Ultranormal

  • Something in the Water

    This is my fifth year at SxSW. Something wonderful happens to me when I’m here with all my crazy creative friends. Some switch gets flip and the tenuous control I have over what comes out of my mouth completely switches off and I become a round mound of manic energy. The pictures have already started showing up on flickr (thanks to MD for documenting it):\
    At Break Bread With Brad last night, I won a lovely custom made purse by Cinnamon Cooper. Now, I’m not normally a purse guy, but I made an exception last night and carried it as we wandered around Austin. Jen, you’re getting a really cute little handbag when I get home…

    Kevin smiling and holding a tiny handbag

    And then there was Dave. I mentioned that Dave had lost a lot of weight since last year, and asked him, of course, if it was a tapeworm. Unfortunately, it was really a medical condition. Thankfully, Dave’s a funny guy, and now “Hey, that tapeworm is stealing my food!” became the first running gag at SxSW for us this year. I don’t know that the picture really captures it, but that’s what we were going for.

    Dave Thomas is stealing my marshmallow!

    Today, it’s off to some panels, and tomorrow, the Web Awards and Fray. I love SxSW.

  • Things You Should Know # 87,295

    Good things don’t happen to me*, good things happen to people around me. Which MUST MEAN that I am a super awesome good luck charm. Want proof? Announcing the good things that are happening to other people-

    • Kevin’s pet project, ficlets, was nominated for two awards at SXSWi.
    • Heather, my SIL, was featured in a documentary, We Are Wizards, that will be shown at SXSW Film.
    • Brooke White, a friend of a friend, is on American Idol and she made it to the TOP 12. Way to go Brooke! YAY! It’s exciting to see her doing so well. For those of you into this sort of thing, check her out. If you like what you see, be sure to call in your support. Thanks! Here are her last three Idol performances: Beautiful, You’re So Vain, and Love Is a Battlefield.
    • Sharon, my baby cousin (not to be confused with Lauren, my itty bitty baby cousin), had her baby! Welcome Andrew:\
      Photobucket\
      Photobucket\
      He is so cute and smoochable (but only on the top of the head!). And look at Aunt Margie. Doesn’t she look too young to be a grandma? Where is her white hair and denim jumper?\
      Congrats to everyone on the list. And no need to thank me. :)\
      * This isn’t a woe-is-me statement, just a fact. I don’t have a job, I don’t create things, I don’t work on projects or get promotions or any of that. I did make a damn fine turkey chili the other night, though. 🙂

  • Happy Birthday, Ficlets

    I said it all over on the ficlets blog, but today is ficlets’ first birthday! There were a couple of false starts on the 7th last year, but that’s when the first story was posted.\
    I’m off to celebrate with breakfast tacos!

  • International Day of Awesomeness is almost here!

    International Day of Awesomeness is this Monday. This is an opportunity to celebrate the awesomeness already within you.\
    bq. No one’s perfect, but everyone can be awesome… People are awesome every day, frequently don’t realize it, and their feats of awesomeness are rarely recognized. We aim to fix that, with a special day to both perform and celebrate feats of awesomeness! bq.\
    For the lazybones in the crowd, Monday, March 10, was picked because it is Chuck Norris’s birthday. Go here to read why Chuck Norris is so awesome.\
    It’s been fun to read the different mentions of this around the internet. I am nothing if not a supportive wife, so I knew I had to do something too. Plus, Max is super excited. It is a school day and Kevin will be out of town, though, so I was having trouble thinking up something. Then inspiration struck! I made t-shirts. (Erm, I came up with the idea, did the shopping, and googling, and then went to my in-laws who actually made the shirts. Heh. Thanks, Baba and Uncle Steve.) Because really? Special t-shirts and/or cupcakes are all you need for a celebration. It’s true, ask around!\
    Here they are:\
    Photobucket\
    Aren’t they great? Some might even say “awesome.” I know Max will. He doesn’t know about them yet though. Wheee. I love fun and silly surprises. Then we are getting together with Baba after school to have a treat or activity of some sort.\
    For my awesome feat, I decided to… donate blood! Woot. I am very proud of this idea. 🙂 I haven’t donated blood since moving here and it’s about time I did. My mom always set an excellent example of the importance and ease of donating blood. I have an appointment in Fairfax for Monday afternoon. Go me!!\
    So, those are my plans for the International Day of Awesomeness. What are yours?

