:: living in relative obscurity ::

deb gets her blog back

2008-01-07T23:19:00.001-05:00

New year, new blog entry. The fall was a pretty busy time for me: I finally designed my business cards, and was rewarded with a contract to redesign a local photographer's website. I'm really happy with the result--and so is he, which is the most important part, right? It's probably one of the "cleanest" designs I've done in a long time (maybe since college), and definitely a successful example of "less is more."

Rugby went well--our team struggled a bit in our first season in competitive (playoff-eligible) play, but things jelled as the season wore on. I played nearly the entire season at second row (my coach referred to it as an "emergency fill-in," which is code for "undersized for the position"). It's a completely different position, one of bursts of strength as opposed to the bursts of speed I'm used to as a flanker. I also cut my teeth as the jumper in the lineouts, which I love.

In my day job, I've been promoted to project manager/designer. While it's a LOT more work than I was used to, I really enjoy the site visits (field trip from the office!) and scouring the building plans. I'm not designing as much as I used to, but I feel that will return in time, as I learn to prioritize my other new responsibilities--dealing with clients, sign takeoffs/message schedules, developing/revising sketches, following thru on the fabrication and installation process in the shop, etc.

A side effect I didn't expect was that my lack of designing at work has led me to be more creative at home. Not only am I organizing (!) my apartment room by room, but I feel more ambitious regarding freelancing. I'm getting my business cards professionally printed, and I even ordered my very own Pantone books on eBay! I feel like a full-fledged designer now :)

injuries galore

2007-07-11T10:47:00.000-04:00

I took the opportunity to sketch out a rugger for a book documenting my team's first year in existence. My idea was based on the Operation! board game, which identifies various injured body parts. ("Minute, sir" is what you say to the ref when you need a timeout for injuries, shoelaces, etc.) I asked my teammates to send me a list of their rugby-related ailments; some people were very technical in describing their injuries, others were more candid.

Fortunately for me, there are several shutterbugs on the team, providing me with plenty of angles of body parts and uniforms. I hand-sketched everything, inked it in, scanned it and added color in Photoshop. The face doesn’t belong to anyone in particular; it’s actually modified from a young man’s facial expression on a stock-photo site.

This project consumed a total of 10 hours, 2 beers, 1 margarita and 1 Trader Joe’s Swiss milk chocolate bar.

The Great Quasimoto Incident of 2007

2007-05-13T21:22:00.000-04:00

(Subtitle: My Husband Didn't Do It)

In the second half of a very physical game versus Norfolk, I went into a tackle at the same time as my teammate... I made contact a second before she did, and the force of all 3 bodies colliding knocked my face into her head. Amazingly, neither of us was concussed, but after hearing a god-awful squishy noise in my face I hit the ground... when I opened my eyes my face had swelled up already (hence the subsequent nicknames Quasi-face and Lava Lamp). After the sound it made I honestly thought my face was broken, so I went to the ER for a CAT scan, which revealed no broken bones--woohoo!!!

I sat out the following week's game versus Frederick (we won!), and was the last-resort sub for our slaughter of Salisbury... I played the final 7 minutes of the game as fullback, a first for me. All that sprinting I've done definitely paid off; several years ago I always got beat on somebody cutting outside, now I'm fast enough to chase 'em down.

Since I had time to kill, I decided to document the rainbow of colors on my face. Note: some of the images are not for the faint of heart!

note swelling on my right cheek

When Chombo met Lava Lamp

Poor hubby... not easy for him to see me beaten up

the swelling has almost gone away!

the Skittles phase (taste the rainbow...)

sadly, halloween is 6 months away.

looking badass before the Salisbury game.

The discoloration disappeared after 4 weeks... I have a lump the size of an almond under my skin, which is slowly diminishing. I did follow up with my doctor before playing--there is no damage to my eye or eardrum, and I was given the okay to play after 2 weeks.

the altruism of comcast

2007-05-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

Comcast has a monopoly of sorts in our area (Verizon FiOS is slowly moving in), allowing them to price gouge like nobody's business. I scrutinize my cable bill almost as much as my credit card bill, they are that bad with the fee increases. Not to mention that we have lost cable several times when other tenants move out of the building and the Comcast contractors switch off the wrong apartment (ours, twice).

Anyhoo, the NFL is suing Comcast b/c the cable behemoth is moving the NFL Network from its digital package to a "sports tier." The NFL believes they'll get less revenue if Comcast moves it to a tier with a smaller subscriber base (they earn their cut per subscriber). Comcast is using an altruistic defense, stating that:

"We bargained explicitly for the right to place the NFL Network on a sports tier because it is the best and fairest solution for all our customers," David L. Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast Corp., said in a statement Thursday. "This decision means that our customers who are NFL fans will be able to watch the NFL Network without burdening those who are not NFL fans with extra costs."

Ha. I highly doubt my cost for the digital packge will decrease after losing one channel.

poor oreo!

