Blinky Lights and Shiny Objects

Next year, when I get a great idea for a Christmas gift to make everyone, and buy the supplies in July and have everything set up to start working WHENEVER, I need to start actually working on the gifts prior to a few weekends before Christmas. I like how all the pillows turned out in the end. The last one was finished at about 10:30 pm on December 23rd. So, there's the sewing. For cooking, here's some eye candy: I suppose I collect herbs, spices, and seasonings, too. That's an ELFA over-the-door storage system, which will definitely be coming with us if we ever move. Those larger spice containers in the fourth and fifth rows from the top are from Valli Produce , and cost something ridiculous like $2.39 each. Some not pictured are in the wings to refill the smaller bottles and canisters - so the contents of the Kroger canisters are not all from when I lived in Terre Haute.

H had mentioned he was looking for photographs of Atlantic puffins . I decided to spend time today finding and scanning these negatives. These photos are from the summer of 1998, when I went to Maine with my then-boyfriend's family. I am fairly certain this is Machias Seal Island . The scanner I use now is an Epson Perfection V500 Photo, the camera I used then was my Minolta Maxxum 650si, the lens was probably a Promaster 28-200. Each image has been adjusted in Bibble 5 - just rotation, crop, white balance, and some exposure balancing. There are visible grains (it's consumer grade film, some ISO 800, some ISO 400) dust (I'll re-scan any important images with the dust removal tool enabled) and focus errors. I don't miss film.

Here you go. For the first set of photos from my new camera, I decided to take pictures of one of the first cameras in my collection. After downloading the RAW files to my computer I discovered that Bibble does not yet support the a850 (Bibble 4 goes up to the a700, and Bibble 5 preview 2.2 has the a900, but the a850 is not in that release. I hear the next preview release is imminent, but I JUST GOT A NEW CAMERA and I WANT TO PROCESS MY RAW FILES!) The nice looking picture above and immediately below were processed using DxO Optics Pro 6 , free trial edition. I'd be more impressed if it hadn't crashed three times and taken so dang long to complete the batch. Bibble has me spoiled for speed, that's for sure. The foggy version below is what happens when Picasa 3 converts the files to .jpg. I'm really not impressed at all. What were they thinking? I kept this one for reference and deleted the rest. I haven't even installed the Sony software, other than the plug-...

I know this will be crushing news for some of you, but Hot Wok Village is closed. The sign is gone, the doors are locked, the lights are out. I've got mixed feelings on the situation. It was an interesting place, serving interesting Indo-Chinese food. But, the last time we went there the food I ordered put me into so much pain that I was out of commission for the rest of the night. And I don't mean because it was spicy - I think there was something chemically wrong with what I ate. We've got other options. There are many Indian and Chinese establishments in the Schaumburg area that haven't tried to kill me. The Himalayan Restaurant serves some Indo-Chinese food, and the service we've gotten there was very attentive. Yu's Mandarin is the best Chinese restaurant in all of space and time. And Udupi Palace is a great place for vegetarian selections - with a wonderful lunch buffet. So, I'm sorry RK, you'll have to find another source for coconut w...

Official trick or treat start time in our town is 3pm, and no one has showed up yet. (Okay, we finally got a group at 3:47.) What have I been up to? Mostly work and crocheting. Being on Ravelry.com has encouraged me to finish projects faster than before. But, I think my next project will be a sewing project, to make something to hold my crochet hooks. I'm very close to ordering a new camera - the Sony Alpha 850 - with the justification of doing the wedding photography for some friends early next year. This is exciting because the a850 is a full-frame sensor, which means that the FPA is the same size as a 35mm piece of film. So, it will let me get nice wide-angle shots again with my 17-35 zoom lens. The APS-C sensors multiply the apparent focal length of a lens by 1.5, which is nice at the telephoto range, but I prefer wide angle drama. The weather is getting colder here, but at least today is sunny. Most of the week has been rain, but at least it isn't snowing yet. Same...

