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Photo of the Day: Four-legged chauffeurs

Sat, 7 Feb 2009 20:10:21 -0600

Oscar and Maddy do this a lot when we bring them on errands. Regardless, it amuses us every time. We never actually let them ride in the front seat (even if only one of us is in the car), cuz that’s just insane. But they take the opportunity like this when we run in somewhere.

I’m going to miss those trees

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:29:12 -0600

When my family moved into the house I grew up in around three decades ago, my father began planting baby pine trees for each member of the family in our front yard. The tree on the far right is for my father and it is the largest because he is the oldest (he will soon be 79, born in 1930), the next tree moving left is my mother’s, and the two slightly shorter ones are my brother’s and sister’s, who are both roughly 13 years older than me. The shortest one on the left is mine.
My parents have since retired to Washington state, and though my sister was living in the house for a while, she moved down to Chicago to be with her new boyfriend. We shared a long driveway on this ~3 acre plot with my aunt, but now that my uncle passed away, I don’t know how much longer she can afford to maintain her house on her own, let alone perform or afford the upkeep of the plot.
I really love that my parents did this, and I miss that yard. I hope to drive by again soon, say hi to my aunt, and check out the yard I used to stomp around in with my friends. I spent way too many mental and personal resources running away from that house and my family in my teen years. While I’m being careful not to get regretful or too nostalgic, it would still be nice to check in on the good memories I had there.

Seven more puppy videos added

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:36:18 -0500

If you like awesome videos of awesome dogs, head over to the Videos page that I just updated. It has a new The Dogs section into which I will be dumping plenty more videos. For now, though, enjoy these.

Just customized my Nike+ mini avatar

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:37:28 -0500

Nike+, if you’ve never heard of it, is a clever system from Apple and Nike that lets you use your iPod to track your runs. The kit tracks things like speed, distance, average pace, etc., and you can get audio feedback on your iPod during your run. When you finish and hook your iPod up to iTunes, your workout data is uploaded to NikePlus.com, where you can view a record of your runs and track your progress. I’ve been using it off and on for the last couple years, but now that I’m out of school and things are settling down in Chicago, I’m running more regularly and I love using this system to track my improvement as a runner.

A clever little feature of the Nike Plus website is a Nike+ Mini, a goofy little avatar you can customize. I passed over the feature when I first saw it, but today I finally looked into what it actually does. Beyond just a silly little animation, this Mini reflects your ongoing progress as a runner. Right now you can download your mini as a screensaver or embed it in your Facebook profile. Either way, your Nike+ Mini reflects your energy level if you stay on top of your runs. Slack off for a week or two, and your Nike+ Mini starts looking lazier and sluggish, chiding you to get off the couch and hit the streets. How cool is that?

As far as a social motivational tool, I really dig the Nike+ Mini now. I put mine in my Facebook profile, and my only request that I posted in the Nike+ forums is for the ability to embed the Mini elsewhere, like in blog sidebars or posts. Like everything else, though, Nike+ Mini is in beta right now, so hopefully they’re listening and this feature is on its way.

Great afternoon at the beach with the dogs

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:39:54 -0500

We took Oscar and Maddy to the Chicago lakefront yesterday. A huge fenced off, dog-friendly portion called Montrose Beach lets dogs go nuts, socialize, and basically be all the dog they can be. Oscar and Maddy had a blast, and we shot some photos and videos of the experience. Denver peeps—this one is especially for you.
I posted everything to my photo and video pages here, as well as my MobileMe gallery, and a Flickr set. Enjoy.

I started writing for Ars Technica exactly a year ago and all I got was this... awesome job

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 20:44:29 -0500

Today marks the one-year anniversary of me joining the Ars Technica team as a freelance writer. Jacqui Cheng found me, and I had to leave Weblogs, Inc., my Assistant Lead Editor position at Download Squad, and my work at TUAW (due to what we in the biz call a “you better not be sleeping around” contract) to focus all my efforts on Ars’ Infinite Loop journal that covers Apple news and software.
Not long after that, Ars’ Managing Editor, Eric Bangeman, took an interest in torturing me, so the team began training me on writing for Ars’ front page (this is also what we in the biz call “tossing someone to the wolves”). Going up against a crack team of editing ninjas (many of whom have degrees in English or writing, some with PhDs in one field or another), I’ve had a lot of work cut out for me and it’s been a tough year in that regard. I was finishing an undergraduate Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and it wasn’t always easy to balance school with work, not to mention being a newlywed and owner of two high-energy dogs.
Nevertheless, one year, a zillion words, and a cross-country move later, I’m ecstatic to say that Ars Technica has hired me on as a full time Assistant Editor. We’ve been talking about it for a while, and finishing school was obviously one of the largest hurdles I had to clear before it could happen. As far as the move is concerned, we were bought by Condé Nast back May, and they have a policy that mandates employees living in one of the two cities we’re going to open offices in. While those offices haven’t opened yet, Jessi couldn’t quit her high school teaching job in the middle of a year, so we basically had to pack up this summer.
Now we live in Chicago, and it’s been quite the experience so far. I’ve always wanted to write for a living, ever since I was young, and I’ve wanted to live in a big city like Chicago with great culture, history, and mass transit for a long time. Jessi and I were both born and raised in Milwaukee suburbs all our lives so the Chicago lifestyle is definitely taking some getting used to, but I love it so far. Ars Technica is a fantastic tech journalism site (seriously, completely unbiased. Honest), and I’m honored to be able to make a living doing two things I love: playing with all kinds of tech, then writing about it.
I have a lot of work ahead of me, and a lot of learning to do. Jessi and I left some of the best friends we’ve ever had in Denver, but that just means we have a reason to visit (ah, right guys?). Looking back on everything I’ve accomplished and where I’m headed, this has been one of the best years of my life.