2007-05-10T00:26:00.000-04:00

Oreo has bumblefoot! Poor little guy has been bleeding off and on for several days; I'd schedule a vet appointment a couple days in advance and put Neosporin on his feet daily. By the time the appointment rolled around, his foot appeared to heal, so I cancelled it. It opened up again Saturday morning (of course—so I couldn’t get him medical attention for 2 days); their cage looks like a crime scene there are so many bloody pawprints :( I need to sanitize and sand down everything in the cage.

The vet was surprised b/c most bumblefoot cases are usually overweight, have a poor diet and living conditions, etc. but otherwise he’s in perfect health. She wants him on soft bedding (Carefresh) for 6 weeks to allow his foot to heal; their current cage has a grating at the bottom. Sadly, Chewie’s old cage is perfect for this… it’s a little bittersweet since she just died. I have to keep both chins together, since Duster has short-term memory issues and attacks Oreo if they’re separated for a day.

I moved them last night, and they’ve been trying to escape ever since! Every time I walk by their faces are smushed against the bars. Duster sits on top of their wooden box and squeezes between its roof and the top of the cage… I suppose that’s the highest he can get!

second game: an uphill battle

2007-04-02T12:06:00.000-04:00

Our second game of the season was fought in a muddy cow pasture in Middle of Nowhere, PA. (Actually, Brandywine is quite scenic, I could just never live that far away from civilization.) It had rained that morning, and the field quickly became full of tacky mudholes--a lovely consistency that sticks to your cleats just enough to slow you down, but not enough to suck them off your feet.

By halftime we were down 10-0 (that's 2 tries, but they missed both conversion kicks), and spent most of the game defending our half of the field. One of our girls pointed out that the field was in fact slanted, and the uphill running was slowing down our game. Sure enough, when we switched sides for the second half, our roles reversed and they barely crossed the 50-meter line. We won 12-10... it definitely pays to have an accurate kicker!

first game: tough loss, great defense

2007-03-21T13:41:00.000-04:00

We lost our first game of the season to NOVA (short for Northern Virginia), 15-0. Being the first game of the season there was some rust to shake off, but our defense was pretty damn good; NOVA fought hard for their 3 tries. As much as I love our brand spankin' new uniforms, they're not bullet-proof... we had a bunch of brutal injuries. I tried to recover a loose ball and earned an elbow to the face and my first-ever black eye. At some point in the second half I ended up at the bottom of a collapsed maul, and all the falling bodies bruised my rib. That wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't come down with a sinus infection and bronchitis the very next day... coughing fits + bruised ribs = exquisite pain.

This was also my first game wearing a scrumcap. Mine is decently ventilated, but your hearing is still affected. It was quite a blustery day, and my cap doubled as a wind tunnel the entire freakin' game...

offseason

2007-03-05T17:40:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a long time since i posted here. Things were pretty uneventful the past few months. I spent the rugby offseason (November - February) building up my endurance and distance running. I'm up to 3.5-mile runs, which is great considering rugby players run 4-6 miles during the course of an 80-minute game. A few of us gals also practiced with the men's team on weekends; those practices were so intense I was no good for the rest of the day!

Our spring season starts out slowly, with a several bye weeks; then we have 5 straight games April - May. We're on track to be playoff-eligible for the fall season, which means less games beating up on college teams, and more picking on women our own size!

Sadly all my hard work hasn't moved the numbers on the scale. It did, however, get me an award--I won Most Improved at our year-end banquet! :)

somebody saw a snowflake... run on milk and TP!

2007-02-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

I heard the best lead-in for a snow forecast on the radio yesterday... the DJ introduces a news segment, and pauses for the opening of Chic's "Le Freak" ("awwwww... freak out!"). That pretty much sums up the regional panic that occurs every winter.

Even better, on the same drive home, the flakes are falling, the supermarket parking lot is jammed to the gills--and there is a line at the car wash. Guess some people can't bear the thought of their cars looking bad even when the snow is falling...

thank you cards

2007-01-23T14:22:00.000-05:00

My sister gave me a set of watercolor notecards for Christmas; I used two of them as thank-you notes for other Christmas presents. This created the perfect opportunity for me to dive into my recent purchase, Type Style Finder, an incredible source of newer fonts by some of the more well-know type foundries.

I picked out individual letters from various fonts in the book, scanned the ink drawing, and used the ghetto carbon-transfer method (pencil scribbled on the back of the paper, the letters traced over on the front of the paper) to leave a light impression of the word on the card. I inked in the letters using a Pilot Precise pen (V7 Fine), which is fairly waterproof once dry.

I then proceeded with the watercoloring... the trees were a last-minute addition. I took a very minimalist approach, since I wanted the letters to be the focal point of the piece, but the words felt bare and unfinished without a flourish behind them :)

the disease of design

2006-12-20T16:31:00.000-05:00

The Internet is great for self-diagnosis. Here's a dead-on description of how designers like me see the world, and why walking down the street can cause me heart palpitations.

thinking positively

2006-12-20T16:14:00.000-05:00

The holidays have been a bit stressful for me (for reasons I don't wish to disclose right here), and being a natural pessimist, I need an attitude adjustment every once in awhile. (I'm sure my husband would say I need one a little more frequently, lol.) So I'm taking a page out of many a therapist's book, and writing down positive things... here are 6, in honor of my new jersey number.

