Owner: Living in Small Sizes URL:http://livinginsmallsizes.com Join Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2007 20:47:24 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: A journal of (mis)adventures, transformations and observations from one man who moves his family to a small rural town. Site statistics:Click here
71 Gmail Invites Left 2007-07-29 20:27:28 I know gmail isn’t the Joost of the invite as commodity world; but I have 71 left just in case anyone reading this blog hasn’t gotten the memo yet that everyone will be required to transition over to gmail by 2010.
Read more:Gmail
Just Say No 2007-08-03 09:51:25 Prepare the rotten fruit, Republican Ron Paul is coming to Fairfield.
A Tale of Two Commutes 2007-08-02 21:47:47 Everyone warned me about how insufferable the summers would be out here in Iowa. It does get hot here, and the humidity is so high that even when it’s not raining you cannot stay dry. And normally that would be enough to make me whine about it on an hourly basis. But I’m not.
The reason is because of my most awesome commute. I leave the house at around 8:45am dressed in flip-flops, jeans and a t-shirt. I get on my bike and ride on flat streets a distance of exactly ten blocks to my office - it’s a nice, leisurely ride in 7th gear with my own movement creating a nice refreshing breeze. Green trees, lots of birds and squirrels and quiet streets - expect for the occasional inconsiderate SUV driver - it’s a joy.
Once at my office I’ve got AC or fan or window to keep me cool depending on the conditions of the day. I walk one or two blocks to lunch, which is just enough time in the heat to enjoy it. Going home, I can leave whenever I want: no bus or fer
Fairfield Arts and Convention Center 2007-08-02 15:35:31 I’ve been watching the progress on Fairfield’s Arts and ConventionCenter
since I moved here in November. I remember looking at the diagram of the convention center on their website and thinking:
A - it’s cool that Fairfield is getting this large, new convention center. As a business owner I could use the conference center and as a fan of of live performances this has some great possibilities.
B - wow, it sure is ugly.
Over time though the design as presented in the marketing info grew on me and I got on board visually as well as practically. However over the past several weeks, as I’ve walked by the construction zone, I’m going back to thinking it’s a bit ugly. For starters, it totally clashes not only with the Court House, but with itself. It’s got this drab institutional look on all four sides, and then these very exciting curved wooden beams in the center structure. It’s like the Fairfield version of the Experience Music Project
Iowa: The Film 2007-08-01 21:34:50 “Iowa, they just don’t grow corn here anymore.”
Yeah, we had this bad boring reputation for being a state with nothing but corn, so we thought we’d spice it up by trying to get the rest of the country to associate us with Meth. Listen for the Fairfield reference towards the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDHoAxnPoAM
Sloth 2007-08-05 23:41:34 The humidity holds me like my daughter does when she is tired - it grips my hands and works to pull me down. I drag instead of walk. And a weird thing happens to my brain. I WANT to be this slow and lazy. My motivation is sucked out ounce by ounce and becomes the hot sticky moisture that fills the air. Who can function in this? You can’t be expected to do much; you’d actually keel over if you did!
And that is the beauty in it. No guilt, no pressure. It’s completely liberating! A true summer, just like when i was a kid. I wear little clothing and flip flops, only shower at night, AND what a great excuse for not cooking! If I do get myself to do something “strenuous” - it’s riding my bike. I get completely soaked with sweat. You’d think I just peddled twenty miles, but no, I just went four blocks to the library; and for that I get the gratifying sweat that is usually earned with the undertaking of a serious work-out.
During th Read more:Sloth
Adding Pink 2007-08-05 23:28:14 There’s a new editor on Living In Small Sizes - my wife. I’ve color coded our names (pink and blue) under the post title. So before you ask your attorney to contact me, make sure it’s a “blue” post.
Gmail Thinks I’m A Mom 2007-08-03 20:46:23 Being in the business of developing contextual and targeted advertising technologies, I often find myself admiring Google’s simple but effective implementation in this field. Then just now I noticed this sponsored link:
Hmmm. I glanced over the emails crowding my inbox but could not think of why I would get this link. Maybe it’s the spam I deleted this morning titled beautiful hot mom next door shows her . . .
Read more:Gmail
Getting to the Next Level 2007-08-10 18:49:34 I realized late last night while organizing a database structure, building wireframes and recalling cash flow worksheets all in my head at the same time - that running a startup is the most challenging thing I have ever done. I used to think raising a child was at the top; except a) Dawn does most of the work, and b) no matter how badly you screw up parenting, you still have a child.
However with a startup you are aware on a daily basis (no matter how well things are going) how easily it can all disappear. The climate is very unforgiving of mistakes and there is a considerable amount of luck involved in the rewards. We’ve been running for over a year now, with revenue coming in the past 2 months. We’ve delivered DVDs for Linkin Park, Rush, Flaming Lips and James Blunt (as of this week); with several more due in September.