One of the organists at church posted this video to YouTube of him playing a recessional at the end of service. (I'm not in the group you hear singing in the background - I missed church this morning.) The video shows the altar set up in "contemporary mode" as it is for most of the year. For Lent, they go "old school" and put back the beautiful carvings. Here is what the altar looks like on Easter: (There was a slight change to the pipe configuration after I took this. I should go back with the good camera and take more organ pictures.)

The wood was too wet, so the structure was still standing by the time our group left the scene to go to dinner. I think this was the best ignition I've seen - a flaming something was launched at the bonfire using a trebuchet !

While we were at Cedar Point (yes, again) last weekend, one topic of discussion in line ended with me thinking about if a Klein Bottle could be made in crochet. I poked around online, and found that while several people have patterns or product for sale using knit and crochet, no-one has something like what I've been mentally designing. The concept is stuck in my head, like a song you keep remembering, and I've spent enough time refining it that I think I can actually make it work in real life. At Stitches Midwest 2009, Habu Textiles had a booth. I bought many strange and wonderful things there, including two skeins of fique material. Here is a photo of the start I got on the Klein bottle next to the rest of one skein.

I found a stash of older image files on a backup hard-drive. It includes photos taken with my first digital camera, which was a Kodak peripheral for my Palm IIIc. Here is a picture of the whiteboard from some point during Senior Project at Rose-Hulman. I love that graph!

DSCN2694 Originally uploaded by prismglass I got my PIV (see http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SNS/piv/index.html) on Friday. I put this pouch together this weekend. It is going to live in my purse and help shield my RFID stuff from bad guys. The Flickr set has more details in the captions for the other photos.

I've spent more time at work in the last three days using Microsoft Paint than ProEngineer. There was a communication problem with a supplier about what surface finishes should go where on some of my complicated machined parts. The drawing depicts this information using tiny filled dots on each surface connected to leader lines ending with note callouts. NOTE 2.1 is irridite, NOTE 2.2 is hardcoat anodization, NOTE 2.3 is Aeroglaze over irridite, and so on. One finish (usually Aeroglaze) is the default for the view, and I have notes calling out the other finishes. I'll be honest, the views look like porcupines. If that was all you had to go on, it would be tough to get a clear picture of what the finished part was supposed to look like, or even if I had any goal in mind. After consulting with the supplier and talking with the people who would have to do all the complicated masking, we decided that color coded pictures would be very helpful. I verified that no-one there wa...

Lee now makes jeans cut to actually fit against the back of one's waist without a huge gap. I was very surprised when all four pairs from three different brands I brought into the JC Penney fitting room were wearable, including a clearance model that rang up at $3.98 . That NEVER HAPPENS.

DSCN2579 Originally uploaded by prismglass Here's a video of the Top Thrill Dragster ride at Cedar Point. I was standing in line for the front row of the front train. You can see how long the prep time is compared to the time the train is really moving.

Our new favorite amusement park ride of all time is the Millennium Force roller coaster. We rode it five times over our two days at Cedar Point. Perfect dynamics, great views of the lake, fast line, secure hip-bar restraints, and occasional tunnels add up to a ride I always left smiling. On our last ride of the second day, which we did on the Millennium Force towards the back of the train, I overheard a great conversation. A boy, maybe 10 years old, had dragged his mother to sit in the row in front of us. As we waited to board, she was expressing concern about being so far back - the back of the train goes over hills much faster than the front of the train, and I kind of picked up that she wasn't a fan of that. But, they stayed one row ahead of us anyway. As the train got to the very top of the first hill, I heard this: Kid: "Can I cuss?" His Mom: "Yes." Kid: "sSHHIIIiiiii...." Our second favorite ride is the Top Thrill Dragster. Due to maintena...

