The Life of Lewister

Bookpile: October 2009

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:49:00 +0000

How to Train Your Dragon and How to Be a Pirate - First two books about the heroic misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, a viking in training of the Hooligan tribe. Picked them up because there's an animated movie coming out next year and I wanted to catch the story. (And make a lens on it, yes.) Really enjoyed them. The art looks like something a kid (or me!) would draw and the stories are just plain fun. There's humor that might go over the head of a kid but gave me quite a few chuckles.

Change the Way You See Yourself - Partner to previous book on asset-based thinking. Basically just applied it to three more areas. Maybe when I conquer the other three, I'll come back to this one. :-)

The Alternative Hero by Tim Thornton - First novel from this guy and made me feel like I really missed a lot of music in the 80s-90s. Decent book, not raving about it. Fascinated by the trip back into a world before the internet and even wide distribution of PCs and printers. Hard to remember the days when you couldn't just ask all your Twitter friends for a recommendation.

The Draco Tavern - OK, I love short stories. I love Larry Niven. But this collection wasn't working for me. Not that I didn't love the stories, but ... . Collecting all the ones about the same place just left me wishing for a novel rather than vignettes. You get tired of reading the description of the specific alien types every single time and the tavern just seemed ripe for more depth. Great setting and some interesting things raised for discussion, but possibly shouldn't be taken in one sitting.

The Spiderwick Chronicles - We watched the movie recently and left it thinking that the book was likely better. And maybe if the book(s) were more than the movie, that would be the case. Finished the first book in an hour, got nothing more than was in the movie so am not proceeding to the rest of them. Maybe if I had read the books first, I would have been more impressed with them. (NOTE: this is one time when being an adult reviewing a kids book isn't a good thing. These would be fabulous for the right kid.)

Lateral Thinking - had to abandon this one. Just wasn't in the mood for what turned out to be a textbook. Could never focus enough to make it very far.

(All links above go to Amazon. Yes, I make money if you buy them, probably enough to stay in gum. The people annoyed by my gum popping do not thank you.)

No cheering for infidelity

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Not going to do it.

Don’t care how bad you make their situation. Don’t care about soulmates. Don’t care how much romantic music you swell up in the background.

I’m not cheering for infidelity.

It’s a common theme in movies and books. People trapped in a loveless/abusive/neglectful (pick one) marriage discover love with someone not their spouse. And now we’re supposed root for them to abandon their vows, seek happiness without regard for consequences and run off into the sunset with each other.

Get real.

There is nothing romantic about infidelity. And there is little permanent about selfish happiness.

So stop it already, OK? I hearby declare a moratorium in my household on movies that involve such plotlines. If you’ve never lived through the pain infidelity can cause a family, you might think I’m going a little off the deep end; you probably don’t feel quite so sensitively toward that subject. But any married person should be ticked at the casual way infidelity gets bandied about.

(Yes, I just watched a movie this weekend with such a story line. They didn’t end up together, but you were definitely supposed to root for them to do so. Am I the only person who just thinks this is wrong?)

Paisley's review of PlanetDog disc

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:25:00 +0000

So, our friend Anthony over at k9cuisine sent Paisley a new frisbee* recently. Chasing frisbees is her main source of exercise since she hates walks (weird dog) and she had finally broken her last one. This is a blue and orange disc from PlanetDog with the orange part a hard plastic like a regular frisbee and the blue part a softer rubber-like material.

She loves it. She will choose it every time over the regular frisbee. (Although, if they're both out there, she'll try to pick them up together. Hilarity ensues. :-) The humans - we'd rather use the regular frisbee. Guess who wins?

The PlanetDog disc is much heavier than a standard frisbee, which takes a little getting used to. You have to really fling to get it to go the length of the yard. And I have yet to actually get Paisley to catch it, although Kevin reports that she's caught it for him. So I'm not sure if it's harder for her to catch because it's heavier or if she just likes chasing/attacking it on the ground. She does tend to pounce on it a lot once it dies.

So far, it's holding up really well. Paisley has little teeny teeth that don't exactly cause a lot of damage to anything and despite her fondness for chewing on the PlanetDog disc, you don't really tell that much. The tag on the disc promised a minty taste (I licked it and didn't taste anything), so maybe that explains her desire to chew it.

