2k8 wrapup

My friend Kathleen just posted her “year in review” and mentioned that it’s a requirement in the blogging bylaws, so I figured I better get a move on before I get my blogging card revoked.

Kewl things that happened to your AmyGeek in 2008:

• Came out – to myself and then to the whole world
• Started managing people (professionally, so no freelance bossing folks around – this is the big leagues)
• Got back into the water (scuba-wise) after a few years off
  • It’s like riding a bike, in case you were wondering
• Got really (really. really.) interested & involved in the election
  • The good guy won. Finally.
• Virginia Madsen turns out to have a good sense of humor
• Some great new friends came into my life
• Really started focusing (heh) on photography and improving technically and creatively
• Other stuff that’s probably not appropriate to post. Use your imagination.
• Stuff I’m not remembering at the moment.

Places I visited:

• Nova Scotia, Canada for Jessica & Jesus Mike’s wedding
• LA for the kickoff of my coming out tour
• Big Island to catch up with my peeps there, continue the coming out tour & relax cause Hawaii is better than real life
• Seoul and Jeju, South Korea for work (and a little scuba diving)
• NYC to see my longtime friends and suck up the energy (& continue the coming out tour)
• Paris for work (and a day of photography)

Artsy (eh) stuff I liked:

• Flight of the Conchords (alright, they were on the air in 2007, but they’re coming back soon & I want to plug them)
• Spring Awakening (closing shortly in NYC, opening soon in the West End of London, traveling around the US)
• Slumdog Millionaire (just saw this, but seriously – it’s a great flick)
• Cirque du Soleil – I’ve seen all of their touring shows and they are always really good, but they have had a few kinda ‘off’ years lately. This year’s show (Corteo) was great.
• Avenue Q

Books I really liked:

• American Wife
• Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha
• Pillars of the Earth (Even though Oprah liked it. Sigh.)
• When You are Engulfed in Flames
• Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
• The Nine
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• What is the What
• The New Kings of Nonfiction
• Welcome to the Nerd Farm

Oops:

• Lost 3 (pricy) Bluetooth headsets
• Got my car stuck in the mud in front of my house & dug up a whole slew of it
  • But the truck that pulled me out got stuck too, so it was pretty messy…
• I know there’s more, but that gives you a general idea of how dopey I can be without hardly trying…

2k9 things on the schedule:

• Get more involved in politics – volunteering or something
• Get out more and meet more people
  • Specifically, pretty women
  • And really nelly men
  • And fun & entertaining people of all kinds
• Learn & apply more about photography
• Focus on being more centered in all areas of my life
• Germany, France, Sweden, Big Island, NYC, Washington, DC for Barry’s inauguration

The love that dare not bark its name

Eartha Kitt

Dead.

Meow.

Playing in the snow

Not sure why this amused me so much

But it definitely did. It’s a guy shaving off his fuzzy beard. I think he looks way better afterwards, but I’m not a fan of facial hair for men or women.

Now that’s a thorough guidebook

NYC Pix

Totally forgot to post these from my weekend in Manhattan last month.

Ninjas piss off pirates

Teehee…stay with it until the end. It’s worth it.

Death by condom?!?

I have no idea if this is real. But it's tragic. ally funny.

This speaks to me

I mean, this is me.

Merry Christmas from Kenneth the page

If you’re not watching 30 Rock, you should be. Here’s a nice bit showcasing Kenneth the page, a great character, celebrating with an office chair.

Change we can believe in

Sometimes you forget things

Guess who said this?

“The Bush administration took a lot of pride that homeownership had reached historic highs,” Mr. Snow said in an interview. “But what we forgot in the process was that it has to be done in the context of people being able to afford their house. We now realize there was a high cost.”

Mr. Snow was the Treasury Secretary for the Bush administration.

Um…when you’re in charge of the money for the country, you should know about finance, right? And the concept that someone should be able to afford something that they purchase is a kinda fundamental financial concept, isn’t it?

Not in this administration…

(From the NY Times)

Don’tcha just love Rachel Maddow?

She’s smart and cute and sarcastic. That’s a gay trifecta.

Winter storm #2

Newest storm information predicts that this storm will be on par with previous storms from 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999, and 2006, a “life-threatening storm” with winds up to 75mph. West of I-5, 3-8 inches of snow is predicted while those east of I-5 should expect 1-2 inches of snow and higher wind

Snow day!