While reading through some of the comments on a post for a sewing blog I read , I realized on about the 7th page that I've been spending more time reading about sewing than actually sewing. To quote our intern at work, "That's really lame." Why? Because my room was in a state that to sew anything I had to do about an hour of rearranging computer equipment. And to cut anything I'd have to find a home for six piles of magazines and paperwork that had migrated to the cutting table. Weekend project! Yesterday I accomplished turning the lesser-used half of the dining table into the computer desk. A weighted USB hub and surge-protected power squid serve as a docking station. The scanner is set up and ready to use, which was another goal of the reorganization. So far this morning, I've tackled the magazines and paper piles. I see the table starting to appear, and I've unearthed the pieces of the dress I was working on last. The whole room looks better,...

I wanted to mention that I think it is awesome that T-Mobile phone support has a special support group for "unsupported devices." In related news, I now have a phone that can receive picture messages. Yes, that is an AT&T model, but the T-Mobile tech support guy was able to update its software with just two text messages. It still has all the AT&T graphics and spam, but it works for picture messaging with my pay-as-you-go plan after the update. The old phone I was using still had all of its Cingular graphics and spam, so I'm used to that already. P.S. We still have a land-line, and that is the most reliable way to get in touch with us. As in, I can hear those phones ringing anywhere in the house. My mobile phone is usually buried in my purse with a half-dead battery, so I'll find out you called in a day or two.

I thought I had trouble with my iPod upgrade when it started acting funny on my drive in to work. An album was playing, in order, but each time I went over a bump it immediately started playing a different song. Even when I noticed that it switched into shuffle mode, I didn't understand why. On the walk in to the building I realized what had happened. When you upgrade your iPod Touch to OS 3.0, the "Shake to Shuffle" feature is ON by default. Thanks guys, really.

At Valli Produce yesterday there was a large bin of Lychees at $1.29 a pound. Patrons of Indian, Chinese, and other Asian backgrounds were circled around it, scooping the small red spiky fruits into plastic bags. I asked the group, "So, how do you eat these?" and immediately three people started explaining at once. One Indian gentleman demonstrated how you break into the peel at the stem end with your thumbnail, then work down the fruit splitting the stiff skin. The flesh is smooth, white, soft, translucent, and juicy. This is then popped into the mouth so your teeth can finish the job of removing the edible part. The other hint is "Don't bite on the seed, it is bitter." Each lychee has one large seed in its center, smooth, brown, and oblong. A Chinese woman said that she had bought a few the day before to make sure they were good. They were sweet, so she had come back for more. At this point, even more people were crowded around the bin, and I was als...

This is a test to see how well mobile blogging of short ideas goes from my iPod. I'm slightly interested in Twitter, but I've already got this blog I rarely post to. So, rather than add another page my parents have to go to read how I'm doing, I'll try updating this one more often.

At the risk of inviting the Internet to my house, is anyone interested in visiting on Memorial Day weekend? I'm told there will be at least two grilling instances, one involving a whole chicken. Local and not-so-local friends are welcome - just let me know. Later in the summer (dates TBD) B and I are going to take a trip to Cedar Point. We love roller coasters, and this is supposed to be the best park for those. The plan is to drive out on a Sunday, visit the park on a Monday and Tuesday, and drive back on a Wednesday. Does that sound like fun to anyone else? We could coordinate a convergence on the park, and stay in the same hotel. After-park parties could also be planned. (aka stop at an adult-beverage store on the way back to the hotel) Today I got the approval to go to PTC/USER world conference. It runs from 6/7/09 to 6/10/09 in Orlando, FL. I've signed up for a nearly full agenda of seminars, training, and workshops. All of the sessions I'm taking are about ...

This rabbit was hanging out in our backyard for a long while tonight. I took pictures - they should be enough cute to get you through the rest of the week.

100th post, if you like round numbers in the base ten system that is kind of cool. I'm not going to write about anything special or monumental, just some disjointed thoughts and news items. The herbs in pots in the kitchen are growing well. Much better than expected. At some point I will actually start using them to cook, but I didn't want to cut anything off so soon after transplanting. The iPod touch (or iPhoney as I call it if I screw up and start referring to it as an iPhone) is both a monumental waste of time and a useful tool. I got an FM transmitter for the car so I'm actually listening to an hour of good music every day. The Genius playlist feature is now my friend. I messed up a recent yarn purchase by not realizing that "one skein" listed on the pattern meant "one skein PER SOCK." Oops. Just today I extricated myself from a major commitment at work that I wasn't really able to spend any time on, and wasn't excited about anymore. ...

