Thought of the Day 2010 #104 - Fashion Forward

Whine time. Why does embellishment on a top or dress hem stop at the
side seam? It's espescially funky when the embellishment(embroidery or
ribbon work, etc) is particularly wide in front. The opposite of a
mullet -- party in the front and all business in the back. I'm sure it's
a matter of manufacturer money savings, but in all seriousness, it looks
cheap.

Thought of the Day 2010 #103 - Twilight

Watched Twilight tonight. The appeal escapes me.

Thought of the Day 2010 #102 - 'member me?

I was at a restaurant tonight that I've only been to once
before...several years ago. The waitress indicated that she remembered
me. I seriously doubt that it was me she remembers, but either my evil
twin *or* she's under the spell of "all fat people look alike." I'm
thinking the latter.

Thought of the Day 2010 #101 - Veggie Stank

We had a prematurely rank (purchased last night!) box of precut veggies
opened in the kitchen today. Opened for just a few minutes, the smell
hung in the kitchen for hours like a bad sulfur fart. Who knew something
potentially good for you could turn out to be so stinky??

Thought of the Day 2010 #100 - Metallic Paper Printing

 I ordered some of my artsy fartsy photo collages on Endura Metallic paper...and I LOVE IT on most of the selections! The metallic sheen adds a depth that you just don't have in regular printing. The lighter colors POP from the paper and moving your eyes across the image gives some of the prints a 3D appeal. There are a few of the works that didn't print well on the metallic paper, primarily those with really low contrast. I think if I upped the contrast and lightened some of the image, they could still shine in this style of print.

I'll be listing some of the prints at my Etsy site: http://catay.etsy.com, if'n you're interested.

Thought of the Day 2010 #99 - Moving Blogs

Spent quite a bit of time moving a couple of blogs tonight. All due to
the May 1st end of blogger.com's support of FTP publishing. Got quite a
few left...including this monster!

Thought of the Day 2010 #98 - Age Guessing

I enjoy when people underestimate my age by 10 years or so. I wonder if I'll feel the same way when I'm 80?

Thought of the Day 2010 #97 - Evening News

Why is there so much sports coverage on the news? Some days it seems
like 1/2 sports. Does this qualify as "news"? If they have so much time
dedicated to huge profit making industries, why not have 15 minutes
dedicated to movies every night? More people go to movies every day than
attend sporting events. Really, I don't want coverage of things like
that, but it would be interesting to have a bit more breadth and depth
to international happenings rather than just 30 seconds of international
happenings.

Thought of the Day 2010 #96 - Bullying Part 2

I think bullying is wrong. Clearly, the bullies are kids that are attempting to bring other kids down to their level. The have crappy self esteem and they're attempting to feel better by pointing out other's faults.

Do I think tht bullying is SOOOO wrong that it's criminal? Nope. That is unless it's physical violence. But, physical violence is covered under other laws, so really, anti-bullying laws are primarily covering verbal assaults.

I strongly believe in the "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words cannot hurt me". Sure, words CAN hurt, and they do, but to kids who have decent self esteem, other's negativity won't have much of an impact. Kids with a healthy dose of self esteem will more easily deflect a negative attack.

The coverage of the girl who committed suicide after being bullied is tragic. But are the bullies really to blame for the suicide? Bullies can cause foul moods, they can make you sad, they can make you think life is worthless, but in order to actually commit suicide, I suspect the poor girl had other issues going on. Maybe she didn't have a strong support system at home or she may have been suffering from a chemical imbalance, etc.

I don't want to "blame the victim", but in the case of suicide, it's hard to exclude the obvious -- that the victim IS to blame for her ultimate demise. The bullying was a negative which combined with other situational factors which encouraged suicide. Because the bullying is somewhat tangental to the actual suicide, I don't think that it's a criminally prosecutable situation.

Finally, I would encourage parents to work on establishing healthy self esteem for their kids to make them bully-proof.

--Help them to recognize their strengths.
--Give them a solid home life to provide a "safe zone" away from the negativity of the world.
--Teach them to understand why bullies say what they do - instill a belief that the bully is pained and just lashing out. It provides a empathetic response rather than allowing the attack to reflect inwardly upon the child.

Providing a wholly defensive strategy for the kids will minimize the bully's effect in childhood and going forward in life -- 'cuz you know there are bullies LONG after leaving school.

Thought of the Day 2010 #95 - Spring

I love this time of year. Budding trees, tulips and daffodils abound,
lambs bouncing and frolicking around in the back fields, fresh air
through newly opened windows, and needing to crack the window when
getting into a closed car but it's not so hot as to cause butt sweat. So
lovely.

Bad things include spiders (four in one day in the house), chicken
massacres by yet unknown critters, thawed poop surprises in the back
yard and large tax bills.

But, all in all, the good far outweighs the bad. It's a beautiful time
of year.

Thought of the Day 2010 #94 - Money

Important? Not important? Overrated? Underutilized? A concept no longer
necessary? Makes the world go round?