So this is the frisbee of choice here now as it's the one Paisley wants to play with. Sometimes without me. :-)

(*Note: the frisbee was a gift with no requirement for review. But Paisley insisted on sharing.)

Recapping TEDxSMU 2009

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I'm not going to tell you every little detail of the event. Although maybe I should. I was one of the few people I saw taking any kind of notes, much less copious ones.

All in all, TEDxSMU was a well-run event, very consistent in tone and style with the main event held in Long Beach and all the more impressive for having been pulled off so quickly. (Six months from idea to execution!) Well spent day, although I'm not entirely sure just how the people at the big deal manage to make it through four days of this!!

Here's my non-randomized experience with TEDxSMU:

Cool moments:

Podium JFK used when he did his man on the moon speech was there to illustrate the power of the individual to change things
Jill Soubule – singer with an incredibly wry sense of humor. (One selection? You Better Not Kill in Texas.)
Seeing what the new Wyly theater is going to be like (The group I sing with - The Women's Chorus of Dallas - is doing its spring concert there with Lesley Gore as our special guest.)
Rives visual poem – Trespassing in New York City
Great food options and snacks (Hansen and Blue Sky drinks! Not a Coke, Pepsi or Dr. Pepper in sight. Wow!)
Polyphonic Spree – awesome!

Semi-quotable moments

Some people were just full of it. Completely. Talking about stuff that they really had no expertise in or providing very anecdotal evidence and guilt piles. And saying things they obviously thought were profound. Some were.

Bobby Haas - The price you pay for your inheiritance is the responsibility that goes with it.
Joshua Prince-Ramus - Lost art of productively losing control
Amory Lovins - Carbon fiber for ultralighting cars
William Abraham - Make an illuminating mistake
Aaron Reedy - Teacher should be more than just a conduit of information, need to bring passion
William Kamkwamba - We don’t need to wait for the government to do it for us (standing O from people who probably support the public option for health care)
Tanya Pinto - You can make a small change, don’t be scared by the statistics.
Turk Pipkin - If you are looking for a big opportunity, look for a big problem

Bitches

The theme for the day should have been "all wet". There were a large percentage of presentations around water issues or that brought up water as a segment.
To that same thing, in general, the mix of presentations could have been a little better. We didn't see much from the soft sciences - marketing, psychology, sociology - and not really even biology. The event was organized by the engineering school at SMU and I wonder how much their interests slanted that. Arts were pretty much covered by performance, not by presentation. (OK - this is a real bitchy thing, I know. Having seen TED via satellite - so semi-live - you get a good sense of the way TED mixes things. I guess I would have liked more of that mix.)
Improv dance/music group. Let me just say it for everyone I talked to about it - huh? (Perfect opportunity for a short talk after to explain what was going on up there.)

Wrap-up

The theme for the day was "What Would Change Everything?" My answer is always "nothing". When we spend a lot of time looking for The Big Change, we miss all the small opportunities to make change along the way. Small change that adds up to THE REALLY BIG CHANGE. I wonder how many of the people at TEDxSMU will actually leave and change in any way based on what they heard.

We shall see.

Photo Gallery:

Question for the audience: How'd you get that scar? Come to the front, take the mike for a strict 30 seconds and tell us. Some good stories, some weirdness. Yes, bum us all out by telling us about your tumor.

Benefit of knowing the building. I found some peace on the couches at the bottom of the stairs. Headed there to eat my lunch (yes, being anti-social) and got to spend the time with speakers hanging out. David Gallo from Woodhole is quite the character.

I am the world's worst phone camera photographer. But this is the stage for TEDxSMU. Great set-up and lighting. It's tough to do much on the stage at Caruth because it's so shallow, so kudos!

There were around 500 people expected, although I did see some empty seats. Sorry I couldn't bring you to help fill them. (This is far over my normal limit of 8. :-)

My first shot. Just wanted something to show where I was. The amount of technology they had going was pretty impressive. Major kudos to Sharon Lyle for pulling this all together in great fashion!