I love the fact that I went Christmas shopping in sandals and a short-sleeved shirt.

I love discovering my chinchilla curled up asleep in his hammock

I love that my husband will totally surprise me every year at Christmas, and spoil me with stuff I'd never buy myself

I love the rush I get after a good workout

I love eating raw cookie dough more than the finished cookies themselves

I love LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Dawkins, Lance Briggs and every other fantasy player who rewarded me w/ a big payday to catapult me into the championship game

disturbing but clever

2006-12-08T23:50:00.000-05:00

Egg Bank has decided to use guinea pigs to vouch for the quality of their product.

purple passion

2006-11-27T11:26:00.000-05:00

I had a brush with greatness yesterday in Baltimore. My rugby team has a concession stand at the Ravens' stadium (for fundraising), and I've worked several of the games this season. It's not too bad a gig--once we stop selling beer in the fourth quarter, the line dies down considerably--but you end up working the equivalent of an 8-9 hour day. So it was nice to start my day off with a highlight: my route into the stadium takes me past the autograph line, and there's Todd Heap, ballcap pulled low over his face, quietly signing autographs. I didn't even see him at first, but as I walked right by him, I noticed a TV camera... did a double take, and there's #86, 5 feet away from me!

Even though I have his jersey, I just kept walking--I figure athletes deal with enough crazy fans as it is. ;)

I didn't think the day could get any better after the Ravens thumped Pittsburgh 27-0, but on my way out, I passed by the autograph lines again. I hear somebody call out "Steve, Steve!"--and a nicely dressed Steve McNair is visiting the fans. Pretty sweet.

I should follow this motto:

2006-11-27T10:33:00.000-05:00

"There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it." - Mary Wilson Little

season in review...

2006-11-24T13:01:00.000-05:00

Life lesson #678: don't use body wash with "gentle exfoliation beads" right after playing 80 minutes of rugby on dead grass. There is nothing gentle about it when you've got 80 microscopic cuts on your legs...

The fall rugby season wrapped up November 11; we beat Salisbury Univ. 42-7. I got the closest I ever got to scoring--2 yards before the try line--before I got brought down, but not before I dished the ball off to my flanker, who charged in for the score. I don't think assists are an actual stat in rugby, but the coach seemed pretty excited about my effort, to put it mildly ;)

That game was the best game I've ever played in 4 years of rugby... I lost count of how many tackles I made, nearly scored, I even blocked a punt! That totally made up for the last time I played Salisbury 5 years ago, when I was back in college, got drilled from behind and got a concussion.

We finished the season 4-1, pretty damn good for an inaugural season. The PRU might speed up our admission process so we can start qualifying for playoffs a year earlier than normal (traditionally, you have to be in existence 2 years).

I'm definitely hooked back into rugby again; this is a great team. I feel like I'm not only learning the game better, but actually applying what I learn to each game. I'm in much better shape than I've been in ahwile; although this offseason I'm focusing on my endurance!

Oh yeah, and my toenails have grown halfway back in. (If you missed the gross-out fest back in August, my two big toes swelled up and had to be drained. Which leads me to life lesson #679: ALWAYS break in your cleats.)

space pirates

2006-10-24T12:49:00.000-04:00

Meant to post this awhile back: these are the pages I created for HOWieZine #8. The zine is a collaborative effort of members of the HOW forum, the themes are decided upon in advance. The due date of HZ8 coincided with the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean, hence the pirates theme. If you'd like to see more of the amazing work that other designers came up with, you can see a PDF here.

a day off

2006-09-27T17:16:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I had the day off, and on a whim I decided to play tourist in my hometown of Annapolis. I parked my car in a garage and set off on foot thru the Historic District. No, I didn't join one of those tour groups led by people in period garb; I just wanted to venture off the main roads. I spent the better part of 5 hours walking thru the quieter residential streets and checking out some galleries I didn't know existed.

It's amazing how much more you see when you're going at a slower pace. I wouldn't have discovered the sketch opportunity below if I had been driving thru in my car. But walking along a street, you end up subconsciously observing things around you, absorbing them gradually as you approach them.

Mercenary for hire (or, how to be an 8-man)

2006-08-30T15:54:00.000-04:00

We had our first game over the weekend--we whupped Frederick 68-0. Pretty crazy considering most of us have only played together for 3 weeks!

Of course, I didn't score, but that was the least of my concerns--I was the 8-man (so named b/c of the number 8 jersey you wear at that position). It's a far different position than what I was used to playing--as a center/wing, you tend to stay away from the rucks and mauls (the piles o' players, in layman's terms)... not only did I learn how to scrum on the fly, but I was told I had to be the first person to break from the scrum, first to ruck, first to tackle. And let me tell you, I have a whole new level of respect for forwards! I really had to pace myself b/c I was running all over the damn place.