Discuss.

Thought of the Day 2010 #93 - Carnival Mirrors

I came across this comment on a clothing retail site. It makes me sad that someone so petite would have such a skewed view of their body:

I'm 5'4" and 104 lbs and I ordered the size 0p. It fits great and hits right at the knee, which is perfect. The top fits me pretty well and I am very small up top (32A), so I'd imagine it will be tight on most people with chests larger than about a B or small C cup. One thing: it has a very full skirt and flares quite a bit at the hips, which makes the waist look tiny but can make you look bottom heavy if you have full hips (which I do for my size). I'll probably keep this one, but wish it weren't quite so full in the hips."

104 pounds and wearing a size zero...and she's got "full hips" for her size. How much of a hip issue can this *fatty* have?! It's just crazy talk and so completely sad.

Thought of the Day 2010 #92 - Bullying

As a frequent victim of bullying as a child, I'm trying to form a
thoughtful response to the idea of criminal prosecution of bullies.
Hopefully, a thorough TotD will be coming soon.

Thought of the Day 2010 #91 - Photoshops CS5

I watched the Adobe CS5 launch video this morning, and one thing in
particular stuck out as pretty amazing -- puppet warp. Funny name, but
if it's able to do well what it's designed to do, it will be incredible.
Basically, you can adjust photos of people and change the actual stance,
arm placement, etc. just by selecting the person, and changing the
location on selection points. Nifty.

Another thing that will be cool -- being able to adjust lens distortion
automatically based on the EXIF data in the image itself. Pretty slick!

Thought of the Day 2010 #90 - Rockstar

A few months ago, I found a couple of Rockstar energy drinks accidentally bagged in with my groceries. I ended up throwing them in the refrigerator and finally tried one today. I had been told they tasted like ass, but the raspberry flavor was not so bad. What did disappoint me is that the caffeine buzz from the Rockstar wasn't nearly as strong as a decent strong coffee. Kind of disappointing. I thought maybe the cans would come in handy when I really, really wanted a pick-me-up.

Thought of the Day 2010 #89 - Income Taxes

I spent a great deal of the day plowing through tax forms and schedules.
Tax codes are so complex due to all of the exceptions, exclusions and
benefits for the few. We really need to streamline this process while
eliminating the inequity.

Thought of the Day 2010 #88 - Work Whine

It just kills me that the most arrogant people are the most incompetent.
I would like to meet an arrogant ass who has a genuine reason to be that
way. Alas, I fear it's just a dream.

Thought of the Day 2010 #87 - Updates

I finally updated the Photo Selections of the Week. Woot!

Follow Up: Naked In Your Own Home

In a follow up to a previous ToTD: http://www.catay.com/2009/10/thought-of-day-271-indecent-exposure.htm, turns out it's legal to be naked in your own home, or so the jury has decided: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/In-Home-Indecent-Exposure-Conviction-Overturned-90121177.html Yay! Yay! Yay for naughty bits being free in your own domicile!!

Thought of the Day 2010 #86 - Sometimes

I'm struck with an overwhelming feeling of being alone. I really don't connect with very many people on a emotional *and* intellectual level.
Most of my relationships (romantic/friend/family) are somewhat superficial...we don't often talk of serious things, or don't speak of serious things on a depth that is satisfying for both parties. Or, often, the discussions are very one sided. Most of the time, it's fine -- I enjoy the relationships and even if conversations are one sided, there is some level of satisfaction, but I often genuinely crave more. That craving is the root of feeling alone.

Thought of the Day 2010 #85 - Aaaack

It's snowing...a LOT. Boooooo.

Thought of the Day 2010 #84 - Easter Birthday

Today was one of only three April 4ths in my potential lifetime where my
birthday and Easter coincide. When I was a kid I thought it would be the
best day evah! Turns out it just means I have ham for birthday dinner.
:-)

Thought of the Day 2010 #83 - Fun Day

Had a great Easter party today. Filled with laughter, shy kids, loud
kids, sweet kids, chocolate, cheesecake, family and friends. Good times
all around.

Thought of the Day 2010 #82 - Forgetting

Don't ya hate when you go to the store and forget something you need?
Yeah? Me too.

Thought of the Day 2010 #81 - Tooting My Easter Horn

Planning some things for Saturday's Easter egg hunt, I can't come up
with something more surprising than the giant painted watermelon "Easter
eggs" that I hid a few years ago. It was da bomb! Shocking for the
hunters to see such big eggs and funny trying to see kids carry them
around after finding 'em. heh. It was brilliant, if'n I might say so
myself.

Thought of the Day 2010 #80 - Hotel Doors

If hotels like the Wynn can afford to equip rooms with snack trays that
know when a snack is lifted, why can't they put in hotel doors that
close softly? What about using a mechanism on the doors like the
soft-close cupboards? It would make for a LOT nicer sound experience.

Thought of the Day 2010 #79 - Vegas

I think since the financial situation in Vegas has turned sour, they've
tightened the slots. I can't win! At all! Grrr. Gambling is no fun when
ya don't win.