New glasses have arrived

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:04:00 +0000

Video post!! I really should do more of these. Showing off my new glasses from Zenni Optical, which arrived Monday. (That was one fast boat from China!) I got four pair, including a pair of sunglasses for the whopping price of $167 - about $50 less than what I paid for my last pair of glasses from the doctor.

I screwed up with one pair - ordered too narrow a frame, although I'm adapting - and the brilliant green pair that I've been talking about on Twitter turned out to not be quite so brilliant a green in person. Adore my sunglasses and my red every day pair are perfect.

This is at least the third time I've ordered from Zenni and my husband has gotten glasses from there as well, so if you're thinking about ordering glasses online, I can vouch for them. Great source for learning more about the different places you can get glasses online as well as information about ordering is GlassyEyes.

My extra tips on ordering:

Customer service isn't the same as regular stores. Some of the online optical stores only do customer service via email, so stop trying to call, already! Understand that this is one of the things you yield in order to get a great price.
Know what works for your face. That means style, color and size. You'll be using all that to make an educated guess when you order online. (Although, there are a couple of sellers that allow you to upload a picture in order to "try" on styles before you order.)

Happy to answer any questions I can if you're thinking about ordering your next pair of glasses online.

(See those boxes off to the right of the screen? Those are wheels. For a car. That I want out of my house. If you'd like some nice wheels, let me know and I'll send you details. I think they're the race wheels from hubby's M3, which we don't have anymore.)

Bookpile: September

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:02:00 +0000

Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? by Phillip Yancey - This one has been a long time in the finishing. yet another thought-provoking work from Yancey, whom I greatly appreciate because he comes from the same background as me (fundamentalist, reporter). I started reading it almost a year ago and it proved a great resource and comfort when my niece died back in January.

Empire Trilogy (Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire) by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts - By far my favorite fantasy series ever. Unearthed as I was unpacking our books and decided it was way due for a re-read. Still just truly adore these. Strong female character battling against incredible odds with nothing but her wits, character judgment and honor to sustain her. (OK, that sounded like a cheesy back-of-the-book blurb. Ha!) It's the action on the other side of the Riftwar and full of political machinations - my favorite kind of drama. (Technically still working on the last one, but don't tell.)

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures - I'm two years late on reading this and then I ended up just skimming it. Because it's a danged reference book. Which means I now have to buy it. But loved it. Loved it. Loved it. Started scribbling out something for work already that may or may not be right, but was fun.

And, because we can all be mature, right? Yes? OK.
Tickle His Pickle (Yeah, I know. Just try to be mature about a book with a title like that.) - exactly what you think it's about. Complete with pencil drawings.

She Comes First - And exactly what you think it's about. Guy spends a lot of time waxing philosophical about Aristotle's poetry and the like in trying to convince you that she should come first. Maybe skip ahead if you already believe that. I bought it for me to read (obviously misunderstanding), but it is totally for the guy in your life. (Or girl, I suppose.)

[Light month, although I have three other books that are almost finished.]

The good & bad new from M&Ms

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:24:00 +0000

It's no state secret that I love chocolate and peanut butter together. There is no greater combination in the world than chocolate and peanut butter. Two great tastes that taste great together, right? (Danged advertising.)

And my usual favorite (when I am ignoring things like the fact that I shouldn't eat sugar) is the peanut butter M&Ms. (Please, everyone, eat them so they don't go away!! Public service to all, but especially me, OK?) Anywho, they're my poison of choice usually. But they're tinkering with them and I wanted to warn you.

There's a strawberry/peanut butter version lurking on your shelves. You can identify it by the strangely striped bag attempting to mimic the colors of peanut butter and strawberry jelly in a weirdly washed out way.

I tried them. They were strange. They faintly tasted of strawberries (without any evidence of anything that should taste like strawberry) and barely of peanut butter. They were not a success in my book. And I'd say the company was disavowing them as well since I couldn't find them listed on the website, but they haven't updated their news since May, so that's no indicator.

(Feeling good about saving you from that one. Send me the regular peanut butter ones as thanks, OK? :-)

That said, I did get an email from M&Ms highlighting some of their personalized offerings and ... I'm sorry ... but these are really cool. (Even if they only come in plain.) NFL M&Ms. Outside of having too many capital letters to type, I love these! The Steelers ones are the best, of course, but they all look pretty sharp. Some teams come with four colors/designs, others with three.

