Back from My Trip to Hamburger University

I recently got back from a trip to a conference at Hamburger University, the McDonald's training facility outside of Chicago. The campus is lovely although it rained all day Thursday, but fortunately there is a covered walkway from the training center to the hotel where we had lunch and the evening networking reception. I bought a little umbrella for the walk to the parking lot (and for later if it was still raining) that has little McDonald's golden arches all around it. Not so sure I'll be using it much but I'm glad I had it as the rain was really pouring later in the evening.

Our day one keynote speaker was Bruce Tulgan, who gave a talk on (the) “Workforce through the Generational Lens”. He was fascinating and energetic, a good thing early in the morning after flying all day the day before and crashing to bed after checking in at the hotel. Click on the video clip on his website for a taste of what we heard that morning.

His thinking on how each new workforce generation impacts the previous one's thinking and the future of business does make one pause to think - the company I work for has a decidedly younger attitude, even though most of the leadership are Baby Boomers.

This is somewhat accounted for, I believe,by being in hi-tech where people have to always be innovating and thinking of the next wave of customer needs, but I also think that newer (mostly younger) hires are less discouraged by fossilized culture and thinking in hi-tech, allowing them to bring the positive virtues of their generational style more quickly into the overall stream of progress. Nobody has the time to "earn their chops" when speed of innovation is the most important factor. Not a lot of looking back goes on, it's all about "What are you going to do for me tomorrow?"

I particularly enjoyed his discussion about the current crop of new workers - the ones in my children's generation. "Self-esteem on steroids" "most high maintenance workforce generation in the history of the world" are two tags he gives them. Crucial to understanding how to lead this group of workers is that they were raised under a constant barrage of self-esteem messages and kept occupied by structured activities, yet often they go to work and are "empowered" by managers who think a hands off approach will work with them.

Yes, that's a broad generalization, but their parents (um, me included) were the generation of Soccer Moms - right? Also, he's talking to an audience of corporate managers or recruiters, so the focus is on the new workers who are coming out of colleges and MBA programs - young people who were put on waiting lists for the best day-care the day the pregnancy test came up positive.

So these young workers' lives revolved around organized play-groups and huge percentages of their daily activities were "outsourced" to child care, camps, sports and classes. Not very many of them were told to 'go play outside' and had to think up their own fun - they were coached, taught and organized from a very early age. And all of them were raised in the tech-age - they instinctively go to the internet for data, they have the knowledge of the entire world at their fingertips - what they need from their managers and leaders is someone who will coach and guide them on how to use that knowledge to be productive, make a contribution and get ahead. This clip is a highlight from that portion of the talk. I guess it's pretty obvious I enjoyed the session.

Day two's keynote was from Alan Beaulieu, Institute for Trend Research on “The Impact of Economics on Contract Labor” (this was the VMS Professionals conference - VMS being vendor management systems - or the methodology, tools, practices and people who manage the use of third party company labor like temporary, contract and consulting workers). This was a bit of a downer, as he did not tell us things are getting better anytime soon with the economy. However, he was an energetic and funny speaker who did give us good information about where his analysis found places one can weather out the impact of the downturn - and he thinks by 2010 we'll be riding the tide upwards again.

I met some lovely people, didn't win any of the drawings (and they were good ones) but handed out a number of cards and was asked to speak to a couple groups on the things my program is doing about a different aspect of VMS mgmt that's just starting to take hold at many of their companies - something I've been working on and in for the last four years.

Of course Saturday, the day I flew home, was beautiful and sunny and I got to enjoy it for all of the 15 minute drive back to the rental car drop off. One of these days I do hope to visit Chicago just to enjoy the tourist-y stuff.

Sunday was the local Art and Wine festival. We arrived at 10:00 am, got great parking at the structure just off the main street where the festival is held and made it through most of the fair before the weather got too hot and the crowds terribly large. I talk about what I purchased on my beading blog if you've any interest in hand crafted beads and jewelry. We bought our annual souvenir tee shirts and glasses, wine glass for me, beer stein for the husband, and went out to lunch. I had a craving for beef, so we went to Black Angus for a late lunch.

I spent most of the rest of the day playing with my beading, catching up on emails and at Absolute Write - now it's back to work. Hope we all have a great week.

Political Post - Sorta

what more needs to be said?



Well, I should mention that I first saw this at Pharyngula. By the way, though I'm linking, I must mention that when he's not foaming about religion, I really do enjoy the blog, but radical anything (religion, atheism, politics) is not something I'm comfortable with, so don't think I'm endorsing or agree with his more vehement atheist subjects.

Sadly, the Long Weekend is Nearly Over

My nephew got to play in the Davis v SJSU on Saturday, they were ahead 10-0 until the end of the game and SJSU won 16-10. But the nephew got to play and that was exciting. Spending some time with my sister and her family (+ nephew's girlfriend) was fun. The next morning we had a bit of an adventure trying to find the train station to get my nephew back to Davis, but it all worked out and he got home just fine.

My almost daily posting on my beading blog has gotten me on the first page and pretty well positioned on that, of a Google search for "beaded badge lanyards" - not sure how many people actually search that, but I'm there if they do, so that makes me rather happy. Got a comment from Lois at A Beaded Affair who was searching on 'copper' and went to her very lovely blog and Etsy shop - I recommend her to you, too. Lots of wonderful artists I'm discovering who are doing beautiful work at Etsy.

Back to work tomorrow. I love having three day weekends but going on a business trip just one day afterwards will probably mean a lot of catching up next week. Speaking of which, the Saturday after this is the 13th - and my son's birthday, which fell on a Friday back in 1985.

Hard to believe it's been 23 years. I got to talk with him for over half an hour on Saturday morning, which was wonderful. He finally received the package I had shipped to him (Muscle Milk - he's always working out whenever he can, and wants to bulk up - maybe so the pack he carries isn't equal to 50% of his body weight? He's always been a wiry guy).

I also sent him a bunch of phone cards via a special deal the Army & Air Force Exchange Service has set up so non-military people can purchase and send them to the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines they know who are overseas. I don't know if he has them yet or not.

By the way, even if you don't know a soldier overseas, there are special programs that will send your donated phone cards to a service person in the branch of your choice - just go to https://thor.aafes.com/scs/default.aspx and scroll down a bit to read the details.

It's been a while since I mentioned any of my favorite web comics, but A Girl and Her Fed is having a donation drive that's worth checking into. The artist is going to put her web-comics in print and with a donation of $30 you can help that happen and get some original art as a thank you.

Dave Kellett's got a new Sheldon book out - Pugs, God's Little Weirdos and I just received my copy with an original sketch and Dave's autograph. Sheldon's pug, Oso, is definitely a little weirdo.

Finally, and not about a comic strip, I got my copy of Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi. I'm waiting to read it on the plane, but it's been hard.

Notice Anything Different?

Yeah, got tired, after all these years (I started this blog on August 21st, 2005 - Happy Belated Birthday, NVNC IS VIDES, NVNC NE VIDES!), of the green background. I did get some complaints here and there about the color, which I've been ignoring, but it was finally starting to wear on me, too. Also changed text color and restored the text to 'normal' (apparently I had set it to bold instead of just making the size a bit bigger when I decided the text was hard to read - I've learned new things since then).

I added a little blurb at the top - I know I haven't been great about updating, but I do put something up at my other blog almost daily, so I thought, if you're visiting you might be interested in what I've been doing that's kept me from updating here.

I had a great, half-hour long chat with my son today. We're counting the days until he comes home from Iraq. I won't say anything more specific, except that the light is just beginning to glimmer at the end of the tunnel.

He, of course, wants me to be there when he lands and has started 'reminding' me to make plans. I know I don't always do things as far in advance as I could, but it's really to early to be buying airplane tickets, etc. Especially since the current arrival window is about a month wide.