Thought of the Day 2010 #78 - How to Tell You're in a Fancy Hotel

1. There's a soaking tub in the bathroom deeper than 3" deep.
2. The drapes have auto controls next to the bed.
3. There's a phone and television in the bathroom.
4. The in-room snacks are on a weight sensitive tray. If you take
something off for more than 30 seconds you get automatically charged for
that item.
5. It smells nice.
6. No bugs.
7. Mattress doesn't poke at you.
8. Laundry bags are fabric-like rather than plastic.
9. Two sinks.
10. Many lighting options.

Thought of the Day 2010 #77 - Rush Rush

Got jams featured in Storque on front page of etsy.com which resulted in
a little flurry of orders and a big flurry of messages, worked several
hours on newsletter -- sent draft off, and trying to get ready for a
little all-girl (women, really) trip to Vegas in the morning. Oh, and I
feel like death warmed over. Wheee. *tired*

Thought of the Day 2010 #76 - Saturday

Worked much of the day re-designing a monthly newsletter for a
non-profit organization. I've learned some new tricks in InDesign, too.
Long day, though. 11+ hours and I'm beat. Night night.

Thought of the Day 2010 #75 - Peeps

I really, really, really, really hate marshmallow Peeps, yet I like the
idea of them. If only they didn't taste like sweetened sawdust.

Thought of the Day 2010 #74 - Wilmaaaaaaaaaa!

I've seen a rash of women wearing oversized strings of beads around
their necks...just like Wilma Flintstone. Seriously. Looks like a joke
and not like fashion. Just say no, ya'll.

Thought of the Day 2010 #73 - Captain, O Captain

I heard tonight that a friend of my step-daughter thinks my name is Captain. I'd never heard nor even thought of the connection -- Catherine and Captain really are similar. I think I ought to change the name of this site to Cap's House of Fun.

Thought of the Day 2010 #72 - Clowns

Have I mentioned that I find clowns creepy? Yup, even the ones that
aren't out to kill me are up to no good.

Thought of the Day 2010 #71 - Not thinking...just doing

A few more sample photo collages:

 

 

 

 

Thought of the Day 2010 #70 - Healthcare Bill

Wow. Surprised it passed the house. Not sure how I feel about it, 'cuz
I'm not sure what kind of crap got put into it to get it passed. Time
will tell.

Thought of the Day 2010 #69 - Signs of Spring

Girl Scout cookies (yum!) and trips to the desert. Beautiful weather
today in the desert just south of the Salt Lake valley made it a lovely
day. Brought the dogs along (they rarely leave the yard) and they went
nuts, enjoying the new smells and vistas. Good slobbery times for them!

Thought of the Day 2010 #68 - "It's Gotta Be Stainless"

It's kind of funny hearing home shoppers mentioning the need for
stainless appliances over and over on HGTV. I'm wondering how long it
will take stainless appliances to turn into the currently hated "avocado
green" appliances of the 70s.

Thought of the Day 2010 #67 - Fiber Cleaning

Fabrics and other fibers always seem to get dirtier faster after they've
been cleaned...no matter how much they've been rinsed. While I suspect
that there have been innovations in chemical formulations, I equally
suspect that companies creating cleaning compounds want to maintain
their sales level. If they came up with a carpet cleaning/laundry
detergent/upholstery cleanser that actually left no residue at all, they
would end up cutting sales in half...or worse. The formula innovations
will NOT be from the major corporations if that is the case.

Thought of the Day 2010 #66 - Census Racism

It seems the main goal of the 2010 US census form is to determine race
and not much else. Also, there's a significant emphasis on determination
of hispanic origin. It strikes me as curious that there are several
hispanic categories, Asian categories, but not much of a breakdown for
African Americans. Why is that? I'm thinkin' that it's 'cuz the
government is more concerned about the hispanic influx than African,
Asian or Caucasian immigrants. I'm sure they're wondering if their
*cough* fabulous *cough* fence at the southern border is working. Could
be other reasons, but is it really important?

If I were an illegal in the US, I would send in the census form with
bogus information just so the door to door census takers wouldn't come
knocking. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.
So, how is there any chance they will get an accurate count? No chance,
really. If there weren't such a ridculous level of irrational
immigration fear, there might be some hope. Not this decade.

Finally, what are people of mixed races supposed to put on the form?
Since we're pretty much all of mixed race origins according to some
genetic studies, I'm not sure what I should put on the form. I'm
thinking of "mutt" on the "other" line.

Thought of the Day 2010 #65 - Fun!

I had some fun playing with Adobe Photoshop after work today. I don't
play around with Photoshop very often -- usually use Fireworks these
days -- so it was a lot of fun doing some collages to familiarize myself
with the differences in menus and functions. I'll post some sample photo
collages tomorrow.

Thought of the Day 2010 #64 - Double Entendre

I was thinking tonight about how I was the queen of double entendres in
high school. Maybe it was partially just flirting or maybe I was a bit
of a freak, but I could spin almost anything into a sexual double
entendre.

