Rusty and Robot
Just a thought from 31 October 2003 about Photos.

By popular demand: 1024x768 Evil Robot Desktop.

Sign People
Just a thought from 30 October 2003 about Photos.

Around the corner, at the top of dog shit park, there's this sign that keeps getting decorated. After I took this photo, someone added, "WHO DAT?"

Seeing Seattle
Just a thought from 27 October 2003 about Photos.

The scenic Pike Street Market, with its rows and rows of fish, and the original Starbucks where the mermaid still has nipples? The endless corridors and tacky patterns of the Waterfront Marriott? The stunning, cloudless, utterly rare, blue Seattle sky? Didn't take my camera out once. What did I take pictures of? The cab.

KnowSpam 100k
Just a thought from 26 October 2003 about .

It's been almost exactly four months since I started running my email through KnowSpam, and I've just passed the 100,000 spams blocked mark. I don't know whether to celebrate or mourn this achievement.

Yay for Katie
Just a thought from 26 October 2003 about .

Katie was already my favorite because she was the first to buy a Fray Day 7 Shirt. But now that she went and put a and sticker on her scooter, she's my favorite ever.

There used to be a scooter in my neighborhood that had a Fray sticker on it. I'd see it every once in a while. I used to leave more stickers on it, tucked into the seat, like some kind of cosmic reward. I still wonder who the owner is.

Out for a Walk
Just a thought from 25 October 2003 about Photos.

In the Maslow's hierarchy of needs for Chieka, finding stinky things to roll in is just about at the top.

Everyone loves Tigger. Women coo at him on instinct. Dogs follow him around. There's this one dog in the park, Theo, who loves Tigger. He'll run through traffic to get to him. Once, when we were out walking, a car stopped in the street. It was Theo and his owner, Nate. Nate was driving. Theo pressed himself against the glass of the window. "Look, Theo," said Nate, "it's your boyfriend!"

Continue reading “Out for a Walk” »

SF Skyline from above
Just a thought from 25 October 2003 about Photos, San Francisco.

This is why I always ask for a window seat.

Continue reading “SF Skyline from above” »

All in the family
Just a thought from 23 October 2003 about .

A search for "Powazek" in Amazon just got a whole lot more interesting, thanks to Amazon's new Search Inside The Book feature. Hi, dad!

Wordcount
Just a thought from 21 October 2003 about .

I love Izzle Pfaff because, at this very moment, it contains all of the following phrases:

• energetically body-fuck a loofah


• violently purple


• my pants felt like small dogs

Thank you, Skot.

Fray Shirts for sale!
Just a thought from 20 October 2003 about Fray.

We printed up these fine t-shirts to celebrate Fray Day 7, and they were sold at events across the globe. But we made too many! Our youthful optimism is your lucky break � now you can experience the thrill of Fray casual wear without the muss and fuss of actually leaving your home!

Order yours today! (Special thanks to Heather for the modeling.)

Speaking of Fray Swag, the travel mugs are on sale right now. Check 'em out - they rock.

Heart of Cole
Just a thought from 19 October 2003 about Cole Valley.

Looking for something to do today? Drop by my hood for the first annual Heart of Cole Street Fair. Local artists and music and trinkets, oh my! I'll be there. Or, here, rather.

Folk night at Reverie
Just a thought from 18 October 2003 about .

Randy (aka the mystic in my back yard) wants everyone to know that he's starting a new thing at Reverie, our local caffeinated watering hole.

Drop by any Thursday between 5:30 and 8pm for an evening of live folk music. The inaugural evening is this Thursday, October 23. Be there!

Fray Day photos
Just a thought from 18 October 2003 about Fray.

Thanks to photographer Charlene Wright, the Fray Day 7 San Francisco pics are now online.

Mazel tov
Just a thought from 13 October 2003 about Photos.

Congratulations to Maggie and Bryan!

Jumpers
Just a thought from 13 October 2003 about .

