Bedhead

This is a funny Flickr photo set of a dude's bedhead on various mornings when he wakes up. People are amusing to me.

Siblings

Quin&Alex by Ola Czechowska

My photographer friend Ola, who I never see in person, has begun posting on Flickr recently. This is a lovely picture she posted last week.

"L.A. Toddler" :-)

from the archives... by sesame ellis

Sesame Ellis strikes again. Love it.

This is an amusing and truth-filled article summarizing the top trends in web design this year. I think some of them are very good trends. but the "wet floor effect" made me laugh out loud because I see it a lot at work. ;-) 8 Web Design Clichés of 2006

The BBC recently reported on a study that showed that people are more honest (or, one could posit, guilt-ridden) when eyes are watching them, even if the eyes aren't real. Read the article

Book: Inkheart

Great adventure story, good narration

I said I was devouring this book… I should have waited two hours because I finished it later that day. It is a great adventure story even though it’s a children’s book. Definitely worth a read and the audio version is well done. Buy it for a family car trip?

Movie: Jarhead

Absolutely mediocre

This movie added almost nothing to my understanding of war or the first Gulf War in particular. If you feel like watching a war movie, there are many better choices available.

The Internet is just a bunch of tubes

Crazy-ass Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska heads the Senate Commerce Committee that regulates (among other things) the Internet. During the recent debate about the Net Neutrality act, he went on a rant about the problems facing the Internet. See clips of Sen. Stevens and hear what Jon Stewart said.

My mom came to visit last Sunday and she had Inkheart on CD checked out from the library in her car. I was so happy and ripped it to our home computer! Since I finished The Crazed earlier this week I have been devouring Inkheart and am nearly done. In exchange for letting me rip Inkheart, I gave my mom a copy of Inkspell, the next book in the trilogy, which is also read by our new favorite narrator Brendan Fraser! W00t!

Book: The Crazed

Pointless?

If it had a point then I missed it. This is a story of a young man in China in the late 80s. He is studying to be a scholar and then his professor and future father-in-law becomes ill. The rantings of the ill professor make the young man reconsider his life. The story ties into the events at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

It took a long time for this story to get at all interesting and then the end left me mystified as the the point of the story. I don’t recommend this, but I welcome other perspectives because it’s entirely possible I just missed the point.

Book: Christmas, Present

Okay, but not great

I think this is my least favorite Mitchard book so far, though it isn’t bad. It’s just not that good. It’s a sort of novelette, about 150 pages long. It is basically the story of a woman dying, told over the course of a few days and with a little sight into the future and past. It might have made a good novel, but as a novelette I just don’t think it has enough going on. She normally tackles difficult subjects so well, but I think there isn’t enough meat or context for this sad story to make it feel like real life, the way she does in her other books. I was also struck by the fact that one of the characters in this book has the same unusual name as a character in her book The Breakdown Lane. I wonder if this didn’t precede that and fail to turn into a full novel, then she started over with Breakdown and ended up releasing them both.

"Untitled 1"

"Untitled 1" by Piper Drake

Piper posts funny photos on Flickr. :-)

It's a hot one

It's hot out again here in Seattle. Living here the last few years really makes it feel that global warming is real.

Movie: In Her Shoes

Cute, enjoyable

I thought this was a well done and fun little Hollywood flick. It won’t change your life, but it’s enjoyable. Cameron Diaz did a pretty good job, though she is used as eye candy throughout the film. Toni Collette was also great and it was neat to see Shirley MacLaine in a subtle role like this one.

I also enjoyed the three featurettes in the special features section of the DVD. I especially liked the one about how they chose and trained the dog, and wanted to promote people getting their dogs from shelters, even though it made me feel guilty for paying a lot of money for a purebred pug. Especially interesting since the original novel and screenplay featured a pug. :) I think the dog in the mo vie was part pug and I want to know the mix. It was very cute.

TV: Joan of Arcadia - The First Season

I like it, damn it!

Perhaps you loved Joan of Arcadia. Or perhaps your opinion of me is plummeting by the moment. Either way, I enjoyed the first season of this show very much. Now I am ready for season 2. Too bad it isn’t on DVD yet. Anyone out there secretly a JoA fan hoarding VHS recordings from CBS?

Summer is so dry for my serial entertainment. I know I can watch movies, but they feel like too much of a commitment to me right now. Good thing I’m already married or I’d be in a world of trouble if I can’t even commit to a movie. ;-)

Anyway, Joan of Arcadia was a show about an “average” family whose daughter talks to God. Like, God comes and talks to her and tells her what to do. Yes, a modern Joan of Arcadia on a small scale. Amber Tamblyn (from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Ring, which is too scary for me) is the main character and it also stars Mary Steenburgen and Joe Mantegna as the parents and some other groovy teens as friends and siblings. JoA was cancelled after two seasons. In this religious social climate, I can’t really see why. Benjamin says it wasn’t reverent enough for the right wing and was too religious for the left. Maybe he’s right.

The special features on the last disc were interesting. I liked that the creator Barbara Hall, also of Judging Amy and other shows, said that the show was about spirituality but not about religion. Perhaps that is why I feel comfortable with it. Or perhaps I was just worn down from watching Seventh Heaven too many times. :-D

Have I mentioned I watch a lot of television? I down play it, but I do. It’s my background noise. I like background stories instead of just music. Audio books are good, too.

Survey of the Blogosphere Finds 12 Million Voices

There's an interesting New York Times article today about who is blogging and what they are blogging about. Excerpt:

Bloggers are a mostly young, racially diverse group of people who have never been published anywhere else and who most often use cyberspace to talk about their personal lives, according to a report on blogging released yesterday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The report also said that 8 percent of Internet users, or about 12 million American adults, keep a blog, and that 39 percent of Internet users, or about 57 million American adults, read blogs.

