I’m just full of things to share today

By kate on April 5th, 2004

I’ve long been jealous of smokers and their smoke breaks. It’s such a good idea to take little 5- or 10-minute breaks during the day to step outside. But I’m not a smoker, and it’s weird to do so without a cigarette, or anything to give you a reason to be there.

So I came up with the tea break. I now try to do this every non-rainy afternoon between about 2-3pm. I have a pot of tea every day (at least one), so sometime when I can get a minute, I’ll pour a mug and slip up to the third-floor balcony that my building has.

Sitting out there with a steaming mug of tea adds what I felt was missing. I have something I can hold, inhale, consume. My time out there is now delineated by how long it takes to drink the mug. I don’t have to look at a watch – I just go back in when I’m done. And I can enjoy the fresh air, and sunshine when the sun’s out.

I’m just heading to a tea break now…

Filed under: life, tea | 5 Comments »

Hi bandwagon, I’m Kate

By kate on April 5th, 2004

A lot of journalers like to do that thing where they pass around these sets of questions and all answer them, as a way of sharing about themselves. I haven’t been motivated to do one before, but I saw the one below in yruugrrl‘s journal today and found the questions a particularly intriguing slice-of-life. So, here I go.

1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
lvm Main Logical Volume Manager menu
(The book is Essential System Administration)

2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?
Rainbow-colored plastic Slinky that I often play with when talking to users on the phone.

3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Joan of Arcadia

4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what time it is:
12:30pm

5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?:
1:11pm (oops)

6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?:
Typing. Nobody is talking at the moment.

7: When did you last step outside?
This morning when I filled up the gas tank. I should note that on any other day of the week, my answer would be “walking to work from the bus stop”.

8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at (on the Internet)?
http://www.skycriesmary.com – I went to look something up, and saw nothing but an intriguing note that there would be a new site there at the end of next week.

9: What are you wearing?
Blue jeans, Chuck Taylors, and a long-sleeved red t-shirt with glittery flames on the sleeves and a glittery, flaming number 66 on the chest. I got both the jeans and the shirt (free) from a clothing swap one of my friends organized recently.

10: Did you dream last night?
Probably, but I don’t remember it.

11: When did you last laugh?
I laugh all the time and so I don’t really keep track of when I do. Probably last night as we were going to bed. We often giggle together as we get settled under the covers.

12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?
I’m in my cube at work so the things on the walls are my attempts to ameliorate the savage beigeness. I have four different pieces of fabric hung: one rainbowy, one blue with gold stars, and two batiks (one I made and one I bought in Java). This year’s Edward Gorey calendar. The Mariners schedule (for traffic planning purposes more than anything). A couple pictures of Steve. The “NATO phonetic alphabet” which I use when spelling things to people over the phone. (You know A is “alpha” but did you know L is “lima”? W is “whiskey”.) Various papers for work, including a phone list, our course catalog, the phone shift schedule, etc. Our soccer team’s schedule. Oh yeah, and the wall behind me is completely covered in a database schema diagram I keep there because it looks badass.

13: Seen anything weird lately?
Weird, hm. I can’t think of anything much, but that may be because I don’t consider very much to be weird. I did notice that the girl in the car behind me when I got off the freeway had bright blue hair. It’s pretty weird to see two people with brightly colored hair (her and me) randomly like that in Bellevue.

14: What do you think of this quiz?
As I said above, it motivated me to do one of these for the first time.

15: What is the last film you saw?
I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on Saturday night and really liked it. I keep going over it in my mind.

16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?
Probably I’d pay off our house so we could stop paying interest. Followed by a hang-glider and more hang-gliding lessons.

17: Tell me something about you that I don’t know:
Who is this mysterious “I” who is questioning me? Anyway, one thing about me I often use for these kinds of questions is that I’ve never broken a bone. I have also always loved to drink milk. Coincidence?

18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Make sure everyone had enough to eat. I would wave my magic wand and send all the surplus food from our part of the world to those who have a shortage.

19: Do you like to dance?
Definitely.

20: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nut case or some one who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?
Nut.

21(a): Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
At this point in my life, I feel kind of like this is something I should discuss with Steve first… but nonetheless, how about Julia?

21(b): Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Again, undiscussed, I’ve always wanted to name a boy James because James (or Jim) has been the name of at least three of my mentors. Then again, that name might be too common to use.

22: Would you ever consider living abroad?
Yes, in fact, Steve and I are planning to live in New Zealand for a year sometime in the next ten years.

Filed under: about, life | 2 Comments »

An inquisitive mind wants to know

By kate on April 2nd, 2004

I realized something that is probably what keeps me from getting closer to new friends… I’m not nosy enough.

How else do you get close to someone other than spilling your guts to them? And if a friend asked me nosy questions, I generally wouldn’t mind and would most likely answer. But I hesitate to poke my nose into other people’s business because it might be rude, and so I think I miss opportunities for intimacy (the friendship kind) and secret-sharing.

I’ve noticed that the people I’ve gotten close to in recent years tend to be outgoing types who don’t wait to be asked before sharing.

I guess the lesson here is that I need to start prying a little sometimes.

Filed under: relationships | 1 Comment »

Appetizing

By kate on March 22nd, 2004

Here’s a site that I came across maybe a year ago or so, and I recently sent it to a friend. In doing so, I looked through it again and remembered just how hilarious it is…

Weight Watchers Recipe cards from 1974! They’re horrifying!

Filed under: ephemera, Links | Comment now »

Score!

By kate on March 19th, 2004

My office is moving to Seattle next month, so today they had a big auction of stuff they don’t want to haul along. I scored some good stuff:

Firebox Watchguard wireless hub: $20
3Com OfficeConnect 8-port hub (in box): $8
3Com OfficeConnect 8-port hub (not in box): $5
Fancy 24-port Intel switch for resale on eBay: $23

and the coup de grace…

A HP OfficeJet G85xi – an all-in-one fax/printer/copier/scanner: $40

I’m very excited! It’s a color printer!

Filed under: consumerism, technology | Comment now »

Tea Time

By kate on March 19th, 2004

I got to play with my friend Michael’s cheapo digital camera today, so I snapped a few photos around my cube. I took a picture of my tea stuff – I have at least a pot of tea a day. (It’s often up to two pots.) My tea area, however, is in dire need of some new shelf/organization system.