jeff and gene- great white elephant party

the best gifts-


































i wonder if they found our leave behind gift, yet. =)

seattle graffiti

you can see what the graffiti artists in seattle are doing here:

http://content.lib.washington.edu/uaweb/index.html




















i think it's kinda fun to check out. some of it is actually quite lovely.

first superbowl not working at an ad agency

seems to have lost it's excitement. no one at work really watched the game, or the ads.

i miss it a little, but only a little.

here are all the ads, if you feel like checking them out:
http://sports.aol.com/nfl/superbowlads

latino toyota camry- insulting
burger king whopper- artistic
kermit the frog- relevant
dove girls- emotional
budweiser streaker- my fav (i hate that a bud commercial was my favorite)

honda accord- isn't it nice when things just work

you have to see this for yourself if you haven't already. very fun.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/honda-ad.html











i think i'll even remember that it is honda accord.

perfect passwords

ever wish you had a unique set of custom, high quality, cryptographic-strength password strings at your fingertips?

now you can!

https://www.grc.com/passwords

i'm a geek, i think this is fun!

have a nice '5DIc0HqQQca;0#^]!?' day!

body bouncer

i had no idea an animation could make me laugh out loud.

warning, viewer descretion is advised.

http://www.bodybouncer.com/groovegallery.html

i don't want anymore bull$hit from anyone... including me

have you seen this video of the winnebago CEO trying to shoot a commercial? It makes me laugh out loud evertime i see it.

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2460097

my brother- in perth australia

so i'm terribly proud of my brother, scott, for going back to school to do something more rewarding than his previous job.

he decided to do it, and now he is doing it- in australia.

k, i can understand how this is probably only really exciting for me cause i'm his sister, but since i can't be 100% sure you don't care, i'm posting it on my blog.

he is posting to his online diary here.

i like reading it.

suzanne lane- my cello teacher...

...has auditioned and been accepted into the allegro orchestra. there will be a free concert in march.

i'd like to go, anyone want to go with me? let me know.













http://www.allegronotes.org/sinfonia.htm

enough said

http://www.time.com/time/cartoons/20060128/3.html

groundhog 202

so last year, the state of pennsylvania created a goofy groundhog site where you could watch videos of a huge groundhog get chased by his shadow all over town (my favorite was in the laundromat).

the site has evolved this year: http://www.groundhog202.com/

they are spoofing the shining a bit, and i think it's at least worth checking out.
















i love the coffee cup on the home page and how the steam animates- innovative programming.

craving kitty?

i like kitty's. i like them a lot. my kitty is the best one of all times, but there are other good ones out there.

i don't know why i've recently run across so many kitty sites, but here are some good ones for when you feel like sighing to yourself 'awww, how cute'.

Stuff on My Cat
http://www.stuffonmycat.com/index.php?startpos=10
okay, i don't know why, but there are lots of people in the world who like to pile things on top of their cat, take pictures of them, and then humiliate them by posting the pictures on this thing called the internet. this site makes me literally laugh out loud. (thanks jamey)




















Cute Overload
http://www.cuteoverload.com/
it's just too much. i can't take it. it's not right.
the caption with this picture on the site was: Is it wrong to want to SQUEEEEZE a kitten?


















Kitten War!
http://kittenwar.com/
oh no you di'int.
it's important to fight the good fight. go to this site and settle the score, who is the cutest kitten of all.






























be careful, don't hurt yourself...

gnod

gnod is basically a visual representation of the whole amazon 'if you like x, you might like y'

http://www.gnod.net/

they apply it to books, movies, and music. it's kind of neat to check out, though sometimes their suggestions are obvious.















it could be even smarter, they could push it
-i could rollover stuff and get a description
-there could be more movies i don't already recognize
-could be prettier

okay, so i posted a stupid link. sorry.

what can i say, i like to nap

i've always known that a quick nap for me makes the day so much better. here is an article that tells me: what i've always known in my gut is reinforced by what i now know with my head.

yay for naps!

http://www.mensjournal.com/healthFitness/0601/napping_power.html

happy birthday alicia renee

you're four now! you're growing up to be a very smart, sensitive and beautiful girl, and i love you!

have a fun day!

love,

aunt susan

fun shopping

i've seen a bunch of sites that are fun to shop around in the last couple of weeks. here are a few of them.

http://www.eco-artware.com/index.shtml









http://www.flaxart.com/















https://www.mxyplyzyk.com/v02/index.htm















i wanted to get this ashtray for my sister, but it's $40!

intervention- a great tv show

this new show on a&e is pretty interesting.

if you want to see the kind of damage that addiction does to lives and families, check this show out. let your kids watch so they get the right impression about how sick an addicted person can become.











it's interesting to see how devastating drug, rage, gambling, sex, bulimia and other kinds of addictions can be, and how hard it can be to pull out of it. it's also a bit sad. definitely worth checking out.