Doing the moving limbo

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:47:09 -0500

Jessi and I finished packing earlier last week, though it was mostly Jessi since I had to work and she’s off from teaching for the summer.
Jessi left Denver for the last time (at least for now) on Wed, flying to Milwaukee and staying with her parents in WI until the moving truck arrives with our stuff.
Two Russian guys from the moving service packed up all our stuff with impartial efficiency Thursday, and Jessi met them at the Chicago apartment Saturday to receive all our stuff. We narrowly dodged a “$75 for every 100 cubic feet of stuff to move” fee, as the length from the back of the truck to our 2nd story apartment was barely a foot or two under their limit for said fee.
And now I’m in Denver, not-quite-technically homeless, but staying with the first awesome next door neighbor we’ve ever had, Wink. I’m taking care of a few roundup duties, like getting the carpets cleaned and selling or giving away a few items we didn’t move to Chicago. I’ve also been saying goodbye to friends while trying to get back to a normal schedule with Ars.
But now, after weeks of having most, and then all, of our stuff packed up, but yet a few days from taking my final flight to the midwest for the move, I feel like I’m in limbo. I have a handful of clothes I need to recycle through the wash, my MacBook Air and iPhone (which is tied to the iTunes library on the Mac Pro sitting in a box in Chicago), but no car with which to get around and say my final goodbyes. I’m really going to miss the great friends we’ve made here and CO’s mountains, but I’ve been eager to get on with my life ever since this packing process started feeling drawn out.
Oh well, Chicago will be there, and I just got a story assignment. Our new life will have to wait for just a few days more.

Chicago, here we come

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:50:27 -0500

Jessi and I have had quite a ride over these last couple weeks and I’ll explain more of that here in another post. For now, I’m just happy about a great piece of news we got today that brightens up this long trip we had to make at the drop of a hat. We’ve been approved for an apartment in Chicago, which means that somewhere in the middle of August, we’re moving from Denver and will call the windy city home.
It’s going to suck leaving all our great friends in Colorado, but we’re excited about moving to a big new city and getting closer to family and friends back in the midwest. Seriously, Colorado peeps—we gotta party.
Jessi and I forgot to take pictures of the apartment interior when we toured it, but I created a new album of Chicago apartment pics with shots of the outside for now. The complex is in a killer area of the Logan Square neighborhood on a nice boulevard with dog parks, cafes, shops, a movie theater, a liquor store (without bars on the windows), and an underground blue line stop of the L train all within a stone’s throw. It’s pretty awesome.
I’ll post more pics as soon as we can get them, and a longer post that explains everything that’s been going on in our lives is in the works.
Until then: Chicago friends, clear your mid-August schedules.

Saw a doctor bout a headache

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:27:10 -0500

For the last few days, I’ve been getting some really, really gnarly headaches whenever I get active. Run around the house, play too much with the dogs, move furniture, etc. They run along the back left side of of my head, and they pulse as if they’re directly related to the flow of blood through my brian. They’ll stick around for 30-45 minutes after whatever activity caused them, and after the third day they finally worried Jessi and I enough to see a doctor about them.
Long story short, my doc’s first impression was that the headaches may be some kind of weird migraine, but she wanted me to get a CT scan (otherwise known as a “cat scan”) to rule out anything more serious.
Last night I went in for the CT scan, and it was pretty uneventful. They wanted two scans: one “normal,” and one with “contrast” which involves an injection of iodine so the blood flow through my head shows up better in the pretty pictures. Oh yea, and that whole “iodine may cause you to feel like you wet your pants” thing? They weren’t kidding. The nurse/assistant guy (what is the proper name of his position?) who worked me through the scan was pretty surprised at the nature of my symptoms though, so that didn’t help anything.
It’s going to be at least a couple days for any real answers, and since it’s Friday I’m thinking it’ll be Monday at the earliest. You’ll know more when I do.
Note: This post was re-published as it was causing problems with RSS feeds.

Doctor says my head is ok, so we’re going camping after all

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:52:58 -0500