He's always been one to want things structured and thoroughly planned out. Not that he's not spontaneous, but I think just knowing that there *is* even a tentative, flexible, plan keeps him from getting nervous that there won't *be* a plan.

I can't believe it's already Labor Day weekend. This summer seems to have sped past faster than any I can remember. Tomorrow I go to see CSU San Jose vs. UC Davis - my nephew plays for Davis, so I'll be sitting with the Aggie fans instead of the home team fans. Not that college football has ever been much of a passion for me. My college didn't have football. National champion wrestling and basketball, but no football. The local community college had a great team that I think did very well in its division - but I didn't follow it, either.

I don't want to get all political here, but the news that McCain has chosen a woman as a running mate is all over the place. While it's rather stunning that a woman is on the Republican ticket, the choice has me completely bemused. Did he pick her for her looks? Seriously, the woman is probably wonderful, but she hasn't finished her first term as governor (of Alaska) and her other political credits are all very small potatoes. Her positions are very far to the right, but that can't help McCain, he's got the right. Does he think an anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage woman will get him all those disgruntled Hillary Clinton voters in his camp? Color me confuzzled about this one.

Tempus Fugit

I went to Office Depot last weekend for printer ink. Of course that's not all I got, but that's what I went there for. Ostensibly. Really, just printer ink...ahem, anyway...and of course the place was packed with back-to-school shoppers.

Now that I have an empty nest, I don't keep track of those sorts of things. Glad I didn't need to go to the mall for something. Watching the girls (for some reason it was mostly girls there with their parents - I maybe saw one boy) looking at notebooks and pens and paper made me just a tiny bit nostalgic for the times my kids and I did our back to school errands. But just a tiny bit and only for a moment.

Back to school also meant clothes shopping, and wincing at not only the price tags, but the clothes themselves. I guess every generation goes through it's "really ugly fashion" statement period and ugly is always subjective, so I'm sure my opinion isn't worth the pixels it's written in, but I don't think in 30 years these kids will look back on their mini-skirts and Ugg boots and think "That was the apex of beauty and style." Then again, I thought the midi-skirt was cool. Hey, I'm tall, I carried it off! My daughter was eclectic in her clothes choices, so she pretty much bucked the fads in high school with my full approval. (She did finally buy Uggs last year - her feet were freezing in the winter and the Uggs were nice and warm.)

I forgot about my weekend reflections in the days between now and then, but just got a Tweet from Wil Wheaton's Twitter feed that said "Did I miss a memo? Are tights + UGG boots + a T-shirt dress thingy + a headband the new thing? I keep seeing this disaster everywhere I go." and it reminded me.

This from the actor who wore some of the (sorry, Wil - I know it wasn't your fault) ugliest sweaters ever, as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek, TNG...I hope he knew then what those girls don't know now - sometimes following the latest fashion fad (or being forced into someone's conception of the future of knitwear) just makes you look ridiculous. I was too old for legwarmers and high-heels with torn sweatshirts (Flashdance), but yeah, I did wear polyester disco dresses, so I shouldn't talk.

In Which Dawno Plugs a Book

The happy serendipity of the Internet leads me from a post about a great food meme to a post about a book by a waiter...

I am on Twitter. I tweet. I read other folk's tweets. I follow about 50 tweeters, one of whom is Wil Wheaton, actor, writer, blogger and uber geek. In a tweet he sent last night, he recommended reading a post by the writer of Waiter Rant, a blog, and also, as I find out at his blog, a book. I followed the link in the tweet and read the post, which was insightful. Went to take a look at his book. The Harper Collins website had preview pages, so read all there was available of Chapter 1 and decided I wanted to read the book right then - and, as luck would have it, they had it available as an e-book, so I could download it immediately and not have to wait for it to come in the mail.

Download completed, I dropped everything else I was doing (I've been very busy with the whole beading thing lately and was in the middle of re-organizing my beading area, doing an inventory of my creations and re-naming and creating tags for them, amongst other stuff) and started reading. By 11 pm I was getting rather tired and went to bed with about 3/4 of the book completed. I have just finished reading it.

Waiter Rant (by Steve Dublanika, The Waiter) starts off with a preface that introduces you to the author's conversational, first person style. He's obviously educated and witty:

"Today waiters are expected to be food-allergy specialists, sommeliers, cell-phone-rule enforcers, eye candy, confessors, entertainers, mixologists, emergency medical technicians, bouncers, receptionists, joke tellers, therapists, linguists, punching bags, psychics, protocol specialists, and amateur chefs. Foodie-porn TV programming has generated a new class of entitled customers with already overblown culinary expectations and a rapidly diminishing set of social graces. Economists say that the restaurant business is a bellwether of the nation’s economic health—but I think it’s a bellwether of America’s mental health as well. And let me tell you, 20 percent of the American dining public are socially maladjusted psychopaths. We should start putting Prozac in the Perrier."

147 words into the book and it's got me completely hooked.

The sub-title is "Thanks for the Tip -- Confessions of a Cynical Waiter" and yes, he's cynical. But he's also self-analytical, a keen observer of people and a writer whose descriptions neatly place you right in the setting - I felt like I would be able to recognize his anonymized restaurants and the people who worked there, if I ever made my way out to New York City.

About mid-book the reader has learned a lot about the author's life, what led him to become a waiter, how and why he struggles with the culture of the restaurant world and its denizens. If you are going into this thinking it's just a series of anecdotes about the behavior of quirky customers, you will be disappointed - it's that to a point, but it's also an introspective memoir and very nearly a psychological/sociological treatise on the way people treat people in the service industry. He keeps it all moving apace, however, with his personable writing style and sense of humor. You also find that he puts his education to use with mention of, or allusions to, classical literature, but also from popular literature and culture. While his prose is accessible, it doesn't talk down to the reader, either.

The book is also about the author learning that he *is*, indeed, a Writer. Starting with a blog that eventually gains a large following and then on to getting an agent, and a book deal, the author discloses the ups and downs many writers experience before finally breaking into publication. I know a bit about that as a moderator on Absolute Write where daily writers discuss their triumphs and challenges and disappointments.

*SPOILER WARNING*

Because I want to make a point about writing, I'm going to discuss the end of the book - please don't read on if you don't like spoilers and intend to read Waiter Rant. There's nothing else said after the spoiler, so if you're going to pass up the spoiler bit, you're done - thanks for visiting!

*****************

The book closes with the author still working as a waiter, even though his book has sold. Unlike the lotto winner who walks into work the morning after the numbers were posted (yeah, you don't have that dream, do you?) and says "take this job and shove it," he takes a respite from waiting and then, eventually, goes back to it, albeit at a less stressful place and pace. The hopeful thing about his return to the job, is something he says just a few paragraphs from the end of the book:

"Now that I’m a waiter trying to become something else, I feel like my life has direction. The chip I was carrying on my shoulder fell off. My sense of hospitality has returned. I no longer feel like a loser. Those horrible dreams about wasted talent have disappeared. For the first time in a long time, I’m at peace with myself."

I like a book with a happy ending.

My Goodness! A Meme!

Edit to add: This font doesn't bold! I'd forgotten. I'm going to go back and change the ones that should be bold somehow so they show up. Sorry!

Haven't done one of these in ages. Found it on Electric Velocipede Blog:

"From the sublime Andy Wheeler, a list of all the food items you should eat at least once in your life.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten. (I'm going to put *'s around the ones I've eaten)
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results."