And 10% off now if you're feeling pretty good about your team's chances of making it to the Super Bowl and you're already party planning. (We'll see you there! Go, Steelers!!!)

Extreme chair addiction?

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:14:00 +0000

There are a whole whopping two butts in our household. (Not counting the dog’s.) So you start to wonder when every time I turn around, I need to buy another chair for a room.

Just how many chairs can two people need?

We have eight dining chairs, 10 folding chairs, a camp chair, two office chairs and a vanity stool currently. On my shopping list are three occasional chairs for the family room, a chair for my sewing room, four barstools for the kitchen, two patio seats and a big cushy chair for my office. Not to mention the loveseat that’s been ordered and will arrive in the next few weeks.

That’s (eventually) 43 separate places to park a tush. Something is just a little wrong with this picture, I think.

Or else I need to throw a party?

Bookpile: August

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:23:00 +0000

Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom, California Demon, Demons are Forever, DeJa Demon - Whipped through the four available books in the series and now waiting eagerly for the next one in the series to come out in October. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer all grown up and living in the suburbs. Plenty of humorous lines, personal drama and angst. Some of the plot lines are a little too obvious (I mean, there's setting something up for later and then there's shining a spotlight on it so it's uber obvious.) but all in all, fun reads if you're into beating up evil.

Mirror Mirror: A Novel - Part of Gregory Maquire's fairy tale books. Not nearly as perverse or graphic as Wicked, and not really as good either. The man can turn a phrase like nobody's business, but this story of Snow White just seemed a little contrived, like he was trying too hard to put in a true historical context with the Borgia and not developing a great story. I left Wicked ready to debate the nature of good and evil; left this one feeling he had left great philosophical subtexts behind.

Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market - Story of the underground economy in the U.S., specifically marijuana, migrant workers and porn. Basic point is about what happens because we keep these things as part of the underground economy - people serving life without parole for minor drug offenses, workers being taken advantage of, obscenity cases that waste government resources. Left me angry and frustrated. No one (other than Larry Flynt) wants to run for office on a platform of personal freedom that includes legalizing pot and letting me do what I want in my own home. Boo. Biggest complaint is that the book is a few years old and can already do with some serious updating of numbers and laws and stories.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules - Just wanted to check out this series so picked up book two. Novel in its format, but the story was just OK. Would steer a kid toward better things, but not necessarily discourage this one.

Change the Way You See Everything through Asset-Based Thinking - Ran across this one at the bookstore while I was looking for some GTD info. Fell in love with the cover and the layout (great example of how to do a beautiful e-book.) Full of stickies at the moment from my first read through. Had to buy my own copy so I could spend more time with it and truly absorb it. Full of exactly the kind of shift my thinking has been making over the past six months. (And that I'm eager to hold on to rather than shift back to old patterns.) Likely much more on this one at a later date.

The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels - Recommended to me by Michael Bungay Stanier, a coach and trainer, as I was starting a new job. Pulled out more info than I had time to process before starting and I need to get on that info. Definitely worth a scan through if you're making a change to a new company or want to make the most of a promotion opportunity. Won't be precise to your situation so you need to be able to extrapolate for your needs. You can do it.

The Supernaturalist - "New" (to me) from Eoin Colfer, the Artemis Fowl dude. Enjoyed it, although wanted more about the world he created with the satellite city. (Forget the people! I wanted to hear about the sociology and technology. Sad.) Potential for scaring a sensitive child or giving others a new imaginary friend, but pretty cool overall for a pre-teen kid.

Who says I have to do that?

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:10:00 +0000

Great. I'm this glorious can-do, get it done, make things happen superhero now. My own fault. (Seth's actually with complict cooperation from the rest of the SAMBA team.)

Truly, all kidding aside, it is my superpower. I do make things happen. No turn water to wine type make things happen or make cookies have no calories make things happen. But I can take things from A to B like no one's business.

Which is creating quite the dilemma for me of late. Because my to-do list is longer than a giraffe's tongue - filled with important but not urgent items with no particular deadlines in mind. And that leaves me with a "pffft" attitude about crossing them off.

