Thursday, October 27, 2011

Random Bits

1.  I said "yes" to too many volunteer "opportunities" this fall, which is why there's been so much silence on the blog.  Sorry!  I am ticking them off, one by one, and I'm down to the last two.  They are, unfortunately, also the biggest two, so posting may continue sporadically.

2.  Marching Band is over (basically).  There was supposed to be a competition this weekend - only 6 bands signed up for what should have been a regional.  It got cancelled, I guess it really wasn't feasible to sign up for something else at this point, so we're done!  JC has texted me three times today confirming that this afternoons' practice is actually cancelled - we do have two more football games, but no more practices.  Good thing - the weather has decided to go early November on us, and it's about 45-50 degrees and schmutzing rain.  Ick.

3.  I am really kind of hoping soccer gets cancelled for this weekend, too.  Forecast is for rain on Saturday morning - Rachel has an 8:30am game, so NOT having to sit in the cold at that time in the morning would be a really lovely thing.  William's game is at 2:45, so that's ok, except that they've lost twice in a row.  My morale is low.  Hopefully, his isn't. 

4.  My house is a pit.  On top of too much volunteering, I've been scrambling to make a print for a print exchange (send in 12 and get back 10, all different).  I'm almost done, but there is dirt in every corner and finding a clear place to do homework or eat is getting...challenging.  I'm hoping that no band and maybe no soccer will provide me with minions to help with the cleaning.  We'll see - they're pretty good about disappearing when they smell housecleaning.

5.  Even though my house is a pit, what I really want to do right now is curl up with a blanket and a cat and take a nap.  Rainy fall days are bad for me that way.  I have 45 minutes before I have to pick up JC.  Not sure what's going to win.

Friday, October 7, 2011

iCon

I've been thinking about what to say about Steve Jobs for the last few days.  I've heard him compared to Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison.  I think the Edison analogy is apt - both men weren't necessarily the ones doing the innovative work, but they were both heavily involved in the vision and direction of that work.  Steve Jobs' Apple didn't invent the personal computer in the same way that Thomas Edison's lab made the first light bulb from ideas and glass and wire, but the early Apple computers fundamentally changed the way that computers were perceived by the general public.  Jobs created computers that were for regular people, that were simple and intuitive to use, that had a consistent interface across programs.  That seems so obvious now, but at the time, it really wasn't.  It's hard to remember now how clunky computers were in the 70's and 80's, and how few people actually used them in their personal life.

I wrote my Master's thesis on a Macintosh SE 30, and I don't remember once having to look at a User's Manual while formatting it, creating the charts and graphs, or any of the programs I used during the process.  And then he did it again with iEverything products, revolutionizing what we assumed computers and electronics could do and what they looked like.

RIP Steve Jobs, and prayers for his family.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Halloween AWESOME!

Now that the weather is finally turning cooler (and maybe not so rainy this week), it's actually possible to think about Halloween.  So as I'm poking around the Internet avoiding washing the dishes, I checked out The Martha Blog.  And somewhere on the page they had a link to the Daily Thred, which had a link to this:

100 Halloween Pumpkin Carving Ideas

Oh. My. Goodness.  Now, I'll certainly admit that some of these are far beyond my capabilities.  But how much fun is this?!


And this one, this put me over the top.

Isn't he GLORIOUS??!!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

What Is It About Babies and Knitters?

I'm convinced there is some kind of cosmic link between babies and knitters.  Our neighbors' daughter just gave birth to a girl (Awwwww....!), and while I know the neighbors well, I hardly know their oldest daughter.  She's much much older (early 20's) than the daughter we know well.  That one is a year younger than William.  We've met the older daughter a few times, but she mostly lived with her mom, or was away at college.

But...

Upon hearing the news of the birth, and seeing some pictures (Awwwww.....!), I am overtaken with the urge to knit a Baby Surprise Sweater for her.  To the point where I took time yesterday (which was a very busy day!) to pick some yarn for her while I was at Michaels for something else. 

Maybe it's because baby items are just so darn cute!  Or small and quick?  Or both...