarter,

anyway.

Welcoming the beast:

We've signed up for cable

internet!

Still,

it comes from Time Warner.

*shudder*

I'm picking glitter

out of my eyebrows.

Got a sonic toothbrush yesterday.

Is it inappropriate

to show your co-workers

your teeth?

Oh. Well. I like it,

anyway.

Brotherhood of the Wolf:

Graphic, gripping, unsettling.

And subtitled.

Wanna see it again.

At 12:34,

I made a wish,

and it came true.

Like tempering steel,

this isn't killing me.

It isn't working.

*sob*

Eep!

Neil Gaiman

answered my letter!

(On Jan 31)

I've never owned

black jeans

before.

I feel stylish.

Hee hee hee:

Saw the Globetrotters

last night.

Awesome!!

Seeing the

Harlem Globetrotters

tonight.

^_^

A brooding sky

holds its peace,

for now.

Voicemail

is back up.

But I still prefer

the silence.

Answer:

Impose on your good friends,

and have the party

at their place.

What do you do

when you want to invite

some people from work,

but all people from work

wouldn't fit?

24,

alone,

justifies television.

Voicemail is off-line,

though it won't say so

if you call.

Finding other solutions...

Toastmasters says:

I'm a Competent Leader.

As of Tuesday.

YAY!

It's sinuses,

not a cavity.

I think,

today anyway,

my water

would better serve

the tribe.

Sigh.

oh my

oh bliss

oh joy!

joymocha

See?

I can be

pithy.

pith

pith

pith

My Toastmasters club

makes me so proud.

Overheard in the cubicle farm:

"...that's secondary,

and the other's thirdary..."

*sniff*

I don't wanna program anymore.

Hmph.

Texan 101

2nd, sing.: you

2nd, pl.: y'all

2nd, sing., poss.: your

2nd, pl., poss.: y'all's

I know they're good for me.

I know.

But greenbeans?

Eyugh.

Cardstock and

Shrinky Dinks and Sculpey:

Getting games ready tonight to play

with unsuspecting masses tomorrow.

Whee!

Cheesecake...

without crust?!

The heathens.

Had a date

with my sweetie last night.

more bliss

Meeting in a different building

+ Sunroof

+ 73 degrees

= bliss

I know where glue comes from:

my head.

Drat this cold.

It's Texas.

You're not supposed to

get the flu in Texas.

Hmph.

How to set a Sherbie trap:

1. Arrange pillows and poofy comforter in pleasing pile.

2. Bait with one sunbeam.

How to slim your waistline

in just one weekend:

new bra.