David’s Neighborhood

I've been a tad on the distracted and negative side lately and anyone who knows what's going on is being pretty understanding.  For those who don't know just bear with me for a while longer and I'll be my normal cheery (hah!) self again.

Today was an unexceptional day.  I got some stuff done, I gave away some things (the last one is still sitting on the front stairs waiting for a new home), I packed up the car so I can stop at the thrift store on the way to work and give them more stuff, got the shopping done, and then came home to make cherry jello, brownies and tidy up the kitchen afterward.

Doesn't sound like an exciting day, does it?  Well that's kind of what I'm after for a while.  I've set myself a deadline for getting things done around here and that's done a surprising amount to perk me up.  I think having a goal to achieve is going to help.

I'm still not doing any hobby stuff but I'm ok with that for a short time.  With any luck I won't have to use down time to do hobbies since it will be UP time.  I know that doesn't make much sense but trust me, it will.

On a funny note one of the dogs has finally learned how to 'play'.  Mimi never really seemed to know how to play but in the last couple of weeks she's started taking squeaky toys away from Muffy.  Then the two of them play together seeing who can take the squeaky toy and run away.  It's fun to listen to but I can't go watch because as soon as Mimi sees me she stops playing and wants me to pay attention to her.  Hearing the squeaking, the growling and the skittering feet makes me smile.

The purging process I've been going through has been mostly good.  All kinds of things I've been hanging on to for so long I really don't need.  I've found boxes that haven't been touched since we moved into the house 7 years ago.  And many, many things that I kept out of habit.

Craigslist has been my friend in all this.  I've gotten rid of so many things to deserving new homes and it's still going on.  The free items have been quickly snapped up and the other ones are moving well.  Work has an internal posting board as well which generates a lot of interest and a few sales.  Some things do hit eBay if they seem like they need a wider audience and can be shipped relatively easily.  The rest of the stuff goes into the garbage or to the thrift store I like.

The no-kill cat shelter (where we got Popeye) got 2 garbage bags of unneeded linens since they do need them.  I can't contribute much but I know that they can always use towels and the like.

I've also found long-lost items that have made me smile.  I'm taking almost all of those with me even if they are completely useless except to make me smile.  Purging can only go so far before it becomes regretful.

One really odd thing that has come out of this is a slightly better relationship with my brother.  He stopped by this weekend to pick up an old radio and I gave him a few other things he'd appreciate.  Then he offered to help me move things to the garage and into the moving truck if I need him.  I think this is the first time he's ever offered to help me in any way.  It made me feel good and I'm going to take him up on that, looking at the stack of boxes in the dining room.

I'm progressing on packing little by little.  All the easy stuff is done and now it's more a case of trying to keep the items in the boxes similar and actually filling the boxes.  Balancing packing with what needs to be out for daily use is also interesting.  Slows stuff down now and will make for frantic packing later.  That much I know.

It's been almost a month since I last posted something.  We went to Florida over Thanksgiving and so Val could run the Space Coast marathon.  It was cool down in Florida, but we were able to take the boat out and have some fun.  On the whole it was a really nice visit.

Yes, I used the fancy word for 'a variety of things I felt like posting'.  Kinda girly, now that I read it over.  Oh well.

There's a radio commercial I end up hearing at least once per day and I find it completely annoying.  I don't mind naming the company and product - AT&T Uverse.  I'm not sure if it's playing in all markets but here's the summary:

Mother wants to let the kids watch TV in what is assumed to be the living room.  Father is just sitting down to watch 'The Game'.  Mother's justification is that they can record games and watch them on any TV so Father should watch his game in the basement.  He refuses to leave his lucky couch and Mother peevishly takes the kids to the basement to watch their show.

Here's why this annoys me.  Obviously Father watches his games in the living room.  So why should Mother expect him to give up his spot just because the kids want to watch something?  When I was growing up Dad owned the TV and if we wanted to watch something when he was in control we were SOL.  When did it change so that kids got priority?

My packing slowed down considerably as I fell into limbo and just couldn't get up the motivation to continue.  That changed last night (for a few reasons that aren't worth noting) and I got a few big boxes packed up.  I can't move them to the garage until the weekend but they're stacked mostly out of the way.  I was working in the craft room because the reading room hasn't been completely cleared for me to finish.  I might hit that tonight.  The hardest part will be pulling things out of the storage cubbies since they were meant for long term storage.  Which means 'things I put away so I wouldn't have to think about them'.  No longer.  That means it will probably be a bit of a morose evening but it will be done.

The house is now cat free.  This saddens me.  I haven't been without cats for 20 years and the house is very, very quiet without them.  One of the dogs seems very happy they're gone, the other is still looking for them.  They went to a very good new home and hopefully Mr. Rastl will get his feet under him and be able to reclaim them soon enough.

I've become a texting fool.  I finally got a phone and plan that has unlimited texts so I can send them whenever the mood strikes.  I've found the instant communication is addictive.  But I have not and will not Twitter.  That's just insane.

I gave up and joined Facebook and have been having fun playing a few games and keeping up with friends.  Turns out that every picture where I've been tagged I find to be a terrible shot.  I don't feel I take good pictures so I'm not that upset about it.  Oh well.

If I actually do things in a coordinated manner I might have 1 room and 2 closets completely cleared out and packed this weekend.  The thrift store has been making out like crazy and I've been using Craigslist a lot as well.  I plan on posting a bunch of furniture in the near future because I'm tired of dragging it around.  It's time to pare down my life and these are things I'm just tired of having.  I really don't need a dining room table that seats 10.  It takes up a lot of room and makes an apartment look really cluttered.

I have way too many office supplies.  I'm finding them all over the house.  I'll split those into 2 sets so I don't have to take them all so that should help.  Standard pens don't even get tested.  They get tossed.  It's not worth my time to test every pen and find out if they work.  It's amazing how many pens pile up.

I do have to do some sewing before the machines get packed up.  I need to make curtains for the downstairs bathroom, an apron from a kit as a present for a friend, and a zippered, padded bag for some of Mr. Rastl's personal electronics.  Nothing difficult and it should be a nice break.  Once they're done I can pack up all the sewing supplies that haven't been packed already and that whole corner will be done.  The craft room closet is currently empty so that's where I'll store the sewing machines.  I don't want to put them in the garage, especially the embroidery machine.

Really I do.  But right now packing up stuff is taking priority over things like having fun.

Luckily my painting supplies are "portable" so I can keep them out while everything else is packed away.  This should let me paint up a bunch of the minis that have languished on the shelf for so long.  I'm not going to try army painting when I'll have to keep putting the paint supplies away so single figures it is.

I'm giving away all my partially completed buildings and my partial modular dungeon.  Two reasons for this.

1. I don't want to move them.
2. I'm not that interested in building set pieces any more.

I really like the arena style pieces since they're even more modular than my modular dungeon and they can be arranged into anything.  I can still make all the accessories I want but I'm not limited to room size or shape.

My FLGS is going to luck out/get dumped on for this and I'll be glad to do it.  I know they'll either keep them to use in the store or find a good home.

I still say I have too many hobbies.

First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!

The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.

TypePad Micro

10 comments

A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.

Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.

On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.

And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!

~ daisy

As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.

The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.

When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.

It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.

Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.

As always, thanks for your patience.

~daisy

Chrome is sleek and quick and I like using it, but its one drawback is its "homepage" option, which lists the eight most commonly visited sites.  As a result of this running tally I'm reminded constantly how many times I go to Facebook or Huffingtonpost or The Miniatures Page.  And no, clearing your history doesn't reset it.  I suppose it'll keep me honest and on track.

Ingredients: