too bad masco and the other art place on state closed; i am loathe to go to michael's craft mart. maybe i'll see if wisco crafts has lino-cut bricks.
]]>and i don't want to get sicker because tomorrow evening i'm going to see v.s. ramachandran speak at the union and it would be miserable if i were snorting and coughing the whole time.
i've been kinda lax in my braille lately. i haven't even opened up my laptop except for maybe saturday mornings to check the weather forecast. i should be more diligent so i retain more.
also, this design*sponge post reminds me that i wanted to design a deck of cards a long time ago until i realized how much it would cost to print. but maybe i can do a block-printed set... which might not be any less expensive but could be more fun. that might be a good summer goal. i remember learning about why some kings have daggers and other have swords, and one-eyed jack (which made the "gentleman's club" in twin peaks make a little more sense); this was all about 10 years ago.
time is silly.
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speaking of time, i find myself filling a lot of it with tasks that, in the past, i wouldn't care about. for example, this weekend i intend to get an oil change and a car wash, clean the fridge (it hasn't been scrubbed out in an embarrassingly long time), adjust the organization of the computer room (a new desk requires moving stuff around), and finish my super awesome sweater.
also, tonight is girls' night out, which means dancedance revolution at the inferno.
aaaand, i have til tuesday to finish the diary of anne frank; i'm currently on page 11.
]]>i got up extra early this am (6:15), excited to warm myself with hot water, and discovered that kurt thought it would save energy to turn the temperature on the water heater to A. A is the lowest hot setting, which is really only barely warm. so, i turned the dial to C and then past C to Very Hot, all while wasting electricity and water waiting for the machine to do its part.
i decided that 6:45 was the latest i could start my shower and still get to work at a reasonable time without having to rush. at 6:45, the water was still lukewarm and intolerable. i considered tossing a bucket of this barely usable water on kurt's sleeping head, but realized that would neither solve the problem nor be a very good idea.
]]>so, my current conundrum is whether to eat ha long leftovers tonight and subway tomorrow (total cost < $5) or treat myself to yummy food from burrito drive (total cost > $10) and bring leftovers tomorrow. i do have an avocado that needs to be put onto some tacos...
i think i already know what i'm gunna do.
]]>i used to rattle off a car dashboard/cell phone comparison, "it has to be usable, i make websites usable just like someone made that steering wheel control the radio volume or the end call button red instead of green." the explanation got too long; people's eyes would glaze over.
i've recently converted my short description to, "i tell other people how to design". which is not really true either. i work with teams on projects where we all have input and i get to help guide us in the direction of the correct solution; along with everyone else.
in addition to the video below, i still get to code a little (html/css) and i've started teaching myself jquery to, you know, increase my knowledge base, or whatever people say. i also write, conduct, and analyze usability tests with real live users.
i follow a lot of ux'rs on twitter, and one of them came up with a video that makes half of what i do seem magical (audio nsfw if you work for a high-strung corporation and don't have headphones--you'll get the idea without them):
]]>the yarn for my super awesome sweater is to arrive today, along with my new crock pot and green laser pointer for the dogs. amazon split my order into two packages, so ups and fedex will both be arriving today. i picture them dueling to get up to the door.
unfortunately, joann is where i had to order the needles for the super awesome sweater and it doesn't appear they've even left the warehouse.
in other news, i'm taking a friend to the apple store this afternoon to get an ipod touch and we're going to eat at the food court! that, combined with my recent rocky's trip, and a visit to mcdonald's next week for a shamrock shake, apparently, it's "reminisce about old foods" month.
i'll leave you with this awesome picture of nora:
thankfully, the cafe at work was serving veggie burgers today.
]]>also, i bought yarn for the awesome reversible sweater; hopefully it arrives around the same time as the needles (i had to get those from a different online retailer).
yesterday marked six weeks of fresh air and better health.
]]>unfortunately, the required yarn will cost me over $125 with shipping.
of course, there's always the possibility of substitution but there's no way it'll look as cool; there's a reason designers use the yarn they use, because it's usually pretty awesome yarn.
we get our bonus in two weeks, i think i can wait til then to order.
]]>on my way in, i was reminded of the simplicity of life by watching a boy show his father some snow that he had picked up. once inside the building, i found myself behind a (presumable) grandma and her granddaughter whom i had seen walking in as i was parking.
i quickly made my way to the reserved shelves, isolated the one self-checkout that was out of order, and caught the eye of a librarian to check me out.
on my way back to my car, i noticed that honda lady had not yet pulled out; i said to myself, "yea, i should never have children." i was out of the parking lot before she even got into reverse.
]]>i'm a little worried about how much the yarn will cost to make the sweater, cuz it looks like the sweater will cost about $300 for the yarn alone; i think i'll have to rekindle my relationship with elann to get an inexpensive alternative...
the other one is cuz i think it'll look cool to play with vertical color striping and thick-knits.
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