It doesn't count as productive to just change the deadline dates on items so they don't look like they're overdue. Nor does it get things done to never put a deadline date on them at all. And it's a bad Susan who decides to just delete something rather than have to stare at it for days. Sigh.

Here's the crux of it. Two actually. (Is that cruxes or cruxi or cruxae?) When you're the boss of you, you have to be the boss of you. That means holding your own feet to the fire (or finding an accountability partner) to get things done in the time you've allotted yourself. The second is a need to develop reasonable expectations of yourself. I seem to think I not only can make things happen, but do them all in one afternoon. Silly Susan.

So I'm giving myself two distinct (but surprisingly not opposing) commands. Lighten up on the expectations, but get done what you say you're going to do. Got it?
________________

Side note: I just was looking at feeds and I have a couple hundred subscribers here now. Who the heck are you people? Why are you interested in my life? And why don't I ever hear from you in the comments?

Quilts in the "finally" category

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:54:00 +0000

I'd love to use the excuse that my sewing machine was stuck in limbo land during the year of remodeling. And then I went off to NY for six months. But no. Sadly, I just took a danged long time to make these guys. The baby quilt (which is lovely but too narrow) was meant for a child who I think is now three. I wish I could remember where I got the block idea - I'm pretty sure I didn't make it up on my own. The centers are 16 squares, then there's two rectangles with triangles on each side to make the points. I used scraps and ran out of the right colors, so I couldn't make more than the six blocks. It just is missing a real center focus. Probably should have thought about it more before I actually put the blocks together. Sigh.

And the Tennessee quilt? When I started it, that was the only UT fabric you could get. And it's not cotton. And trying to match the orange proved almost impossible and I came to hate this thing before I finished it. Boo. Now there's a whole line of great UT licensed fabrics I can use. I want a do-over!

And I shall take it. Nothing that says my brother can't have two, right? I am proud of the back, though. That's made to look like the UT football field. Kind of. It was a heck of a job calculating how to do that, let me tell you. (Credit for the idea goes to my dad.) Would have been nice to be all fancy and create the white lines for the field, but that was more than I wanted to deal with. Total time for this guy was probably about five years. Maybe longer. Good thing he's not expecting it. :-)

Bookpile: July

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:38:00 +0000

What I read (that I can remember):

Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync?
(I know. I hadn't actually read everything Seth wrote.) One of Seth's least popular books and I can understand a little as this is a tough concept for most people to get. But it's a good book, definitely worth a look through. But also the most frustrating from a marketer's standpoint because it makes the case that marketers need to be involved from the start of business and product development. And that's a tough one to pull off at most companies.

Little Brother
Cory Doctorow's book has been topping all the charts as a great piece of libertarian fiction. And it is both great and libertarian. If you think you have nothing to worry about from the "war on terror", think again. And given recent news out of Florida with a representative saying our freedom isn't absolute, the fictional story in this book seems even more real and possible. It's listed as young adult fiction, but great for any age with a thinking brain. Loved!

Wit's End: A Novel by Karen Joy Fowler

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Dealing creatively with the lemons

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:09:00 +0000

You know I'm all for doing something rather than sitting and whining. Nothing ever got better by griping about it.

One of my Squidoo mates is doing just that. Rough times on the retail front are making it tough to get her mortgage paid right now. They're working things out with the bank to renegotiate the mortgage, but that's in two months and they need to make the payment now.

So she decided to knit hats to raise the money. And hooray for the internet! Her first order came from another Squidoo pal in Australia, something that wouldn't have happened not that long ago.

She's well on her way to getting the mortgage paid. Help her out by picking up a few maybe as a Christmas present or donate them to the shelter. Thanks!

Work or do nothing

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:26:00 +0000

Even us kick butt get things done types struggle with productivity. I’m easily distracted, sometimes by things that are fun, sometimes by things that are easy, sometimes by things that are tangible.

So I’ve been working to implement something Seth taught me – work or do nothing. During the time he has set aside for working, he has a short list of work tasks and he either does those or he does nothing. And doing nothing isn’t sustainable for him. Or me!

