Geek. Pirate. Mom

I’m pleased to say that Jerad got to see Scott Pilgrim and gave it his seal of approval. If you haven’t seen it, please go. As a movie, it’s just well crafted from the bottom up (from sound design to fight choreography to casting to the script). With a reported budget of $60m, it’s probably about halfway to breaking even. If we, the awesome people of the internet, could get it a little closer towards even- it would help send the message to Universal that they were right. That it’s a great movie, and that they shouldn’t be afraid to take risks with unique films.

A neat gadget! Gizmodo might think it’s lame, but as a busy mom, I think that the Boil Buoy is a neat gadget. You set it in your pot of water you’ve set to boil, and when it comes to a boil, it shakes in the water making it chime.

Yes, you probably should be keeping an eye on water, but honestly- things happen. While I’m cooking, if I leave the kitchen, it isn’t to surf the internet (I do take the computer in with me). It’s because a kid in the next room has a diaper that needs changing, spilled something that needs to be cleaned up, or I have two children that are beating each other with train cars. I’m not about to turn off the pot of nearly boiling water to take care of that. An audible reminder that my water is boiling is quite welcome. This is actually available for pre-sale right now, so if you think it’s neat, buy one! It’s $9.99. (And no, I don’t get anything for it. I just think it’s neat)

I started a bunch of blog posts that never really went anywhere this week. Here’s what was on my mind that didn’t make the final cut: Read More…

Never forget. I see that everywhere, and it makes me sad. If you were older than a child on 9/11, I doubt that it’s possible to forget what happened. The shock, the feeling of helplessness and numbness that followed. The fog of grief that clouded our lives for so long.

On this day, and all the 9/11′s between 2001 and now, I think of a lot, and it isn’t just what happened nine years ago.

But it’s a good place to start. Read More…

First, a million apologies to my Oldest Son when you read this in the future. It was just too strange not to share with the world.

Last night, I put the boys to bed, and my oldest was happy because it meant that he’d be going to school the next morning. As I usually do, I went to my room (next to the boys’ room) and called TheBoy to see how his night at work was going. We talked for a bit and I was convinced that I should get some sleep. So I turned off the lights, let Zorro cuddle up to me… and dozed off.

Then I was awoken to hear my oldest talking. I got up (Zorro followed) and we investigated. There he was, standing, and peeing (while in his underwear) on the floor. Then he laid down on his bed and was completely asleep.

That’s right, my son was not just sleepwalking, but actually thought he was at the bathroom. So I did what anyone would do. Cleaned up the mess, put dry undies on my son and then called TheBoy to tell him what his son did. Then Zorro and I went back to bed.

What’s the weirdest thing that you have done, or that your kids have done in their sleep? I wasn’t a sleepwalker or talker, but I did sleep with my eyes partially open when I was really little. Which, naturally, freaked my mom out.

Lest anyone think that I’m completely anti-Apple, really I’m not. I like well designed programs and products and for the most part, I do believe that Apple delivers on that. There are a number of things I don’t like about Apple’s business practices, mostly in how limiting they are to app developers and that essentially Apple’s mindset is that they know how you’re supposed to use their products (examples- they make it so that end users can’t upgrade their products or make simple repairs. Heck, you can’t even change a battery on your iPhone) But honestly, they know design. I have owned a few iPods and loved all of them. And I admit, I love my MacBook, even if I do miss the ability to close the laptop without it hibernating (Seriously, Steve Jobs- mothers of the world would love it if you could do that)

I use iTunes for my music, and up until this new version, have loved every minute of it. For whatever reason, iTunes 10 has decided to break some of my compilations by the artist. Yes, I know part of it is that it defaults its search by artist, not by album. Once I fixed that, it still tried to break it up by artist within the album and several of the tracks on a few albums were out of order. (The real fix- From View, select Column Browser, and uncheck artist and check album. Then, select the album you’re looking from from the menu and your tracks will be in order. Which is good. I’m not sure I wanted to listen to Hair in order of who performed all the tracks.)

The aggravating thing about this is that I spent the better part of two days trying to rename files to get it to sort properly- and the two albums in question were albums I had purchased from the iTunes store and had for over a year.

Mostly, I just needed to vent. iTunes 10 worked quite well, and I’m not entirely sure I like the way they defaulted their displays- or the way that various items are now buried in sub menus. It used to be that the option to group compilations together was under preferences, it’s now buried under the Column Browser (which is under the View menu). Oh well, just one of the various bumps.

However, one thing that I do like, that I think I’m in the minority of… are the vertical stoplight buttons. Hear me out- yes, it’s confusing. But when you have iTunes playing in the background, it’s wonderful to shove the window into the upper right and be able to see those buttons all the time. That way, when I’m working in Super Notecard or futzing around in Chrome, I can just click on my mini-player and have it expand to the full window. I also like the new icon- again, in the minority there.

(But really, I do miss the colors! Monochrome makes me sad)

I’m going to take a break from discussing important things like my kids or the shoes I covet to talk about something even more important. Tolerance.