I remember flirting in this manner with one kid in particular. I loved
doing it because I would make him blush horribly. Often, all I had to do
was just look at him a certain way after he said something that could be
perceived ever so remotely as sexual, and he'd blush. Such a sweet kid.
Other times is was just quick quips. Ah, good times.

Of course at the time, I was completely innocent, but knew far too much
about sex thanks to my mum's fresh human sexuality text book that I
sneakily read cover to cover. Maybe that added to the charm of it?

Thought of the Day 2010 #63 - Eliminates Odors?

Just how does something like Fabreeze eliminate odors and not just cover
them up? Is it microencapsulation? I know it's not anti-bacterial, so
it's not working that way. Does it pluck up the offending scent
molecules and ship them to stinkier climes? I wanna know! Does anyone
know?

Thought of the Day 2010 #62 - Crying

My reaction to other's crying varies with the crier's age. A baby's cry
is often cute and makes me smile. A child's insistant cry is often
annoying and causes me to run away. A teenager's cry tends to make me
sympathize. An adult's cry usually has me tearing in empathy.

Thought of the Day 2010 #61 - Chaos

"Chaos" - one of the most overused and misunderstood terms in today's
vocabularies. Though not nearly as bad as "ironic" was a few years ago.

Thought of the Day 2010 #60 - Dimensions Magazine Rumors

I read the other day that there might be a new push to create an online version of Dimensions magazine again. Last time it was published, it was a paper issue and I was featured in it. They posted a copy of it in PDF on the Dimensions site, so if you've never seen it, here it is: http://dimensionsmagazine.com/pdf/Dim88_screen.pdf. Enjoy. Not really "safe for work", but no real nudity either.

Thought of the Day 2010 #59 - Precious

Wow. What a movie! Emotionally charged, very well acted, and full of
*gasp* moments. Wow. Wow. I heartily recommend this movie. Bring some
Kleenex.

Thought of the Day 2010 #58 - Hoarders 2

I've seen several more Hoarders episodes since I last wrote about it in
this blog. I can see now for most people that the hoarding issues are
far more about mental illness than consumerism. There's been some
extreme cases that are so, so, sad.

One comes immediately to mind -- the woman that would tie herself into a
chair that was perched upon the heap of trash in the kitchen. She tied
herself in so that when she would sleep she wouldn't fall into the
garbage. That was the same woman who no longer had running water, so she
used adult diapers instead of a toilet. The pile of diapers (and human
waste!) was so bad in the bathroom that the floor needed to be removed
'cuz the human waste rotted the floor. It was so extreme. So sad. What
even became sadder was that when the crews were on hand to help clean
the house, she was still unwilling to let some of the trash go. The junk
was more important than the relationship with her daughter, her
health...or anything. Seriously ill and very sad...

Thought of the Day 2010 #57 - Don't Donate Overseas

That's what one of my Facebook friend's status said. The reasoning was
that there are plenty of people who need money in the US. Basically a
"take care of your own" concept.
While I agree there is plenty of need in the US, countries like Haiti
don't have a lot of other options. They were a struggling country before
the recent devastation.

Also, while those people in other countries fly under another flag, we
are all on one planet and despite what some might believe, what happens
in other countries *does* affect us.

"No man is an island...," even if they are physically on another island.

Take care of our own *and* reach deep into your cash reserves to aid
others on this planet. You'll be glad you did.

Thought of the Day 2010 #56 - Fat Girls Representing!

 

I noticed a plumpness to the 82nd Academy Awards that I've not seen before. Certainly you have the nominated beauty -- Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique, but I also noticed John Hughes' wife, the always lovely Kathy Bates, and a few other pleasantly plump audience members. It was refreshing to see something aside from they standard stick figures at this show. Oh, and I really got a kick out of Sidibe's quote: "If fashion was porn, this dress is the money shot, and you know it." Yay!!

Thought of the Day 2010 #55 - Great Idea!

I had a great idea! I only wish I had thought of it first.

Thought of the Day 2010 #54 - Email

With all of thw work hours I have been avoiding the office computer for
personal stuff the past few weeks. So, if I owe you an email it will be
coming soon! I think I'm easily three weeks behind. Doh! Oh, the guilt!
The guilt!!!

Thought of the Day 2010 #53 - Job Titles

I came across a job title at work that was unbelievably long. It doesn't
even fit in the standard job title field on our network manager, Active
Directory. The title is a fairly long string starting with "manager". As
I mentioned on Facebook, it's kind of like: "Manager of Dohickey,
Blotto, Stickfigures and Diversity of Shape." It's as if they couldn't
come up with a generalized title like "Manager of All Good Things", but
instead, they needed to explicitly state each area of responsibility. I
think I'm going to change my job title to "Lackey of internet things
that most see as magic, databases, pretty graphics, email technologies
and jelly jam production." It would work, but I would need a much wider
business card.

