Day 61 of Project 365: new recipe
FunkyPlaid and I stayed up very late to watch the Niners game. Actually, I was up already, finishing an assignment a whole day early — crazy, I know, but I just wanted it to be done already — and wandered in front of the TV for the last quarter. The best part of the game was the chatter, and I don’t mean from the Sky Sports commentators. Full samovar of tea and the 49ers coming right up. If you’d like to virtually scream over Gchat with me, hit me up on funky plaid@geemale. — FunkyPlaid (@FunkyPlaid) January 22, 2012 When technology makes the world a little smaller, I fall in love with both all over again. Day two of light therapy treatment went much better. I dropped the level down to 25% and felt pretty good. No naps today, either....
Read MoreDay 60 of Project 365: boo-hoo-lean
My presentation went off the rails. I actually said “dire repercussions to the fabric of space-time.” The day started out great. I woke up on time and got settled in front of my computer and new SAD light. During the fifteen-minute treatment at 50% strength, I felt pretty good, and immediately afterwards I was energized and excited about craft day later in the afternoon. Less than an hour later, I was nauseous, headachy, and the energized feeling had worn off into a bad caffeine buzz feeling. So no crafts for me, just grocery shopping and homework and a little crying in between those two because … well, no real “because”. I guess that is why they call it a disorder. Sadness for no reason is lame. With the day I’ve had, talking...
Read MoreDay 59 of Project 365: blueglow
Sunrise today in San Francisco: 07:22. In Edinburgh: 08:31. Sunset today in San Francisco: 17:21. In Edinburgh: 16:26. I didn’t consider seasonal affective disorder to be a foregone conclusion after the move, but here it is. Exercising outside helps, but sometimes the weather prevents that from being a viable option in daylight. But I’m not giving up. Last week, I began taking a daily Vitamin D supplement. A friend recommended this model of SAD light, and after a conversation with my dad about my lowered mood, he sent one as an early birthday gift. Tomorrow morning I will embrace the blue glow of my new gadget, and hope for sunnier times inside my...
Read MoreDay 58 of Project 365: mood-cleaners
Sometimes a bad mood lands like bird crap on your shoulder, and sometimes it drifts in like a layer of pollen on a windowsill. Either way, you’ve got to clean it up. My mood-cleaners in hand today: a beautiful card that just arrived in the mail, a luxurious Christmas gift, and the strangest cat I’ve ever met. Here is a mood-cleaning quotation, from the ever-mood-cleaning blog of Jonathan Carroll: The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a...
Read MoreDay 57 of Project 365: metroku
Someone left their half-done sudoku (sorry, metroku) on the bus today. I like doing sudoku, but I haven’t in a while. In fact, I haven’t since I read an op-ed piece in some newspaper I’ve forgotten that said sudoku was a waste of time. I started to wonder if it really was a waste of time … and then I was spending time wondering if I was wasting my time instead of doing sudoku. The idea of wasting time has been on my mind a lot lately. Today, the news of Harvard Library’s massive reorganization and layoffs has me wondering if I have wasted my time with graduate school. Whenever I fool around with my website, I wonder if that is time better spent doing something else. I don’t know. I don’t know, and I am beginning to suspect...
Read MoreDay 56 of Project 365: of the devil
The Web today has been a whole bunch of blackouts and protests and whinging and drama. Tonight was a perfect time to unplug, even if just for a few hours, and play some games with friends. Pictured is a two-player abstract game called Ponte del Diavolo. I snapped this quickly in the scoring phase, before all the pretty pieces were put away. As a side note, I am enjoying the cameraphone filters in Path. If you haven’t used the app yet, I recommend taking a peek. It is a delightful “social journaling” experience, meant to be shared with just a few friends instead of everyone. There are options to post Path moments to the wider Web, too, but that isn’t its focus. So far, Path provides me with something more intimate than Twitter and less...
Read MoreDay 55 of Project 365: mossty
It hasn’t been as cold as I thought it might be. I’ve confirmed from a number of native sources that winter has indeed been mild this year. However, this afternoon there was frost on the moss near my volunteering post. And so a portmanteau was coined: moss + frosty = mossty! I am going to have to go back to this spot with my macro lens. Or … anywhere in Scotland, really. It’s a mossy place, and I like it. Speaking of my macro lens, it still exists, as does the rest of my proper camera gear. Not that you’d know it from my recent snaps. Plans are in the works now for some photo outings with like-minded friends. I am looking forward to stretching those muscles again. Now taking requests for local photos you’d like to see done with...
Read MoreDay 54 of Project 365: sunbather
Zen was born in Alabama, so she loves the sun and warmth. I was worried about how she would transition to Scotland’s climate. With the new couch in the window, she is doing just fine. She also enjoys sprawling out on the part of the kitchen floor directly over the hot-water pipe. And when she sits by the radiator, she shoves her head up underneath it so far that we call it “cookin’ the brains.” I know that pet owners have a tendency to anthropomorphize. Personally, I find it very difficult to think of Zen as “just a cat” when she gives me looks like this one. I give her a look like this right back, of course, with my heart all sqwudgy. She will be fifteen this...
Read MoreDay 53 of Project 365: covered
Some days I have nothing I want to photograph. So I put my finger over the lens and click.
Read MoreDay 52 of Project 365: social (second) life
This morning I got all worked up about an email on my school’s listserv about how social networks don’t really build community online. I was properly fuming over it … and it wasn’t even 9am. It did not bode well for the rest of my Saturday. So I made a decision not to think about anything school- or work-related all day today. It was a great success. Among other things, I spent some time with friends in Second Life, something I hadn’t done for a couple of months. I was even able to make my friend Lou‘s weekly trivia game. Here is a snap of Lou and me after the game, enjoying our “non-existent” online community. For decades now, I have spent time connecting with people online. Some of my closest friendships are with...
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