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. *Venison*
2. Nettle tea
3. *Huevos rancheros*
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. *Cheese fondue*
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. *Calamari* (didn't like it)
12. *Pho*
13. *PB&J sandwich*
14. Aloo gobi
15. *Hot dog from a street cart*
16. Epoisses (per Wikipedia, a really smelly cheese)
17. Black truffle
18. *Fruit wine made from something other than grapes*
19. *Steamed pork buns*
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. *Foie gras*
24. *Rice and beans*
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche (looked it up because I've had the Häagen-Dazs ice cream but never the real thing)
28. Oysters
29. *Baklava*
30. Bagna cauda (this sounds really good, I hope I can try it someday)
31. *Wasabi peas* (only tried once, drank a gallon of Arizona Diet Green Tea immediately after)
32. *Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl*
33. Salted lassi (doesn't sound appealing, but I wouldn't cross it out, I'd taste if offered)
34. Sauerkraut
35. *Root beer float* (had AW Root beer floats in frosty mugs from AW drive-ins as a kid - there's a great memory - the different sized mugs, the tray on the car window, the waitress who'd walk up to the car window...)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (not on my list of 'must do' foodie type things, but I wouldn't turn it down, either)
37. *Clotted cream tea* (had this in Australia with warm scones and strawberry jam - so yummy!)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O not a big Vodka fan
39. *Gumbo*
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal - this is a 'conditional' strikeout - sounds too hot for my taste
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu Just not that bold.
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. *Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut* oh yeah - I was thrilled when Krispy Kreme started opening stores here.
50. Sea urchin I've seen these, didn't appeal to me
51. Prickly pear - I may have had this as a child, I remember a school unit about desert ecology (lived in the desert as a kid) and vaguely recall having some, but maybe it's just my imagination.
52. Umeboshi - I think we had these in Taiwan, but again, I'm not certain and they probably were called something else
53. Abalone
54. Paneer again, not appealing, probably wouldn't try it, but who knows?
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal don't like thousand island dressing on my burgers. Now a Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal, yep, had those many times.
56. *Spaetzle*
57. Dirty gin martini don't like gin
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine I know some Canadians, so I'm familiar with this one. If I ever visit a Canadian friend and it's offered, I'll try it. I won't go out of my way to find some, though.
60. Carob chips
61. *S’mores*
62. Sweetbreads uh, no.
63. *Kaolin* if you count being dosed with Kaopectate as a child, I've had it.
64. Currywurst lots of curried foods in this list. I'm not particularly fond of curry, but I guess I'd try it.
65. Durian Interesting looking fruit - the description of its scent as: "Regarded by some as fragrant, others as overpowering and offensive, the smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust." makes me wonder where I fall on that continuum.
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, *churros*, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis really not appealing - but if a Scotsman would get insulted by my refusal to try it, I would try it, so that's a conditional strikeout.
69. Fried plantain - I may have had this, too - just can't recall for certain.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette - wouldn't mind a taste
71. *Gazpacho* Had wonderful Gazpacho at Baur's in Denver just last week during WorldCon
72. *Caviar and blini*
73. Louche absinthe - couldn't find this, but "louche" refers one to "Ouzo Effect" and all in all, not interested in absinthe anyway...had the chance to have some, too, and didn't partake.
74. Gjetost, or brunost anther cheese - sounds interesting, so I'd try it.
75. Roadkill uh, nope - just the idea makes me shudder.
76. Baijiu Might give it a sip if offered
77. Hostess Fruit Pie I've managed not to have one of these in 51 years of living, I think I can abstain for whatever's left. But, I wouldn't say "never consider eating" because if I were starving and that's all I could eat, yeah, I'd have a Hostess Fruit Pie. You know, under those conditions, I'd probably eat anything on this list...
78. Snail I've had the chance and turned it down so far...but, see above...
79.* Lapsang souchong* not my favorite tea, but interesting to taste once
80. Bellini - sure, sounds nice, I'd try it
81. Tom yum I've had soup at a Thai restaurant, but don't remember what it was, so I'm not sure if I've had this or not...
82. *Eggs Benedict* not crazy about it
83. *Pocky* the kids love this stuff
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. Yeah, I'd like to do that someday
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare - as in rabbit? Have had rabbit, got violently sick afterwards and had to leave the Winter Formal because of it.
87. *Goulash*
88. Flowers - I think I've had flowers in salads at some fancy L.A. restaurants back in the 80s...
89. Horse only if starving, etc...
90. Criollo chocolate - didn't find a listing for this, just "Criollo cocoa, a variety of highly prized cocoa" on the disambiguation page
91. *Spam*
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa would try if ever offered
94. Catfish
95. *Mole poblano*
96. Bagel and lox I love bagels, I love salmon, just don't like smoked salmon, but I might try it some day
97. *Lobster Thermidor* My mother served this at my (first) wedding reception, which she catered beatifully at her and my father's home - it was in a lovely silver chafing dish...
98. *Polenta* had this once with a wonderful dinner of all Eastern European dishes prepared by a colleague from work.
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee - wouldn't pay the premium, but I'd drink it if given a cup
100. Snake ref above, re: starving...

Thank goodness for Wikipedia, where I had to look up a number of foods to decide if I'd strike through them or not. I linked to them, too, in case you do the meme and were as unfamiliar as I.

If I didn't comment on it, in general, it's something I'd try if the opportunity arose. Let me know if you do this so I can come see your list!

Worldcon Report Day 1 & 2

Spotted "in the wild" at Denvention: John Scalzi (seated and chatting, I probably rudely interrupted), Lois McMaster Bujold (on an escalator and in the dealers room but I didn't get to meet her), Jo Walton, Jay Lake, Robert Silverberg, and Kaja Foglio. Had drinks with friends at the other end of same long table with Jo and Jay and got Jay to sign my new copy of Escarpment, introduced myself to John Scazi, was too shy to say hi to Robert Silverberg who was chatting with a group near the escalators up to the dealer's room, which I had just left with some lovely new jewelry in hand.

A new friend got Lois to sign a copy of a very special chap book with stories inspired by beautiful beaded jewelry which included one by Lois. Have Kaja's autograph and a picture of the two of us. She was very pleasant to chat with. I was practically the first one into the dealer's room on the first day, so I didn't have to fight any crowds to talk to her, either.

I got said lovely jewelry from Elise Matthesen, who is quite the artist in stone and glass and wire. I also found an autographed copy of I am not SPOCK at Jim & Melody Rondeau's table and Saturn's Children by Charles Stross and Escapement by Jay Lake (who signed it and drew some cogs on the cover page at the bar last night) at the Borderland's table.

The night ended (Thurs.) with a great gathering of Viable Paradise alumnus visited by Teresa Nielson Hayden and Madeline Robins who regaled us with tales of days in the comic book biz and other publishing stories.

Tomorrow I'm going to sleep in so I'll be able to stay up late for the Making Light and Tor parties.

Denvention is Nearly Here!

I'm looking forward to going to Denvention, the 66th Annual SF WorldCon. I voted for the Hugos and I've been reading the pocket program. There's a party on Friday night I'm looking forward to attending - I "know" everyone who's going to be there, although I'm such a lurker on the site that's hosting it, they'll probably go "Dawno who?"

I may have to hand out these (well, not the last one, I'll be wearing that):

I'll try to post about the trip, we'll see if I have enough energy left at the end of the day.

Never Give Up, Never Surrender!

Galaxy Quest was a movie about the cast of an imaginary TV show called Galaxy Quest and how their fictional roles became reality when the Thermians come to collect them from a fan convention to help save the Thermian people from destruction. The movie also seems to be a comic-satirical look at the whole SF (especially Star Trek) fan/convention phenomenon and how the actors of those shows relate to that. (By the way, if you've never seen Galaxy Quest, it's a fun movie on its own, whether or not you've seen any SF tv episodes/movies).

So, what do you call a documentary about the making of the Galaxy Quest series, which seems to be a, in part, a satire of the Trekkies documentaries? Whatever you call it, I thought it was clever and enjoyed watching "The Galaxy Quest 20th Anniversary Special: The Journey Continues". I didn't know about it until it showed up on a blog on my RSS reader. So if you've not seen it either, Origami Unicorn has put the YouTube captures up on her blog in three parts. Part one starts here. Enjoy!

