Done yesterday (20110710 Su)

[mdlbear]

0710 Su
  * up 7:30; W=197.4; drugs, teeth, light
  @ Why We Need the New News Environment to be Chaotic « Clay Shirky (boingboing
    " Writing about the Dallas Cowboys in order to take money from Ford and
      give it to the guy on the City Desk never made much sense, but at least
      it worked. Online, though, the economic and technological rationale for
      bundling weakensno monopoly over local advertising, no daily allotment
      of space to fill, no one-size-fits-all delivery system. Newspapers, as a
      sheaf of unrelated content glued together with ads, arent just being
      threatened with unprofitability, but incoherence.
    " ...there are only three things Im sure of: News has to be subsidized,
      and it has to be cheap, and it has to be free.
  @ PowerPoint ban: Swiss political party wants to outlaw the software 
  @ 4 ugly websites from companies that should know better - CSMonitor.com
  & repaired email config on algol, which had a totally messed-up config from
    when I installed squeeze at work.  Growf.
  & unsubscribed from alamo.com -- had used gmail for a reservation
  * 15min: tested a plastic carabiner on Chami for holding Minnie in place.
    made of win.  There are even little pockets on the sides of the handle.
    ~ The Chami+Minnie combo needs a top handle -> handle free in this config
    * The Chami+Minnie combo needs a way of stabilizing "shoulder" mode.
      a -loop- _carabiner_ around Chami's handle and through Minnie's Y.
  & sang QV over the phone to N, at her request.
    It occurs to me that it would make a good video.
  * 15min: finally created a new mail folder for high-volume pings (pongs)
    and a new category (mail.soc) for social networks (e.g. mail.soc.twitter) 
  % heart-rate up.  WTF?  Because I'm changing my mail folders?
    *shakes head in amused disbelief*
    -> no, because the UBF came up in a conversation with N. about
       visit scheduling.  Definitely a delayed-response anxiety attack.
  * hotel reservations for RainFurrest Fri-Mon
    :( too late for the con hotel; the one we got is across the street.	
    likewise no accessible rooms.  That's what happens when I procrastinate. 
  * out with YD to phone service place (new battery and charger), store (where
    it turns out that she's not eligible for an upgrade until January.
    Neither am I.  There are some nice Android phones out there.)
  * walk:  around the Rose Garden.
    % blood sugar crash made me cut it short.
  * hotel for Thursday 9/22:  Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Bothell, WA
    19333 North Creek Parkway, Bothell, WA 98011; (425) 485-5557
    http://www.countryinns.com/bothell-hotel-wa-98011/wabothel b'fast buffet
  @ Oakland Elementary School Teaches Pupils That There Are More Than Two
    Genders @lysana  Nevermind that the author of the original article
    thinks that this is a _bad_ thing.  Oakland rocks.
  & listening to Dave Carter songs.  Pulled down "When I Go" from 
    Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer Chords 
  @ YouTube - When I Go - Pete & Maura Kennedy ( Dave Carter song ) 
  * bed ~10:30, for snuggle and conversation

A lot of puttering yesterday. I finally made hotel reservations for RainFurrest -- should have done it much earlier. Also some music: I sang QV over the phone to pocketnaomi, and spent some time in the evening listening to Dave Carter songs on YouTube, and downloading and formatting the lyrics and chords to "When I Go".

And a walk around the Rose Garden -- I only went around once, though; it was late in the afternoon and my blood sugar started to crash at that point. I got home about 5:30 and made salad, thin rib-eye steaks, and roasted fingerling potatoes and broccoli. (There wasn't enough broccoli for full portions, and I wanted to do something different after having served it microwaved on Saturday.)

I had what was pretty clearly an anxiety attack -- mostly noticable via increased heart rate -- seemingly out of the blue. I'm pretty sure now that it was a delayed reaction to an earlier conversation, but... I don't remember whether it was half an hour or an hour later. It took me another hour or two to figure out what was causing it, namely thinking about the YD's boyfriend (the UBF).

So, let me get this straight. It was caused by something I was thinking about in the background while concentrating on something totally unrelated. That makes it much harder to debug. Fortunately this was a pretty mild thing, more annoying than alarming. So that's good.

I went to bed early, having realized that I hadn't spent nearly as much time with Colleen as I usually do on a weekend.

Quite a few links up in the notes. I think the most thought-provoking is this article on Why We Need the New News Environment to be Chaotic, by Clay Shirky. And here's a beautiful cover of "When I Go" performed by Pete & Maura Kennedy.

Comments

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Why a plastic carabiner, rather than a metal one? I use carabiners a lot, and it's been my experience that the plastic ones always break, usually at the worst possible moment. Metal (aluminum, mostly) ones are cheap, come in all sorts of sizes and colors, and are available in stores ranging from Staples to Home Depot to Michael's. I've got my Leatherman Juice attached to my shoulder bag with a purple carabiner; I have another one holding an assortment of other tools (small flashlight, miniature adjustable wrench, tape measure, etc.) on smaller carabiners; and I have a wonderful one in the shape of a purple five-pointed star (!), on which I have my car keys and house keys (on spring clips, not carabiners, for reasons of speed).

[mdlbear]

The moving part on this kind is a simple metal loop, with no sharp edges to damage the fabric. It doesn't have to close fully, which makes detaching the shoulder-bag faster.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I've seen the kind of clip you're talking about.

[mdlbear]

I'll try to remember to post a picture. Oh: google to the rescue:

http://www.chinawholesaletown.com/wholesale-Plastic-Carabiner_10712985854d4787138ebdf0web_up_file.jpg

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Ah. I'd still be a little dubious about the plastic breaking, but I do like the metal loop closure. I use this type (http://promotions.advanceweb.com/images/products/2009/CP/CP_trade_show_giveaways/09869_MagellanCarabinerClip_CP/09869_MagellanCarabinerClip_CP_med.jpg), except without advertising. (I may have seen something similar with a metal body.) My biggest problem is that they're made of anodized aluminum, and the purple anodized coating eventually gets scratched and worn ;-)

[mdlbear]

Yes; I have quite a few of those, picked up at trade shows. Come to think of it, so were most of my plastic ones.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

All my carabiners either came free with something else (such as getting a key copied), or else I bought them. I'm not eligible for any trade shows... although friends who do go to them sometimes give me tchotchkes they've brought home.

[chaoswolf]

UBF = Undesirable BoyFriend, I'm guessing.

[mdlbear]

Yup. Got it in one.

Also Unwelcome and Unsuitable.

[chaoswolf]

Don't tell me she's still in love with him?

[mdlbear]

She is. :P