More from Gene Weingarten. In his latest Below the Beltway column, Gene updates us on his article about the worst town in America. He found it in Battle Mountain, Nevada. The original article is here. Apparently, the publisher of the town’s local paper fired the editor over her jokingly agreeing with Gene about the whole thing. Gene’s application to be the new editor is priceless.
Author: Kevin Lawver
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Or a story about a
Or a story about a kitten who gets run over and lives his life as FlatCat the Colostomy Kitty.
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I’m thinking about writing a
I’m thinking about writing a book. I have a couple ideas, the obvious being a book on creating three-tiered applications with AOLserver. I know I’m not the perfect candidate, but I don’t see anyone else writing anything about AOLserver that’s done for the general public.
My other idea is a manual of style for large-scale web projects. I’ve heard all of the anecdotal ideas about where to put css tags and stuff, but nothing out there that a company or group could adopt like Robert’s Rules of Order for writing code. Proper tabbing, where to put graphics on the webserver, what order to put tag properties, etc. I’m pretty anal about all of that stuff at work, and well, I think it would be good to get some of it down on paper.
But now, it’s off to waste some time installing XP.
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I’m not a dog person,
I’m not a dog person, but Lynda Barry always seems to capture what I think a talking dog would sound like: 2002 Dog Astrology. It’s a little late, but she also did a doggy Christmas.
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I’m back at work, and
I’m back at work, and dang people, can you send more mail? Just between the first and third I received 100+ pieces of mail, mostly work related. How scary is that?
Just a little update on LawverHappenings:
- Christmas was great. Max was adorable and everyone was laid back and had a good time. There were no fights, no major philosophic differences (that we discussed), no disasters, and everyone left smiling.
- As you can tell by my last post, I got Civ3 from my in-laws. It has yet to caused marital dischord, which is a major achievement.
- Mom got me The Best of Randy Newman. It’s most excellent.
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The record store in the mall is going out of business. We raided it and I picked up some really good stuff
- Rhinocerose: Blissful French techno. Very groovy
- Spring Heel Jack: Treader. I love his other stuff and didn’t even know about this album. It’s much better than the last one.
- Amon Tobin: Supermodified. Oh yes, yes, yes, this is an amazing album. You’ve heard him on BMW and Coke commercials. Great rockin’ beats. Light Sunday Afternoon Industrial
- Crash Test Dummies: Give Yourself a Hand. I was curious about this album before, but never went out and got it. It’s an interesting departure from the “Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm” stuff from their first two albums. I liked it. They mixed up the vocals, still had a couple songs that felt like their old stuff, but really left the park on the rest of the album. It’s a little dirty, but a fun listen.
- David Byrne: Feelings. I love David Byrne. I was looking for Look Into the Eyeball, but this was the only one they had that I don’t. Excellent album. Goes from David Byrne’s normal wackiness to Country twang to techno-ey thumping without making your head spin. Awesome.
- Memento the Soundtrack: There’s some really good stuff on this album by Moby, Thievery Corporation, Bjork, etc. Good stuff.
- We went to Home Depot yesterday and loaded up on shelving for our midget closet and various other places. I even bought super-strength drywall screws so I don’t repeat the “Great Sliding Shelve Debacle of 2000” again.
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You’re right. I haven’t been
You’re right. I haven’t been posting. Civ3 is just so addictive!! That, and I’m off work till Friday, and we’re just having so much fun teaching Max new phrases. My new favorite after his “Hel-LOOOOOOO” is “How do YOU do?” It cracks me up every time.
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The basement is painted. The
The basement is painted. The tiny bathroom is painted. I am still fighting my sinus infection and feel like crap. I should call the doctor, but I haven’t.
Jen’s uncle died last night. We were going to go up to Michigan to visit him on Monday, but that visit’s turned into a funeral, and she doesn’t want to go. So, we’re cancelling the tickets, the hotel and rental car and staying home with our grief.
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Blogger Insider
I signed up for blogger insider, and this is my first cycle. The questions this time are from Ellie, in Massachusetts (and fine questions they are):
Are Macs really better than PCs?
I think they’re better for certain things. I like the fact that you know what hardware’s going to be in them, and I think that makes programming for them easier. I like PC’s for the Wild West-ness of them. My brother and I just put a new machine together for me, made out of all brand new parts we bought at half a dozen sites. You could never do that with a Mac and think it will work. I like Macs for their dependability and Apple’s design sense. I like PCs for their expandability, price and flexability.