There's a lot of data transfer happening on my desk at the moment. The iBook G4 is getting its hard drive content copied to an external drive via Firewire. My new iPod touch is getting all of my iTunes content loaded onto it from the Toshiba laptop via USB. For the Apple laptop content, I'm just making a backup of EVERYTHING after already moving all the important stuff onto the Toshiba. B will then get the Apple (Power PC architecture, grr) to do whatever he wants with it. I've been told it might be partitioned and Ubuntu added once he clears the hard drive (all 60 GB of it) of un-needed files. The painful part of copying the files is that Finder doesn't just keep going if it finds a file with a really long name or other problems. So, I try copying large chunks and when it stops I pick smaller chunks and eventually get all the data moved over. So this project is in baby-sit mode. For the iPod, I started the sync 20 minutes ago and it is only about 1/4 done. The ...

My 30th birthday was a few weeks ago. It was so nice to have school friends, work friends, and my parents all together in our house for the party. The Mazda3 reached 50,000 miles on Thursday. It is still in great shape and I feel very connected to it while driving. Like, it is a mobile feeling of "home" rather than just a way to get around. In about a week, B and I have our 7th wedding anniversary. This is a good thing - another marker as we move forwards in our lives. Love you, hon!

My morning drive into work can take anywhere from 20 to 30+ minutes on a normal day. I stay on local roads, so the time variation has to do with the traffic lights and any slow people I get stuck behind. Recently I've noticed a phenomenon and accompanying attitude that I'm calling the Yellow Light Commute. Green lights all the way = smooth trip = 20ish minutes from door to door. Red lights at particular intersections = stop and go = eh whatever. But when I get yellow lights as I approach intersections, it forces me to decide. Assuming some jackhat isn't riding my tail and making it dangerous to stop I could go through or wait for next time. (Yellow lights here are nice and long.) On those days when it's yellow after yellow after yellow I find myself getting annoyed no matter what I choose. Hold speed and go through and I ask myself why I'm rushing to get to work. Stop at every light and I ask myself why I'm wasting time and gas. A green or a red light ...

The forecast for tonight includes 4 to 8 inches of snow. March: in like a lion, out like a Laser Alien Mutant Bovid.

On the countertop: five over-ripe bananas left over from the bunches I brought into work for my birthday. In my cookbook collection: "Perfect Light Desserts: Fabulous Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and More Made with Real Butter, Sugar, Flour, and Eggs, All Under 300 Calories Per Generous Serving" . On page 77: Banana Loaf Cake , which uses EXACTLY 5 bananas. I followed the recipe as written, but didn't have the right size loaf pan. So, I used a muffin scoop to portion into 17 cupcakes instead, reducing the baking time to 30 minutes. HOLY COW THESE ARE GOOD!

Yesterday we watched Robocop - the unrated version - on Blu-ray over at the Pikafoop abode. That is an obscenely violent and completely gross movie. I was a little concerned I'd get nightmares. Last night I dreamed that I had gone on a trip to explore a jungle canyon and had FORGOTTEN my CAMERA.

In anticipation of my new computer arriving next week, I've been downloading programs ahead of time. I plan on using the downgrade option to XP Professional, and also adding a Linux partition. Here's what I've got collected so far: Ubuntu and Kubuntu (I'll try both from the Live CD before choosing which one to install) Bibble Pro for both Windows and Linux (already have it on Mac, they set up the licensing so you only pay once per user for Pro) Adobe Reader for both Windows and Linux AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition iTunes 8 (my Mac running 10.3.9 is stuck at iTunes 7 ) Mpix publishing software Flickr Uploadr Lego Digital Designer TI-89 Titanium applications (NERD!) Firefox Thunderbird I tried to download the Google Pack , but was repeatedly thwarted because I am using my Mac. Google kicks you out of the Windows download area and into a " here's what works on YOUR computer, loser " area if you aren't on a Windows computer. I sent a "suggest...

