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| Sunday, February 25th, 2007 | | 1:33 pm |
Scattered blogger needs help
I've been lying low at home for half of a week now, recovering from a flu bug. As result, I've had way more down time than I've had in a long, long time. I feel like I've been burning the candle at both ends for months now, with stresses piling up at work and at home, plus the usual busy social calendar. Sometimes it takes being sick to remind me to slow down. Anyhow, as a result of sitting around at home getting bored out of my brain, I've been spending a lot of hours geeking out on my computer. I've been playing with new programs that I haven't had the time to learn yet (mostly Aperture), dicking around with pictures that I've taken with my new lens (Canon 10-22mm super wide angle) and my new camera (Canon SD800IS point & shoot). I've been catching up on friend's blogs. And I've been thinking about my own blogging habits, how they've developed over the years, and where I want to focus my blogging energies. So here's where I need your help! First, a bit of history. When I started my original blog, playapixie.org, blogging was only just starting to take off. While there had been bloggers out there for a few years, a lot of people still didn't know what blogs were. At that point, there were way less options for how and where you could blog. Initially Playapixie was a pretty standard blog: mostly words, mostly randomata from my daily life. Shortly after I started it, I developed an interest in digital photography and got my first digital camera, so I started adding pictures to most of my posts. Over time, my interest in photography grew, and I changed the format of my main page to more-or-less what you see now: a large photo for every entry, one entry per page, and maybe a written entry to go with the photo. I still really like the large photo format, and I still think of Playapixie as mainly a photoblog. But what happened as a result of that change was that I almost completely stopped blogging in the traditional sense; I wasn't writing any of the silly random stuff anymore. I got picky about what photos I'd put up, and if I couldn't think of anything to say that went with the picture, I wouldn't say anything at all. Lots of times I'd have things to say, but no picture to go with it, so I just wouldn't say anything. And more often then not, I'd post nothing, because I don't really like post-processing, and getting pictures ready to post is work. In the past year or so, a few new blogging tools have come along that have changed the way I think of blogging. First, Flickr.com made posting snapshots and sharing photos in a community-centered way much easier. Second, Tribe.net became the social networking site that a huge number of my friends and acquaintances joined, and they have a nice blogging feature. Third, some friends of mine in San Francisco launched Vox.com, yet another really lovely community-oriented blogging tool. So my blogging efforts have gotten scattered. I've been using Tribe as my main randomata, word-oriented blog (particularly when I'm thinking of my Seattle and Burning Man friends), Flickr as the place where my day-to-day snapshots land (as well as event albums), Vox as an alternate blog spot when I have my San Francisco friends in mind, and maintaining a Livejournal account for following my friends here (although I've never really blogged here myself). The result of all of this scattered energy is that Playapixe.org has been almost completely neglected. But I still feel the most personal attachment to my Playapixie.org site. I'd like to focus more of my energy here, but I'm not quite sure what that will look like. I'm toying with leaving it as it is, but trying to post more, or adding a separate page that's more of a traditional word blog, or maybe making the front page be a spit screen, so the most recent photo entry and the most recent word entry are always on the main page, but they don't necessarily go together. So what I'd like to know from my friends and readers is how do you use blogs? Where do you focus your energies, both as a blog reader and as a blogger? Do you follow your friend's online ramblings in multiple locations, or do you only read what they put in one particular place (their main blog, or Livejournal, or Tribe, for example.) Would you prefer it if entries in multiple locations were the same (so you only have to look one place to find it all)? Or do you like it when their various blogs say different things? I'd love any thoughts that might help me figure out where to take my blogging energies next. | | Friday, October 3rd, 2003 | | 8:55 pm |
| | Monday, July 7th, 2003 | | 2:20 pm |
| | Sunday, July 6th, 2003 | | 6:09 pm |
Geek Chicks at the Oregon Country Fair
Geek Chicks at Oregon Country Fair (Sharon, Dawn, and Rivka) So here I am at the Oregon Country Fair, which is the hippie center of the state of Oregon. And what did I find? A wireless network, and a bunch of like-minded Apple-using souls. I guess the hippies have good taste in technology, because I've seen 5 Apple notebooks and not a single Windows machine here :-) Here is Sharon, Rivka, and I at the Quartermaster booth, hard at work (ok, so we were really making laminates to trade, surfing the internet, sharing files, and finding out who we were already linked through on Friendster). | | Thursday, May 15th, 2003 | | 6:46 pm |