That, I have learned was the easy part. Now the challenge is scaling beyond a 4-6 DVD per month production team and giving our investor (and ourselve
JibJab is King 2007-08-09 18:38:05 Everyone pack up and go home: JibJab just won the big “Web 2.0″ contest. Let’s all meet back for “Web 3.0″ shall we?
This took me about 15-20 minutes to make but mostly due to server congestion (I had to reload/remake Collin’s head). I feel like JibJab has opened a portal to a new era of wasting time at the office. I estimate there will be a global drop in office productivity over the next several weeks.
Kids With Guns 2007-08-13 23:32:22 Saturday I was out with my daughter shopping for a birthday present for a young boy’s birthday party later that day. Browsing the aisle devoted to boys toys I felt a little put off that even the toys that weren’t weapons (guns and swords) included weapons (robots, action figures, combat vehicles).
The only toys that weren’t in the combat category were cars. And thankfully my daughter is a fan of them (thanks to Pixar) so she ended up choosing “Ramone” and “LeakLess” from Cars. I say thankfully because I have this dislike for toys that are weapons. Which is actually pretty hypocritical of me considering that a couple months ago I dug out my old Darth Vader action figure carrying case complete with about fifty Star Wars characters . . . and their guns.
It took me about ten to twenty minutes after cracking open the Darth Vader case in front of my daughter and going through the characters that I realized that the real appeal of playing with Sta
Pho: What I Miss Most Right Now 2007-08-15 16:43:09 Checking out one of my friend’s Flickr feeds today I was reminded of what I miss most about Seattle right now. It’s not the mountains, nor the cool ocean breeze, and not even the blackberries or blueberries growing in my old garden. But rather a large bowl of chicken noodle soup - Vietnamese style.
Photo by Damien Read more:Right
No Smog?! 2007-08-22 14:52:36 I’m in Burbank this week an the weather is beautiful. I cannot recall the last time I was in the LA area and did not choke on smog.
Fairfield Loves Ron Paul 2007-08-22 00:16:10 My favorite little liberal town is in love with Ron Paul
(sigh). There’s a Ron Paul yard sign on every block, a Ron Paul bumper sticker to see at every stop and this large banner near the square. I don’t get it.
Sure Ron Paul is against the War in Iraq (who isn’t), but why would a liberal defect to the Republican party over a war every Democrat is against as well? More importantly, why would a liberal defect to a man who has an agenda to overturn Roe vs Wade?
Spending Time at Airports 2007-08-21 01:57:32 Trying to get to Burbank this afternoon but ended up stuck in the Cedar Rapids and now in Denver. A bunch of thunderstorms are to blame. They delayed our plane coming in from Chicago, and then we had to fly around a huge thuderstorm on the way to Denver (which was quite beautiful in size and electrical activity).
While picking my nose (and the Internet) at the Cedar Rapids airport, my traveling companion (and ScribeStorm’s HD-DVD developer) pointed out some odd things.
First the free and secret code (a bit of a triple oxymoron):
It took awhile to figure out why the Chicken Citrus Salad costs 55 cents more than the other salads:
Read more:Spending
, Airports
Selling WiFi Hotspots 2007-08-24 19:23:40 I’m sitting in the Ontario airport, having logged into a WiFi
hotspot moments ago. When I opened up my wireless connection control panel, I saw a list of 19 networks to join, most listing their rock bottom prices in the SSID (the name of the network). Competition is tough at the Ontario airport!
Ok now I’m in the Denver airport on a 5 hour layover - this place is becoming my satellite office. For those of you thinking about getting into the WiFi hotspot market, I suggest you try this airport. It has 50 times the traffic of Ontario and quarter of the number of hotspots. All of which are a pain in the ass to connect to.
Gotta go - someone is trying to bogart my power.
Read more:Hotspots
Death Oil For Yummy Popcorn 2007-08-24 11:33:47 At a recent party I was boasting about Will’s amazing corn popping skills (we eat popcorn at least 4 times a week). What is his oil of choice? Canola oil.
Rut-Row!
You should of seen the look of shock on my guest’s faces. Didn’t we know that canola oil is a horrible genetically engineered rapeseed? Ah, no.
Later that night Will was bummed because he was sure he could never attain his bowl of perfectly popped kernels without canola oil. I was bummed because at the last grocery store run we stocked up - so we have two or three bottles of organic canola oil in our cupboard. So we turn to the Internet to confirm or waylay our fears. At first glance it is shocking to see all the toxic effects of canola oil. How can they be selling that stuff?? But if you take a closer look it looks as if its all a hoax.