Things have been quiet on the Author Advocate Legal Defense Fund donation front - if you can help promote the fund or can donate, please help!

Moderating

I'd love to see more discussion of mediation techniques people think work well and maybe links to some posted discussions elsewhere, if you know of them. I've read just about everything I can find that Teresa Nielson Hayden has posted at Making Light and at Boing Boing about her methods. I was drawn to this post at Making Light yesterday because I've seen James in action over at Absolute Write where I am a moderator, too.

I co-moderate the Politics and Current Events (P&CE) forum at Absolute Write with MacAllister Stone. That part of AW has been going through some interesting changes lately.

MacAllister and I have been attempting to create a place where there can be rough and tumble discussion by the members who like that sort of thing, but also create a more comfortable space for the ones who don't feel comfortable in that environment - a topic that the comments in "Got it in one" back on July 1st explored to my great edification at at time when we were just making our changes (the "new P&CE" began on June 30th).

It's been exhilarating, exasperating and exhausting at times to moderate there, and I'm always on the look out for discussions that will help me do a better job.

I hope to see some comments...well, I always do, but this time I'm hoping even more.

note: thank you Dr. Science, for your comment on the above-mentioned thread, where you discussed posting your comments into your blog - I hadn't considered that before now!

Arizona Diet Green Tea Excess

Yesterday I went to our local Walgreen's to replenish our supply of Arizona Diet Green Tea. I bought ten 23 oz cans from the store cooler and got 10 one gallon jugs from the shelf. I've only been drinking the canned tea since yesterday and I noted, during my last trip to the 'fridge, that I am drinking the second to the last can now. Subtracting 46 ounces (plus about 10 that were left over un-drunk from last night's last can and poured out) from 230, I've had 174 ounces in just under 24 hours. A quick check on Google tells me there are 128 ounces in a gallon.

I wonder if drinking over a gallon of Arizona Diet Green Tea a day is bad for me? I may donate my corpse to science for the answer.

Oh, so I go to the website to put in a link for Arizona Diet Green Tea and they've done a huge site makeover. It's pretty. It's flashy (and perhaps made so with Flash, so excuse the pun). There's a lovely little butterfly that follows my cursor around, flapping its wings and even casting an animated shadow. When I moved the cursor up to the top of the page to click a tab, there was a "clinking" sound effect, like glass bottles of tea clanking together, as it "hit" the edge of the page. So I can't put a link to the Diet Green Tea like I used to do, but here's the site if you want to peek: http://drinkarizona.com/

By the way, here's also music on the site... I hate music on websites for the most part, but this music is cool and I'm leaving the tab open so I can hear the songs - right now they're playing Ginger Rose, "Charlie Brown". There's a player at the bottom of the page with a pop up list of songs. You can turn the music off from there.

OOH! There's a decaf version of my tea - has a black label. The regular version has 15mg. per 8 oz of tea, (that's about half of what's in a cup of regular tea, and about a quarter of what's in a cup of regular coffee). Still, after drinking a gallon, I'm surprised I'm not buzzing around like Apu in that episode of the Simpsons where he thought he was a hummingbird...

I had to disable the pop up blocker for the site to get to the storefront - unfortunately they don't have the decaf on sale by bottle or can, just concentrate. I did discover that there are 11 oz cans of the caffeinated diet green tea available, though.

Ok, enough about the tea.

I brought back my bangs - now I look like the avatar picture I use on a lot of sites and in my AW profile again. By the way, that picture is a cropped and de-colorized wedding photo.

I figure with Denvention coming up maybe it'll help people recognize me. I'll be giving away "Do You Know Dawno?" and "I Know Dawno!" badge ribbons. Find me if you want one.

Still looking for more ideas on how to keep the donations coming in to the Author Advocate Defense Fund.

Stay Safe Son

Woke up at 4:15 this morning to take my son to the airport for the first leg of his journey back overseas. We got to the airport at 5 and I parked and walked into the terminal with my son, expecting to part with him at the security line. The check in line was very long, but as it turned out, it was because nobody was mentioning the shorter one for my son's airline. I figured it out and he walked over to the shorter line. In about 10 seconds an attendant from the airline came up to him and took him out of line directly to a kiosk, got his pass for him and took us up to the counter where she proceeded to get my son's girlfriend and I passes to go back to the boarding area. Wow! We got an extra hour with him before he boarded the plane.

I tried to get some pictures of him as he was boarding, but they were blurry - I think I had the camera on the wrong setting. Yep, it was set to "close up" - dang. Here's the best of the lot:

"Smile son!" I said. The kid is such a goofball. I kept my composure - probably wouldn't have if his girlfriend hadn't been there, though. Now it's 5 or 6 more months until he's back. God bless and watch over you, dear - and the same to all the sons and daughters headed over and still there, too.

Thank You, Charles Stross!

Charlie Stross, SF author of The Atrocity Archives, The Jennifer Morgue, Singularity Sky, Halting State, Accelerando, the just released Saturn's Children (and many more), has posted about the Author Advocate Defense fund in his blog today and the fund got a nice run of donations, it's over $1k now. If you can't donate, please post about the fund, because others will donate if they hear about it from someone they trust.

Some good info on how to post about the fund are in this post on Absolute Write by my blogging forum co-moderator L M Ashton - just skip the parts about joining the blog carnival (or not - join AW and join the carnival!) - there's advice about what to say, links to information about the cause and code for a donation button, all in the post. (Thank you again, Laurie, for taking the time to do the post and organize the carnival)

A bit of personal stuff...

Tomorrow is my son's last day home. Three weeks seems like a nice, long time for a vacation from work, but when the job you have to go back to is soldiering in Iraq for 5 or 6 more months, it's way too short. My dad came up from L.A. to visit earlier this week and we had two lovely days with him. We shopped and ate out and just sat around and talked, it was wonderful. My son has caught up with friends, visited Las Vegas, and also taken care of some important stuff he could only do in person here, so I think he'll go back satisfied that it was a good visit.

Otherwhere on the web...

I hope you're all watching Dr. Horrible's Musical Blog. Act II is up now, Act III goes up the 19th. The FAQ's on the Master Plan page are a good read for the background to how the whole thing was conceived.

Back from Vacation in Vegas Update to Author Advocate Defense Fund News

Just got home yesterday from Las Vegas with my son, his girlfriend and my husband. Stayed at the Venetian, which is beautiful. Two things will keep me from going back, the constant perfuming of the hallways on the way to the room, and the distance from the monorail. I prefer taking the monorail whenever possible to get to other hotels, and from the Venetian you have a long walk out, down the strip and then through Harrah's to get to the station.

We visited the Hilton to have a final lunch at Quark's and ride the Star Trek: The Experience ride (we just did the Klingon Encounter one) before it all closes down in September. On the way home (hubby and I drove) we stopped and bought a couple bottles of Klingon Blood Wine and a case of Romulan Ale.

We went to Zumanity on Friday night and had dinner at Benihana's on Saturday. Don't ask me about the gambling - I didn't come home ahead like last year. I did stay within my gambling budget, but only brought home a little of it. I did hit two pretty big jackpots Friday night and Saturday morning - just gambled with it later and said "bye bye".

While I was gone Neil Gaiman and John Scalzi posted about the Author Advocate Defense Fund. The traffic to the page did take a nice uptick. Unfortunately the Pay Pal script that had been working just fine up to the time I left stopped working. I'm not sure if it's something with Googlepages not liking the script, or what, but when I got back I had some emails saying people had tried the button and it didn't link to anywhere. I've updated the page and will use different coding for the link if it breaks again. There's always the button in the sidebar of this blog, too, if you just happen to be hanging out and decide to help.