The best part was at halftime--the coach goes "where's deb?" and when he found me, started flipping out about what an awesome job I was doing, and how I totally surprised him b/c he thought I'd be timid out there. It's crazy--I thought I was half-assing it b/c I got so tired, but I guess I was in the minority!

Rugby speak

2006-08-30T15:35:00.000-04:00

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about when I discuss rugby (which is most of you!), here's a pretty helpful site. Another one can be found here.

rugby, part deux

2006-08-09T16:07:00.000-04:00

I'm putting the "rugger" back into ruggerwithpigs... I started rugby practice yesterday!

I need something to challenge myself; my life is so decidely uneventful it's sad (hence the lack of posts here). I've run into people I haven't seen in a few years, and the most I can say is that I've (sort of) switched professions and I got married. I'm a bit of a homebody, but sometimes that can go too far. Some of the best times of my life revolved around rugby--granted, the atmosphere (college) and the people were a major factor in that too, but there's something about the adrenaline rush I get from rugby that is just addicting.

So wish me luck--I figure to be very sore and bruised the next few weeks. If I get any unique bruises, I'll be sure to post 'em for all to see (tastefully!)

That's Google with an "i"

2006-08-04T16:19:00.000-04:00

iGoogle is has become quite the helpful little hub for me. If you have a Gmail account and a penchant for sites with RSS feeds, then you too could have your favorite bookmarks centrally located on one convenient page. When you go to add content to your page, you can either select from the list of feeds/extras in Google's list or add your own (provided you have the RSS link from the site you desire).

new blog worth noting

2006-08-02T12:44:00.000-04:00

LifeClever is a blog I stumbled across a few weeks ago, and I've been hooked on it ever since. It's largely focused on graphic design, but many of their insightful tips on the workplace can be applied to your average Joe Cubicle.

stinky weird

2006-06-21T00:09:00.000-04:00

We've had a car parked outside our apartment building for at least 3 weeks now that is packed to the gills with food. Yes, perishable food. There is room for one person--the driver--and then the front passenger and back seats are piled to the ceiling of the car with all sorts of food. It's just bizarre.

It's not abandoned, b/c it was moved to another parking space last weekend, and then moved back to the handicapped parking space, of all places. And the thing frickin' reeks: the windows are cracked and my husband gags every time he walks by, which you have to do b/c it's parked at the entrance to the building! It is (well, was) a nice car too: a Chrysler Sebring convertible.

So now I'm trying to pass the time coming up with a good story for why the car has remained in its present condition. Maybe it's an experimental car that runs on garbage??

in honor of the World Cup...

2006-05-11T14:04:00.000-04:00

Here is a pretty cool article on two of my favorite topics: fonts! and sports!

Linotype went ahead and identified the fonts on several of the jerseys of particpating nations. Enjoy.

You know you're married to a hard-core gamer when...

2006-05-09T09:01:00.000-04:00

you've actually had several of the conversations mentioned in this song.

gas prices - nah, I'm not bitter

2006-04-27T12:35:00.000-04:00

So the government wants to give us $100 to ease the cost of gas prices... ooh look, our elected officials care! Now they'll win our votes in November.

How stupid do they think the public is? The Washington Post had a very good editorial saying how pointless their efforts are... and where the real blame lies (although I think Congress is just as worthy of blame):

"The president has, of course, had plenty of opportunities over the past five years to shape a more rational energy policy, one that would have provided incentives to move away from oil and toward other energy sources. He could have lobbied harder to remove the oil industry tax benefits from the energy bill he signed. He could have insisted that Congress add more tax breaks for hybrid cars, as he now says he wishes it had done. He could lift the tariffs on Brazilian ethanol, which would help address some of the ethanol shortages across the country. He could have endorsed a tax on oil and coal, which of course would not lower the price of gasoline but would, again, begin to reduce demand while encouraging investment in new technologies.

And he could have used his statutory authority to raise automobile fuel economy standards or persuaded Congress to find other ways to improve mileage per gallon of U.S. vehicles. Again, if he were completely honest, the president would tell Americans that the main reason fuel prices are higher in this country is because demand is growing -- and one reason for growing demand is that people drive inefficient cars. They drive inefficient cars because public policy, long shaped by the president and by Congress, has made it advantageous to do so. Until that changes, little else will."

[full text of article is here]

We're a wasteful country, and it's finally coming back to bite us in the @ss. A puny rebate isn't going to help out inflation--when the cost to produce and transport goods and services increases with the fuel costs, and your paycheck buys you less, that $100 will disappear real fast.

/end bitterness

bring your piggies to work day

2006-04-25T13:30:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I had a personal assistant for the day: my guinea pig! Chewie had a vet appointment in the afternoon, and since the vet is closer to my work than my home, she went on a field trip. I knew my work was cool about employees bringing their dogs in, and apparently that extends to rodents too, lol. And let me tell you, there are few things cuter than having a sleeping pet curled up in your cubicle :)

At the vet, however, they determined the mysterious lump protruding from her belly was most likely a tumor or a cyst. Which means there is very little they can do for it. She's behaving completely normally, and her eating habits haven't changed, so it doesn't appear that the lump is causing her pain.

