August 20, 2008

The Solution

Thanks for all your suggestions.

I think I'm going to go with Toodledoo, at least for the time being. It has a really useful Firefox widget, and seems to be a small enough page to load well on the phone.

But my favorite feature? You can print out the top 110 items on your list and make a little booklet to carry around and cross out. Best of both worlds!

I'll let you know how it goes!

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August 18, 2008

The Book

When I was in college, I carried around this little book. It was about 4 x 2.5 inches² and it was blank inside. Well, not blank in the plain white paper sense, but it was lined, and those lines were blank. It was paperbound, with a picture of Albert Einstein on the cover. No, I didn't get it to make me feel smarter, I got it because that's what was available at the Caltech Bookstore.

For much of college Einie was my constant companion. Each line of each page held a reminder of something to do, from the utterly mundane (buy a new toothbrush) to the critically important (get letters of recommendation for grad school) it was all in my little book. I used to mark the last completed page with a receipt for a bookmark, and I was religious about not moving it until I had crossed every item off the list as "done" and made a vertical slash through the list on that page.

My roommate did the same thing, and in fact, he's the one that I stole the idea from. But somewhere along the line, somewhere in grad school, I stopped using the book.

I still make a million small lists, email this person, call that person prep this lecture, call the groomer, etc., but they kind of scatter. I have so many lists now, I forget what's written where. On my desk at the moment are about four small papers with notes, a whiteboard full of notes on things I needed to do last semester, and a big scratch sheet with notes and diagrams and 3 different lists from the last week alone.

I need one list. One that I can carry around and edit. It's funny. I mean, I have always had a memory like a steel trap, but these days I am so busy I have reached the working memory buffer limit. Which is seven items, BTW, which is why phone numbers are 7 digits in this country. Really. Ma Bell hired psychologists to determine the best length to remember...

Anyway, because of this I have become an aficionado of Google Calendar. It's easy to edit, smart, and follows me everywhere. And yet my to-do list has taken a step back in technology. My life in a million little pieces. Of paper.

I so need a useful, carry-able to do list again. Einie was awesome. I need to dig out the empty books I have in a box somewhere and start anew. Although, an online list would be helpful as well. One that I can edit and store online, and most importantly access and edit anywhere. Because you never know when I'll remember something I need to do. Anybody know a good one?

The thing is, I don't do PDAs, I never had a smartphone (although that is coming in the next couple of weeks) and the idea of ANOTHER gadget just to keep my to-do list is utterly ridiculous. But you all are super bright, and well, frankly, often a LOT more tech-savvy than I am. So any suggestions you have for a high-tech replacement for good old einie are VERY welcome and will be much appreciated.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:26 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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August 13, 2008

Show some blog love, won't you?

I know if there was any other way, Jay and Deb wouldn't be asking for help, but they need a significant amount of cash to help keep the lights on after August 22. If you can help out, even by tossing them a couple of dollars, it will be more than appreciated.

They're more than my blogparents, they're friends, and they've had a rough year financially trying to raise three kids. After some really rough patches, expensive car problems, sick kids, and ambulance trips, they are about to get back to being financially stable, except for this one large debt the state allowed them to run up. Jay explains what happened, here.

If you would like to pick up some lovely crocheted items, rather than making a simple donation, you can visit Deb's etsy store. Also, if you're looking for a domain name for a software project, Jay has one for sale. See here.

I'd be so happy if I clicked over there tomorrow and saw that the bills were taken care of. I know you all are so generous and wonderful. It would be awesome to see the B-sphere support people who really need the help rather than funding another Andrew Sullivan vacation!


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August 01, 2008

I'm taking a poll

Should I buy it or not? If I do it will be my (very early) birthday present. I'd love it. My favorite Dodger moment wrapped up in a shirt.... But still, it's $250 + shipping for something I'm likely to get mustard and nacho cheese all over...

What do you think? They have my size, which is a kind of rare thing. Hence why I want to get it now, rather than wait. If there was a T-shirt version (hence way cheaper).... or if it was Mike Scioscia's jersey (Mikey is my favorite Dodger of all time), it would be on its way here already. What do you think?

Update: responding to ZTZCheese's point in the comments, I can't get a regular personalized jersey with Gibson on the back and 23 as the number. MLB rules prohibit selling personalized jerseys with retired player name/number combinations. Believe me, I have looked into doing that many times. This is the only way to get one.

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February 05, 2008

Random Milestone

Visitor #247,000 was someone from Blacksburg, VA using IE 7 and Windows XP on Verizon Internet.

Thanks for playing!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:42 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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December 27, 2007

When you're done with those presents...