But it goes way beyond the email hoax. There is a substantial anti-canola camp out there. How can there be nothing wrong with it when there is so much bias agai Read more:Yummy
iPods More Dangerous Than Smoking 2007-08-29 12:06:10 I learned something on my flight back to Burbank this week: electronic devices like iPods and the Nintendo DS, are deemed more dangerous to air travel than smoking. I flew out on one of the new Embraer 170 jets and the lighted signs above the seats have been “updated”.
No longer is there a “no smoking” message (since we can assume that no one is crazy enough to light a cigarette in the aircraft), but instead a “no electronics” message (since there are still many whackos out there that insist on passing on the excitement of sitting in a cramped seat and instead decide to endanger everyone by playing video games or listening to music).
Read more:Smoking
Odd Airline Safety Card Graphic 2007-08-28 02:01:05 After returning from Burbank late Friday night, I had to spend Saturday shipping equipment, doing laundry and packing for my trip back out Sunday for the next two weeks. The exhaustion is being kept at bay by the excitement of the project we’re working on (more details later).
On the jet ride out I found myself trying to figure out just what the hell this graphic on the safety instruction card means:
Read more:Airline
, Safety
, Graphic
Earthquake 2007-09-02 12:40:43 I’m sitting here working with Collin in the Technicolor offices and just felt that rolling motion like you’re on a boat out on the ocean . . . except we’re in an office building.
Not that big (knock on wood) at magnitude 4.7 - click here for details.
I turned to Collin about mid way through the quake and posited, “we’re having an earthquake?” His face went white - this was his first.
Read more:Earthquake
Chess Set From Space 2007-09-02 00:57:53 There’s a chess set in the courtyard between the Technicolor and Yahoo! offices in Burbank that can be seen from space. Well at least from a Google spy satellite.
Milo, Sam and Collin standing near the same chess set.
Read more:Space
Three Weeks In Burbank 2007-09-02 00:40:46 I’m over half way through my three week trip to Burbank. I’ve got two ScribeStorm developers with me working on site (consulting) at Technicolor on a project I can’t talk about right now. It’s been exciting and exhausting, fun and stressful. There’s been very little smog, but the heat has been pushing past 100 degrees daily.
We work long hours with few breaks, but the food has been great - in addition to the great dining Burbank has to offer, the cafeteria shared by Technicolor and Yahoo! is yummy. I’m gaining weight for the first time in . . . well since I was like 2.
The best part, and biggest irony, is that my commute these weeks in Burbank is even shorter than my commute back in Fairfield. I am actually walking to work from the hotel. Who walks to work in southern California? It’s crazy. The Marriott we’re staying at is right next door to the office building and one of the entrances to the office is less than a hundred yard Read more:Three
, Weeks
, Three Weeks
Indoor Playground Coming to Fairfield 2007-09-25 20:07:42 Below is a letter sent out on the mom’s yahoo group, FairfieldVedicCityIowaMomsGroup (at) yahoogroups.com. I thought others would be interested as well.
Fairfield is a great place to raise a family, I think we can all agree. We have many wonderful parks, playgrounds, trails and places for families to go in the warmer months. However, during the colder months or on those sweltering summer days there are few indoor options for our children.
A group of Fairfield mothers has formed an ad hoc group to establish an indoor playground for our community. If you would be interested in an indoor playground please email me at dawn.merydith (at) gmail.com with your name and address, how many children you have that would use the facility and their ages. Also, please let us know if you would be willing to pay a small fee to use it, if you would like to volunteer to establish the playground and if you would donate money to help create it.
Thank You,
Friends of Fairfield Park and Rec&rsq
Officially an Iowan (again) 2007-09-25 14:32:04 For months I’ve been resisting updating my car plates and drivers license: I enjoyed discussing Washington, Seattle, Bainbridge Island or the San Juan Islands with whomever was loading groceries into my car at Everybody’s. I also loved the random comments from strangers as I exited my car, “I lived in Seattle 20 years ago! Where are you from?!” It gave me the feeling that I was unique or dare I say, special.
Recently, in a yummy and hip Asian fusion restaurant in LA my family and I were asked where we were from. We said Iowa. At first I felt a twinge of embarrassment that accompany many small towners. Like somehow we don’t know good restaurants as well, or interesting art, or fun places to hang out. And while it is true that I don’t have the inside scoop on the new fun places to go in Seattle or any other city now; I do still have a lively palette, keen eye and spontaneous spirit. There is plenty to add to the world from this vantage po
Intermission 2007-09-21 20:22:17 Thanks to Sonos, my daughter has become very familiar with musicals like Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. For weeks she’s been singing and dancing to the songs from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and even reciting lyrics in the car or store without any musical accompaniment.
She had never seen the movie so I finally rented it from Netflix. We watched it the other night and I realized I had not seen this movie in years. The production quality was impressive for a 60s film, along with Dick Van Dyke’s talent. It is also 2 hours and 25 minutes long! There was an intermission mid way through. A real intermission. On a DVD. We had to fast forward through the intermission (then paused it later to take a pee break).