Big shopping score tonight: This KitchenAid blender at our local Bed Bath and Beyond has a price tag of $119. I used a 20% off coupon from the mail for $24 off. I used three Discover cash-back bonus gift cards for $75 off. AND there is a $20 rebate on the model right now. $24 + $75 + $20 = $119 so I just had to pay sales tax. Banana-Oatmeal smoothies for breakfast tomorrow! (My old el-cheapo blender is no longer with us after an ice-cube and frozen-berries mixture didn't blend .)

DSCN1745 Originally uploaded by prismglass Cozumel was AMAZING. I managed to spend time actually relaxing on an actual beach with an actual tropical drink in my hand. San Miguel is a vibrant, friendly town, fun during the day and still hopping at night. We got to see one of the Carnival parades on our last night there. Hotel Flamingo worked out really well for us. We will NEVER go on a cruise, based on the behavior of the passengers on land and our reaction to a particularly rough ferry ride. I spoke some Spanish, and some Spanglish, but mostly English. Getting pesos out of the ATM and using those instead of USD saved us a lot of money. Plus, we realized that a bottle of beer was cheaper than a bottle of water at restaurants. I ate fish, shrimp, fish wrapped in banana leaf, shrimp stuffed inside a chile relleno, fish tacos, guacamole, and "Mexican salsa, very hot." You'll even see a few pictures of the cats at the seafood restaurants, begging at the tables for s...

Another sick day, another day of scanning. Today (technically, yesterday at this point) I concentrated on color negatives, which are more difficult to handle than the slides. Because of the way they load into the transparency carrier for my scanner, there is more variation in position of the frames. So, in addition to fiddling with getting the film strip loaded, I need to modify the marquee position for all eight shots. I've scanned four rolls of film today, and it has taken over six hours. That is just for the scanning - I've also spent another two hours post-processing in Bibble and uploading to Flickr, just for the first two rolls. Why bother? In addition to still being sick and not wanting to leave the house today, I am really excited about bringing these photos back to life. These four rolls plus three more still to go are from our honeymoon trip to Arizona. In October of 2002 (6 months after the wedding because I didn't have enough vacation days built up yet i...

090214_scan_95aug_089 Originally uploaded by prismglass This is one of my favorite photos. I just happened upon it while on a walk with my camera. I've spent most of today scanning slides and uploading them to Flickr. It has worked out well as an activity on a day that I am recovering from a nasty cold. Scanning is repetitive, not requiring much in the way of decisions or movement. Just clicking and waiting. On a normal day it would drive me nuts. Today it fit my capabilities perfectly.

In less than a week we fly to Cozumel, Mexico for our vacation. I've never been on a standard tropical-beach vacation before, but after the winter we've had it seems like a VERY good idea. It is fun to have "buy bikini" as part of the pre-trip checklist, because it reminds me how different the weather and the priorities are going to be down there. Having this to look forward to is helping my mood because it encourages me to brush away the little annoyances before they build up. Mental conversation example snippet: "This email I got highlights a problem with my design that I couldn't have anticipated. That's unfortunate, but I'm not going to let it get to me today because I'm going to Mexico next week." I studied Spanish formally for four years, but never really felt like I "got" it. I'm not great at retaining memorized information, so when they would leave one verb tense to teach another, I'd forget the details of the ...

I've had fun recently by packing a few kitchen toys and prepped ingredients into bags , and cooking Sunday Dinner for friends in their kitchens. I made chicken thighs with peppers and onions for K+H, and just tonight did custom pizza for B+J. (Though, I almost left the pizza dough in the fridge here, and the second pizza turned into improvised calzones when I screwed up transfer onto the baking stone .) Sunday is the only day of the week I get a good solid block of time to spend on food prep and cooking. It is also prime hanging-out time with friends before getting back into the work week. By cooking and hanging out, I get the most out of my Sunday evenings. I like the Produce Saver containers that Rubbermaid has out now. They have a vented lid and a tray at the bottom of the bowl to keep your fruits and veggies elevated, extending their life. I bought mine at our local Target. The larger size (14 C) has been really useful - a 5 lb bag of carrots will fit when peeled and s...