Tony over at A Red Mind in a Blue State has some interesting thoughts on the state of the economy and how it's reported:

Will it stop? The unending media hysteria about the economy?

The story this morning is that Internet plus brick and mortar sales are up 2.4% this season.

Given the incessant drumbeat of bad economy, bad economy, bad economy-- I thought the tag on the story would be, hey, not bad!

But no. For whatever reason-- incompetence, latent Bush-bashing, the inability to ever report good news-- the headlines were mostly negative. Sluggish. Poor. Disappointing.

How could 2.4% growth in the "teeth" of this mortgage meltdown, etc. be deemed disappointing?

Read the rest, including some interesting facts about gift card sales.

I think Tony has a point. Sales ARE up. Doesn't that mean people have the $$ to spend? Or does it mean that they'd rather sink farther into their credit bills so the kids can have the Wii and the computer and the new iPod?

Either way, it means they plan on having a place to keep what they bought, so people must be somewhat more than negative-feeling about the whole housing/mortgage/ interest rate business.

Even more interesting was the item about gift card sales. I wonder what the total figures would be with those included. Especially as sales of gift cards increased ALONG with the direct sales increases reported.

What do you think?

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December 14, 2007

And the name is...

...Alastor!

As in: Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.

Thanks to everyone for chiming in (especially wRitErsbLock for posting the name)! It was a really hard decision to make, since it's a little close to our resident cat's name (Arthur), but sometimes that's just the way it goes.

Posted by: ztzcheese at 09:05 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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December 12, 2007

A request

I tried to post this last night, but MuNu was having a moment...

Friend, frequent commenter, and occasional guest poster ZTZCheese and her hubby got a new kitty!

He's cute and smart and friendly, and he needs a name. However, kitty didn't seem too taken with any of the names we've tried so far, so she asked me to ask YOU to help us come up with suggestions.

He seems like a "people name" cat, rather than a "cat name" cat, but a clever cat name might suit.

He's a little put off by the small silver flashy-thing in his face in this shot:

HPIM0908

Yes, he is one-eyed, he's not winking. But he sure could be.

And there are more pics of him here, in his new Flickr album.

So chime in, folks. What should they call him?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:27 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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December 10, 2007

I Still Believe

This gets better every year.  Santa Claus IS real.  And if you are patient enough, and believe enough, he brings the presents our hearts desire most.

From one of my favorite writers (and favorite people):

After spending an entire day either in a hot and stuffy conference room full of angry, yelling, exasperated voices, or on London transport, I took a very long journey home and finally made it home at 8:30 at night. Which meant, at the end of the day, that I had spent a whopping 6 hours in transit and 7 hours straight in meetings, stopping only to exercise my bladder's rights and to scarf down a thoroughly unsatisfactory baked potato, and that I got home a shattered shell of a human being.

But all that time in transit allowed for something that I needed-a little thinking time. I needed some time to sit down and think about why it is that I was missing the holidays so badly, why it was that the baubles and bangles weren't getting into my heart, why the lights reflected in disjointed pools from my disbelieving eyes. This (for me) has nothing to do with religion and I don't want to get into that aspect with this post, I'm simply talking about the spirit of hope and laughter that the holidays imbue you with. I thought about why it was that I was unable to project myself into my favorite Christmas activities-watching Scrooged, A Miracle on 34th Street, and the old Burl Ives' steadies Rudolph and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Why couldn't I listen to the whole John Denver and the Muppets Christmas CD? What was happening?

And then it hit me as fast as it hit Susan in A Miracle on 34th Street (not the old one, the newer one with the doe-eyes Elizabeth Perkins and the new lisping Susan who is so damn cute it made my ovaries throb). I realized with a slight smile and a shake of the head why it was that I no longer felt so light and joyous about Christmas. In one moment, a smile spread on my face and I started to laugh (which I was on a crowded train at the time, so at least the guy moved away from me, lest I have something contagious).

The reason I felt so lost was that I didn't believe in Santa Claus anymore.

I had outgrown him and joined the race of jaded adults too afraid to let themselves confess that there might be something just a little bit bigger to life than they would be willing to admit.

Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Sinterklaas, the Hannukah Armadillo. Why had we forgotten them? Why have they become symbols that are reserved only for the kids, for the young, for the little people that are still chock-full of innocence, of hope, that the world really will reward you if you've been good and kind to Mommy and Daddy, that there is someone looking out for you and checking a list to make sure that you are going to get what it is that your little heart so badly needs?