Thought of the Day 2010 #52 - Ill Fitting

I haaaaaate seeing my fellow fat chicks wearing sweaters / cardigans /
jackets that are two sizes too small. If it doesn't fit...don't wear it.
If you don't know if it's fitting you or not, look in the mirror. If you
have one button buttoned, say at the waist, and there's a giant,
strained triangle from the button to the hem edge, it's not a fitting
sweater. That is a sweater yearning to be free...

Thought of the Day 2010 #51 - Valuables

Most of my valuables (with the exception of my gold ingot holder) have a
glowing light to aid would-be thieves of their location. I'm thinking
there was a clever band of thieves working closely with electronics
designers.

Thought of the Day 2010 #50 - Success!

The work project rolled today with just a couple of glitches -- nothing
too serious, luckily. The feedback has been pretty positive, again
luckily. It really feels good to get it off my semi-permanent to-do
list. Yay!!

Thought of the Day 2010 #49 - Tomorrow

After a couple of years of planning and long hours in recent months, a
long awaited project is finally rolling out. I spent most of today
fighting last minute issues, discovering and fixing some random
boo-boos, and locking everyone out of the old system. So, aside from
this wee thought, there is genuinely nothing going on in my head right
now aside from a wee stress headache.

Thought of the Day 2010 #48 - Mother Hens

I spent some time today with a woman with the classic Mother Hen
syndrome. She hasn't had kids of her own, so I think that probably
exacerbates the problem. She'll ask a question or offer something and
if I say "No, thanks," she will ask again and again until either I feel
the need to yell NO and hurt her feelings or just cave to let her be
"motherly." It seriously drives me batshit crazy. I try to avoid her as
much as possible, but I don't want to be rude as she is a very nice
person...a very nice person who wants to be ever so *helpful* even if it
kills both of us. AAAAAAAck.

Thought of the Day 2010 #47 - Global Shift

Forget global warming, I feel there's some major tectonic plate movement
going on. The magnitude of the earthquakes seems to be increasing. Of
course I say this with no genuine knowledge and just a gut response to
several large seismic events over the past several years. So, really,
forget you ever read this.

Thought of the Day 2010 #46 - Time Passing

I'm sure I've mentioned the fact that I feel time is passing too
quickly, and I've probably touched on the feeling that I currently don't
have the ability to manage time consistently. But have I mentioned the
sheer panic I feel when I realize I've been in Utah for seven years??
Panic. Seriously.

Thought of the Day 2010 #45 - Brilliant Idea for Pharmacies

Ever get a prescription at the pharmacy? Ever get a refill? Or refills
every month? Yeah, you end up with a new bottle each time. Oh, and each
bottle is packed in a bag and a huge piece of paper is stapled on the
outside with the drug's info. A super amount of waste involved here.

My idea is that most pill refills should be provided in small,
translucent, biodegradable wax envelopes. The envelope could have a
handy shaped tear edge that would aid in emptying the pills into the
existing bottle. The envelope could have an identifying, warning-filled
sticker on the outside for the anal and litigious amongst us.

The switch from plastic bottles for prescription refills would save
money *and* the environment.

Thought of the Day 2010 #44 - Pointed

Is there a point to pointed questions?

Thought of the Day 2010 #43 - Time yet?

Is it time for Spring yet? The cold winds cut to the bone today... :-(

 

Thought of the Day 2010 #42 - Outed

Living in Utah and not being Mormon can be tricky business. I've been
told that at certain church meetings, church leadership will ask
members if they know of any non-members. Yes, of course, they tell them
that they know me, a non-member. Yippee.

What does this mean aside from the horror of being outed as a
non-member? They will call and ask if the missionaries can come over. Or
sometimes the missionaries show up on the doorstep.

It's not a big deal, but it gets a bit old. It's not like I go door to
door asking people whether or not their religion is BS or not. I figure,
maybe naively, that they have already thought about religion and that
it's probably a done deal and that there's no reason to confront anyone
I don't know well about such private beliefs.

Alas, instead, a few times a year I have to stand steadfast in my
beliefs and go head to head with kids just out of high school who have
been trained to convert. They haven't yet lived on their own nor had to
face difficulties outside of the family womb.

I end up explaining my take on the world and religion's place in it.
Their shiny, happy faces end up seeming oh so concerned that my lack of
faith is wrong. Good times all around.

Each time I go through this I say that next time I will just claim to be
a devil worshipper to scare them away. My only fear is that they will 1.
put this on my permanent record or 2. come bearing torches and still
hope to get to the third lesson.

Thought of the Day 2010 #41 - Long Week

After a week filled with twice as many work hours than I normally work,
it's only the wee hours of Sunday and I'm already dreading Monday
morning. The next several weeks will be beastly and I just want to float
in a giant pool to forget it all...

Thought of the Day 2010 #40 - Updates

I updated the Photo Selections of the Week today and spent a good amount
of time flexing my Photoshop and self portraiting skills which are
woefully rusty. I need to do this more often. It's fun and it feels
good. Kind of like exercise, but without the sweat.