I'm trying to grow culinary herbs indoors, from seeds . The first few green shoots are appearing - so far so good. But, I don't have a good track record with indoor plants. (The ones I got at IKEA for my cubicle are still doing okay, but those don't mind being ignored.) If it works, great, I'll have fresh basil (x3 types), oregano, lavender, chives, and dill growing on a kitchen bookcase. If not, I'll be disappointed, but I'm not going to be surprised.

At -15 degrees F, or -26 degrees C, the packed snow/frozen slush on driveways and parking lots SQUEAKS when you walk or drive over it. Rather than put on workout clothes that had been sitting in my cold car since 9 am, I laid them out on the bench in the gym's locker room sauna. Five minutes later the clothes and shoes were wearable and I actually felt warm for the first time all day. I don't think they should be allowed to call it a "High" if it is only forecast to be -5 F. They should have another word for "Least Cold it will be Today" that does not imply that much relative motion of molecules. Ridiculous cold is very unpleasant and uncomfortable, but at least it isn't snowing again.

B&J got us GameStop gift cards for Christmas. I used mine to buy a used copy of Sim City DS. (Does anyone else just erase the former owner's saved game without looking at it? I'd rather not know what they may have left on there as a joke. Could be the most awesome simulated metropolis ever, or it could be something rude spelled out in trees.) Anyway, both times I've turned on the game I have then stayed up until 2 or 3 am playing. Last night I even plugged the charger in because the red light was blinking, and proceeded to sit down on the dining room floor and KEEP PLAYING. So, new rule is: no Sim Anything on work nights.

If you have a chance to try Yoga, you should. Most gyms offer classes, the Wii Fit has a good introduction, and of course there are DVDs for sale/rent/loan everywhere. I got my first tastes from a DVD , took my first "live" classes at my former gym, and I'm now taking (free!) classes at work. A few years ago I even took an all-inclusive yoga vacation at Kripalu after a really stressful project phase was over. I've shredded a "deluxe" yoga mat after a few years of use. When it started leaving bits of foam on the floor and on me after a session, I decided it was time to replace the poor thing. One instructor would talk about his Manduka mat, so I looked into it. Amazon reviews were positive, so I ordered one. I'm very happy with it so far, and highly recommend it once you know you'll be doing yoga for a while. The bare-feet aspect of yoga is uncomfortable to me, so I've also tried a few solutions to that over the years. (Leaving your regular soc...

Here is a breakfast that I make often. It feels like dessert and only costs 3 WW Points (TM) when figured with the Nutrition Facts from the individual ingredients. For one serving: *1/2 C dry old-fashioned oats *1/2 C fresh cranberries (stock up now and keep in freezer) *water to the top of the oats (adjust as you like - this is on the dry side) *1 Tbsp packed brown sugar Microwave to your preference. I like my oatmeal al dente, so I use 3'30" on 70%. Actually, I like raw dry rolled oats (a favorite childhood snack!), so take that into account for the water and cooking time.

One amusing thing last night about watching the New Year's Eve broadcasts was the overtone of "wow 2008 sucked let's not do that again" that kept coming up. For the did-professionals-really-produce-this-show Chicago broadcast where the local news celebrities were forced to stand outside on the 16th floor of the Trump Tower, the attitude was "let's get this over with and 2009 HAS to be better." Personally, I'm doing okay. I mean, if I ignore my 401k performance (I've got a while to retirement, so this is just a blip, or so I keep telling myself. Pretty painful blip...) the economic troubles of 2008 haven't hit home. The weather in Chicagoland was terrible, but just to the point of discomfort, we didn't suffer any property damage. The only memorable low point of 2008 for me will be the ordeal with the bathroom paint. I am very thankful for my luck, blessings, friends, family, work, health, and learning experiences of the past year. Wh...