I was trying to think of the last movie I saw in a theater that had an intermission. The only one I could think of was The Color Purple.
So I’m wondering:
Who has been to a movie (in a theater) with an intermission?
What was that movie(s)?
What is
What’s Shocking About “Don’t Tase Me Bro” 2007-09-20 11:12:22 You’ve probably seen this video about the guy at the University of Florida who got tasered after asking some direct questions at a political forum, where John Kerry was speaking. What’s making this video &ldquo
;viral&rdquo
;, seems to be the line at the end “Don’t Tase Me Bro”, and then him screaming “Ow ow ow” while being tasered.
However, what I find most shocking (couldn’t resist) about this video is the nature of the audience while he’s being taken away, not to mention John Kerry. The audience is completely apathetic, and some of them are laughing. What? It’s not concerning to anyone that a man is being wrestled away from the mic because he’s saying something uncomfortable or confrontational?
This epitomizes my perception of the state of America right now. It’s why we have had someone like George Bush in office for two consecutive terms. And don’t get me started about Kerry.
http://www.youtube.com/wa
Playing With Girls 2007-09-20 10:56:36 I’ve been trying to find ways to make playtime more enjoyable for me as well as my daughter when we play together. My mind was growing numb from acting out the lives of the Calico Critters family of baby bunnies, squirrels and bears. So I latched onto my daughter’s interest in Thomas the Train, and got her a train set for her birthday. I even got extra track to allow for more exciting configurations other than the standard loop.
It’s great. The engines are battery powered, and the parts are large and durable enough for my daughter to enjoy. The set came with several cars, allowing you to haul everything from milk to logs to passengers. It wasn’t long before we were I was making up scenarios about hauling goods from location to location. Wood comes from the forest back to the factory to make lumber to build the new school. And just when I was thinking to myself, hmmm, I wonder if I am making these scenarios a little too dry for her, she introduced her own Read more:Girls
Pick Your Battles 2007-09-19 11:43:07 Parenting advice started flooding into my world the moment my wife announced we were having a baby. Most of that advice was total crap, but the one gem I heard most often from mothers whom I respected was, pick your battles. Of course this is the same advice I heard from my guy friends after I told them I was getting married. But I digress.
Pick your battles is brilliant advice and yet completely meaningless. Why? Because it’s advice to make a decision without any instructions on how to make that decision. Essentially, it’s someone pointing you in a general direction and it’s up to you to make your own route there.
It’s life advice. I accept the challenge and I mostly enjoy the journey and for that, it’s brilliant advice. But for now I’m going to focus on why it’s somewhat meaningless as advice.
Battle 1
It was a Saturday morning, and my daughter and I had plans to spend the day together running errands, playing at the park and eating o Read more:Battles
Kansas City Adventures for Wifey 2007-09-16 14:19:18 I am in Kansas
City doing my wifey duty of assisting my mother-in-law find an apartment. She is relocating from Phoenix.
After driving four hours while listening to my husband talk on his iPhone for work and at the SAME TIME talk to my four year old about Pippy Longstalkings, we pull in to find the hotel has no pool, the toilet does not flush, and we feared the sheets smelled worse than the room. After an hour at the desk and on the phone we manage to switch hotels (this is the one time it is a pain to go with Expedia).
By the time we make it to the Mexican restaurant I am really ready for a beer with my taco salad.
And the next day, after spending the day talking about the weather with my mother-in-law and hanging out for hours in a restaurant/shop that is the epitome of sensory overload, I was really ready for a glass a wine with my Italian food.
I expressed this sentiment and my mother-in-law asked, in that mother-in-law way, “do you drink everyday?” I managed to b Read more:Adventures
, Kansas City
Trance Yoga: Sucking Every Last Dollar From The Yoga Craze 2007-09-09 21:49:38 Don’t get me wrong, I love Yoga. I’d love it a lot more if I wasn’t so lazy about exercising; but every once in a while I crawl out of bed and do a couple cat cows before breakfast. Oh! And I get the Gaiam catalog.
I actually did a full lotus on the airplane ride home from Burbank Friday (but that was totally involuntary).
Anyway - now I’ve seen it all. Trance
Yoga! Apparently there are a) Yoga instructors in places like “California”, and b) clueless people with too much money in “California”. Together they produce the emerging market of Trance Yoga classes soon to sweep the nation. If there was ever a dance that didn’t require teaching, it would be trance . . . let me stop here and let the Trance Yoga people explain this new phenomenon:
This first one is like a segue on some bad lesbian porno.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi_fHRwNA6s
This one is produced very well, but I can’t help but think “Jazzercise 2007&Pri Read more:Sucking
, Dollar
, Craze
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