The challenge comes in tightly defining “work”. Reading email doesn’t count. Checking your feed reader doesn’t either. Or cleaning out your desk. (Or writing this blog post, in my case. I’m supposed to be constructing puzzles for Twitty Questions or drafting a project proposal. Boo.)

The idea is that it is so easy to get distracted by things that keep us busy, but don’t make us productive. So what are you busy with today? And is it what you should be doing?

Me either. Back to work.

Should I be more promiscuous?

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:17:00 +0000

Online that is. :-)

My online worlds used to reside so neatly in their boxes. But with joining Seth's program and my public launching of my boss hiring project, suddenly things are spilling out all over.

The tight boundaries and rules I had about how I connected online now make me feel as though I'm being rigid, uptight, pedantic. And people don't like those kind of people. I'm working hard to not be that kind of person. But is mimicking the promiscuous connecting style of others the right way to conduct my connecting?

Now, my general rule of thumb has been that I had to actually know you in a professional capacity before connecting at LinkedIn. And I have to know you at least in the online sense before I'll accept a Facebook friend request. (Which is why there has to be a note!) And I'll talk to anyone on Twitter, but I only follow people (and companies) who are saying something I want to read. Which changes frequently depending on my mood.

So I'm left feeling horrible now because prefectly nice people whom I've never met are sending me LinkedIn requests. And I'm getting Facebook requests with notes from strangers. And I have no idea what to think about the more than 600 followers I have now on Twitter. (Who are all waiting to hear about ... what?)

Am I living in an antiquated world where I want to keep real life just a little separated from online life? Am I being highly rude by not being promiscuous?

Pondering this morning ...

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:02:00 +0000

Defending vs. defensive
Why people keep pushing for federal involvement in things that should be state/local decisions - gay marriage, medical marijuana, etc.
How to make choices between widely varying options in my hire a boss search
Throttling Blogger for four straight days of a problem with custom domain publishing
Finally taking this blog to the big leagues with a custom domain, new template, self-hosting
Just how crazy I am because I want to do everything
Learning to play the ukelele
The need to develop a new/better/stronger password
What gets defined as news these days
How immensely blessed my life is and I should thank God more

Car camo

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:54:00 +0000

Now that spring is here, my car is hard to see again. Not because it's under snow but because it blends with all the green around here. Ha! The greenery just feels different than it does in Texas - much more lush and vibrant. And far wider variety of plants since there isn't quite the same level of heat here trying to kill everything in sight.

The Susan who says "Pbbbt!"

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:54:00 +0000

It's been a crazy few days. Seth blogged about the SAMBA program, talking about my team project and my job hunt site, Susan Hires A Boss. On top of that, I launched a new business serving up games played on Twitter.

And at every turn, there was someone I didn't know waiting to tell me I was doing it wrong - usually in the nice private forum of email. To which I am learning to say, "Pbbbt!"

It's been an effort to be bemused rather than upset by strangers feeling they have the right to tell me my business plan is all backwards, my attitude is pretentious or my tweets are boring. There is no relationship there, so what makes them feel they have the credibility to take up the topic with me?

I have had comments from others - people I know, whose opinions mean something to me. They may have said exactly the same thing but because there's a relationship there, a bond, a history - I take time to listen to them.

To the rest of you, I say "Pbbt". I've apparently started the move from good student to headstrong visionary. I'll let you know when I get to mature and can say something else.

"Pbbbt!"

I'm hiring a boss

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:12:00 +0000

So my six months with Seth Godin is wrapping up soon. Which means I'm looking for my next adventure. And rather than taking the passive, lame-ass way of finding a job, I'm hiring a boss. Pass it on.

Little Miss Match store opens at Grand Central

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:26:00 +0000

Going to be sad to not see this every week after I go home. It's just a happy place!! My favorite thing at the Little Miss Match store is the round that lets you select individual socks to create your own sets. Wish we could do that online too. (Hint, hint!!)

Can you see me on a motorcycle?

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:59:00 +0000

Yikes. I'm willing to take risks, dream big, all that jazz. But when it comes to risks of my person, my body, I tend to get a little freaked out.