Chewie is 6 years old, which is like 75 in people years, so I know that it's only a matter of time anyway. But hubby and I are making sure to give her extra love and attention from now on :(

leaving my mark on Naptown

2006-03-24T12:37:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty psyched about one of my latest projects at work. The company president landed the bid for a building in downtown Annapolis, and I got to design the signage for it. It wasn't always vacant: back when I was in high school, it was an open-air, indoor market down by the City Dock where I used to hang out after school. The city wanted to make it more high-end, so they closed it down for renovations. Now it looks like the high-end vendors fell through, so they may end up going back to what it used to be!

I ended up putting more pressure on myself than I should of, but it's pretty fascinating to be able to leave your mark, so to speak, on something that was a part of your past.

The sign is carved HDU (high density urethane? bascially very dense particleboard); the text is gold leaf. Because it's in the historic district, it has to look old fashioned, and must have spotlight illumination.

must... write in... blog...

2006-02-27T23:33:00.000-05:00

Okay, I've been slackin', but I've got good reason to: I completed two freelancing jobs this past month! Well, I'll complete the second one sometime this week, but then I'll be done! And in net 30 days, I'll be paid--woohoo!!!!

Now I've gotta go to bed, so I can arrive at work super-early to work on the 3 projects I have due tomorrow! *sigh* Too bad I can't slap a rush charge on my day job...

torpedo'd in alexandria

2006-02-20T15:16:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit Old Town Alexandria, VA for the first time. The real reason for my visit was a designers' meetup from the HOW forum, but I decided to arrive a few hours early and check out the art scene. I spent a few hours in the Torpedo Factory, which is (obviously) an old WWII torpedo-making factory that was converted into 3 floors of studio space for artists. There is such an incredible range of talent being honed there, from watercolor (my favorite) to scupture; photography, pottery, metalwork, etc. On Saturdays the factory has "open studios," where visitors can watch the artists in action and view their work.

I wasn't sure how the artists would feel about having pictures taken of their work (and I was too shy to ask!), so I'll just post links to some of my favorites' sites:

coming soon!

score: Deb 1, Duster 0

2006-01-16T14:47:00.000-05:00

Chinchillas, like most pets, love to escape. Mine are no exception. They're also fast as hell and near impossible to catch (Jamey once chased Duster around the apartment for two hours before he caught him).

On Sunday, I was "hand-training" Duster--basically, trying to get him more comfortable sitting in my hands (chinchillas are not huggable, they dislike sitting still and squirm if you hold them too long). Suddenly, he bounded up my arm and perched on my shoulder--where he stood for two full minutes. Duster has this "king of the hill" mentality where he'll sit on the highest thing he can and just gaze around at his little empire; either that or he was trying to watch the playoff game down the hallway. Since he was out of my line of sight, I was hesitant to move around much, b/c he'll startle, race down my back and into another adventure.

Eventually, after watching a Colts touchdown (glad one of us could see it), he hopped over to my right shoulder. I decided to crane my right hand up behind me to see if he would hop on. I hunched my back enough to slide him into my hand, and very sloooowly curled my arm back around my side... and back into the cage! He seemed stunned by the sudden shift of advantage, b/c he turned to face me and started squeaking. After I did a little victory dance, he still got a treat, to soothe his bruised ego ;)

woohoo retrievers

2006-01-15T18:01:00.000-05:00

Looks like UMBC, my alma mater, finally got a sports team in the news:

Maryland-Baltimore County's men's basketball team has been indefinitely banished from its locker room, punishment by coach Randy Monroe for a subpar effort in a 75-58 home loss to New Hampshire on Wednesday.

UMBC spokesman Steve Levy confirmed Sunday that Monroe has not permitted the Retrievers to use their usual locker room since Thursday. Instead, team members are dressing in the courtside media workroom, which was also to be used as a meeting room during halftime of Sunday's home game against Hartford. Additionally, players have been forbidden to wear apparel bearing the school's name.

They weren't great when I attended either, save for one year where they won the regular season title and lost in the conference tournament. Looks like we'll be known for our championship chess team for awhile longer!

happy 2006

2006-01-09T13:59:00.000-05:00

My resolutions for the new year:

1. Lose 5 lbs by March 1, and 10 by the summer.
My weight crept up a bit in the fall, and I got a bit of a shock when I stepped on the scale for the first time in 3 months! I'm a healthy weight anyway, so it's really gonna come down to eating better (less sweets) and exercising more. Motivation is my biggest problem, however, which leads me to:

2. Gym time: 2x a week by March 1, 3x a week after that.
I am not kidding when I say that I spend more time debating whether I feel like going to the gym than I actually do in
a gym. We have a "fitness room" in our complex, and we live in a pretty fitness-oriented community (bike trails, nature walks, a bigger gym/indoor pool for the homeowners that we tenants get passes to), so I really have no excuse whatsoever to get off my duff and be active!