http://www.aetv.com/intervention/

blogger- please give us more templates

okay, some of the templates in blogger are decent. some are a bit hokey. not everyone has my same tastes, at least we can hope. But my choices for changing it up a bit are 1) use a template one of my friends has (not), 2) use one of the templates that makes it look like a giant page of text (i'd rather not), or 3) use one of the templates that has the hokey little dots and arrows (aw, hell no).

for those of us who enjoy the luxury of not having to program our own blog sites, but who are interested in different types of design- please, blogger, give us more options.

for now, i'll go with hokey dots. lemme know if you like the change... try out my new poll in the sidebar--->

i have to pass it on, too- jonathon 'the impaler' sharkey

jonathon is running for governor of minnesota.
http://www.jonathonforgovernor.us/Home_page.html


















he has some aggressive ideas about ways to enforce the law.



though i'm a bit nervous about saying anything negative about jonathon, for fear that he will find and impale me, i do have to wonder if he wouldn't benefit from some drug usage himself, particularly antipsychotics.

please tell me other states have these kinds of candidates, just so i don't have to feel so alone in minnesota.

samorost2 game

if you've got a little bit of time and want to escape reality for a bit, check out this site:

http://samorost2.net/




















it's a little bit like myst, but in a totally weird alien sense (and not as tough).

have fun!

copyright- did you know?

did you know that elvis' music was supposed to be public domain by now?

did you know that copyright protection was never intended to cover all artists works until the end of time?

did you know that copyright protection was only supposed to cover artists work until their death, and then a little bit further?

we need to rethink our copyright 'protection' laws and get back to the idea that art/music should eventually be public domain for everyone. i'm done feeling guilty about sharing.

check it

acura rsx 'institute'- hokey and lame

this is only interesting to me because i used to work on the Porsche business at CL.

this microsite pretty much insults my intelligence, and my bandwidth.

http://www.acura.com/rsxinstitute/

i like to wait an hour for everything to load slowly on my super fast connection.

what i saw most often on the site:








how about you talk down to me about your stupid 'analytics program' crap so that i never want to buy a car from you?

parking 101 quote- 'you may be able to drive the rsx, but can you take care of it?'

seriously!

i don't know which is worse, parking 101 or 'the rehab center'. you tell me.

also, i love to read huge blocks of text that tell me how great you are but have no relevance to me as a person/buyer/driver.

oh yeah, and the car really isn't all THAT.

* there is one interesting piece to this site. it has navigation like we (HAM) concepted for one of our clients but didn't get to build. it is displayed when you get to the site, then rolls up nice and neat into a small bar that says navigation, and you pull it out when you want to move into a different section. i like it.

** okay, a little piece of me feels guilty ripping this thing apart, cause the people who built it probably tried really hard, and were probably defeated by the bureacrocy at their agency, or i'm simply not their target audience. is there a target audience that likes to get talked down to, out there?

quack quack

my friend jason found this t-shirt and thought it was perfect for me...










http://www.stereohype.com/pages/Bzzzpeek_Duck_M.asp

photography from around the world

http://www.woophy.com/map/index.php

this is a pretty fun site to get lost in when you have a few minutes. people from all over the world upload their photos from where they live. it's a neat way to make the world seem small pretty quick.












i liked checking out europe (amsterdam) and perth, australia, where my brother lives now...

who needs an oil cap?

i had been thinking that the car was giving off a particularly strong fuel smell lately, and i wondered if it would make it until steph and john sell my brother's truck (so we can buy a new car).

i was worried.

until i went to add windshield wiper fluid yesterday.

that's when i realized that the last time we put oil in the car, we forgot to put the cap back on. every part under our hood is laquered with oil. pretty.

who needs an oil cap anyway?

sushi = orgasm

aaron and i went to fujiya in st. paul last night to celebrate his birthday. the sushi was so damn good, it brought tears to my eyes! i seriously can't tell you how far above regular food sushi is for me. eating sushi takes words away, it's just amazing.

first we had edamame- something to keep us busy while we waited for sushi
then we had two rolls: a caterpillar and a winter roll- heaven
then we had sashimi: yellowtail, bluefin tuna, and something else (that Donna suggested)- heaven
then we had another roll: spicy salmon- heaven
we had beer and saki too
then we had desert- more yellowtail sashimi, which was the heaven of the evening.

Donna was fabulous. everything she suggested, we loved.

why do we wait so long to go back for sushi?? it may be expensive, but it is so worth it.

this time, our kickball team footed the tab. thank you matt's ratts!!