A couple posts ago someone suggested starting a blog tour and now there's one going on with the Absolute Write bloggers. Thank you L M Ashton! Now, go give the bloggers some link love, and fund tour in your blog, too!

Another Mention of the Fund!

Origami Unicorn mentions the fund. Thank you Catherine!

Other bloggers are mentioning the suit, and while I'm leaving comments, perhaps if you're a regular commenter/friend on their blog or LJ, it would mean more to them to hear from you about the donation site? Your help is appreciated. Your donations are too - there's a button right over there in the sidebar, for your convenience :-)

Great Comment About Author Advocate Defense Fund Publicity

This came in comments to my last post - and I think it's worth bumping to the front page.

To be clear, I have been commenting where I can find a polite reason to, but I'm not going to become a comment spammer. The post has to have some relation to Barbara Bauer v Jenna Glatzer . I have also sent emails to a number of those writers and agents mentioned. I'm still waiting responses from some.

There are some names I will definitely email that I hadn't known of or thought about, because I'm not a writer so the "how would you get the word out if it were about your book" part didn't occur to me. I should research this as if I was going to send out a query! All these years on Absolute Write and have I learned nothing?? *grin*

But, the suggestions are all good ones and I thank you, anonymous, for the comment. One question, though - who's Patry Francis?

I've underlined some really important points of the comment, not about publicity, too (bold doesn't work, I've discovered). Anonymous is dead right about the cost of this - these defendants really need your help. I'm not a publicist, nor can I dedicate long hours to this, as I have a day job that demands its own long hours, but I'll do what I can.

How would you get the word out if it were about your book? A press release? You'd notify bloggers and publishers that have high reader volume like Gawker, Galley Cat, and Publisher's Lunch. You might ask some of the better known blogging agents for help,people like Kristin Nelson, Jessica Faust, Janet Reid, Nathan Bransford, Jennifer Jackson, Jonathan Lyons, Evil Editor, and so on.

{break added by Dawno to make it easier for her to read}

Even if they didn't, or couldn't, for legal reasons, add a link in their next daily post, they might not mind if you left one in comments. It never hurts to ask. Remember how we all got together to help Patry Francis?

{break added by Dawno to make it easier for her to read}

Organize a blog tour. (note from Dawno: I've posted about this at the AW blogging board, but I can't organize the tour right now, maybe in a couple of weeks, after my son goes back to Iraq) Get out there and be seen and heard. Faint heart never won a fair amount of money, and I can tell you for fact that's what is needed. Would any one of your readers like to mortgage their home for the cause? That's what some of the defendants are being asked to do to pay their lawyers.

{break added by Dawno to make it easier for her to read}

And have you calculated the number of lawyers involved? (note from Dawno: yes, I know exactly how many lawyers are involved, it's public record who is defending them) Everyone is gung ho to jump on the Babs Bandwagon, but in all honesty, they have no idea at all exactly how much this is costing the defendants. The case is what's commonly known as a SLAAP suit -- litigation intended to intimidate and silence critics or opponents by burdening them with the enormous cost of a legal defense so that they abandon their criticism or opposition.

I am not a lawyer, and I can't say whether or not this qualifies as a SLAAP suit, but regardless, it will be expensive and they do need help. Please donate!

Getting the Word Out Is Hard Work

I've been sending emails to people like John Scalzi and Neil Gaiman, and if anyone blogs again about the case, I will try to make polite and appropriate comments. Other than that, I'm wondering how else I can get the word out about the Barbara Bauer v Jenna Glatzer, et al Author Advocate Legal Defense Fund. (as you can see, I hope that using a link to the site with the name of the case will help getting it into more searches - but I know I'd have to do that a lot to get any traction).

If you have any ideas for publicizing the fund, please let me know!

Author Advocate Legal Defense Fund Update

The fund has reached $500. I've been sending emails to site owners/bloggers that I think will be friendly to the cause and making comments on blogs that have mentioned the lawsuit in the hopes of attracting more publicity to the fund.

The other day a site called Journal Fen posted a link to something I said in 2006, as well as the link appearing in the comments at NJ.com and this blog had over 200 visits on that day. I'm hoping the person who made the original post will consider linking to the Author Advocate Fund page, too.

If you add the link or mention it on your blog, I'll gladly add you to the sidebar on the Author Advocate Fund website.

A Little Help, Please?

A certain literary agent sued Wikimedia Foundation last year (the information here shows the case was filed Sept '07 - I have also seen a report that the case was filed in January of '08).

On July 1st the case against Wikimedia Foundation was dismissed. Rumor has it the case against two other defendants, (in addition to Wikimedia there were 19 individuals and the SFWA) but I have yet to find any links to support that.

The lawsuit brought this agent back into the spotlight - the most probable precipitating events were pretty much ancient history as far as the internet was concerned. Places as diverse as Information Week, Gawker, and Publisher's Weekly, have picked up on the case in the past few months due to Wikipedia's involvement, as well as a number of writing related sites and blogs.

I mention all this because I was asked to help some of the defendants in this case by setting up and administering a defense fund. The donation button for this fund is in my sidebar. I've also created a webpage with additional information.

The defendants would appreciate your help. One thing you can do is either share the webpage link or link to the PayPal donation page on your sites and blogs.

Lee Goldberg and Author Scoop - Thank you! There have already been visitors to the webpage and new donations to the fund as a result of your mentioning the fund on your sites.

Thank You Joshua D. Evans!

Joshua posted a comment on John Scalzi's Whatever blog about a website called Pandora. They explain it better than I could:

Since we started back in 2000, we have been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It's the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together our team of fifty musician-analysts has been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song. It takes 20-30 minutes per song to capture all of the little details that give each recording its magical sound - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics ... and more - close to 400 attributes! We continue this work every day to keep up with the incredible flow of great new music coming from studios, stadiums and garages around the country.

With Pandora you can explore this vast trove of music to your heart's content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and completely obscure - to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you.

So, I felt like listening to Sting, and thought I'd test the site to see what they would produce - it was pretty amazing. I love my iPod, but Pandora provides more variety and introduces me to artists I wouldn't have known about. Especially since I don't listen to radio or actively search out new music - this takes what I know I like and then offers up songs in that vein - sometimes they're old familiar ones, sometimes they're completely new - but I'm liking all of them so far.

Just wanted to share one picture I took at the convention today that's too cute not to share here:

I'm pretty tired and rather sore - hauling all my stuff from the parking lot to the table is exhausting. I've pretty much got the loading down to a science - on the last day I'll be taking so much stuff, too. I also realized today that I have some perfect beads for this convention's theme. Little carved skulls, might be bone, too. Oh, well.

My table mate Carlos has been wonderful. Not only do I enjoy his company, but he's been so nice to keep an eye on my things when I have to dash to the restroom or want to grab a snack. He does lovely drawings and I bought a print today that is very clever and quite whimsical.

I also bought one of the items in the art show, a lovely piece made from watch faces and gears. I think I'll put a clasp on the back and wear it as a brooch.

I saw some of my favorite lanyard necklaces go to happy buyers this weekend. I'll miss them, but I'm also glad to know that people really like my work enough to buy it.

Time For Me to Pack Up for the Day

But I'll leave you with some pirates and vampires (?) before I go.

LiveBlogging from Bay Con

Having a very fun time at Bay Con. Meeting lots of very nice people and enjoying the sights of the pirate costumed attendees.

Not everyone is here as a pirate, though.



Things are a bit slow for the moment - people must be attending events or panels. I need to finish a commision, so this will be all for now.

Update: Dawno No Longer Annoyed

Got a personal response from MyBlogLog with the solution to my problem. I needed to sign in under a different Yahoo account. Combination of memory loss, user error, and them not looking at the actual account for the answer before sending me the scripted response. I will take 2/3rds of the blame.