It’s great. I’ve not seen this much snow here. There’s got to be 8” on the ground and it’s still coming down. It’s so pretty.

I drove over to campus because I wanted to grab my laptop – I upgraded it to Windows 7 yesterday and I want to play with it. The roads are incredibly slippery. I took the long route with the fewest hills and I still was slipping and sliding. The funniest part is the the roads are the clearest on campus. But hardly anyone is there.

One of the guys from my team was there, so we walked over to an open cafeteria and got some lunch. There were a bunch of guys outside having a snowball fight which went on and kept expanding the entire time we were eating, so we kinda had lunch and a show.

Okay, now Barry’s pissed me off

I know he’s all about inclusiveness and ending divisiveness and whatnot…but inviting Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration is too much for me.

I have no problem with him inviting someone who is on the other side of the political spectrum to participate. But this guy has publicly stated:

• his support for Proposition 8
• that the relationships of his “many gay friends” are no different from child rape, incest or polygamy
• that he cannot say that authorizing torture is a moral failing
• he doesn’t support stem cell research
• he is in favor of reducing abortion by stripping women of their rights
• he has advocated strongly for the abstinence-only based ideological restrictions in our Global AIDS Plan – PEPFAR

This is a man who encourages divisiveness. Religion and reason (and science) do not have to be adversaries. But inviting this man to be a part of such a historic day makes a statement – that Barry and his minions are politicians at heart. And that sorta breaks my heart a little.

Great website

cutethingsfallingasleep.org!

For example:

Crash

Dolphin stampede

The thing about pods of dolphins is that no matter how many you see on the surface, there's a ton more underwater...I've been diving amongst pods of dolphins and they are incredible creatures.



Dolphins Clip - video powered by Metacafe

Box surfing

Gotta love this kitty. You just have to smile when you see animals playing just to have fun.

Back to Basics

One of the unexpected treats of being on Facebook is having all kinds of folks from my past find me. Everyone from old high school friends to elementary school and camp friends have managed to reappear in my life. Generally, it’s been a little disconcerting at first, some catching up and then some general FB bantering. But those connections have been renewed.

From what I understand, Americans (compared to folks from other countries) are significantly more likely to pick up and move away from where they grew up. In my case, I grew up in the suburbs of NY and initially moved to Connecticut (about 45 minutes drive) to Los Angeles and then to the Seattle burbs where I am now.

As a result of leaving my hometime (and since so many of the folks I grew up with did the same), it’s very difficult to maintain any sort of contact or relationship with most people. I think that I am unusual (in many ways, but particularly in this way) in that I do continue to stay in touch with quite a few folks that I grew up with. We even organized a burnout reunion a few years ago (all the troublemakers I hung out with in high school + their current spouses, families, etc. got together for a day of merriment).

I think that if the majority of folks stay in the same town/general area, it’s more likely (certainly more easy) that they will be in your life in one way or another. You’ll either occasionally bump into them at the drugstore or the gas station or you’ll stay in touch because you like to spend time together.

From what I understand, FB is serving this function in many people’s lives – reconnecting them with their pasts in a way that we (Americans) have not been in a long time. We’re not necessarily restarting deep friendships again (although that’s certainly possible), but we’re introducing a bit of our pasts (and reigniting all kinds of past memories) into our adult lives.

I wonder how this changes us? Not sure how long it’s been since Americans started this trend of leaving their hometowns for other parts of the country, but our lives have certainly changed significantly as this became more of a trend. FB seems to tie us back into our pasts in a way that wasn’t possible before. It will be interesting to see if this changes our attitudes or behavior as a result. Only time will tell, but in the meantime, all you folks from Eastchester…yes, it’s me!

view from my seat

Feeling about 80% well, so I'm hopeful I will be all well tomorrow. Reading the NY Times by the fire with Gus the dog on my lap.

Bubba likes bean burritos

totally silly

I just talked to my doc's office & they said I have a viral infection and it could last 10-14 days. I will likely lose my mind before then. In the meantime, things like this are amusing me.

Bettie Page

Dead.

There’s been a rash

of people contacting me lately who don’t have any antivirus on their computers. I know that you geeky folks are covered, but I’m talking to the civilians out there who read my blog. If you are running a Windows PC and do not have antivirus installed, you are asking for pain. And suffering. And potential loss of money. Yours. Seriously.

Right now. This very moment. I want you to click here and then click on the Download Now option (51.2MB) (there’s some stupid ad with a download button at the top of the page but ignore that) and install the free AVG Antivirus software.