 Bagby Hot Springs Reflection, Nikon 990</p> I'm sitting in my favorite internet cafe on Broadway again, the Capitol Hill Cafe. I'm supposed to be writing a paper. The good news is that this is, I swear, the last paper of my academic career. The bad news is that I am the world's worst procrastinator. I'm making progress, but it's painful. I'm doing just about anything else that I can do to put off the actual writing. I've chatted on AIM, I've written email, I've downloaded music, and now I'm posting this. Yes, procrastination is my forte. This picture is from the weekend at Bagby Hot Springs. I'm planning to submit it to The Mirror Project as soon as Heather completes the site move. OK, back to work... | | Tuesday, May 13th, 2003 | | 11:33 am |
 Rain Garden, Lomo LC-A</p> I can nearly see the light at the end of the tunnel. I finish nursing school in less than four weeks, and I'm gearing up to cut loose. I'm planning to make up for lost time after the serious lack of recreation I've endured the past couple of years. I've got some fun things planned. For one thing, Michael got me on a work crew for Oregon Country Fair, which means I get to camp on-site, which as I understand it is totally lucky for a newcomer. So I'm going to spend a good chunk of June and July getting acquainted with Oregon Country Fair, something I've always wanted to check out but never made it to before. Some other fun things I'm planning to attend include Critical Mass, a Northwest Burning Man community event, and the next Oracle Gathering. And of course, to see the summer out with a flame, Burning Man. Somewhere in there I'll officially become an RN and start my new career at Children's Hospital. I am so looking forward to having my only real obligation be going to work for 40 hours a week. After being a full time student and working full time (or nearly full time), that's going to be a joy. | | Monday, May 12th, 2003 | | 11:32 am |
 Tulips, Lomo LC-A</p> This year's Burning Man art theme has been announced: Beyond Belief. "Beyond belief, beyond the dogmas, creeds, and metaphysical ideas of religion, there is immediate experience. It is from this primal world that living faith arises. The intention of Beyond Belief is to explore this mystery. In 2003, we will invite participants to create interactive rites, ritual processions, elaborate images, shrines, icons, temples, and visions. Our theme will occupy that ambiguous territory that lies between reverence and ridicule, faith and belief, the absurd and the stunningly sublime. The human urge to make events, objects, actions, and personalities sacred is protean. It can fix on and inhabit anyone or anything. This year our art theme will release that spirit in the Black Rock Desert..."I can't wait! Only 111 days until the man burns! | | Sunday, May 11th, 2003 | | 9:46 pm |
 Cold Water Cistern at Bagby Hot Springs, Nikon 990 Our weekend getaway to Bagby Hot Springs was lovely! Bagby is a fantastic hot spring on public land in Oregon. It has two bath houses with cedar tubs, and another tub out in the open. Two of the tubs are larger group tubs, and the rest are hollowed-out cedar logs built for one or two. The tubs fill fill via an elaborate system of wooden channels from two separate spring sources. The flow is amazing, as is the condition of the structures. It 's truly a gem. Perhaps due to the mildly damp weather, or maybe we were just lucky, but the springs were not very crowded. Michael and I met some interesting people, enjoyed our soaks, and appreciated the fantastic surroundings. Pretty much my ideal weekend... | | Wednesday, May 7th, 2003 | | 6:23 pm |
 Meter Reader on a Segway So this guy turned up on my street today, reading water meters and traveling around on one of those Segway Human Transporter things. Trippy! I hadn't seen one before and it's pretty amazing. You can get your own for only $4,950. I suppose in the long run it's cheaper for the utility company to use those rather than driving around diesel trucks. And well, it is pretty cool. I wonder if the guy would have let me ride it? | | Monday, May 5th, 2003 | | 9:13 pm |
Parking Angels
Let Me Out, Nikon 990 Today I went to lunch in the U District with my friend Caitlin, and I somehow forgot to put quarters in the parking meter. So nearly two hours later I suddenly remembered that I didn't pay the meter, and abruptly ended our lunch date. When I got to my car, there was no parking ticket. No ticket! Surely my Parking Angels were on duty. Five minutes later Caitlin called on the cell phone to tell me that right after I pulled out, the parking meter guy drove up. Parking Angels, I tell you. So I guess I can forgive them that it took them 20 minutes to provide me with a parking spot this evening on Capitol Hill. | | Sunday, May 4th, 2003 | | 5:13 pm |
Chalk Art