Thank you MyBlogLog for your help. Now, if you're a member - add me to your community!

kthnksbai.

A Bit of Cross Posting - Day 1 at BayCon

I've been talking about showing my beaded lanyards on my other blog for a while now. Today was day one of the convention and the "live" public debut of my lanyard concept. I could just post the link to my other blog, but that would mean you'd have to click over there and I might lose you! So, here's what I wrote:

I loaded up a huge amount of stuff into my car today - much more than I really could have ever used, but I'm one of those people that would rather take stuff I don't use than need something and not have it. You should see how I pack for a weekend trip.

Once I had that done, I had to go to an office supply store for a cash box and the bank for change. Got to the convention hotel at 3-ish. The parking was jammed full, but I found a spot on the ground floor - it was almost as far away from the hotel entrance as you can get, but I really didn't want to take the elevator with all my stuff, so I was glad to have found it.

Getting all my stuff together for one trip was a bit of a logistics challenge. I have a large, black nylon covered, rolling "cube" case - it's intended to be a travelling office - inside it were all sorts of bins and things for file folders and office supplies. But because it's wide and not too tall, it's great for stacking other stuff on the top. It also has lots of great zippered pockets inside and out. I had it crammed full.

I also took my backpack for the camera and some miscellaneous beading supplies that didn't fit into the other containers and a messenger bag for my wallet, laptop and a book, a tote with all my beads and the wire carousels to display them, the bead buddy lap desk and the zippered bead container tote. Most of it fit in or on top of the rolling cube. The downside was that I think I was carrying and rolling about 80lbs of stuff and it was a long hike. Tomorrow I hope to get there early enough to get a closer parking spot and I'm definitely not taking in everything. If I decide I need something, I can just go to the car for it.

Was set up and ready to go by 4. It was fairly quiet on Artist's Alley for most of the time, but I did ok, broke even on the cost of registration and the table fee. I hadn't labeled my necklace lanyards, so part of the time I spent putting on price tags. One of my friends from Absolute Write Water Cooler was there helping a friend who has a booth in the dealer's room and she brought her (Melody Rondeau) over to my table. It was very nice to chat with them and I look forward to getting a chance to check out their booth sometime this weekend. Next time I do this, I'm shanghaiing a helper!

No pictures today, but I'll try to take some tomorrow. The theme of the convention is pirates and there are many wonderful costumes being displayed on the convention attendees. Definitely need pictures! Oh, and there was an artist's reception this evening, too, but I was pretty tired and just wanted to get home.

There was also a graduation happening at the venue as well, and a man in a very fancy robe - like you see on professors at college graduations - walked by with an older gentleman in a nice tweed jacket and dark slacks. He took one of my business cards as he walked by. It was one of those times I wished I could read minds - I'm so curious to know why he took a card!

I did work on, and finish, one more lanyard while I was there - one of the hexagon glass bead styles, this one in cobalt blue glass and silver seed beads. Not sure what I'll work on tomorrow - but I have plenty of supplies to choose from!

Sometimes I see a link in my gmail that I have to click. Today it was Nipple Cream is dangerous. A company put "contains ingredients chlorphenesin and phenoxyethanol that could cause respiratory distress or vomiting and diarrhea in infants, the FDA said," into their cream. What responsible company would put ingredients in a cream for nursing mothers that they weren't 10000000000000% sure was safe for the nursing infant?

This is one reason I can't get completely on board with tort reform. If they didn't know the danger, they should. If they didn't care to check, then company should be sued out of existence. The company also had to recall a product in 2007 "may be contaminated with the parasite cryptosporidium, which can cause intestinal infections and diarrhea.

The Food and Drug Administration found the cryptosporidium contamination.

The product, coded 26952V 10/08, was sold nationally through stores and also online. The company has sold 17,600 bottles since November 2006. "

There are enough things to worry about when you're a new mom, and products sold in your chain drugstores by a company that claims their products (and the nipple cream is still on their website under this claim) are "* Obstretician recommended.* All natural ingredients."

In other news:

• I sent my donation to support the Reno bid for the WorldCon in 2011.
• I have a new camera.
• My son comes home from leave in 36 days!

Dawno is Annoyed

MyBlogLog - joined in 2005 - was probably an early adopter. Even paid them to be a premium member. They got bought by Yahoo. Good for the BlogLog guys who probably retired at 30 as millionaires. You know, when I had problems back in '05 or '06 with MyBlogLog and wrote them, I got emails from real people? Well, don't expect that now that Yahoo owns it.

You need a damn "YahooID" to sign in. I gave up using Yahoo for email when Gmail came along. The Yahoo email was all spam. Anyway, when I sign in with the Yahoo ID, I'm asked to "migrate" my BlogLog stuff, so I do what I'm told, and it says I've already migrated. Ok, if that's so, then why doesn't signing in with the bloody YahooID take me to my account page? Why does it, EVERY TIME, ask me to migrate and then tell me I've already done it?

So I wrote to customer service. Explained the problem. Told them I had a Yahoo ID and had migrated, but the Yahoo ID wasn't taking me to my account. Know what they said?

We understand that sometimes change is hard, but the opportunity of
Yahoo taking in our little MyBlogLog community into its family sounded
too good to pass up!

If you need help signing up with Yahoo, please visit the following link: (link redacted)

Um, did you actually read my email or did some robo-script read a key word and send out an automated POS answer? I don't need help signing up with Yahoo. I need MyBlogLog's people to actually look at the account, figure out what's the problem and fix it.

Of course, a merger with Microsoft will solve all those problems, huh? Yeah. Vista, anyone?

I think I'll go bead something to calm down.

Sometimes I Get Sent Really Odd Links - Other Times, They're Pretty Cool

The perfect tool for serious nicotine addicts who simply MUST light up as they clip their nails. (And , no, I'm not one of them) My question is, which came first, the clipper and someone thinking, "this should have a disposable lighter attached to it, because every time I clip my nails I really need to have a smoke afterwards" , or the lighter and the guy with a hangnail who tried burning it off and thought, "man, a pair of clippers attached to my lighter would have spared me this agonizing 3rd degree burn"

Teeny-tiny projector OK, that one has promise. Watching a movie on the screen of my iPod while flying cross country was a clever idea but so much detail is lost when the screen is two inches wide and not all of it is used for picture due to the wide-screen format of the movie one downloaded from iTunes. I ended up watching them again on my laptop when I got home. But with a mini-projector, why, you can project it on the seat back in front of you!

Of course, there are folk with concerns about the concept. I think they may have a good point. This also may hasten the day when answering your mobile phone means a 3D image of your caller can appear right in front of you, and you can see body language and facial expressions, which often lead to misunderstandings, and then there's the inability to get a word in edgewise, because nobody can see you jumping up and down in your chair trying to get their attention, as in traditional audio only conference calls.









While things like telepresence are available now, it's not something the general population can access, nor afford, with all the equipment needed. By the way - you can get an R2D2 Home Theatre System from Hammacher Schlemmer for only $2,800 - oops, no you can't they sold out. I am not surprised in the least.

Oh, I mailed off my application for a table at BayCon. If you're in the SF Bay area over Memorial Day weekend, come by and say hi.

Elbows

My elbows are a wreck. I have a leather upholstered office chair at my computer desk that is wonderfully comfortable but the armrests are plain plastic with a pebbly texture. I rest my elbows on them, apparently way too much. My elbows are very dry and cracked - they feel like sandpaper, actually. So I decided today to do something about it. Not sure if it'll work. I've cut the tops off of some long athletic tubesocks, put Nivea cream on my elbows and put the sock pieces over the elbows to keep the cream from rubbing off. If the Nivea doesn't work, I'll try Eucerin next and probably go with something with a heavy lanolin concentration after that.