I need to feel like there is a fat man in a red suit who is out there who exists purely to make the hearts of other people lighter. I need to know that the dreams that the children go to bed with on Christmas Eve are not wasted dreams, that the candy cane visions and sugarplum dreams go into a melting pot of something bigger, something that will bind and wrap up the children in little invisible force-fields of optimism as they grow up. I need to feel like there's someone who cares so much about what it is that will make us happy that he's keeping a list, checking it twice, giving me a reason to not be naughty, just nice.
Read the rest, and take the spirit of the season back into your life, just like Santa reminds us to. Or maybe the Hanukkah Armadillo.

What are you asking for for Christmas this year?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:59 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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November 13, 2007

I'm #7 (on the third list!)

How about Professor Tenure-Caused-My-Divorce, or Professor My-Lobotomy-Improved-My-Personality, or my favorite, Professor Your-Life-Means-Less-Than-My-Experiments...

Stolen wholesale from Jon Cogburn (it was just TOO good to excerpt!):

Irritating Assistant Professors- 

  1. (from phred)  Professor I'm-a-Fraud-and-Pray-To-Jesus-That-No-One-Will-Figure-It-Out,
  2. (from phred)  Professor I'm-Above-This-Place-And-Should-Be-At-Harvard,
  3. Professor Rebel-Without-A-Clue,
  4. (from Mark Silcox) Professor Only-Teaches-His-G**d***-Dissertation,
  5. Professor Promising-Young-Man.

Irritating Full Professors- 

  1. (spelling courtesy Mikhail Emilianov) Professor Couldabeena-contenda,
  2. (from Knecht Ruprecht) Professor Exploits-Grad-Students-as-Cheap-Labor-in-his-Consulting-Business,
  3. (from Mikhail Emilianov and rm) Professor I-Have-Five-Stories/Jokes-So-Get-Used-To-Hearing-Them-All-The-Time,
  4. (from John Emerson)  Professor I've-Got-A-Nobel -Prize-So-Go-F***-Yourself,-I-Can-Talk-About-Whatever
    -I-Want    ,
  5. Professor Midlife-Crises,
  6. Professor Old-Yellow-Notes,
  7. Professor Screws-Up-Even-Simple-Things-So-As-To-Get-Out-Of-Service-Work
  8. Professor Slum-Lord,
  9. (from soup biscuit) Professor Tells-You-Everyday-How-Far-He-Is-From-Retirement,
  10. (from Knecht Rupert) Professor Twenty-Graduate-Students-Do-All-My-Research,
  11. (from redfoxtailshrub) Professor Used-To-Be-Cool-But-Now-Viewed-With-Knowing-Bemused-Looks,
  12. Professor Uses-Tenure-To-Pursue-Hobbies-Or-Job-On-The-Side-Full-Time,
  13. (from Mark Silcox) Professor Wishes-He-Was-Rich.

Irritating Professors That Could be Assistant or Full-

  1. (from rm) Professor Complains-About-Working-Conditions,
  2. Professor Drunk-Pants,
  3. (from John Emerson) Professor I-Could-and-Sometimes-Do-Recite-This-Lecture-in-my-Sleep,
  4. (from soup biscuit) Professor Laughs-At-His-Own-Jokes,
  5. (from rm) Professor My-Jokes-Aren't-Funny-But-They're-All-I-Have,
  6. (from cryptic ned) Professor Only-Person-At-Tiny-College-To-Have-Ever-Published-A-Book-In-A-Printing-Of-More-Than-200,
  7. (from The Llama Butchers) Professor Seriously-Tardy-With-Grading-Papers-Because-He's-Blogging-on-Useless-Crap-All-The-Time
  8. Professor Stared-Into-The-Void-And-The-Void-Stared-Back!-(Though-In-Reality-Void-Finds-Whole-Business-Distasteful),
  9. (from Sifu Tweety) Professor Your-Work-Will-Never-Be-As-Important-As-Mine,
  10. Professor Watches-Sports,
  11. (from Rachel) Professor Wears-Clothes-With-Many-Holes-As-Though-That-Credentials-his-World-of-Ideas-ness.
  12. Professor Will-F***-Anything-Young-and-Naive-Enough-To-Admire-Him.

Add your own in the comments, especially you lurking academicians out there!

h/t Los LLamas

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:26 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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August 27, 2007

More Mutter Fun

Somehow I missed last week's.....

1. Darling ::
2. Majesty ::
3. Pebble ::
4. Fate ::
5. Instant ::
6. Screen ::
7. Unplugged ::
8. Dairy ::
9. Benefactor ::
10. Market ::
more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:51 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Mutter Monday

You know the deal.....