As I’m sure you all know, Terry Jones, “pastor” for the Dove World Outreach Center planned to burn copies of the Quran on 9/11 because they believe that Islam is evil. I use “pastor” because I deeply feel that any leader of a church that actively encourages intolerance isn’t really religious. I refuse to call Fred Phelps of Westboro anything for that reason. I’m using planned, because earlier today he said he wasn’t going to do it anymore because the imam involved with Park 51 said they were going to move the site if he did. Though frankly, I think it was merely Jones trying to emotionally blackmail them into moving the site- I doubt such a promise was made.

Many people have said that it’s their right to burn the Quran, that there isn’t any law to stop them. Indeed, there isn’t. Just like there aren’t laws that bar Westboro (and on occasion Dove World Outreach Center) from protesting at soldier’s funerals. However, the lack of a law doesn’t mean that the actions are right.

The irony is that fundamentalist Muslims like the ones who call for suicide bombings say that America and Christians want to destroy Islam, and intolerant idiots like Jones only give them examples that they speak the truth. And just as sad, people who react with intolerance like this only reaffirm that they were successful in instilling fear in the hearts of Americans.

There are plenty of people that I deem to be rational who have tried to side with anti-Muslim sentiment by saying that Islam is inherently a violent religion. While we hear reports of stonings and executions from fundamentalist ruled regions, the fact is that there are millions of Muslims who peacefully reside in the United States. Violence comes with nearly any religion. Let’s not forget that Christianity brought about the Crusades which were to demolish non-Christians. Or all the wars that were fought in the Old Testament in God’s name. Or the Spanish Inquisition. Even today, there are people who claim their acts of violence were committed in God’s name. But we discount them as nut cases. Shouldn’t we listen to the many Muslims who say that those who call for violence don’t speak for them and believe that the men behind the terrorists are nut jobs as well?

I guess it all comes down to two things we were taught as kids (well, I was taught, at least)- that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should, and that you should never stoop to someone else’s level just to prove a point- all it does is make you the same as them.

My favorite suggestion came from Facebook, where a friend reposting what a friend of his had posted- that if they plan on declaring it Burn the Quran day, that everyone else should declare it Douse a Bonehead in Fire-Retardant Chemicals Day, and yes, show up at the church with fire extinguishers. Since that isn’t against the law either.

However, I think that these two men put it eloquently. Instead of 9/11 being “Burn a Quran Day,” why don’t we make it “Read a Book” day?

I promise, back to fluff tomorrow.

That is what I was woken up with yesterday morning. Actually, that’s what I was woken up with a second time yesterday morning, because our cat (yes, we have a cat again- I’ll explain that in a moment) decided to wake me up at 3 am because his food bowl was empty.

Then, at 5:45 my oldest came in to tell me that it was his first day of school, and that he’d also wet his underwear. Amusingly enough, he’d only wet a little and as soon as I’d stripped him out of the wet clothes, he ran into the bathroom to pee. Well, I was amused. Once he was dressed, he watched some TV in my room while I got ready for the day.

Read More…

As I blogged last week, I obsess over boots. I have way too many pairs of boots (someday I will take pictures to share).

I am also obsessed with Scott Pilgrim vs The World (the movie- I haven’t finished the graphic novel series to become obsessed with that). More specifically:
Envy Adam’s high heeled gladiator boots. After seeing the movie, I began Googling “red strappy gladiator heels” and kept looking and looking.

Armed with only the above screencap from the music video of The Clash at Demonhead’s “Black Sheep” – I just kept searching.

This morning, I started my Google searches, egged on by TheBoy (one would think he’d tell me to stop buying boots, but no, he merely asks that I find sensibly priced boots). And I found them.

As suddenly as my obsession began, it was gone. With two little words and a price tag. “Givenchy style” at $250. The boots were knock offs of Givenchy boots from 2008, which is an eternity in the fashion world. The originals were $1800, and the knock-offs were still out of my price range. Even if I’d really really wanted them, I’m not sure that I’d be able to find them anywhere.

So there you have it- if you’re obsessed with a fashion item, keep Googling until you discover you couldn’t possibly afford it. And then find something else to obsess over.

This week, Apple released Ping. It’s a music social network built into iTunes. Given the number of social networks out there, I knew plenty of people who wanted to know if it was even worth signing up for it and giving it a shot.

For those of you, I tried it out, and here are my thoughts.

What the heck is Ping, anyway?

Ping is a social network built into iTunes. You create a profile- show off 10 songs or albums that represent you, and let it show off the reviews you write on iTunes, the purchases you make, or even songs you like. You can follow friends and artists and comment on their updates. The artist profiles seem to integrate their Twitter accounts, but for everyone else- what shows up is based on how you use iTunes and the comments you leave.

Privacy and you

It asks you to use your name, but you can set your profile to three settings- public, private and leave me alone (well, that’s what I dubbed it). Essentially, you can have it so that everyone can see your actions, only those you approve can see your actions… or you can sorta play with Ping, but nobody can follow you.