Think you're having a bad day? Read this stunning New Yorker story and realize how good you've got it. Personally, I'll never look at the Golden Gate the same way again.

Motto had a patient who committed suicide from the Golden Gate in 1963, but the jump that affected him most occurred in the seventies. "I went to this guy's apartment afterward with the assistant medical examiner," he told me. "The guy was in his thirties, lived alone, pretty bare apartment. He'd written a note and left it on his bureau. It said, 'I'm going to walk to the bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way, I will not jump.'"

Whoosh
Just a thought from 9 October 2003 about .

I hate fleet week so much.

Geeky: iPod Composting
Just a thought from 9 October 2003 about Apple, Geek, iPod.

Here's a post I've been meaning to make for a while. A new site finally inspired me to write it down. If you've got an iPod, it may be of interest. If not, well, you can just read it to see what a nerd I am.

When I first got my iPod, all was well, but I soon filled up all 10 gigs. I didn't want to manually manage which songs got put on the iPod (whatta pain!) and I didn't want to get a bigger one (well, I wanted to, sure, but c'mon), so I came up with a Smart Playlist to put only the best and most current music on my iPod. Here's how.

First create a new smart playlist. I called mine "For iPod" cause I'm not that clever. The idea here is to make a playlist that includes the music you most want on your iPod. Mine says:

My Rating - is greater than - **
Date Added - is in the last - 2 months
Date Modified - is in the last - 2 months
Last Played - is in the last - 2 months

This includes any song I've rated 2 stars or more and any song I've added or played in the last two months. Depending on my iTunes usage, this winds up being 6 or 7 gigs. Your recipe my vary.

Then connect your iPod. Click the iPod icon at the bottom of iTunes to get the iPod Preferences window. Instead of the default top option, select the second one: "Automatically update selected playlists only."

Then check the "For iPod" Smart Playlist you just made. Feel free to select any other playlists too, if you always want them on your iPod.

Bottom Line: Now my iTunes library can be considerably larger than the size of my iPod, but the latest and greatest will always be with me! Bonus: Since the total amount of stuff on my iPod is less than the total 10 gigs, I can still use it as a hard drive to shuttle other stuff around.

Barbaric Yawp
Just a thought from 8 October 2003 about .

I'm celebrating the International Moment of Frustration Scream Day a little early today. Who's with me?

Continue reading “Barbaric Yawp” »

Kill me
Just a thought from 7 October 2003 about .

That's it. I quit.

Or:

CNN projection: Davis out, Schwarzenegger wins. Californians lose.

Or:

Hell, I dunno. Look! Raining cats and dogs!

Fuck this. We're moving to Vancouver.

Fray Day begins
Just a thought from 2 October 2003 about Fray.

I never thought these words would fall out of my mouth, but I'd give anything to be in Florida right now. Good luck, Andy!

Google's AdSenselessness
Just a thought from 2 October 2003 about Geek, Google, Internet.

Google just booted Erik from their AdSense program, and a heated debate ensues. I hadn't wanted to post about this, but since I have an experience in common, I thought I'd share.

I was also booted from Google for "inappropriate clicks" after an unusually high traffic day. I'm pretty sure my site was spidered (perhaps by Google - hah!) which caused my ad clicks to spike. When I pointed out that I had no way to control such a thing, the Google rep said they would not disclose their evidence, but that they have a proprietary system in place to detect abuse. When I suggested that they simply discount the clicks they think are fraudulent and let me stay in the system, the rep said they had a duty to protect their advertisers. I wish they cared as much about protecting their reputation and good will among the web folk who give them something to index.

The saddest part is knowing that I could boot anyone off their ad system by pointing a spider at their site. I thought Google was more clueful than that. Very disappointing.

Heavy breathing
Just a thought from 1 October 2003 about .

This is the perfect way to encapsulate the California recall election: All heavy breathing and no content. (Is it just me, or do they all sound like they're bumping uglies?)

Via NPR.