Except when I get home, it's dark... ;)

3. Keep in touch with my friends!
I go thru antisocial periods like anyone else does, but I can see why once people get married they drop out of sight: now that I have a captive audience, it's far easier to bore my husband to death as I chatter away than taking the initiative to email or call someone. And most of my close friends do not live close by, so I don't just run into them anymore.

4. Blog more.
That way when I'm lax on number 3, y'all can still get your fill of all things Deb here :)

5. Create at least 1 "fridge-worthy" artwork each month.
On the HOW forum there is a frequent thread called the HOWie Fridge... basically a place to post your recent work free of critique. I'm prohibited somewhat from posting work-work b/c of contract issues (clients have requested mock-ups, then paid but taken them elsewhere to be fabricated), and I don't do nearly enough sketching, especially indepth sketching or painting, to post. That's going to change!

ergomania

2005-12-19T23:30:00.000-05:00

When you sit in front of a computer for 8 hours a day like I do, and have absurdly poor posture (like I do), then you're just a case of RSI (repetitive stress injury) waiting to happen. Over the summer I bought an ergonomic mouse: the Evoluent Vertical Mouse 2. It only set me back around 50 bucks, and the lack of hand cramps is worth it. Your hand is rotated 90 degrees from a typical mouse position, but this is a more natural position for your body, and therefore less stressful. The learning curve wasn't too bad--about 2 straight days of use--although it's taken far longer for my coworkers who only use it once a week or so if they're looking stuff up on my computer.

While the Mace Windu of mice stopped my wrist aches, my right arm and left wrist decided to make their uncomfortable presence known. So I got an early Christmas present courtesy of the IT department: an ergonomic keyboard [the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, to be specific]. It's got some whistles and bells--a zoom toggle, programmable function keys, and even a calculator button!--which I'll incorporate eventually. Right now, it's a nice relief to not have achy arms :)

"I know this looks bad, but I swear I've got his blessing!"

2005-11-11T10:11:00.000-05:00

So my husband, in his never-ending quest to enjoy his video game hobby to the fullest while keeping his wife happy, decided to sell back all of his video games and consoles to put credit towards purchasing the Xbox 360. Somehow, I got tasked with bringing everything to EB. So at 7pm on a rainy Saturday, I stumble into EB carrying a laundry basket consisting of at least a dozen games, 5 controllers, 1 GameCube, 1 Xbox, 1 GameBoy SP, and various parts and accessories. To the innocent bystander, it had to look like I was taking revenge after a breakup or something!

The guy behind the counter starts unloading everything, comes across the GameCube, and says "oh, so some of this belongs to your kids."

To which I replied, "actually, I don't have any kids."

Pause. "Oh. Wow."

Happy ending: we now have a $256 credit towards the Xbox 360. And no, I don't even want to think about how much all that stuff cost in the first place! ;)

anyone check the temperature in hell lately?

2005-10-27T14:25:00.000-04:00

So... the White Sox won the World Series. Last year, the Red Sox won the Series. Add it to all the natural disasters going on around the world this year, and I'm beginning to think that Armageddon is approaching.

So here's my theory: if the Cubs win next year, and the Buffalo Bills win the Super Bowl on a field goal kick, we're all doomed. ;)

the reporters respond

2005-10-27T14:10:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post has a pretty good system going with many of its thought-provoking articles: they offer 1-hour chats with the reporters. Of course, sometimes you just end up discovering that the reporters really didn't go very in-depth with their questioning; other times you end up finding gems of commentary offered by readers.

Here's a link to the chat transcript.

read it and weep

2005-10-26T09:55:00.000-04:00

There was an interesting article in the Washington Post today regarding young people and the madness of the real estate market... it's a bit long, as it profiles several people in their twenties and thirties and their rather, ah, creative [or crazy] efforts to afford housing in and around DC. The common thread is that they all fear that if they don't buy now, they'll be priced out forever.

My husband and I have been debating this very thing for a couple years now [basically, every time a friend of ours buys a house and we receive peer pressure to do the same]. While we debated whether or not we'd enjoy a steady diet of ramen noodles in exchange for a mortgage, we really did get priced out already. Thing is, we live in a pretty nice apartment complex now, so to go in over our heads would not only cause undue stress, but we'd end up relocating to some pretty sketchy neighborhoods... I see that as a step down, really.

[btw, yes, I am aware of interest-only mortgages, and no, we're not interested in being shell-shocked by skyrocketing payments in 3 to 5 years. My cousin is a broker and he has also advised against it.]

Some interesting tidbits from the article:

"In Maryland, for example, the median starter home price in 2001 was $117,801, according to the Maryland Association of Realtors. By June 2004, that figure had rocketed to $214,446 -- an increase of 82 percent."

"Iobst recommends a few tricks to help his young clients stay competitive. One is to have their parents take over monthly bills for a few months so their bank accounts can stay full -- making it appear to lenders that the buyers really do have the cash on hand to seal the deal." ...LOL ... does this even warrant a comment?

bueller? ...bueller?

