Lake Wenatchee photos

Smiley face in PJs by Corinne S.

I posted the rest of the photos from our weekend in Lake Wenatchee.

More Exploring...

Battle of the pugs by Corinne S.

Apparently this photo of mine was featured on Flickr's Explore page on August 17th, so the other photo I mentioned wasn't really the first. I am a little puzzled about how to get reliable info on which of my photos have appeared in Explore.

Book: Middletown, America

Worthwhile This is an account of one town's experience of 9/11. Middletown, NJ had the highest number of people killed in the towers of any town in the country. One group in particular that the book talks about is a small group of widows who pushed the US government to do more to understand the 9/11 plot and prevent future terrorist attacks. It's a well written and interesting account from some who were in the towers during the attacks, the widows, the organizations established to help the families of those killed (sometimes in surprising ways), the police who worked to recover all the remains from the site after the disaster, and more. It's a surprisingly broad and interesting perspective. I guess the one thing that struck me as missing was male widows. Each of the many widows discussed in the book was female, and that struck me as odd. Perhaps there weren't any male widows in Middletown specifically, or perhaps it was an author bias. I don't know. But it was still an interesting and worthwhile read.

I love these two

My yummy family by Corinne S.

I am so happy to have these two cute ones as my family. Super cuteness!!!

Windy walk

Ears take flight by Corinne S.

Maple and I took a long walk at Magnuson park today. It was very windy and Maple's ears took on a life of their own. :-D

My brother the adventurer

Head Stand by gabesnider

My sister-in-law Gabe posted a bunch of photos to her Flickr account today. This is one of my brother river kayaking. More photos from Gabe.

Weekend in the snow

Maple runs from a snowball fight by Corinne S.

This past weekend Benjamin and I went to his sister's in-law's cabin on Lake Wenatchee with Benjamin's whole family (us + his parents + his sister and her fam). I think this is a funny picture of Maple running from the snowball fight taking place in the background. Look at that little pink tongue! I am still sick, but I'm on antibiotics (it's presumably a sinus infection + a "bronchiospastic" cough). We had quite an adventure getting over the pass and into the cabin on Friday, but that will have to be a story for another day since I should get my sickly ass in bed. More pictures and stories to come soon.

Maple has been Explored by Flickr

Maple, cute as always by Corinne S.

I had no idea until now, but this photo appeared on the Explore page on October 30th. It's my first picture to appear on Explore. :-D

Urge pharmacies to stock Plan B

Despite three years of political interference from the White House, Congress, and anti-choice lobbyists, the FDA recently approved Plan B for over-the-counter sales for women over the age of 18. I'm pissed about the age limit, which was not recommended by physicians, but this is still a major victory for women's rights. However, most national pharmacy corporations currently do not have a policy requiring their chain stores to stock Plan B. Ask CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens to set up a policy requiring their chain stores to stock Plan B

Flickr: Archive of your photos posted in 2006

I just discovered this cool calendar view on Flickr. You can see an archive of my photos posted in 2006 in a calendar view. It would be even better if it showed thumbnails and an indication of quantity on the dates, but still this is very useful and I didn't know it was there before. There are other neat ways to view a person's archives on Flickr as well. You can choose list view, detail view, map view or calendar view and then select a month or year that the photos were taken or posted. Sweet. Note that the month view calendars do have thumbnails, just not the year view.

Democrats take over the country

Here's a silly site in honor of the fact that the Democrats took control of both the house and senate in last week's mid-term election. Go Dems! The Right Was Right

This is my office at 5:01 PM. That window is more like a (very revealing to those outside) wall. Do you know where your sunshine went for the winter?

Sick. Again. Worse. Longer.

I got sick again last Monday (yes, 9 days ago) and stayed home for a day. I proceeded to be sick all week, and then got worse at the end of the weekend and was home all weekend and Monday. Tuesday I worked part day and went to the doctor. It sounds like I got a cold, which likely became a sinus infection, and also triggered the asthma that I only get when I get sick. So I am working again, but medicated up the ying yang and periodically can't breathe. I will start a course of antibiotics tomorrow if I am not improving on my own by then. As miserable as this is, there are many worse off than I am. People I know have been suffering not only from strep and mono, but more serious medical conditions. My grandma had a heart attack a couple of weeks ago due to a clot and she was hospitalized a couple of times with complications. Blessedly she is doing well now. My aunt was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). And this past weekend my friend's husband suffered a brain bleed (he's like 37) and is now in the neurology ICU for observation for at least a week. They're trying to determine the cause. Everybody get your physicals and take care of yourselves!

Floods

The Seattle area has had some extreme rain lately and it seems that every place in Western Washington that is near a river is flooded. Several of my colleagues who live in Duvall were unable to get home from work last night.

Movie: Proof

Not bad, not amazing

This is a well acted movie, but perhaps not as well done as some that came before it on similar topics (for example, A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe). I think it perhaps just lacked some depth and thus some credibility.

Book: Never Let Me Go

Lovely writing, uncertain about the story

This is a well-written piece that is either an alternative reality or a future piece, I never decided which. It’s set in the UK and I can’t say much more because part of the interest in the story is figuring it out as it slowly unfolds. It’s an interesting and different tale, though not fast paced or terribly eventful. The ending left me wishing for more, but it’s probably still a worthwhile read. Now I’m on to less worthy, but more engrossing, reading. ;)

Book: Joy School

Unremarkable

I have no strong feelings about this story, except to forewarn you that the narrator’s voice in the audio version is a little annoying and takes getting used to. This is a story of a ‘tween’ Army brat getting used to a new town and developing a crush on an older guy. I suppose it’s a coming of age story, but not a particularly eventful one.

Book: Survivor in Death

Unremarkable mystery set in the future

This is a mystery written by romance author Nora Roberts, writing under the pen name J.D. Robb. It’s an Eve Dallas mystery, which I think is a series. If you like the other Eve Dallas books then I see no reason you wouldn’t like this one. It was a decent, though unremarkable, mystery. It is set in the future and I can’t figure out why. Nothing about it’s future context does more than add a little novelty. It doesn’t substantially impact the story. Also, Detective Eve Dallas is of course a very wealthy and remarkable woman, as is so common in these ongoing mystery series these days. Yea, it’s not that great a book. But it’s an enjoyable “trashy” read.

Portrait of Maple and me

Portrait of Maple and me by Corinne S.

My coworker Brian took this picture of me with Maple for a book of biographies about our User Experience team. I like this shot. Maple looks very happy being petted.

Interesting supplemental lighting

I went into a one-person bathroom at Microsoft yesterday and found that someone had put a torchiere light in the bathroom to provide more pleasing light than the overhead light. How strange.