I'm afraid of heights (because they are really bad for your health). I hate roller coasters. I get car sick. I panic when I start to pick up speed on skis (maybe I should just snowshoe). Loss of control - not so much my friend.

So (just where am I going with this?), here's my great irony. I love to go fast - as long as I'm on the ground and semi-controlling things. I adore water slides. ATVs are a blast. I drive like a granny to save gas, but speed is good. (OK, I'm still a cautious driver, no matter what. Maybe not so ironic.)

A few months back, I started thinking motorcycles. We have an antique Norton that came to us in pieces (it belonged to hubby's grandfather) and it's being restored to probably better than original. Which led us to realize that we could actually ride it! Hooray!

Which has us making plans to take motorcycle lessons and shopping for helmets, motorcycle jackets and other gear. I'm excited about the class and desperately hoping I like actually driving a bike. Because then, I get to get my own!! Because it's the most important thing, of course, I've been trying to decide on a color. We have a yellow car, a green car and now a red motorcycle. So I'm thinking electric blue. Going to be a blast!!

Spring in NY

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Good things about spring in NY:

It's actually spring. We seem to skip that season in Dallas.
Tulips everywhere!! My favs.
You can open windows. Wow.
No more layers, layers, layers. Cuddle Duds are now packed away.
No humidity. Nice!!
No mosquitos! Nice!! (Was concerned because of the river so close.)
All of which adds up to the fact that I actually go outside. Amazing.

Bad things about spring in NY:

Too much fresh air - bad. Darned allergies. There's something up here that doesn't like me that we don't have back in Dallas.
Still have to have layers, layers. You never know what'll be like outside.
No bluebonnets. Missed them this year. Sigh.
Serious raining. I actually bought rain boots. (First time I've really experienced the "April showers" from the poem.)

Flight 93 memorial a travesty

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:04:00 +0000

So, in an inevitable move, there are plans for a memorial at the site of the Flight 93 crash. And a rush to get it done before the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 plane crash.

Can anyone tell me how the memory of these people is served by taking the land from the owners to build the memorial? It's an irony that the people on Flight 93 died trying to protect others, but the land owners find themselves entirely without protection as the park service makes a land grab.

Would you want to remembered in a way that trampled the rights of others? If we see their struggle to get the plane back as a fight for freedom, how hypocritical is it to take land from people to honor them. And just to be clear, it's taking the land no matter what you pay for it if the owners are forced to sell it.

There's no greater public good served here by taking this land. No necessity met by a change of ownership.

If the people who owned the land wanted to build a memorial, if they approached and said they wanted to donate, even if they approached saying the wanted to sell it because it just didn't seem right to use the land for anything else, that's one thing. But to tell them they have to sell up, no choice about it, nope. Eminent domain run amuck.

At least it's not another case of a developer stealing land with the government's help for a strip mall. Gaaa.

Two tips for Ning

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Can I share a secret with you? Something I wish had known a few months ago?

There are a lot of Ning groups out there. I've landed in a few of them. And you can't log in under more than one email at a time. Ugh. So I'm in Triiibes under one, Sales Club under another and a SAMBA group under yet another. This is a nightmare from a logistical standpoint!! I can't easily switch from one group to another. Sigh. Live and learn, right?

Another tip related to Ning. If you ever start a group, do it with a throw-away email and user name. Because if you participate in the group under your admin address, you can never get rid of that group. If someone came along and offered you money to take over the group, the only way to give them control is to delete yourself from the group. So all the work you put into the group, all your participation would be gone. Poof. Unless you're OK with that, don't participate in your Ning group under the same account as the one you set it up under.

Children's bedding options for easy decor

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:54:00 +0000

Back when I had my mural business, I loved doing children's bedrooms. Adults are much more willing to be bold and daring in a kid's room where they aren't in other rooms. I did rocket ships, a Winnie-the-Pooh tree, a farm - great stuff.

So of course, I loved putting together my latest line of shops, all around children's bedding. There is just so much cool stuff out there these days. When I was a kid, I remember Holly Hobby and Strawberry Shortcake and that was it.

So I have had a blast pulling together these guys with everything from frogs to ladybugs to Disney princesses to trains. I ended up with 25 of them by the time I got done. And there still plenty of room for more, amazingly enough.