If you've successfully fought off sandpaper elbows, I'd love to know your secret.

The temps here are going up fast - it was in the low 70s yesterday and hit 80 today. Tomorrow's prediction is for 92. There's no airconditioning here, so we keep a window fan in the front room and that helps some. We shaved Pudding just in time - he's a long hair, you may recall from previous posts about him, and when it gets hot he gets pretty miserable. I caught him sitting directly in front of the fan today, so I think he's grateful.

I'm about half-way through The Cleaner, the book I bought from the author, Brett Battles, and had signed at the LA Book Fair a couple weekends ago. It's been a very good read. If you like clandestine ops thrillers you should give this one a try.

Bought some new iPod tunes today - decided to get a couple things on my "recommended" list, Peter Gabriel's So album and some early Sting (i.e., a Police album). Some of the recommendations were a tad off the mark - just because I bought James Darren doesn't mean I want Jack Jones, but I get why they thought I might. My Dawno's playlist is getting to be pretty good listening while beading. I hope Matt's new iPod got to him ok.

I'm looking forward to Bay Con on Memorial Day weekend - I wrote about my considering getting table space in Artist's Alley in my Beading Blog, so I won't repeat myself here. Whether I do or not, I will still go to the con.

A Very Happy Mother's Day

My son called from Iraq and my daughter called, too. A bit after my son called I found a bouquet of flowers on my doorstep, from him.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

Yeah, I've Got Two Monkees Albums on My iPod...So?

Been listening to my iPod while beading tonight. I was reminded by a post on Absolute Write a while back that there were some pretty good Monkees songs, back in the day. So I downloaded a couple of their albums from iTunes.

Now, I didn't see the Monkees when they were first on in the US, we either didn't get the channel (pre-cable days, folks and we were pretty far from LA so the antenna didn't pick up but one or two stations) or it was past my bedtime when they were on - in '66 when the show first aired I was 9.

I got to see them as re-runs broadcast on Taiwanese TV. I remember enjoying the shows, I was 11 or 12 at the time, so that might explain it. Our TV choices in English were limited over there. I think there was Gilligan's Island, too, but I'm not certain. Would that have been in re-runs in '68 & '69? The only other thing about Taiwanese TV that's notable (at least to me) is that I was in a Taiwanese soda pop commercial - true story! Maybe I'll tell it to you some day.

Anyway, I've skipped some of the songs as they came up in the shuffle - most of the Davey Jones songs are particularly treacle-y. The few that featured Michael Nesmith are as good as I remember. There were also a few that edged up to real '60s flower power music - surprising since it seemed the point of the Monkees was to play it safe for the network and their advertisers.

Hey, "I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog" is playing right now. Is that Mickey or Pete singing? "...Zulu's? No, I usually won". Well, that was over pretty fast. Now it's Paul Simon singing "Graceland".

My playlist is all over the map. Don Henley's "Get Over It", Sting's "Fields of Gold", k.d. lang's "Bird on a Wire', Maroon 5, The Mommas and the Poppas, Fleetwood Mac, James Darren...well, he was in Deep Space 9 and I kinda like that ol' crooner music anyway - which reminds me, I need to get my Sinatra and Dino back on my iTunes.

Making Light is Dark Today

If you, as I am, are a fan of the site Making Light, you're probably already aware of this but I thought I'd just add my support and post the "refugee camp" link. http://www.sunpig.com/abi/

Good luck to Teresa and Patrick in recovering their site!

Click The Link! You'll Thank Me

Just a quick post to recommend Author Scoop. William Haskins and Jamie Mason do a great job of collecting and sharing links, YouTube videos and other bits of news and information and smart commentary that writers and readers alike should all bookmark and visit often. They've done the surfing, all I have to do is go there and click the links. Thanks, William and Jamie!

Book Fair at UCLA

I don't use the camera phone much, so my finger did end up at the bottom of that picture, I'm afraid. The shot doesn't do any justice to the huge crowd. There were areas with graphic artists, POD publishing houses and then areas for larger publishers, book stores, etc. I ended up getting a signed copy (by the author in person who was at the book fair) of a new book, The Cleaner, a debut novel by Brett Battles. Bless him for braving the heat! I started reading it on the plane, so far it's a page turner, the plot is intriguing, the characters well presented, pace is fast - which is a must have for a thriller, at least for me.

The picture is also a test of mobile blogging, something I haven't used for ages, if I did use it at all the first time I signed up for it. Unfortunately I had to re-engage with the system and couldn't post the picture immediately from my camera to here this afternoon. UCLA is a lovely campus and I was there with an "expert guide" as well. When I needed to use a bathroom she knew exactly how to get me to a nice, nearby, indoor restroom. One of the scenic detours we took on the way to the fair was through the botanical garden. I took pictures of this incredible flowering plant with my digital camera. I have no idea what it is - couldn't find the plaque.













Closer view of the blooms:










I won't go into more detail about the bead shop purchases I mentioned earlier, but you can see pics at my beading blog, if you're so inclined.

It's Hot in LA this Weekend!

I'm down in LA visiting with some friends of mine. Yesterday we visited a lovely bead shop and had fabulous Mexican food at a nearby restaurant. Today we're thinking of visiting the LA Book Fair at UCLA. There's a heat wave here in LA - temps in the 80s. Still, there's a nice breeze and it's been lovely.

I particularly enjoy visits with these friends because along with being able to just hang out and enjoy each other's company, the conversation is lively and intellectually stimulating and I get plenty of exercise as we walked everywhere. I put in more miles on foot yesterday than I usually do in a month. I'm happy to say that I feel great today because I was a bit worried that I'd wake up unable to move my legs anymore.

I signed up with Twitter the other day, just for the heck of it, after reading a couple different blogs about folks who use it. I think it would be fun to Twitter the book fair - just not sure how to do it from my cell phone. I just tested it - it works! You can see me on Twitter as AWDawno.

I wish I could stay down longer and visit with the family, too. I just don't have enough leave time right now to spare as I'm saving as much of it as I can to spend time with my son in July when he comes home on leave.

Bought a book at the airport, Betrayal by John Lescroart. It's a bit hard to read as it uses the war in Iraq as a backdrop for a murder trial in the US. The defendant was wounded in a nasty situation where he lost nearly all of his squad. It's definitely the kind of stuff I don't like to think about.

I'm running low on battery power (forgot my power cord) so I need to close up the laptop now. More soon on my visit, maybe some pics of the book fair, too!

Beading, NCIS Flashback Drinking Game, and That Betamax Feeling

I got so busy with beading and posting on my new beading blog that I didn't get around to updating here. I'm trying to establish some foundational tools for marketing my designs and one of them is a blog. Eventually I move to my own website, but I don't have the time to learn all I need to know right now to set it up. I also need to get my business paperwork finalized - licenses, tax ID, that kind of stuff. I'm planning to set up an appointment with my accountant to see how much he can help or at least advise me about.

I'd love to do some crafts shows/fairs, so one of my next projects is going to be building the displays I'll need. I like the idea of using a picture frame with a padded insert - I've seen those at our local Art & Wine festival and like them best. I just have to figure out the right way to construct them. I also wonder just how large an inventory I'll need and what kind of variety. I'm in for some extensive research.

The spouse and I have been watching NCIS on dvd, trying to get up to date so we can start watching the current shows. I'm enjoying it. We have decided that we should do a drinking game - every time Harmon has a flashback to Paris we have to take a drink. There was a time a few discs back where it seemed he was having these fuzzy jumpy flashbacks every two minutes. Thank goodness they're fewer and further between now.

Speaking of dvds, I bought a new player for the spouse for Christmas from Amazon. A HD dvd player. Of course we all know what happened - BluRay is the standard and you can't get HD dvds anymore. Now I know how people who bought Betamax felt. Amazon sent me an email the other day with a certificate code for $50 on Amazon products. My dad just called me and said that I just *must* read the new Jeffery Deaver book, The Blue Nowhere, so I'll put that in my cart soon. There are a couple other books I'm wanting to read, so that $50 won't last long.