Thought of the Day 2010 #39 - Grey

Why does no one select grey as their favorite color? It's such a
wonderful color with symbollic meanings. Moody, neutral and intelligent.
Grey can support and encourage other colors like non other. It can
fortell the impending rain. It can warm a winter's night as a wooly
blend. It can be heathered or flat, imagine that. It can be cool or
warm, blue nor yellow can. Ahhh, lovely grey.

Thought of the Day 2010 #38 - Death

A co-worker of mine died in a freak accident in her back yard earlier
this week and was found today. It's one of those not-so-subtle reminders
that life is pretty delicate. Be careful out there, OK?

Thought of the Day 2010 #37 - Smoke

Bad part of casinos, especially those with aging air systems -- smoke!
It makes my contacts cloudy and in turn causes fatique quickly. Gimme
fresh air and I'm quickly rejuvenated. There ought to be smoke free
casinos in Vegas. Well, really, they should all have smoke free areas.
Of course, that's only when I'm in charge of everything in the
world..and, of course, everythingg is perfect.

Thought of the Day 2010 #36 - Celeb Fatty Treatment

Apparently fat celebrities do get mistreated like the rest of us
fatties. Kevin Smith (Silent Bob) was pulled off a Southwest plane today
because he was a "safety risk" sized fatty. Read his tweets about the
ordeal and his reaction:
http://twitter.com/ThatKevinSmith

Thought of the Day 2010 #35 - Baby Formula

When did they start putting corn syrup in baby formula? (I guess this is
more just a question than a thought.)

Thought of the Day 2010 #34 - Vegas

On this night before a road trip to Vegas, my friend Alexandra asked me
if I wanted to go to... (wait for it...) Vegas! That's right, it will be
three months and three trips in a row to Sin City. Come July, I plan to
be back there yet again. That's a lot of Vegas.

Thought of the Day 2010 #33 - Regretting Vacation

I hate the urgency of getting everything done at work prior to going on
vacation, even short little trips! Sometimes, it's so stressful that I
wish that I wasn't even going to go. *pout*

Thought of the Day 2010 #32 - Valentine Memories

Several Valentine's days in a row, my family would go to a hotel in
Minnesota called Paul's Place. I really only recall it being on
Valentine's day weekend 'cuz of the brown lunch sack I would bring with
cherry lollipops, Valentines with elephants on them (I always took the
fat animal Valentines personally, even though I doubt much thought at
all went into their selection for fellow students), and a box or two of
chalk message hearts.

Paul's Place = swimming pool. They had a pool, a hot tub and a cold
plunge. The latter we used just for self torturing pleasure.

I remember spending hours upon hours in that pool. I also remember not
being a very good swimmer, so I'd hold on to the edge of the pool a lot.
So much so that I lost my finger prints one year. Oh! One other fun
memory was the first closed circuit television camera and view I've ever
seen. Having a view of the pool was awesome, so we'd know how many other
peeps were in "our" pool.

Overall, good pool time family memories!

Thought of the Day 2010 #31 - Food Memories

I've been asked a question about food through Formspring.me that I will
try to get to tomorrow. It brought to mind some food memories, akin to
"The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on HGTV. Combine that message with a message
from Facebook, and I'm tossed into a distinct memory of the best beans
I've ever ate. Mexican restaurant in Memphis (don't ask where, I don't
recall) had the best tex-mex beans. They were spicy, saucy, whole beans
unlike what most Mexican places put on the table. I've never had any
like it, and yet 8 or so years later they're still fresh in my mind.
It's funny how scents, and tastes can be so vivid. We've had cameras for
over 200 years and yet we haven't been able to create scent or taste
memory books yet? Maybe it is because it's so hard to get it "right"?
There are so many subtle nuances to aromas/flavors that would make it
pretty complex, but you'd think we'd be getting close developing a
scent or taste recorder? Maybe someone is working on this? Hope so.

Thought of the Day 2010 #30 - Decent Weather

We've had a relatively minor winter thus far, and I understand the east coast is getting hit pretty hard again this weekend. I am a bit jealous! I want something weather-wise to complain about!

Thought of the Day 2010 #29 - Project Runway

Watching Project Runway makes me regret that I didn't go to the Fashion
Institute of Technology when I was accepted way back (mumble) years ago.
Although I dislike the word "fashion", I've always been interested in
textile design. Ah, well...

Thought of the Day 2010 #28 - Blogger.com, FTP and Upcoming Site Changes

I found out today that Blogger.com is going to discontinue FTP
publishing in March. They claim that only a minor percentage of their
patrons use FTP. I know why that is...when I tried to set up an FTP
based blog a few months ago, they buried the self-hosting FTP settings
pretty deep...no one would want to bother with it.