My Thoughts

Ping seems like it has a lot of potential. But because they’re only concerned with what you do in the iTunes store- purchases, rating, etc… there’s not much to do. I just rated my Scott Pilgrim vs The World soundtrack, but it doesn’t show up on Ping. Unless I go into the iTunes store itself and start making notations there- it won’t show up. (Equally annoying, when you set up your profile, it chooses 10 tracks from those you’ve purchased as representative of your taste. You can set them yourself, but be forewarned, it’ll only let you pick from tracks on iTunes. So as of right now, you can’t show that you’re the #1 Beatles fan)

But it does let you comment on your friend’s profiles- on items they’ve purchased, commenting on their reviews.

However, there is one BIG problem. All you need to do to play around on Bing is have an iTunes account. All you need to get an iTunes account is an email address and password, you don’t even have to click an authorization link. So as of right now? It’s a spammers paradise. On nearly every public artist, there are tons of links for winning free iPads or iPhone 4′s.

If you’re looking for some place to check in now and then and see what your friends are buying, it’s great. If you want to follow along artists (keep in mind, there aren’t a bunch of artist profiles yet), I’d wait. Not just because of the limited selection of artists- but because of the spam issue.

To sum up? Neat idea, but it seems like the execution wasn’t really thought through.

I’m about to sound ancient. But is it so wrong to ask people to actually wait until someone’s voicemail is partially underway to hang up?

I admit, I don’t do that when I call my family- but they’re on speed dial. I know I’m calling them.

But when I call a number for the first time, I make sure I wait until the voicemail picks up- just to make sure it’s the right person. Today I got a call from a number I didn’t recognize, from an area code I wouldn’t normally get calls from. However, after doing a reverse lookup on the number- I realized I had family in that area. So I called it back, only to discover that it was a girl looking for a Steve. not steve

This was the conversation:

Me: Hello? I had two missed calls from this number-
Man: Oh, just a second.
Girl: Hello?
Me: Hi. I had two missed calls from your number…
Girl: Steve?
Me: Unless, you really think Steve sounds like a girl… I guess you had the wrong number. Good luck finding his number!

I honestly don’t mean to whine- but a lot of problems could be solved by listening to my voicemail. Which says “Hey, this is Whitney. Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you.”

This is me

Coupled with the fact that there’s an Orange County teacher named Jen who gave out my phone number as hers (by accident, I’m assuming) and who has given my number out to teachers… I’m probably stuck screening numbers until this gets sorted out. I’ve told the school numerous times that they need to get her accurate number, and yet, it’s still getting out.

Sorry, this post is not about zombies.

Gearing up for the three day weekend, are we all? I admit, my life mostly exists without days- at least it did. Starting Wednesday, we’ll have weekends here in the house. Since that’s when my oldest starts preschool. We drove down to Orange County yesterday and the traffic wasn’t like it was on Tuesday. Of course, we left an hour later. That tends to make a world of difference.

I had noticed that traffic was horrible on the other side of the 5 Freeway, but it usually is, and we just enjoyed our drive down to the doctor’s office- and rocked out to Queen. We got the paperwork we needed, they verified that my son’s TB test was negative and it was back home.

Foolishly, I hadn’t checked traffic on my phone before we left, and while I took a little bit of a roundabout way to get back to LA, we found ourself back in traffic that was at a dead stop. So I got off the freeway and took streets home. When we made a pitstop to get some lemonade, I checked my phone- discovering that a piece of the freeway (the length of a car, according to Sigalert) had come up and lanes of the freeway were closed. Causing a 10 mile backup. Glad we got out of that one!

Other than boots, my latest obsession is Scott Pilgrim. And of course, I’m not the only one on the internet who is. Jenna Salume (@oxboxer on Twitter and oxboxer on LJ) just did a series she called Scott Pilgrim vs The Gender Bender- where she changed the gender of all the evil exes- and came up with some awesome designs and artwork. She’s a regular participant at Project: Rooftop (which frequently challenges artists to redesign classic superheroes) and always turns out some lovely stuff.

Speaking of Scott Pilgrim, TheBoy’s asked me to do a Scott Pilgrim themed cake for his birthday. Trying to figure that one out… should be fun! TheBoy vs The Birthday. Game On.

It’s Friday, which means on Twitter it’s Follow Friday- I figured I’d share some blogs that I love right here.

Neil Gaiman’s Journal. An obvious choice, but I do read his blog regularly- and honestly, you don’t have to be a fan of his writing to find him interesting. He talks a lot about his bees, his dogs and answers a lot of questions about writing processes and how to be a better writer. And for someone who’s as well known as he is in sci-fi/fantasy circles (and outside them), he’s unbelievably obliging. I should not that he hasn’t blogging as much as he used to- when he’s actively working on projects, he doesn’t blog. He still tweets, though. (Hilariously, he tweeted last night that he’ll be away from the internet for 18 days)

Joy the Baker. A young baker from LA (she’s a year and a half younger than me)- her blog is just fun to read. The pictures are gorgeous and I want to make everything she posts. Only I’m a little lazy, so I don’t. But I plan on buying some tomatoes and making the creamy tomato soup on her site. Definitely buying them tomorrow.