Shockingand awesome
Shock and awe, not to be confused with Chaka Kahn, has begun.
Friday, March 21, 2003
Thursday, March 20, 2003
Wednesday, March 19, 2003
War blogging
System note:
It looks like there's been a burst of commenting activity on the YACCS system, so comments may be down for awhile.
I report ... you decide
I hate to admit this -- because I hate Fox News and its smug pretense of balance and fairness -- but they're doing the best war coverage so far.
And I have to admit that it's a little weird watching Internet-quality video on my TV. I hope those videophones everyone's using gets better fast.
Tuesday, March 18, 2003
This means war
Well, it looks like we're going. Andrea is all freaked out, but I have to admit I enjoy watching round-the-clock war coverage. It reminds me of college, when my roommates and I refused to take the Christmas tree down until the troops came home. That's right, our tree was still up Jan. 16 (or whenever Gulf War I started) and was a fire hazard by the time it came down.
I went to San Jose last weekend and had a really good time in San Francisco. We got caught in the middle of the war protests (though people were also protesting capitalism, heterosexuality, our South Korean military presence and, for some reason, the Gap). Old Navy lowered the metal "night bars" as shoppers watched the protesters from inside. Andrea and were in the middle of things until we wisely decided to go across the street and watch the ordeal from the second story of Virgin Megastore.
Andrea has the OK for cross-training from every person she needs it from except the union leader from editorial. The editorial department, where she'd like to get training, has a different union than the one representing her department, complicating the process. Neither union wants to be the one to pay her salary during the training. God forbid she try to improve her value to the newspaper and fulfill one of the editor's big pushes. I like unions, but I hate hate HATE bureaucracy.
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
We're No. 2!
My bowling team is back in 2nd place (tied for 2nd, actually) after winning two of tonight's three games.
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Monday, March 10, 2003
Weekend on the Coast
I spent the day in Santa Monica, mostly at the Third Street Promenade. I finally got around to reading this month’s Dwell and Wired, both of which were pretty interesting. Dwell focused on affordable but well-designed housing, which, because I am a person of momodest means, piqued my interest.
This weekend I took the plunge and ripped most of my CD collection to the computer. It’s just nice to have all my music in one place and easily accessible (I download a lot of MP3s and subscribe to the legal online music outlet, Pressplay, so this is more of an issue than it sounds). In the process I came to appreciate Microsoft’s Media Player version 9. It automatically creates different folders for each artist and album and even creates an icon of the album cover. This works for ripped, downloaded and subscription music alike. Nice.
My bowling team (yes, I’m in a league) lost our No. 1 ranking last week after loosing three games in a row. In my defense, I was getting over a backache brought on from a game two weeks prior. The rest of my team will have to come up with their own excuses.
Someone here at Barnes and Noble just asked about my laptop. When people are still impressed with your technology six months after you bought it, that’s a good sign you got a cutting-edge device. Now that I can’t buy anything for awhile, we’ll see how long that lasts.
T-Mobile lowered the prices for its Wi-Fi access and got rid of its ridiculous data transfer caps. But still not enough to make the service worthwhile.
OK, I’m going to leave because it’s freezing in here. I dressed for the afternoon high of 73, not this 40-degree night.
Tuesday, March 4, 2003
More job news
Andrea's interview went well today, but they indicated that they're interviewing a designer from the L.A. Times next week with 13 years' experience. But the women said she'd really like to hire another woman. Let's hope the L.A. Times guy is asking for too much money.
Also, Andrea's union leader said they'll try to make sure she gets called into work three or more times a week. Let's hope that happens.
And in a shocking development, The San Jose Business Journal laid off five more people today. No word on whom.
The Bush recovery continues...
Parabéns!
Everyone say happy birthday to Andrea. She's 30! (Actually it was on Monday, but I didn't get a chance to update the blog).
Sunday, March 2, 2003
Play detective!
Do these picture look even remotely alike? If I saw the guy on the bottom walking down the street, I would have never guessed it's the same guy as the one on the left. Be glad I'm a journalist and not a CIA agent.
Friday, February 28, 2003
Good news, bad news
First the good: Andrea has an interview next week for an infographic design position at the San Jose Mercury News, a big step up from what she's doing now and a far better use of her talent. Also, a very popular designer (an American whose wife happens to be Brazilian), has expressed interest in her work, and might use her for conferences he organizes in Brazil.
The bad news: she found out that her department lost a big client and will therefore cut two people, putting her at No. 2 or No. 3 on the substitute list. This means she may work as little as a day a week. It'll probably be closer to two or three days, but in either case, she'll take a big cut from her already low pay.
Pray that she gets the Merc job. Or maybe this is God's way of forcing her to move here.
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
TV is your friend
Tonight's episode of Smallville was awesome. Clark finally learns that he's Superman (or at least Kal-El), special-effects abound, the tension between Clark and Lex Luthor grows, and the multilayered Christopher Reeve appearance even had musical allusions to the John Williams Superman theme. Excellent!
I think this was the episode everyone was waiting for. Too bad they'll show reruns for the next few months.
Friday, February 14, 2003
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Valentine's Day
Well, I'm getting ready to go to San Jose again. I'll miss the real holiday, since I get in at 10:30 p.m. and she doesn't get off work until midnight or so. But we'll celebrate on Saturday. One of her cousins is in San Francisco, so I'll get to meet her, too. Best of all, it's a three-day weekend.
I'm a little worried about this terrorism business. I guess there's nothing I can do, but it's never a good sign when the government advises you to stock up on duct tape. I hope the rumors about stinger missiles are exaggeated. And I hope targets don't include Disneyland, the underwater BART tunnels in the Bay area or LAX. Or for that matter, my apartment.
Monday, February 10, 2003
U.S. questions dissident's conviction
CNN.com - U.S. questions dissident's conviction
"Our embassy in Beijing and our consulate general in Guangzhou have again registered our deep concerns over lack of due process," Boucher said.
"We also note with deep concern that Mr. Wang's trial was conducted in secret, raising questions about the nature of the evidence against him," he added.
"We are particularly concerned by the charge of terrorism in this case given the apparent lack of evidence and of due process."
Because the United States would never do anything like that.
Saturday, February 8, 2003
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
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