This blog, and obviously the main page of this site, is recreated daily
through Blogger's FTP publishing. Because I have a sh*tload of non-blog
content behind the main page, I cannot move my domain to the Blogger
servers. So, I'm left with a couple of options -- move my blog to a
subdomain of catay.com like blog.catay.com or move to a different blog
publisher which opens up more cans of worms. I would feel bad about the
second option because I've been with Blogger since the days they were
begging for donations to keep them alive during their startup days. I
sent in my donation and received the free stickers. Woot! Now, of course
they're a part of Google's empire. They've come a long way!

Whichever way I end up changing this site (and a few others) there will
be some significant changes coming.

Thought of the Day 2010 #27 - Cereal

I'm in a serial cereal eating pattern right now. Can't get past breakfast without some crunchy goodness and milk. Yum!

Thought of the Day 2010 #26 - Asking

I'm pleased that I received a couple of "Ask Me Anything" questions.
I've put the question box over there, on the right ---?
The answers will appear here on my blog and on
http://www.formspring.me/cataycom where you can also ask questions. So,
ask away! What have you got to lose??

Thought of the Day 2010 #25 - Go Ahead, Ask Me

Click this link and ask me anything! http://www.formspring.me/cataycom
I'll do my best to answer promptly and honestly. Feel free to ask
anything that pops in your head!

Thought of the Day 2010 #24 - Words

On any given day, I figure I speak about 500 different words. I clearly
need to get out more.

Thought of the Day 2010 #23 - PSotW

I finally updated the Photo Selection of the Week area of the site...and
filled in lots of blanks. Wooohooo!

Thought of the Day 2010 #22 - iPad

The new Apple iPad was introduced today. I'm excited to give it a whirl.
I'm excited by the size of the screen, the touch controls, and the ebook
support. My major disappointment? I really wish they would figure out
how to display pop-up books properly...

Thought of the Day 2010 #21 - eBay Greed

I received an email from eBay indicating that yet again they are
changing the sales fee structure in March. Because they change their
policies often, I can't help but imagine they have a board of greedy
bastards number crunching to find a way to get more, more, MORE profits.
Across the hall, they have a sniveling group of marketing weasels trying
to figure out a way to spin the new fee structure so that it seems they
are changing for the benefit of all. Eh, what's new? I guess a lot of
companies do that.

It's just that eBay is at this point nearly a monopoly for certain
categories of auction items. They have the buying traffic for antique
bottles (as an example). Moving listings to a startup online auction
house just isn't feasible without traffic to drive items to their proper
value. You just get nibbles and basically sell the items at a discount
due to the lack of interested buyers.

eBay knows this...and well, bend over. NOW!

I do have to give them a minor prop for their flattened final value
fees. They're high, but at least now they're very easy to figure.
Well...that is until they change their fee structure again later in the
year...

Thought of the Day 2010 #20 - Buttars

Utah State Representative Chris Buttars (quoted as saying, "...gays are the biggest threat to America" amongst other pearls) is an idiot. When I hear him speak, my skin crawls as his repulsive, cowardly and imbicilic thoughts roll through his lips.

Thought of the Day 2010 #19 - Luck

Does luck really exist? I would consider myself lucky to find out the
truth.

Thought of the Day 2010 #18 - Looting

In Haiti damage, is it really looting when the building being "looted" is completely collapsed? Isn't it more of a service of clearing rubble? No idea if the shop owners have insurance, but if they do, you know it's already been declared a complete loss.

Thought of the Day 2010 #17 - Seventeen

Remember when you were seventeen? I'm sure you thought you knew
everything, too. Turns out, we didn't even know half of what we know
now. Maybe when we are 80, we will look back to now and think the same
thing? Nah. We we'll probably be back to knowing half of what we know
now.

Thought of the Day 2010 #16 - Meyer Lemons

I picked up a couple of pounds of Meyer lemons the other day. They're a
small citrus fruit that is believed to be a cross between a lemon and
mandarin oranges. I put a call out for recipes and a couple of people
mentioned curd. I only remember having jarred curd once or twice, but I
had never tried Meyer lemons in *anything* before, so what da heck...it
was worth a shot. Turns out lemon curd is super easy to make..and it
tastes fabulous!! Now...what to put it on. Ivan suggested cheesecake.
Lemon and cheesecake?? You bet. So, as I write this a cheesecake is
brewing in the oven. Tomorrow...the full Meyer lemon deliciousness will
be had!

Thought of the Day 2010 #15 - Abnormally Paranormal

I think I've been watching too many paranormal movies lately. Ever since
I cleaned out the guest room closet this past weekend, I have a creepy
feeling coming from that room. Like a presence in the doorway. Oh, and a
couple of times I've heard footsteps when no one else is around.
Creeptastic! Maybe it's the ghosts of donated household miscellany??

Thought of the Day 2010 #14 - Food, Inc.