Chalk on Broadway, Nikon 990 Friday night Kalea, Keegan, Michael, and I took a bunch of sidewalk chalk out on Broadway and decorated the sidewalk between a bagel store and a bank. Once the ball got rolling, the kids recruited other people to help make art, and the art spilled out onto the main sidewalk. We got around 50 people to help us cover nearly an entire block with random drawings, squiggly lines, and made-up words. All kinds of people stopped to help: teenagers, homeless people, regular middle class grown-ups, and kids. Some Japanese tourists even chalked "I love Seattle." It's fun to play. The next morning we went to get bagels and found that all of the art had been pressure-washed away. Oh, well. That just leaves us a clean canvas for next time. On another note, here's a quote recently left on my site: "It is quite obvious that you are young and are still told what and how to feel about things going on in the world, rather than seek out the true facts..."I'm still laughing. I've spent years working on staying young; glad to see someone appreciates my work ;-) | | Thursday, May 1st, 2003 | | 3:51 pm |
Cheshire Cat
You are The Cheshire Cat
A huge grin constantly plastered upon your face,
you never cease to amuse. You are completely
confusing and contradictory to most everyone. What Alice in Wonderland Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla I don't seem to have anything creative to say at the moment, or even a picture that is screaming to be posted, so instead I'll post one of these silly quizes. Me, the Cheshire Cat. Who would have guessed it? On another note, life is funny at times. One of my good friends is now dating my ex-boyfriend, and I can read all about it on LiveJournal. These are strange times we live in... All I can say is I love you both, hope you're good to eachother, and wish you well. | | Monday, April 28th, 2003 | | 6:16 pm |
Weekend
 Purple Furry Coat Here is the promised picture of the purple furry coat from Dumb Clothing. I'm really popular in this coat; everyone wants to pet it. It's fabulous, because it's not only furry, but textured. The first party I wore it to, someone convinced me to try it on inside out. It felt so good I ended up driving home that way. Had a good weekend. Went to parties both and friday and saturday night, and hung out with Michael in between. It appears I'm going to get through the last quarter of nursing school by partying and generally being naughty. It seems to be working, and there are only 6 weeks to go! | | Monday, April 21st, 2003 | | 8:02 pm |
Who "We" Are
A carbon from Playapixie:  Keegan, Kalea, & Michael It's a question I've struggled with since starting this page; what is too personal to put on the internet? What do I want people to know about me? How do I protect the privacy of the people who are in my life? How intimate do I want this site to be? And recently, how do I write about things that are going on without hurting the feelings of other people? But given that a lot of the stories I want to write lately start with the word "we", it seems I'm going to have to define who "we" are. So yes, I am seeing someone new. His name is Michael, and he came with fabulous kids, Kalea (10) and Keegan (7). I think they are all terrific and I could make you all sick by writing really mushy things about it, but that would be clearly crossing the line. So instead here's a picture. Cute, aren't they? But I promise that this weblog is not going to become a public journal. You're not going to get a blow-by-blow of my love life. Nor will I bore you with how smart the kids are (really smart!) or how well-behaved they are (really good!). However, the word "we" may crop up here and there, and there will be stories and adventures that feature them. There will certainly be pictures (after all, their adorable faces look great through the lenses of my cameras). And speaking of pictures, the rest of the Desert Party pictures will be up sometime later this week. Yes, we had a fabulous time dancing, camping, playing, and skinny-dipping. P.S. One of the reasons this information hasn't publicly made it to this page yet is that my ex-boyfriend is still really hurting from our breakup, and I did not want to pour salt onto his wounds. I have heard it through the grapevine, though, that he found out anyhow, so I'm not going to keep silent any more. I feel very badly for any pain this causes him, and I wish there was a way to reassure him that I did love him, do still love him, and hope to eventually reclaim the friendship. The fact that I have moved on does not in any way negate the feelings I had and the things we shared. But life goes on and people move through our lives... | | Friday, April 18th, 2003 | | 10:17 pm |
Shaking out the Playa Dust
 Moon, Nikon 990</p> I spent the evening taking things out of my VW Camper that don't belong, and moving the camping gear back in. This involved shaking out a fair amount of Playa Dust. I also found, when I went to disinfect the water tank, that playa dust does a great job of sticking things together that shouldn't be stuck, as it had very thoroughly stuck the drain cap in place. I suppose the lesson learned is that it's probably better in the long run to clean the camper at the end of the season, rather than waiting until the beginning of the next season. The reason behind the Vanagon spring cleaning is that the first overnighter of the year takes place tomorrow night. Four humans and one dog in the VW, off to party in the desert in Eastern Washington. Loud music, dancing people, wild canyons, stars... I'm looking forward to welcoming in spring! Yes, we know it's Easter. It's our Easter mission to hand out Easter eggs with tangy fruity candy in them to partiers. We have reason to believe that our efforts will be appreciated. | | Thursday, April 17th, 2003 | | 7:03 pm |