Well, I have a 6 am conference call tomorrow - gotta get to bed.

The Cake and the Kitty

Ever get really frustrated? Then you know how this poor kitty feels



One of the grandkitties, Jello, does that on the door to my office (which I keep closed most of the time). She seems to go on forever when I don't open it for her, of course it probably seems that way to me since I'm usually trying to work and getting annoyed at the scratching.

I posted again on my beading blog - if you know beads and can help me find a particular kind of bead that I desperately need to finish something I started, please go visit my new blog: Dawno's Beaded Badge Lanyards and Jewelry

My son called me this morning and he's all safely re-located at his new base. No more internet in the room, though, so we won't be able to IM chat for sometime. I really appreciated that he'd IM me often so I'd know he was ok, especially when I knew he was going on a mission and hadn't heard from him in a while. I was lucky, so many (most, probably) families of soldiers don't hear from their loved ones so much.

Catching Up

I imagine after 3 months of not posting that I've lost most of my audience. If you do check in now and then to see what's up, I apologize for being "dark" all this time. I've come here a number of times in the last couple months, opened the "create post" page and stared at the blank screen for a while, then closed the browser tab without posting. I kept thinking there's nothing to say anyone could have the remotest interest in. Today, however, I realized that I really shouldn't let that stop me here. I mean, it certainly doesn't stop me when I'm talking face to face (it's the way people start yawning or making lame excuses that gives me a clue in real life) So, what the heck, here we go with what's on my mind today.

Beading: I've pretty much decided that I'm going to start a new blog for any rambles about my beading, so I won't afflict you with that here, except occasionally. Like now. I've sold 3 pieces on Etsy, most recently today, which is gratifying and gives me a little "squee" moment every time it happens. (somebody likes it! squee!) And, I've probably made a couple dozen new things since I posted last. I'm also trying new techniques, like making things with wire and chain, learning to connect things using loops and links, and trying wire-wrapping. The wire-wrapping isn't going too well yet, and I might not be patient enough to keep at it, if everything looks like a two year old made it and then the dog chewed on it afterwards.

I'd also love to learn to create beads or focal pieces with metal clay - the whole "need to use a torch or get a kiln" has blocked that for now, since I really don't have a place to use either. Maybe someday.

My son: Ever see a movie or tv show or read about a soldier whose paperback book, Bible, flask, some keepsake from his sweetheart, etc., stops a bullet and saves a limb or his life? Apparently my son's iPod stopped one from hitting him somewhere; I'm guessing arm or leg. He forgot it was in a pocket and it came along on a mission with him and now it's toast but my son is ok. Thanks, Apple!

My daughter: Doing great. Got a call from her the other day all excited because she got an A on a mid-term when she had thought she hadn't done so well. She's also all set with her summer job - working at the Y summer camp again. I think this is year 3 for that? I know last year she directed a gymnastics camp, this year she may try something new - haven't heard yet. But she's great with the kids. Which is why I keep wondering why she isn't interested in teaching elementary school (like her ol' ma did). She says she wants to teach High School. I loved teaching kindergarten, myself. Probably because I like crayons and paste and the complete lack of hormone driven teen angst.

Me in general: I think I feel more like blogging now that the days are longer and the weather is getting better. Winter is really rough on me. I suspect I have a bit of seasonal affective disorder. Out of 10 symptoms I have 8 of them pretty intensely from late October to early April, and two of them to a more minor degree. Of course, I'm too withdrawn and lethargic to get myself to a doctor until it's spring and I feel better and I don't need medical help anymore.

In February my uncle passed away and I spent a week down in Southern Calif. with my Dad, which, even under the circumstances involved, was really wonderful just because it's been ages since I've been able to spend more than a few hours with him in many years. I miss being near family a lot and I truly wish I could figure out a way to get down there. Another "maybe someday" thing - I can only hope sooner rather than later.

Around the web: I've been entertained recently by a series of videos called "You Suck at Photoshop" It's part tutorial and part soap opera presented by a guy, Donnie, who's life is falling apart rather disastrously, and yet he gives these Photoshop lessons - insulting the students all the while. Really funny stuff. If you haven't seen these, and you have a quirky, dark sense of humor, do.

Here's the first one so you can decide if you want to click on the link above and watch the rest of them:



Otherwhere on the web, I'm still faithfully following my favorite online comics, A Girl and Her Fed, Questionable Content, Girl Genius, Sheldon and about a dozen more. Thank goodness for Google Reader and RSS feeds! I bought a Going Postal mail pouch recently (its the second one on the page) and put some buttons I got from A Girl and Her Fed's creator, the Girl Genius site, and the Sheldon store amongst others (like a Star Trek delta badge, Discworld pins, my Sputnik pins from LACon and more). I plan on using it as my convention purse when I go to Denvention (66th World SF Convention) this summer.

What I'm Reading: Just finished Strangers in Death by J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts). I forgot that I'd ordered it from the Science Fiction Book Club, so I have two copies - if you'd like this book, I'd be happy to send the SFBC edition to you free of charge. It's a hardback book in pristine condition, although it's a slightly smaller size hardback than non-book club editions. Use my contact me link to email me.

Anyway, it was another good one. I enjoy reading them because I've grown fond of the characters and can't wait to see how they develop as the series goes on. If you're unfamiliar with the series, it's romance set in the future about a female police lieutenant who meets, falls in love with and marries (in the early books) a very rich, powerful, handsome man, Roarke, with a less than legitimate past he's (mostly) reformed from. In the later books the two of them often work together to figure out 'who done it'. The secondary characters are colorful and fun to know as well. One thing I might note in passing is that there's no dearth of love scenes between Dallas (the protag) and Roarke and they are somewhat explicit.

I've also been reading through David Drake's epic fantasy series starting with Lord of the Isles, mostly in eBook format. My introduction to it was via the Tor.com subscription - which is a really cool deal. Weekly free eBooks in many formats (I use MobiPocket since I have the reader already). They offered the first book of the Isles series and when I finished it I wanted to read more. So I purchased the eBook bundle for books 2 - 7 via the Baen Books WebScription site. Right now I'm reading the latest book in the series, Mirror of Worlds, in hardback. Who says giving away eBooks isn't a smart idea? Got me to spend money on the rest of Drake's stuff, and I'll probably keep reading his work when I'm done with the Isles books.

I've never been a big fan of epic fantasy. I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy because, well, everyone I was friends with in 1971 either was or had read them - I even got notes from one friend in either runes or elvish (I don't recall which). But I've always been more of a SF reader, so with the exception of short stories in the magazines I get (primarily The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction) I don' t go out of my way to read it.

However, I've enjoyed the Drake books. There is a bit of the same things happening over and over - if I'd had to wait 6 months or a year to read the next book, it probably wouldn't have leaped out at me as much. I mean in every book people end up getting lost or kidnapped in some other dimension or time and there are quest-y type things, then at the end they all end up at some place where they all have to be together with the stuff they've learned or gotten to overcome the big bad whatever. This must be SOP for epic fantasy books. Even so, I'm enjoying the writing enough to keep going on to the next one.

By the way, if you sign up at Tor.com you are entered in a cool contest for an Asus Galaxy EEE mobile PC, and you'll get free eBooks, too. And they're good ones - Farthing by Jo Walton and Spin by Robert Charles Wilson were in recent emails - both of which I've read and *heartily* recommend. By the way, this all ends on May 15th when the official site launches.

Ok, this has been enough rambling for two or three posts, so I'll quit now. Glad to be back blogging - hope I can keep it up, at least once or twice a week.

Love!

Dawno