Melinda Musil dot Com

running, working, dinner

melinda — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:57:58 +0000

Today has been a good day. I overslept and wasn’t able to run like I hoped, but that’s okay. Still a good day. Tomorrow I’ll push myself even harder. I know I can do it- and it’s so unbelievably awesome that I can say I know I can do it!

I’m getting plenty of assignments and staying busy with work. That’s always encouraging- when I’m productive, that always makes me feel good.

Tonight I think I’m going to make a pasta dish that my mom loves- comfort food for her. And hopefully I’ll be able to make a cheesy pasta dish I’m experimenting with, later this week. It’s a ton of carbs, but I do love pasta.

I’ll leave you with this interesting editorial about the New York Times…

…and this interesting “crosswalk” created in Vancouver…

technology arrogance and search engine optimization

melinda — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:30:55 +0000

One of the hardest parts about knowing a lot about computers is talking to people who don’t know a lot about computers.

I have encountered so many people in my life who don’t know a lot about computers, but who THINK they know a lot about computers. Sometimes they even think they know more than me. I’m not trying to sound conceited or anything- there are a lot of things that I don’t know much about. I just know that I know a lot about computers.

Right now I’m in the middle of a mess with a client who has decided they want to go a particular route with their website, even though I’ve warned them that will hurt their search engine optimization. This client is absolutely certain that they are right and I am wrong. I’m not claiming that I am 100% right- I’m not an expert in search engine optimization. But they should consider that maybe they are not so absolutely right and I am not so absolutely wrong.

Oh well! Pretty soon I’m going to quit this particular job, because the client is so difficult and not worthwhile. That’s the price they will pay!

total randomness

melinda — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:16:22 +0000

It’s been a kind of strange day. Very “off”, somehow. Things have calmed down now. I went for a run, which actually helped a lot. I’m kind of amazed by how much running has helped my mood. It’s weird- I may feel off, and when I begin I still feel off. Maybe ten minutes in, I still feel off. But after 20 minutes, it’s forgotten. I’m totally focused on running and feeling okay again.

I spent my day figuring out a bunch of file transfer stuff. I’m having to put my dvd ripper into hard use. I have, like, 50gb of files that I need to pass off to someone else. Work work work. At least it’s not a dvd ripper mac- nothing personal to all the apple fan-boys out there, but I am NOT an apple person!

running, twitter tools

melinda — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:28:03 +0000

I haven’t done such a good job of keeping this updated in the past few days.

I have an excuse though. I have been running and exercising like crazy. I can run crazy distances now. I’m nowhere near the pros or even people who have been exercising longer than me, but it’s incredibly encouraging to run 25 minutes without stopping, when I remember that when I began I could hardly run one minute.

On the technical side, I’m trying to figure out my Twitter Tools plugin. It seems like it’s not cooperating very well. Boo!

running and twitter tools

melinda — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:41:38 +0000

I’ve created a new website totally devoted to tracking my progress as a runner. Check it out: http://theresheruns.com.

I’m officially irritated by all the hoops I have to jump through with the new release of Twitter Tools. I blame Twitter. Grr.

discovery channel gunman- sad humor

melinda — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:11:09 +0000

This is his personal website- basically just a manifesto of his crazy ideas!
Save The Planet Protest

russian photography

melinda — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:39:24 +0000

Today I had a SUPER productive day!

In honor of that, and of the relative happiness associated with that, I am linking you to this, an entire page of photographs taken in Russia before World War I. All of these photos were taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, a Russian photographer. These really offer a glimpse into a lost era. They are phenomenal images, and it’s just amazing to imagine that this was Russia in the early 1900s. Wow!

insurance

melinda — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:28:31 +0000

It’s been a busy week, but a good week. I’ve had lots of work, which is always great. It’s so reassuring to watch my bank account balance rise. I mean, I’m not wealthy, and I’m really not even close to the point where I could pay for retirement stuff like term life insurance rates. Good thing I don’t need to be at that point for a long time! I may even look into getting health insurance again soon- if only I can find a company willing to insure me!

ebay thoughts

melinda — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:19:00 +0000

I have lost count of the number of times I have considered opening an Ebay business. I like selling things on Ebay and I have been fairly successful in the past. But, I just don’t know where or how I can find wholesale distributors and start a business relationship with them. And you’d pretty much have to have some kind of access to wholesalers so that you can get items cheap and sell them for a (modest) profit!

christmas

melinda — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:13:33 +0000

Hard to believe it’s already September. Soon, I should start thinking about the “Christmas business” I’ve been thinking about for a few years now. You know how most people include a letter with their Christmas cards telling people what has happened in the past year? For several years now, I’ve taken our information and written our letter in the format of a poem, in the same rhythm as a famous poem or Christmas carol. It’s lots of fun, different from everyone else’s cards, and a thousand times better than those boring photo Christmas cards! I really should do this…