What’s the cutest thing your son has ever done?
He recently learned to talk, and has started speaking in short sentances. His new favorite word is “hello”, but instead of just saying it, he says it like a little gameshow host, “Hel-LOOO!” It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen
Do you have any regrets about college?
That I didn’t go back. I wish I would have finished. I don’t think it would have helped my much in my current job, but it would have given me a better foundation so I wouldn’t have had to learn a lot of what I know from scratch.
What is your job?
I build search applications for AOL. My largest product is AOL Search, where I do all the frontend work, and a lot of the webserver programming. It’s challenging being the integration piece and the frontend guy at the same time. I have to take a dozen or so different technologies, get them all to talk to me in a way I want, and then present the results to the users. It’s challenging, but a lot of fun.
Do you listen to Sting when he is without the Police?
I think the last album of Sting’s I bought was the one that had Fields of Gold on it. It was a disappointment. His last great solo album was Dream of the Blue Turtles. I borrowed the big Police boxed set from a friend, and I love their early stuff.
Do you like where you live? What keeps you there?
Work keeps me here, but I really like it. We’re close enough to DC that we can go downtown whenever we want without a lot of trouble (other than getting horribly lost), but we live far enough outside that we’re not totally sucked into the politics of the area. Sterling feels like a small town without being all hicky like Mannassas or Leesburg. It’s a nice balance.
Why do you blog? What made you start?
I saw Megnut first, and saw a whole new part of the web. I was fascinated by these incredibly personal sites, and how small groups of sites seemed like “cliques”. It was an interesting world. I started blogging because I realized that after seven years of instant messaging and e-mail, I’ve become a really crappy writer. I wanted to practice, to write well. I want to be able to express myself like Gail or Michael.
What five songs would you put on the soundtrack to your life thus far?
This is a really hard question…
- Teardrop by Massive Attack
- Cure for Pain by Morphine
- Yes by Morphine
- With a Little Help From My Friends by the Beatles
- and cheating… anything by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Would you really dye your hair blue if it went completly gray before you were “old”?
Oh yes. If it completes the transformation before I’m 35, I’m definitely going blue. I already tried Ultimate Blond, which was a lot of fun. Blue’s just a color, and why not make it my hair color?
Have you ever seen Gone With the Wind?
Only pieces. I have this animosity towards the south and melodrama in general. I don’t think I could make it through the whole thing.
Has your life turned out the way you planned?
Oh no. I think that’s because I didn’t have a real concrete plan to begin with, at least no plan with short-term goals. My life is pretty great right now. I love my wife and son. I like my job. I like where I live. Life is good.
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first of all, poor Evan.
first of all, poor Evan. It sucks royally that someone would hack Blogger, which is a free service, and really should be left alone. I hope all the problems are resolved quickly, and whoever did this is caught and punished. So, this update was done manually, and I probably won’t post again until Blogger’s fixed.
The Recap
Christmas was grand. Max was adorable. I’d write more, but I’m still recovering from all the joy and togetherness. And, I just got done doing the trim for the basement. The fam is coming over tomorrow and we’re going to paint the whole thing “Polished Apple” red. Why, you ask? Jen had the cool idea of turning the basement into our own private movie theater. So, we’re going to start by painting the walls bright red, and then adding movie paraphenalia and eventually getting a big-screen TV and a giant sectional. It’ll be peachy-keen.
We also got my new computer together and working! It’s fast and nice and runs a wicked UT.
I also just sent my Blogger Insider questions to young Ellie, my randomly selected interviewee/er. Here are the questions. If you’d also like to answer them, please send them!
- What’s your favorite thing about living in Massachusetts?
- Least favorite thing?
- Will the Red Sox ever get over “The Curse”?
- How do you think living where you live (or have lived if you’re not from there originally) has shaped your personality?
- Who introduced you to blogging (ie: which blog did you visit first, was it a friend)?
- Why do you blog, and what do you hope to gain from it?
- Which do you prefer, old REM (pre-Monster) or old REM (post-Monster)?
- If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be and where would you eat?
- What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned about life so far?
- What’s your favorite thing about College (I’m assuming you’re a freshman)?
- Least favorite?
- What’s your favorite comfort food?
- If you think the milk’s gone bad, do you ask someone else to smell/taste it before you throw it out?
Now, I have to go to bed so I can get up nice and early and paint.