I recently watched the documentary, Food, Inc. It provides insight into
how our country's food is produced. I wish it had even more detail than
it did, but for 90 minutes of film, it showed some disturbing detail of
monopoly behavior going on in the industry. One of the most disturbing
stories was that of the Monsanto mafia controlling the soybean seed
market. Due to a law change in the 80's they were able to copyright seed
genetics. If you're a soybean farmer, the dark suited heat may come
knocking and suing you for copyright infringement, even if you had a
soybean crop that was accidentally crossbred by a neighboring field of
copyrighted beans. Why is this important? You don't eat soybeans. But,
you probably do and you don't even know it. Currently, soybeans and corn
are a component of ~80% of products in the supermarket. That fact alone
is freaky. Of course, if you buy strictly from the fresh veggies &
fruit, you can avoid them, but if you ever buy processed foods, a lot of
the mystery chemicals are soy or corn byproducts.
So, all in all, a very interesting and disturbing movie...and I'm only
touching on one small aspect. Well worth a viewing!

Thought of the Day 2010 #13 - Oh My Darling!

Oh my darling clementine! It's clementine season and they are awesome
right now. Little gems of citrus goodness! Get 'em while they're
hot...'er ice cold!

Thought of the Day 2010 #12 - Lurve!

 

eShakti's new spring dress line is sooooo pretty! I pretty much want all of them! Or at the least maybe 7. The prices are inexpensive to start...and they allow for custom sizing for an additional fee. Soooooo awesome. It's like getting Anthropologie type clothing (which I lurve) in large sizes and easily half the price! Can you tell I'm excited by them?! Dang!

Thought of the Day 2010 #11 - Milk Man

I don't recall if I mentioned this before, but it came up again. My step
daughter avoids milk because of something a teacher told her -- "Man is
the only animal that drinks milk beyond infancy."

While true for the most part, there are several things that immediately
come to mind. First, lots of animals would choose to drink milk if they
could. Cats love milk. Dogs love ice cream.

Secondly, and possibly most importantly -- man is the only animal that
has flown to the moon. Just a silly example of the underlying problem --
we're animals, but we're a bit different than the rest with cognitive
and physical abilities that most other animals would dream of having, if
they dreamed.

While I don't believe we need to drink milk and possibly there are
negative issues related to milk consumption, I find it a bit
shortsighted to make the animal-man direct comparison in order to make a
case against its consumption.

Thought of the Day 2010 #10 - Haiti

My thoughts today drifted often to the horrific situation in Haiti. I'm
sure it's going to get worse before it gets any better.

Nothing torques me more about a natural disaster than narrow minded
people who blame a god's vengance on the situation. I actually saw
someone say that New Orlean's hurricane and Haiti's eartquake are tied
together because of the resident's religious beliefs. God is punishing
them for voodoo-riffic thoughts, I guess. Ugh. So, when a hurricane hits
a heavily Christian area, it's happening because...because just a
handful of nonbelievers brought it to the area, right??
That's right 'cuz ya gotta blame *someone* for a natural occurrence.
Seriously??
I wonder if they blame impure thoughts for pimples? And colds on past
uses of swear words?
Nutty, nutty, really.

Thought of the Day 2010 #9 - Projects

I'm not a project manager. In fact, I HATE project management. I like to tackle projects that can be done in a day. Longer than a day and I just feel overwhelmed and suddenly a relatively simple project seems impossible or at least improbable that a deadline could possibly be met.

I know, I know...a large project is typically just a series of smaller projects. Maybe this is why I hate project management so much...I can't see the edge of the forest clearly. No, I see every stinkin' tree and I can't see any way through to the end. Put all of the trees in a spreadsheet and it just seems even more overwhelming. The trees never disappear on the spreadsheet...they just get greyed out which means they're still there...calling me to cut them down....

I think the bottom line is that I wasn't meant to be a lumberjack.

Thought of the Day 2010 #8 - Brutal

After several weeks of partial work weeks, I'm looking at a whhhhooole
week of work this week. Brutal! Good thing MLK's day is next week to
ease me into this hectic (heheh! ok.."normal") schedule.

Thought of the Day 2010 #7 - Sappy

 

Confession time. I tend to ascribe feelings to inanimate objects. Like these stuffed toys that were found in a ditchbank. They must feel like they were rejected by their owners, right? I mean, how could they be loved for weeks/months/years and then discarded in a ditch like they didn't matter?? Oh, you might say they're just fiberfill and plush fur, but no...they've got feelings, too.

It's not just stuffed animals, either. If I leave a pillow case out on the line at night, I think that it might just feel cold or lonely or ignored or _____. Is that nuts or what?

It's not that I have overwhelming thoughts like this, just that it passes through my brain at one point or another, and often it becomes a motivating factor for me to donate rather than discard. Although, the thought of my possessions getting abused in the 'wrong hands' has crossed my mind. Ok, maybe that is a bit nutz....

Thought of the Day 2010 #6 - Conventional

While in Vegas, we were asked several times which convention we were
going to or were in town for. There were two HUGE conventions in town --
Consumer Eletronics and and Adult Entertainment Expo. I wasn't there for
either, but it made me wonder why they asked... 'cuz I don't remember
being asked that any time previously. Did I look like a porn producer or
a electronic guru?? Maybe both?