2005-10-19T17:10:00.000-04:00

So I took an unexpected and unexcusable leave of absence from da blog. Chalk it up to equal parts busy-ness at work and computer avoidance at home.

What's new with me? I've been taking a watercolor class, which I love [more on that later]. My one-year anniversary is coming up this weekend, so I suppose I'm no longer a newlywed, lol. The chinchillas are still trying to escape, the guinea pig is more hermit-like than ever, and our big household purchase of the season is a Dyson vacuum... which is especially great b/c Jamey may vacuum from time to time!

attack of the killah chinchillas

2005-06-12T19:31:00.000-04:00

duster and oreo have been having some roommate scuffles as of late, so we decided to buy a second hideaway for them. at least this way if someone gets booted out of the igloo, they'll have someplace else to hide. they promptly hid from it until they discovered it was edible...

oreo checks out the intrusion, as duster remains oblivious.

oreo showing off his balancing act, while duster continues to ignore the camera.

duster makes a run for it!

by this point duster is looking a bit dazed from the flash going off...

you came in THAT thing?! you're braver than i thought!

2005-06-06T19:35:00.000-04:00

this year's comic-con in philadelphia had its share of costumed star wars fans...

a stormtrooper modeling this season's PVC fashion.

kenny baker [R2-D2] enjoys a banana.

oon-tee-dee!

everyone was getting along fabulously until Boba Fett showed up.

princess leia, jedi babysitter

seriously people, those TIE fighters are cramped enough to begin with...

"THIS is CNN."

sith happens

2005-05-20T20:12:00.000-04:00

an unorthodox review of "REVENGE OF THE SITH"...

- if you hated episodes I and II, see this movie.

- if you loved the "original" trilogy, see this movie.

- if you want to see obi-wan kick some galaxy-wide ass, SEE THIS MOVIE.

the highlights:
- R2-D2's return to prominence in the story
- lots and lots of lightsaber fights
- ewan mcgregor's excellent transition from uptight episode II obi-wan to a more playful character... great segue to alec guiness's version of old ben kenobi
- anakin's emotional path to the dark side... christensen has a far better performance once he switches teams, so to speak
- the emperor's calculated manipulation of anakin--as well as his crazy-old-man schtick one his true identity is revealed

- darth vader's first moments in The Suit
- return of the wookiees!

the low points:
- how pregnancy suddenly turns padme into a helpless damsel in distress
- the "romantic" dialogue between anakin and padme
- how leia could possibly remember her mother and luke couldn't just doesn't fly anymore after seeing episode III
- some plot points suffered due to editing/cut scenes to get the movie under 3 hours... like how the jedi ghosts are NEVER FRICKIN' EXPLAINED
- "NOOOOOOOOOO"... vader's pathetically laughable cry of "anger"

the final scene [which, btw, i totally called a year ago] was so emotional, a fitting homage to the original movies. right then and there, you know the saga is complete.

did lucas redeem himself with episode III? i'd say yes.

got my sith tickets!!!!!!!!!!

2005-05-16T11:46:00.000-04:00

we got tickets to the 12 midnight showing and 3:30pm on thursday. so from wednesday evening on, the next 24 hours will look like this: leave work, get to mall, sit/stand in line, see ep III, sleep, wake up, sit/stand in line, see ep III...

pathetic? possibly. but this the *last time* i will ever get to do this, and you only go around once, right?

i will make sure to bring my camera to take pictures of the most out-of-control fans... this should get interesting ;)

having a blasty-blast

2005-05-02T11:00:00.000-04:00

went to see dane cook perform at UMd last weekend. the man is hilarious. i had heard his CD before, but it adds so much to his performance to see him in person. he cannot sit still--you know how italians talk with their hands? well, this guy talks with his entire body: jumping over chairs, wiggling all over the place... you don't want to take your eyes off him b/c you could miss something.

also impressive was the fact that dane and the other comedians stayed for 2 hours afterward signing autographs for every single person who waited in line to see them. you could tell they looked pretty wiped out, but they were still greeting everyone who approached them and thanking us for attending. my sister had her picture taken with dane cook and gary gulman, so i will post those as soon as she gets them developed. gary is from "last comic standing"--really sweet in person, and probably the first guy who makes my sister look short when she stands next to him!

captain mclintypants

2005-04-27T15:40:00.000-04:00

today is a bad clothing day. normally i'm lucky if i create a fashion statement with my wardrobe, but today i had on what i considered a cute yet professional outfit.

alas, it was not to be. my brand new black capris are the biggest lint magnets i've ever owned. i de-linted before i left the house and by the time i got to work it was covered in fuzz from my fleece. de-linted again. by lunchtime, i had more lint from i-don't-know-what, plus the fronts of my pants look *faded*... my only guess is from crossing my legs?!

to top it off, the ladies' room mirror revealed a huge deodorant stain on the bottom half of my blouse that i swear was *not* there when i left for work this morning. i use that invisible solid stuff--which apparently doesn't stay invisible for long...