1. Uneven ::
2. Wonder ::
3. Spider ::
4. Emma ::
5. Swing::
6. Orbit ::
7. Flirt ::
8. Donation ::
9. Veil ::
10. Atmosphere ::

As always, my answers below the jump..... more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:49 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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August 17, 2007

Stupid computer tricks

So I was checking my email earlier, and then, as usual, I closed the laptop and set it on the floor to watch TV.  About an hour later, I picked it up, and it was REALLY hot.  Like it was trying to work and couldn't get the fan on.  So I picked it up and set it on the fan pad we have, and opened it up.  The screen was black and said "Can not find Operating System".

After two panicked seconds I restarted it, and everything seems to be working fine, except Firefox seems to have reloaded all of my extensions, as if I had just installed them for the first time, and I had to reset my profile and reload my rss feed list into Sage.  All my buttons and bookmarks were present, though.

Anybody got any clue?  Virus check didn't find anything new....  It seems to be cooling down, too.

It also has this trick of unfastening the battery because the fan pad pushes the lock bar over, but it hasn't done that in a while, so I think this is unrelated to that.....

Oh, and it's a Sony VAIO VGN-SZ330P running Windows XP.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:20 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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August 15, 2007

Mutter me this....

Here we go again. You know what to do.

1. Voyage ::
2. Patricia ::
3. Transformation ::
4. Vocabulary ::
5. San Francisco ::
6. Edward ::
7. Sawyer ::
8. Literary ::
9. Tiger ::
10. Seal ::
more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:11 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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August 08, 2007

This week's muttering

Here we go again.... My answers in the extended. Play along in the comments!

1. Voices ::
2. Have to ::
3. Machine ::
4. Seventh grade ::
5. Beach ::
6. Roommate ::
7. Cyclone ::
8. Theater ::
9. Pregnant ::
10. Phoebe ::
more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:48 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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July 30, 2007

Mutter, Mutter, Who's got the Mutter.....

Here we go again.....

1. Traditional ::
2. Popeye ::
3. Gin ::
4. Harsh ::
5. Topless ::
6. The thing ::
7. Defiant ::
8. Huge ::
9. Food ::
10. Lenny ::

You know the rules. My answers in the extended post..... more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:16 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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July 28, 2007

10

If you could only watch 10 currently in production TV shows, which would they be?

In no particular order:

House
Psych
The Dresden Files
Ugly Betty
Deadliest Catch
The First 48
Burn Notice
The Closer
Around the Horn
Pardon the Interruption

Stolen from Ith's LJ.

What about you?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:20 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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July 27, 2007

Needing good vibes

As many of you know, from my occasional posts about the subject, my dear friend Helen is 26 weeks pregnant with twins after a series of failed bouts of IVF.

Last night brought word that our girl was in the hospital, with hydronephrosis and a terrible kidney infection.  She's being treated for the infection and the twins (her Lemonheads) are being monitored for any signs that they want to jump ship early.

So far so good, as there's no sign yet of early labor and the antibiotics seem to be helping the infection.  However, the doctors don't know whether or how they'll treat the hydronephrosis.

Which is all a long way of saying that our girl needs love and good wishes and prayers, which I am sure she and Angus can feel and do appreciate, even in the UK.

Please drop by and give her some love and encouragement.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:58 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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July 23, 2007

Fun with Google Talk

I know, I am both a geek and a Google whore.

But I love google talk.  Not the least of which includes the fact that you can run Gtalk from your Gmail without having to download the chat program or that you don't need to add people to your list manually, all you have to do is send them an email from your Gmail account.

But by far my favorite aspect of google talk is the "status message" that you can customize.  That's so much better than "available" or "not available"

Recent status messages I've posted:

I am not among the rice-eating robots
I wish I'd never been broiled
I have a date with Harry Potter
Ice!  We have Ice!
I'm afraid of Farmer Shootypants too

I've noticed some of you getting into the act too! Notably sarahk and Paul Burgess who usually have an amusing message attached to their avatar...

So, fellow googleheads, do you have Gtalk?  Do you like to leave wacky messages on your "status" line too?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:45 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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July 22, 2007

Emerging from my Harry Potter Haze...

Of course, I was done with HP7 on Thursday night, courtesy of the dude who photographed the "carpet" book. Thanks, bud. You rawk.

We did go out yesterday morning and get 2 copies, and I finished it with DH yesterday evening (we were reading aloud).

To make up for it, we set ourselves up for some more serious house work, and this morning we nearly finished the front room.

But this evening I am going to snuggle back up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione and re-read a few favorite moments.

So, what did you love? What did you NOT love? Spoilers sure to abound in the comments, if you're a slow reader.....

My own thoughts in the extended: more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:09 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 290 words, total size 2 kb.

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