  • I Made A Ficlets Shirt

    I wasn’t on the ball this year and didn’t get around to ordering more ficlets stickers for SxSW this year. But, since ficlets is up for two SxSW Web Awards this year, I decided I need to do something special. So, I made a shirt!

    Here’s how I did it:

    1. Printed out the “f” from the ficlets logo.
    2. Cut it out
    3. Traced it on the shirt with an orange sharpie.
    4. Using a very fine brush, I painted the logo with bleach.\
      That’s it! I think it turned out OK. I plan on wearing it to the awards ceremony Sunday night. Hopefully, it’ll be bring good luck!

  • Real life quandry #85

    I have a recycle bin I want to get rid of. How do I do this?

  • SxSW Sneaks Up On Me Again

    SxSW Interactive is upon us again, and there’s a lot going on (as usual). I’m trying to keep the “gotstas” to a minimum this year, but there are a few things I know I’m doing:

    • Career Transitions: From DIY to Working For the Man – I’m moderating a panel that Cindy and Jason came up with over Dim Sum last year. We’re on the panel with Thomas Vander Wal and Leslie Jensen-Inman. We’ll be talking about the pros and cons of working at different-sized companies, the academic field and government contracting. We’ll be throwing out a lot of coping mechanisms and horror stories. I’m, of course, representing “The Man”. It’s Sunday at 5, so come on by.
    • SxSW Web Awards – Ficlets is up in two categories. I’m showing up in the off chance we beat Al Gore. I even have my speech ready.
    • The International Day of Awesomeness – I was traveling way too much (and then sick) to organize anything big for IDoA, but I am performing my own feat of awesomeness on Monday. I’ll be sure to take pictures.
    • 20×2 – Gotsta. Love it. Remember, Max and I made a movie for last year’s event, and I can’t wait to see what people come up with this year.
    • Break Bread With Brad – The only way to start off SxSW.
    • Fray – Love it. Great storytelling, and a great event to get the creative juices flowing. Plus, we usually go to Magnolia Cafe afterwards for milkshakes.\
      I’m sure I’m leaving something out. Well, this year, I’m trying not to stress out or overthink it (no more repeats of this photo from last year). I’m going to go with the flow, try to be as friendly as possible, and adopt as many newbies as I can. If you’re going, and it’s your first time, find yourself a vet and get some tips or just hang out. SxSW can be an intimidating thing, but pretty much everyone’s friendly and more than willing to help, even if they don’t know what they’re talking about.

  • B’s first day

    Yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life. And it was fabulous.\
    Brian had a great time at his new school. He was a bit sad when Kevin dropped him off but Kev gave Brian a big hug and then he ran off to play legos. Other awesome highlights: he used the toilet the whole day there (keeping his pull-up dry), ate his lunch no problem, and took a nap during quiet time. YAY! I was worried about lunch because he’s so picky and nap time because he’s not used to napping anymore. They have 4 recess/gym times, so I am sure the kids really do need the nap. The school has a web camera that parents can access to see their kids whenever they want. I love this feature. As soon as I get my access, I’ll be sure to send it along to the grandparents too. (I can sign up 5 other family members so they can check in on Brian too.)

  • Today. Is the first day. Of the rest of my life.

    Brian started full time preschool/daycare today. Wheeee. Boooo. I’m a wreck.

  • Love is All Around Us

    I’m 3,000 miles away from my sweetheart today, so all I’ve got for you is a quote from one of my favorite movies about the subject, Love Actually:

    Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspision love actually is all around.