Bouncy Balls: The BRAVIA Commercial

i really like this commercial...

this is what i love about it most- for those of us who are grown up now, and adult (gasp), and don't give ourselves the time to drift into wonderous curiosity like we did when we were children, the people who made this commercial have helped us out a bit. what happens when you let a gazillion colored bouncy balls loose in san fransisco?

http://www.bravia-advert.com/commercial/braviaextcommhigh.html

there are two forces fighting in my head when i watch this-

1) oh how fun, i love it. i wish i could have been there to see this!! fantastic!

2) how are they going to clean all those up? what a waste of rubber. i hope they considered the environment when they made this.

thank you, sony, for letting my inner child have some fun, since too often my adult psyche tends to get in the way.

=)

where in america...

...do you ever get to use this phrase?

i've yet to find kangaroo, and the vegemite lady told me to come back on monday, but the food i have eaten has been great.

cello lesson update

i had another lesson on thursday, and it's starting to sound (almost) like music. i'm playing duets with my teacher and it's totally becoming more fun than pain!

she says i'm improving quickly, and i'm looking forward to practicing more and more.

well, it really is fun! =)

questions we all ask ourselves

if you've ever asked yourself: Is my friend Susan Q the kind of person who would kill a plant, cry about it for a week (actually cry), keep it in her office as a reminder of the terrible tragedy, and water it, desperately needing to believe it wasn't completely dead?

if you've asked yourself that question, the answer is yes.

and (YAY!) it wasn't completely dead.

it is alive.

and i am happy.

srq- down under

my brother is in australia now, he's going to be a vetrinary student, and eventually a vetrinarian. I'm so fucking excited for him! his first contact from a new world:

hey, kids.

i'm in perth. i have a bank account, and i'm working on a mobile phone. i'll give you a call when i get the phone.

the flight was nice, actually. there was plenty of legroom, so if and when you come out, i would suggest you consider american airlines and qantas. that, and it starts with the letter q.

guess i'll go down to the school on monday and start looking for a place to live. crazy... it's such a relief to be somewhere, but i do have some stress about being without vehicle.

and i did find a bikeshop, where they gave me a website where i can find ride groups.

the weather is gorgeous, the skies are blue, and the traffic is non-existent. they'll give me >50% discount on bus fares when school starts. the hostel is a little far from stuff, but the place is nice, and the owner is, too.

that's the update from down under. i'll call when i can.

srq

wdydwyd?

my friend amy showed me this website where people upload a picture of themselves with a handwritten card which explains their reason for doing what they do (wdydwyd = why do you do what you do).

http://www.wdydwyd.com/

so if i ask myself why i do what i do, the answer that comes back from deep in my brain is this- because i can't not.

















i like this site because it focuses on the why you do it, not the what you do. the why is a connector for us. all the people i strongly identify with, and have a super electric spark with probably have a similar sense for why they do what they do.

check out the site, it's fun to see what people say about wtdwtd...

wdydwyd?

website design / development process- brilliant

http://www.pingmag.jp/2005/12/09/the-website-development-process/

my friend lori posted this site on her blog. it's cool b'cause it explains the design process for people who aren't really sure what web design is all about (and why it takes so much time and money).








lori is a spectacular information architect.

hi lori!

i'm famous!

my friend michelle mentioned my blog on her blog! i'm famous!!

everyone who reads her blog will love me.

i'll be rich beyond my wildest dreams!!

i'm so cool.

http://missdragonfly.blogspot.com/2005/11/never-did-good-job-with-diary.html

porsche cayenne microsite

when i was still at carmichael lynch i was working on this website. it has launched now, and it's pretty darn cool if you ask me.










http://www.porsche.com/all/cayenne2005/

new years day

it's the new year. did ya know?

my new years resolution- i resolve to make it to every one of my scheduled cello lessens this year (and forever).

aaron and i went to lori's party last night. we played 'apples to apples' and 'jesus uno'. i didn't know if it was a good idea to introduce jesus uno to a larger group of people. it's fun, but it can get blasphemous pretty quickly and last night was no exception. but we played a couple of games and no one seemed to be bothered by the phrases we used, which could easily land anyone of us in hell for eternity, if we believed in hell. we had a good time and i hope everyone else there did too. looks like lori enjoyed the game, so that's good.

have a great new year!!

holiday versus christmas

how is it that we live in a time that the christian movement can shame us into excluding all other religions?

advertisers can't say holiday anymore, they have to say christmas, or they're attacked by the christian coalition.

people in everyday conversation say "merry christmas" now, which really is bothersome when you're not religious.

as a society, we used to be more accepting in our holiday festivities, but that isn't acceptable anymore.

since when did acceptance of people, regardless of religion, race, gender, sexual orientation... since when did acceptance of ALL people become unacceptable?

apparently this year.

fun holiday sites...

http://members.cox.net/transam57/lights.wmv























http://snowflakes.lookandfeel.com/index.html
















http://www.powerpres.com/xmascard03.html














http://www.olsongreetings.com/

dedicated to my sister

i love you, you know that. you are my sister and i support you, always.

