Sweatin’ in Tejas.
- Visualizing the news.
Alright, I *know* some of you are *geeks* like me, and even if you aren’t, you will enjoy this. Just got a link to Spectra, MSNBC’s new news rss visualizer. (It’s currently in beta edition.) They’re dubbing it as a ‘visual newsreader.’
Spectra color codes the news and displays news channels in a swirling vortex. It’s an interesting way to read and interact with news, albeit a bit complicated. It sure is beautiful…
For the last three years, I have been a fan of Marcos Weskamp’s News Map. It takes the Google News rss feed and places it on a treemap. News is color coded and ‘bigger’ stories are represented with larger point sizes and plots on the map. News Map has been around since 2004.
Spectra takes News Map to the next level. It will be interesting to see if other media and developers jump onto this idea and see how it develops.
So, how do I get my news, you ask? Besides going to work (and yes, I do subscribe to the local newspaper and the Sunday NYT at home), I usually hit up the paper’s website and CNN when I wake up. I also recently found a screen saver that’s available on the Mac. The screen saver taps into CNN’s top headlines rss feed and displays them in that pretty Apple way. If you see a headline that catches your eye, just type the specified number on your keyboard and the story will load in your browser. To try it out, choose the RSS Visualizer screen saver in your preferences and under options, choose the CNN.com feed.
- I heart leaning side to side …
I also heart Nintendo’s new ‘little white thing you stand on.’
“Nothing says fun to kids like a good graph or chart … The Wii Fit looks great with anything from Ikea … Standing in one place has never been as fun, as with Nintendo’s Wii Fit …”
I picked up the Wii Fit/Balance Board from game stop today and got to spend a little time on it. The body test, which you’re encouraged to take daily, wasn’t devestating. I knew just how out of shape I was … But now, I just have to get ‘younger’ than Lucritia.
I don’t have any illusions that this gaming combo is going to help me shed the pounds, but I do hope that it encourages me to get more active. That’s the most important thing. So why not have fun and sweat a bit in front of the television? You can’t give me one reason (other than the money I already paid) not to like this thing.
Have you tried it yet? What do you think?
- Stress, be gone.
This past month has taken its toll on me. I reached my stress limits and had a few break downs at the office. I’m not proud of it, but I can’t really feel guilty. We’ve all been on edge for a number of reasons, so it was bound to happen. It’s just unfortunate that it happened in the boss’ office.
Just as I was starting to get my piece of mind back, my iPhone jumped out of my car on the way to work Tuesday. That wasn’t very much fun, since I couldn’t find it. I checked online and noticed that someone had accessed the internets 20 minutes after I scoured the area I thought it would be. But then they didn’t turn the phone back on for 48 hours (or the battery died). I would have known if they turned it on (with my sim card at least) because immediately they would have gotten two text messages from me stating there was a cash reward for the phone, no questions asked. AT&T’s insurance carrier decided not to cover the iPhone, so it’s a total loss. It’s more frustrating because if AT&T and Apple worked together, they could monitor when a lost/stolen phone is synced through iTunes, since the serial number is transmitted to Apple. An IP address could be traced, and the phone could actually be found. But it’s much better, financially, just to let the iPhone be activated by the thief.
I didn’t let the phone loss get me down though. I plan to replace it (yes, I do… all things considered) sometime in June. Supposedly Apple is going to release a 3G model during WWDC.
In other news, my weekends are getting shifted, again. Wasn’t my idea, but I said I would try it for a few weeks. Now I’ll have Wednesdays and Thursdays off. While it gives me a better work week, in the sense of better planning time for the beginning of the week, it means I lose Fridays and Saturdays. They’re just lucky I’m not putting up more of a fuss.
Today I purchased a yoga beginners kit, which includes a yoga mat, strap and brick, as well as a AM yoga dvd. After trying the dvd, I am tempted to purchase Just My Size Yoga. Yes, a fat-friendly yoga dvd. I wanted a mat for the Wii Fit, which comes out Tuesday or Wednesday (they pushed the date back). I would really like to get into yoga, but all the classes are ridiculously expensive and I wouldn’t feel comfortable in them (likely). So we’ll go this route for a while.
Last night I watched the Golden Compass. It was great. I didn’t know anything about the books or storyline, so it was an especially nice surprise. The plot is quite sophisticated for a kids movie. I actually went out and bought the second book from the series (His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman). Now, I’m calling Adicus an Ice Bear.
Alright, time for a round of boxing on the Wii. (Damn, the is a work out!)
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- Choo-chi and Wario
Before I get into my long, spiel about what’s been going on in with me, I have to share with you a product I wish they had when I was in college: transparent Post-Its (!!!) Damn, I’m jealous.
Stress has been really getting to me at work lately. Since I don’t have much to balance my work life with, it’s really been gnawing away at me. Let’s just say that most recently, I had an incident where I was pulled aside for a talk in the bosses’ office and they had to get my a bag to breathe into. And that didn’t help. Goodbye, dreams of being a manager. Maybe not, but still. The combination of so many no-so-great things happening at work has been fatal to my morale. So, I’m trying to spend the weekend not thinking about work.