a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

2005-04-19T09:59:00.001-04:00

only 30 days to go before episode III opens... so i'm posting a geek alert--i won't be able to resist posting a ton of stuff about the movie. everything i've seen so far [and i've discovered more than i'd like to know about the movie] looks really promising... read: better acting and a better plot than "phantom menace" and "attack of the clones."

ep III [it's so much quicker to type that than "revenge of the sith"] has big shoes to fill: not only does it have to tie in nicely/believably to the original movies, but it needs to go out with a bang. "clones" was marginally better than "menace," so logic says ep III should raise the bar again. then again, george lucas is not always a man of logic ;)

badass jedi am I

2005-02-16T12:45:00.000-05:00

heehee, i found this quiz in another blog:

i'd prefer to have 2 lightsabers, but beggars can't be choosers. ;)

my bookshelf, part 1

2005-02-10T13:33:00.000-05:00

So I used to be one of those little kids who stumbled out of the local library with books stacked up to my chin. I would drive my mom nuts b/c I could read 5 books at a time and keep all the plots straight. I still do the same thing today, except it's a little harder to keep the plots straight when you work 40 hours a week, clean house, cook dinner and maintain a minimal social life. Plus, now I read books you have to learn from--no more Baby-Sitters Club, lol.

Right now I'm on this sociology kick, which extended into economics. "The Two Income Trap" is an excellent, excellent read about how the family has come to be dependent on two paychecks. I just cracked open "The Great Unraveling," a collection of essays by a NY Times columnist/econ prof on the state of the economy and how it was affected by the political arena. Waiting to be read: "Comeback Cities" and "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," which are more focused on urban planning.

food for thought

2005-02-10T13:16:00.000-05:00

"You're like a waiter in a restaurant... you can recommend the best thing the chef is making. But if the guy wants a hamburger, you have to bring him the very best hamburger you can make."-- Scott Timms

good food for thought [pardon the pun] on the world of design :)

sports ramblings

2005-02-02T21:23:00.000-05:00

So Sammy Sosa is officially a part of the Orioles... not sure how I feel about that. All the hitting in the world won't help them if they don't have halfway decent pitching; as long as I've "followed" the Orioles [from the late 80's], they've never had good pitching. Granted, I'm not a baseball fan--I mean, I like sports, but I have the shortest attention span in the world when it comes to a baseball game. My mother-in-law is a diehard O's fan, so I've watched enough games now to understand it a bit more, but still... it's soooo sloooooow.

There are rumors that Angelos is deliberately trying to screw up the team... whatever sweetheart deal they are working out b/c of DC getting a baseball team will probably make things worse: MLB is promising Angelos guaranteed revenue b/c he insists that another team in the area will take away from his already declining attendance, which takes away any shred of incentive he has left to improve the team. They've got some up-and-coming young guys, just not in pitching.

Super Bowlin': I'm so sick and tired of hearing journalists rant about how T.O. is hogging the spotlight. Just who is giving him the airtime, the sound bites, the breaking news clips... hello pot? This is the kettle calling--you're black ;)

I'm pulling for the Iggles, and not just b/c an entire side of my family is... I have a soft spot for underdogs. Plus, McNabb was my first fantasy QB who led me to near victory in the league my rookie year...

As much as I can't stand Terrell Owens b/c of how he screwed over the Ravens, if I were him, I'd play too. Chances are he'll never be in the Super Bowl again, and he's already a multi-millionaire anyway... so if he never plays another game, it's a pretty good way to go out. IMHO.

slippery when frozen

2005-02-02T09:27:00.000-05:00

My poor husband messed up his back pretty bad this week... slipped on some ice while walking into his office... he tried to grab onto a chain link fence to keep from falling, but that ended up just making things worse. The doctor says his recovery time is anywhere from 3-6 weeks... talk about watching yer step! The doc added that "this is not an excuse for your wife to do everything."

The doctor is a woman ;)

the professional victim

2005-01-14T18:54:00.000-05:00

My sister came home for thanksgiving break with one of those moneymaking schemes that only college could spawn: she plans to join every class-action lawsuit that she possibly can ["Hello?! Second-hand smoke??!"] as a way to earn some dough on the side. I now refer to her as The Professional Victim.

As a side note, my sister and I really do get along... I just loooooove to tweak the hell out of her b/c it's so damn funny. Case in point: she got a laptop as a graduation present. It's her first computer that she doesn't have to share, so she's a wee bit possessive of it. So b/c she made this BIG DEAL about it, I went and changed her screensaver to The Blue Screen of Death with "Kathleen is a big dork" scrolling in huge pixellated letters across the screen. Juvenile? Of course. But the reaction is the best part--"What are you, 5?! What the hell did you do to my screensaver?!?!?" Gets her every time...

But the other 23 hours of the day, we get along great ;)

oooohh! I'm trendy!!

2005-01-14T18:47:00.000-05:00

As of 3:42pm, ruggerwithpigs has joined the HOWie crowd!

ok, I have no idea how much I'll really update this thing, but I'll give it a try. Thanks for swingin' by :)