Bubbles
 Carousel at Seattle Center, Lomo LC-A Sometimes I love my job. Today I found a bubble necklace, which I wore around my neck all day. I went from room to room blowing bubbles on small children, many of whom squealed and went about madly popping them. A few had never seen bubbles, and their eyes were huge. And sometimes there is nothing funnier in the world than a 2-year-old trying to blow bubbles by making raspberry sounds. And I get paid for this... | | 1:51 am |
Poem
 Poem, Holga 120S Song, poetry, art....there is beauty everywhere and it surrounds me... | | Tuesday, April 15th, 2003 | | 5:25 pm |
Love Over Time
 Lovers, Nikon 990 I've been reading the book The Ethical Slut, by Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt, which is essentially the how-to book for maintaining open relationships, polyamory, nonmonogamy, or whatever you might care to call it. Shocking concepts to some people, I suppose, but not particularly shocking to me. It's got me thinking about where I stand on the continuum between having one lover and many, and while I have known for some time that I am capable of loving more than one person at a time, I think the definition that fits me best is serial monogamist. I've been thinking especially about marriage. I tried it once, and it didn't work out very well for me. Maybe that's because it wasn't to the right person, but I think there might be more to it than that. I was raised to believe that I do not need to be in a relationship, and that having no relationship is better than being in a bad one. So in my entire dating life, I have never stayed in a relationship that was dead. Once it's clearly over, on either side, I am gone. It's not that I'm commitment-phobic. In a relationship, I am very committed to working things out, getting through the tough spots, and learning to love someone else for who they are without trying to make them into what I want them to be. But when a relationship hits a point where I know that it will never be what I'm looking for, when it no longer meets both of our needs, I let it go. That is not to discount the beauty that the relationship was, or to discount the love we may have felt. But when a romance comes to a close, it is time to say goodbye. The traditional concept of marriage includes the idea that a couple will stay together no matter what. That is something that I do not believe I will ever be able to promise someone. Could I promise to give as much as I am able to loving another person completely? Yes, absolutely. But could I promise that our feelings will never change? That the relationship will always meet our needs? That we will always be fulfilled by it? That we will always want it? That we will never love anyone else? I don't see how I could promise those things. And without that promise, what is marriage? When it comes right down to it, though, I am still a hopeless romantic, and I still do believe in true love, in soul mates. Perhaps not in ONE true love, ONE soul mate, but I believe with all my heart in connections that are soulful. And there is a part of me that hopes very much that I do connect with someone into forever. I love that idea. I am not at all sure, however, that I would need to be married to enter into that relationship, or to stay in it. I think, in fact, that I might cherish that love more, and take it for granted less, if I were not married. And if I were to ever get married, I am sure that the definition my partner and I use for marriage would not be the traditional one, but one that means much more to us. | | Thursday, April 10th, 2003 | | 1:10 pm |
Conversation with Old Guy
Yesterday was my last day working on an ambulance as an EMT. I waited this long to resign because I wanted to work a shift with my friend Caitlin. It was fun; her first shift and my last. So we transport and old gentleman to his room in a nursing home. As we enter his room, I greet his room mate, a spunky looking old guy. Me: Hey there, how's it going today? Old Guy: [winks] A lot better since you walked in. Me: Oh, yeah? Old Guy: I'm not dead yet, honey. Me: No, sir, I can see that you're not! Old Guy: Well, honey, as soon as I stop appreciating hot women like you two, I may as well just die. Me: [laughs] Old Guy: [with twinkle in eye] Well, I've been doing it my whole life. It was the downfall of my marriage. Me: Is that so? Old Guy: My wife didn't like me chasing around. Me: No? [Enter male nurse] Nurse: [grinning] No, and either did his second wife! Old Guy: [laughs and winks] This actually reminds me of another story...I once transported a 99 year old man who was only taking ONE medication. You got it; Viagra. Gotta love old guys. | | 12:40 am |
Favorite Subjects
Cool Dad, Nikon 990 My other favorite subject at the Rain City Skate Park, Michael, Keegan's dad. |
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