How am I doing that? Well one way is spending time with Choo-Chi:
Last night, at midnight, as I was lighting a candle in my dining room, something jumped onto the window ledge. That thing, was Mr. Choo-chi (I named him that, it has no meaning whatsoever). He wanted IN. When I came outside to check him out, he came immediately to me. He had a collar with a bell on it, no tags though, and has his front paws declawed. For those reasons, I thought he was an indoor cat. I have him separated from my animals, just in case he has a disease. Luckily, he has no fleas (I think the bites all over my legs are from the dog park yesterday, not Chooch because I can’t find any evidence on him that he has any).
I called the rental office this morning to let them know and then dropped off two hand-written flyers to be posted on the mailboxes (I can’t reach the laminated area above the mailbox). A few hours later, and they still hadn’t posted them. (My apartment managers really suck at following up on ANYTHING.) So I’m going to make a few more and bring a stool out with me tonight to post them.
I’m giving myself till Monday to find his owner. If no one calls, I may find him a new home. I just worry that I’ll place him and then his owner will contact me! I posted about him on Craigslist, looking for his owner and already found a guy who wants to take him in (he was looking for a partially declawed cat). So that’s my adventure for the weekend.
Today I also went and tried out some mattresses at a few of the shops by my house. I was surprised to find that Ashley Furniture, who my dad swears by, had the highest prices of all (in comparison to the mattress-specific stores — I thought because they’re a large chain and whatnot, they’d have some deals?). I had told my dad I was going to put it on one of my credit cards, since I’m deeming it a necessity, but he’s opposed to the idea. He can’t really be opposed to the idea while wanting me to get a mattress unless he is willing to help. And he is, thank god. I have a few mattresses picked out in my head (Mostly Simmons Beautyrest Plushes or Plush Pillowtops). I hope to get this squared away in the next week or so. My back deserves it. No more waking up in pain each and every morning.
I am enjoying my Wii, even though I am stuck at one mini-game level on Okami that’s driving me insane. The Wii Fit is about to come out and it looks like I’m lucky that I already reserved my copy. I rented Super Smash Brothers Brawl today and I suck. No surprise. But Wario is my favorite character.
Talking about Wario… I’m off.
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- Luck be mine.
The apartment is coming together. Granted, I smashed two of my toes. But hope is not lost. I’m 90% done reorganizing my living space. I relocated thee office from the dining nook to the storage nook. I moved the bookcases from the storage nook to the dining nook. I got my dinette table out of the corner in my bedroom and shoved it in the very cramped dining space. Now I have a place to actually read the newspaper or to eat, as opposed to trying to do so on the cramped coffee table or in bed.
The office is way cramped. But I like being able to look at my cozy living room and watch tv easier. I went out an bought a chair mat and took the arms off my old computer chair since that was causing a problem getting in and out of the new office. Those spiky things on chair mats that adhere to the carpet… they are not your friends! They hurt. And it’s not easy cutting through that thick plastic to make it custom fit. Be advised.
Adicus and I were headed to the dog park downtown, but as we were leaving the complex, I decided to take him to the local park, Mary Searight Park, instead. I knew he’d have to be leashed, and he’s not used to being in public leashed these days (he assumes we’re always going to the dog park). So there was a lot of tugging and pulling on both ends of the leash. Of course, luck be mine, I stepped in a red ant pile and got a few bites just so Mr. Adicus could do his thang in *just* the right place.
I did some more researching on the router issue. I’m convinced I can get this router to work. It will take some massive brain power, but I couldn’t find a better recommended Mac-friendly router.
Okay, time to finish up the apartment and then work on getting the wireless up.
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- Unconventional workouts.
Some of you already know that I bought a Nintendo Wii a week or so ago. I played Dara’s while in South Florida over vacation at the beginning of the month and kept thinking about getting one. I looked at many stores and couldn’t find one. I realized that buying one would mean I’d be spending a lot more money on games, accessories and that it would take up a lot of my time. But that’s okay. » » FULL POST
- Mega update, to come.
I’ve been discouraged from posting ever since The Blog talk went down. I think a few of my buddies feel the same way. But I said I wasn’t going to let it get me down. So I owe y’all a quality post in the next few days. Why not now? I don’t have the energy to type it all right now. I think I’ll write and finesse something for the next few days and post it this weekend. Right now? Time to let Mr. Adicus pee and then we’re off to sleep.
- 1 + 1
The great March laundry drive is ON. I’m prepping for my trip to SoFla next week (a whopping ten days!), and I’m beginning to pull myself out of the slump I’m been complaining about lately. This past weekend, between attending Addie’s (not Adicus!) What Not to Wear watch party with her family and friends out in the Hill Country and running errands around town, I managed to get most of the laundry done. » » FULL POST
- SXSW, take two.
My plan to hit up the Cedar Door to catch was a wash, when I saw the huge crowd. Granted, I think the crowd was for the backyard and not the stage I wanted to catch, but oh well. I met back up with Dad and his pal at Nuno’s, where I left them a few hours before. We caught a few good sets upstairs. » » FULL POST
- SXSW, take one.
My dad and his buddy Rich came to town for SXSW again. They drove in from the Houston airport (it ended up taking the same time driving from there to Austin versus having a layover and flying to Austin). I took them to Hill’s Cafe, where I had my beloved bacon wrapped sizzler and corn nugget (mmm!), and then we headed downtown to catch an ear of whatever. » » FULL POST
