Not A Dollarshort

Redesign

The obligation of packing begat a new design, one that was partly inspired by our Tokyo trip and my desire to post to something more than a hiatus weblog. Below the photos to the left, you'll find a little travel-themed Maneki Neko -- I'm bringing my theme home with that little guy. The site where I found the Maneki Neko asks that one link to an animal welfare site in exchange for using the image. I'll link to my favorite cause, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. No in your face tactics from this group; instead they take in unwanted and homeless pets and just give them love and care. That's it for tonight. It's 4:00 in the morning and I can't bring myself to go to sleep. Blame it on the nerves and fears that will hopefully be a distant memory as we land safely tomorrow after an eleven hour flight.

Flights

So, I only flew once -- to Texas -- last year. And, getting myself up in that plane was a real challenge. Now, as of tomorrow, I will have already flown twice in 2003. I'm going to Japan and will be flying for about eleven hours. And, frankly I'm petrified. Today, I also made reservations for this year's flight to Texas and a flight to Chicago. Immersion not aversion is the key to getting over fears, I guess. Still, I'd be a whole lot happier if I didn't perform my little flight reservation ritual where I read the various flight numbers aloud while saying "More on the tragedy of flight xx" to see which numbers stand out as disaster-report friendly.

MenaMoblog

MenaMoblog from my Sidekick

Worst iTunes Library Ever!

I think I may have, without argument, the worst iTunes Library ever.

Of course, I could make excuses and say that all my good music is on my laptop and not on my desktop G4 -- but come on, who am I kidding?

*Bonus points to those who noticed that this screenshot captures me actually listening to the music.

365 Days

You know when you really want to link to a unique and interesting (and somewhat bandwidth intensive) site but worry that you'll be partly responsible for the extra traffic that may cause the bandwidth gods to raise some serious fury and force the really cool site to disappear?

That's how I feel about 365 Days.

It's just too neat to ignore.

Link via the newly redesigned Scrubbles.net

Charleston Photos

Some photos I took while in Charleston, SC.

Idiots

"Mill Valley resident Penny Wright-Mulligan bought her first Hummer in October. She loves the macho frame and 316 horsepower V8 engine. And she doesn't seem to mind that, on average, her vehicle gets 10 miles to the gallon -- particularly when she has to shuttle four children between the ages of 11 and 16, and three dogs."
Get a fucking station wagon.

North Carolina

Last Saturday, after feeling particularly gloomy about not being able to see my family for the holidays, we booked a flight to North Carolina. We arrived today and it was a complete surprise to them. I'm getting used to smoking in restaurants and people that say ya'll and aren't trying to be funny or cute. We'll be heading to Charleston, SC for a one-day vacation next week.

Paul Harvey

I just flashed back on the time I made my mother buy some microwave popcorn because Paul Harvey said I had to try it. That man knows how to endorse a product. To this day, I confuse the news with the advertising truth.

The Menu Collection

Database of menus stored in the Rare Book Room of the Central Library in Los Angeles.