There’s no reason that anyone should not be running antivirus on their computers. Even you snarky Mac people should – Apple said so recently. Of course, then they pulled it down off their website, but they did acknowledge that viruses were picking up in their realm too.

Think of it as a condom for your internet connection. And I know where you’re going on the internet and believe me – you need a condom.

Catburglar

Frankie the cat keeps bringing home stuffed animals and his owners don’t know how he does it. This makes the news in England. What a sweet country. Isn’t anyone selling seats in Parliament or something? Oh right, they’re working the whole House of Lords thing there. Frankie’s not likely to be made a Lord soon…

'He's been going out of the house and coming back with all these toys for pretty much as long as he's been allowed out,' said Ms Bishop.

'Frankie looks very pleased with himself when he comes in with these presents. Sometimes he goes out and ten minutes later he's back with something.

'They're all soft toys for cats I think, although I could be wrong. About 15 of them are all the same leopard.'

Sorry for being MIA

Down for the count with a good (bad?) cold. This is good:

“Asking for special rights is like asking to carry fireworks on planes.” Zactly.

Sunny Von Bulow

dead.

Netherlands is pulling back

On the number of brothels, sex shops and marijuana cafes. And before I’ve had a chance to visit! (although, I’m not necessarily interested in all three of the above…) From the BBC (highlights are mine, of course):

…

The city council says that some other businesses are also related to the decay of the city centre, including peep shows, sex shows, mini-supermarkets, phone and souvenir shops, and they will also be shut down.

…

Critics say the crackdown in Amsterdam is the latest example of a hardening of the traditional liberal Dutch approach to social issues including prostitution and soft drug use.

But Mr Asscher said that the changes would be more in line with Amsterdam's image as a "tolerant and crazy place, rather than a free zone for criminals".

"It will be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can't find anywhere else in the world - very exciting, but also with cultural attractions," he said, adding: "And you won't have to be embarrassed to say you came."

(teehee)

Oh, and I always said that Mini-supermarkets would be the downfall of polite culture.

Back in the USA

Long day yesterday that turned out to be relatively uneventful, when considering I flew 8,000 miles or something ridiculous like that. When you actually step back and think about it, it’s friggin’ remarkable that we can wake up on one continent and go to bed on another. You get so used to just stepping on a plane and stepping off in a totally different place – it’s so easy to be jaded, but it is a remarkable feat.

Anyhoo, left my hotel in France around 9am yesterday and taxi driver told me (in French) that there was traffic and he wanted to go a different way. First of all, let’s just step back and marvel that I was able to figure out what he was saying. Cause my french is tres remedial. So, we went on back roads, which was great cause we weren’t in a rush and I got to see a few French villages which were rather picturesque. Europe is like a big ole movie set. (Could I be any more condescending? Sounds like I’m from LA or something…Heh.)

Got to CDG with plenty of time to spare, got irritated at security by guy in front of me who decided to wear a studded belt to the airport to fly. Seriously people – doesn’t everyone have a flying uniform? Or at least consider the whole paranoid security deal when getting ready? Speaking of security, there was this Eurotrash family going through security with me in Heathrow – along with little Eurotrash kiddies – and nanny of course – and I got a little lost in thinking about doing naughty things to the Eurotrash mommy. But I digress…I had enough time at Heathrow to go to the store and pick up Malteesers and a giant Cadbury Fruit & Nut bar and some biscuits to bring home (ATG is a big Malteeser fan. I plan on exploiting this weakness of hers. In an incredibly fun way. That I’m not going to tell you people about, so get over it.).

Flight to SEA was fine – 9 hours – watched Dark Knight (eh – but yes, I think that Heath Ledger did a great job, but didn’t he always? So sad…), Miss Pettigrew Saves the Day (cute, sweet, good airplane movie) and another movie that I can’t remember. Got to SEA, went through immigration and down to claim my bag to go through customs & while innocently twittering, some security guy decides to go through my customs form with me. Cause I must have had that guilty, I’m twittering naughty thoughts look about me or something. But no big deal. The next thing I know, they’re calling out my name on the loudspeaker and I go to the info people and they inform me that my bag is still in London but they’ll bring it to my house for me when it gets to SEA later tonight or tomorrow. I’m kinda psyched cause that means I can go home now and not have to wait for bag or go through customs. I understand that normal human beings are typically upset when their bag disappears, but it was BA (not an American airline) and they seemed to know where the bag was and I didn’t need anything in it right away, so I figured it was just sort of a free pass from God (cause I’m a nice person and God doesn’t want me to have to linger around airports any longer than necessary, I figure).

