Blasts from the Past

As is a 16-year old’s wont, Ian was sitting here bored to tears trying to figure out what to do with his free time in the aftermath of his last mid-term this morning. So I asked him to split 3 large logs for me. (One needs a cozy fire when one is watching the upcoming Superbowl.)

The idea of splitting wood brought back to me memories of Monty Python’s Lumberjack Song, which was totally lost on the teenager, but very entertaining for me.

In an effort to get the teen to relate to something I remember to be very funny, I did some digging and, compliments of YouTube…voila…the Lumberjack Song AND the Dead Parrot bit!

 Of course, all this nostalgia was likely triggered because I had lunch today with a friend and former co-worker whom I haven’t seen in close to 10 years…blast from the past!

Where DOES the time go? It was great to catch up, Marty!!!

Legacy of Frisbees, Hula Hoops, and FUN

All you ultimate lovers, take note…I just saw an article on Yahoo! about Richard Knerr’s passing. He was one of the men who founded the Wham-O toy company which popularized the frisbee and the hula hoop.

 I learned a few interesting things in following the links of this story. Did you know that the frisbee started life as a tin pie plate that college students discovered could be tossed back and forth? Then a building inspector in Los Angeles created the first plastic disc and called it the Pluto Platter. That’s when Knerr and his partner at Wham-O, “Spud” Melin, bought the rights and trademarked the name Frisbee and the rest is history.

 According to the wikipedia, these guys also created the Superball, Silly String, and the Slip ‘N Slide….a legacy of fun.

Faceaccidents

Have you ever had a Faceaccident? One of my friends had a major Faceaccident when she indavertantly invited all 1000 contacts in her email address book to join Facebook. She didn’t realize that she’d even done this until she started getting replies from people who were thanking her for inviting her to Facebook.

We laughed about that one because ultimately Facebook is more fun with more friends. After all, what’s a social networking tool without a social network? Without that little software trick my friend would not likely be interacting with as many people. But the usability professional in me can’t help but feel a tiny bit outraged by the deceit.

 Then it happened to me yesterday when I indavertantly sent a Funwall post on Facebook not just to the one person I was trying to reach but to a group of people….argh!@!@!! Annoying, embarassing, perhaps, but ultimately harmless, I guess. Still, it would be nice if the folks who write these applications for Facebook could show a little more respect for the user.

Happy Introvert Day

Celebrate, celebrate…today is national Introvert Day!! I think I’m going to throw a party…NOT!

 In March 2003, I was liberated when I read  Jonathan Rauch’s article entitled “Caring for Your Introvert“  in The Atlantic Montly.  Finally, someone understood! The need for time alone every day, the craving for quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, the awkwardness of small talk at parties, the urge to scowl at pleasantries from well-intended people who are just trying to be nice…it all had a name AND it wasn’t an indication of something bad.

Then today, I found that article’s corollary on Yahoo! Happy Introvert Day to all you fellow introverts.

Happy New Year

Wow…where did 2007 go?  Is it really January 1, 2008? And, look it’s been weeks since my last post. But I’m resolved. I will keep up better in 2008!

For the record, here are my 2008 goals. I’m sorry if this sounds cliche, but if I don’t record them now I will forget what they were in 2 months. Then I won’t have any chance of achieving them.

1. Get back in touch with my lost network. When I prepared my Christmas cards this year, it hit me how many people I have in my address book (some have been there for over 15 years) with whom I’ve lost touch. I’m closing in on empty nester status when my child will, hopefully, no longer be the center of my daily life. That’s a gaping void which will need to be filled. Why not reconnect with friends and former co-workers?

2. Connect with new friends. Expand my online presence.

3. Keep writing. Write a book. Become published.

4. Finish up a few partially finished creative projects…stay focused.

5. Organize and catalog my old family photos. Frame the best ones and hang them up!

6. Learn how to use my new Nikon D40X. I want to learn how to take interesting portraits a la Annie Liebowitz and Anne Geddes and begin a collection of portraits of trees.

That should keep me pretty busy. Is it too ambitious? We’ll see…