Read the full article

Movie: Walk the Line

Very enjoyable

Sure, this film seems to fall into the trap of focusing on the drug addiction and turmoil, but one can surmise those were formative years. I think this was a very enjoyable music and both Joaquin Phoenix and Rees Witherspoon did great work as the leads, including their singing. I recommend the flick unless you’re the highly critical type; then it’s your own call. ;-)

FWIW, this movie felt better paced and less over-dramatized than Ray did to me, though I admit I skipped part of that movie since it was dragging on so darn long.

Wholesome urban anarchy

There is a group of knitters taking the world by storm by putting knitting everywhere in their urban environments (like tagging, but different). Check it out at knittaplease.com and on Flickr.

Puggies

Maple keeps her eyes on me while trying to nap with Carol by Corinne S.

I posted a few cute puggy photos from this spring.

Suburban Druids gone wild

Suburban Druids gone wild by stephstone

He he he he he.

More from Sesame

waving with dinky, steven and a hidden sunna (aka sushi) by sesame ellis

Another great shot from Sesame Ellis (aka Rachel). Not only is it a great photo, but she adds very amusing notes that enrich the subject.

Birthday party

Amelia by Corinne S.

Tonight I posted the photos from my birthday barbeque. This is a cute one of Claire's baby Amelia.

George Bush

George Bush* by imapix

Click and read the description.

WA Board of Pharmacy Proposes Rule that Fails to Protect Patient Access to Prescriptions

There is an email action form online to tell the the Washington Pharmacy Board that allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill valid prescriptions based on non-medical, personal judgments is unacceptable. If you agree with that statement, please consider sending a message to the Washington State Board of Pharmacy using the link above. Read more about the issue

Book: Haunted Ground

Not bad

This was a decent read. For some reason the Irish accented reader put me off at first (remember, I’m listening to the book). Perhaps it is because, as miaow says, it was written by an American author and doesn’t ring true of Irish speaking style. I dunno.

Anyway, I got over that after a bit and enjoyed the story. It’s about two anthropologists investigating two mysteries – one modern and the other a few centuries old. There’s also a little love story.

It’s not a great book, but if you’ve nothing better to read on hand then this will do just fine. :-)

Envy is me.

addicted. by sesame ellis

This is a photographer I discovered on Flickr whose work makes my heart hurt with envy. I want to be this good. And could it be effortless, too? Thanks.

Location. Location. Location.

Ferry crossing by Vashon Waterfront Home

I also posted some nice photos of and from the house. Okay, so it's not really the house... it's the location. Did I mention this is where I grew up?

I lived in this specific house from age 12-18 years, but I lived in it's smaller predecesor next door from age ~9 mos-12 years. I rarely go there, but it will be very different not having it as an option. I must admit the view is unforgettable.

Maybe the fact that I couldn't hope to purchase something like this myself is why living in a cute Craftsman in the middle of the city is fine with me. Things in between just aren't that interesting, and plus I'm not ready to live on an island again right now. We'll see about ever.

Major foundation repair

Foundation_repair_165 by Vashon Waterfront Home

Last night I culled and posted the photos my dad gave me of the foundation repair project on the Vashon house. The foundation repair was recently completed and now they're prepping the house to sell. I think we will all be very sad to see it go, but at the same time it will make our lives simpler.

It's been so many years in the making that it doesn't seem real. I think it will be a while after the sale (whenever that is) before I begin to accept that it is gone. I will have to take lots of photos when I am there this weekend!

Just peachy...

the taste of summer by Elan Photography

This afternoon I asked my British coworker how he was doing and he said "Peachy. Just frappin' peachy." I need a response that good.

Movie: The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Beautiful cinematography and still a wonderful story

This is a beautifully shot and well acted movie. The story is wonderful and I wouldn’t see the Christian under-story without coaching. Sure, it’s there, but it’s not a good reason to skip the movie in my opinion. It’s been so long since I read the book that I didn’t know what was going to happen and found certain parts upsetting. I don’t know how young of kids I’d let watch it, though of course I don’t have to make that decision. ;-)

Crazy amazing eyes

Maria Bonita by !borghetti

This child's eyes are a-maz-ing. Check out the large size.

Book: The Breakdown Lane

Another great Mitchard novel

I love Jaquelyn Mitchard. Not as much as Barbara Kingsolver, but now more than Anne Rivers Siddons (whose recent books haven’t been as good as her earlier works) or most of the other authors I’m a regular reader of. I don’t think this book was quite as engrossing as her newer release, Cage of Stars, but it was still quite good and I liked the ending of this one better. Mitchard’s books are each unique stories and I love the way she tackles difficult issues. This book is about a woman whose husband has a mid-life crisis and leaves her with three kids right about the same time as she finds out she has multiple sclerosis. But it isn’t depressing or in my opinion, rather a story of coping and moving on and life being life. I recommend this book.

Embarrassing typo

Someone who writes for MSN or MSNBC is embarrassed right now. This typo has already been repaired since I started writing this entry. ;-)

Rob - Self Portrait

Seattle Self Portrait by Rob Gruhl

Rob posted this lovely self-portrait on Flickr. He's such the photo bug. Love it!

Book: Wicked

Clever, but not an enjoyable read

This is a very clever and incredibly well thought out back story for the life of the Wicked Witch of the West. Unfortunately, it is a way I too long and detailed and doesn’t manage to effectively tie the details to the big picture all the way through the book. The page by page reading experience isn’t boring exactly, but the reader gets mired down in seemingly irrelevant details and only on later reflection does it actually seem clever. Perhaps with some severe editing this book would be a real gem.