Headed home, took a nice bubble bath and went to bed at 7:30pm. ATG had texted that she was going to come by at some point and I told her to let herself in and wake me when she got here. Didn’t happen – cause that’s the way ATG rolls. Got a text from at 2:30am saying she wasn’t going to make it. Maybe I’ll see her today – gotta be flexible with ATG! I ended up getting a decent night’s sleep, which never happens when she comes over, so there’s a blessing in everything, isn’t there. :-)

Was up at 4:30 this morning and watched TiVo’d stuff (30 Rock is so great and I heart Californication) and finally got up at 6 to make some tea and start to recover the my desktop’s hard drive. (I had forgotten until I returned that my desktop at home completely blew up just before I left.)

Good news about this computer repair: 1)It turns out I made a set of recovery disks that I can use to restore the machine to its original state. 2) I made a full backup a few weeks (months?) ago and I have weekly backups, so while it will be somewhat time consuming, I figure it’s the best case scenario of a potential nightmare. Feeling kinda good about it actually. Cue background geek music… (Seriously people, back up your crap. Someday it will make your life considerably easier.)

And Verizon is supposed to be coming this morning to set up FIOS for me which means super-fast internet access. I was able to use my Slingbox to watch stuff I’d TiVo’d while traveling, which is just super-cool. But with the faster speed, it will all be better. I’m all about the more. Constantly. Don’t know if I’ll ever get over it…

Sickly

Yup. I’m getting sick. It’s still percolating and I’m afraid that it just requires 15-20 hours of traveling to really get going. You know – like what I’ll be doing on Friday.

On the bright side, work went well today and I’m happy with the pix I shot yesterday. I’m ready to go home though. I miss Gus the dog. And my bed.

Hollywood steps up

The godless celebrities of Hollywood have put together Prop 8 – the Musical. Its worth a gander.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Let Microsoft pay you to shop

Get up to 30% cashback with Live Search this holiday season

Get a richer shopping experience--literally. Microsoft Live Search cashback gives you money back on thousands of products from online merchants you know and trust. All you need to do is buy products qualifying for Microsoft Live Search cashback! Here’s three simple steps to start saving:

	Use Live Search to research your purchases Simply search for products at live.com where you’ll get rich answers that allow you to find the very best product. Find user and expert reviews all in one place along with pricing comparisons that help you make the most informed purchase.
	Look for the cashback gleam You’ll see this icon also show up directly in your Live Search results. It highlights products that qualify for Live Search cashback. Click the icon and compare the best deals and offers available.
	Start shopping and saving! There are thousands of stores to choose from including familiar names like eBay, HP, Footlocker, Gap, Target, Barnes and Noble and many more. So, in addition to getting actual money back in your pocket, you'll be getting the best deals from stores you already know.

Once you've finalized your purchase, you'll receive an e-mail notifying you of your cashback rewards, with directions on how to claim them.

Boobs lost at sea

Apparently, more than 130,000 (individual) (inflatable) breasts have been lost at sea. They were meant to be part of a magazine giveaway (????).

Wouldn’t it be great if they washed up in some conservative red state? It’s pretty unlikely since they were being transported from Beijing to Australia. But a girl can hope.

Details are here.

Updated to clarify that the breasts are inflatable. Cause otherwise this would be a creepy story.

Finally

It took FOREVER to get to France yesterday. But I’m here now and after 12 hours of sleep last night and a long shower, I feel like myself again.

I’m actually in the suburbs (sigh) of Paris (that’s where the office I need to go to is located), which is kind of a bummer as I can’t just go wandering around at night ‘n stuff. I mean I could, but it would be incredibly boring.

Work doesn’t start until tomorrow, so I took a cab & two trains and went to Montmartre today. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the first time I went there. If I have time, I think I may go out to Versailles before I go home. We’ll see – worky comes firsty. Since they’re paying ‘n all, ya see.

Pix I shot today are here.

That’s the merry go round at Montmartre -->

terminal 5 has big balls

flight was late leaving jfk. 4.5 hr layover as a result. not enough time to go play in london & gab is in new hampshire & kate moved to dubai. trying to think of another london friend who might come meet me for breakfast.

this is the infamous heathrow terminal 5. hopefully they won't lose my bag...going to go find the club now.