i know you want to quit smoking, for you and for your family.

i love that you keep trying, and you never quit quitting. that is what i love most about you. you are strong, and you do whatever you put your mind to, even if it takes some time and work to get it done. you are beautiful, inside and out.

this image is for you to look at and think about. i hope that it adds to your already strong and complete resolve to quit smoking.















please let me know whatever i can do to help, and thank you for never giving up. i love you.

also, this is a funny site:





















http://www.ashtraymouth.com/default.aspx

and this site talks about how tobacco companies target people:

http://www.unfilteredtv.com/

puttin' on the ritz

i can't find the words to describe this site. you'll have to see it for yourself...

http://www.idsociety.com/happyholidays05/

i'm back

thanks for waiting.

hope you enjoy my blog again.

come back often.

=)

the unwritten blogs of my mind

i have many unwritten blogs in my head. So many things to say.

I implore you to keep visiting my blog loyally until your efforts are paid off by my eventual brilliance (or at least some decent blog activity). i promise to pour all the unwritten blogs in my mind onto this site when i have moments to spare.

say you won't stop visiting. say you will always come back to this spot to read.

i need you.

sq

it's a big ad

very big ad...

http://www.bigad.com.au/











i saw this awhile ago and thought it was funny. it seems to be going around again, so forgive me if you've seen it. my favorite is the guy on the horse.

it asks you to trust an applet download, but don't worry, it's safe.

ha ha ha ha ha HA ha HA ha ha ha HA ha ha HA HA

ha ha HA ha HA HA HA ha ha ha HHAAAAAgh!













Carolina Panthers cheerleaders, Renee Thomas, left, and Angela Keathley, shown in these Hillsborough County, Fla., Sheriff's Office booking photos, were arrested early Sunday, Nov. 6, 2005 after a bar dispute that broke out after patrons complained the women were allegedly having sex in a bathroom stall. (AP Photo/Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1756&e=1&u=/051107/483/tp10111071730

inquisitor

i love the creativity in the world of the internet. people just keep making cool things.

this isn't the coolest of the cool, but it shows the freedom that the internet is (and it's at least a little cool, if you subscribe to my definition of cool, which i don't recommend doing).

http://www.inquisitorx.com/beta/


















now, if we could just get it to work with google images...

zizzle

zizzle is supposed to be the big thing this christmas. you can mix music by pulling on his ear and pushing his belly and then he dances and makes a light show. also, if you hook him up to your mp3 player, he dances to your music.

















i'm not usually into the 'cool' thing. But i have to confess. If i didn't think this would annoy my sister and her husband to death, i may have ordered it for my neice and given it to her for a xmas 'fresent'.

http://www.zizzle.com/index.html

you can mix some music here:

http://www.zizzle.com/products/iz/mixer.html

movie map

sometimes, this internet thing can be pretty smart. now i can see a map of minneapolis, roll over one of the movie theaters listed and see the times and movies available, without a ton of clicking around. neato frito.

http://www.mashmap.com/

aaron 'colonel' dewitt and susan quakkelaar

our friends are hilarious. last night was the kickball end-of-the-season party at kat and scott's house and they had the most awesome-ist trophy for us enscribed with '1st place kickball captains' and our names. it is so perfect. it beats out any other trophy i've ever gotten because it is so damn cool that our friends gave it to us.

the last two years have really been awesome. i'm always amazed at how great our friends are and i don't regret the time we've spent on the team because the fun we've had was worth any amount of trouble, that's for sure. now that we've had some distance from the game for a couple of weeks, the trouble we went through seems so small now. especially with a great trophy on our fireplace.

they also got us a gift certificate to both REI and Fujiya, which i thought was way generous. they really made us feel special.

thanks for all the good captain times, kickball team.

welcome all the good kickball playing times, future.

comcastic

this site is pretty interesting. i like the puppet area.











http://www.comcastic.com/

i'm a (gasp) plant murderer

i really didn't mean to. i'm so sad now. it was so beautiful, alive, thriving... now it's dead because of me.

i wanted to take it to work, to let it grow in my office like it never could at home (not enough room with all my other plants).

i never imagined that the freezing cold temparatures would kill it so completely. i mean deader than i've ever seen a plant. it was alive when i got it here and within an hour, corpse.

i am so completely traumatized. how could i do this?

a plant is dead, the murder weapon was ten minutes of minnesota cold, and i am a murderer.

(sigh)

woogle, toogle, soogle, gsig and google for

there are endless websites that make use of google's algorithm and create fun affects. Here are a couple new ones:

woogle: http://www.gujian.net/woogle/index.php
put in a phrase and woogle returns results using pictures (always something unusual)
my favorite was this phrase- ass, gas, or grass, no one rides for free













toogle: http://c6.org/toogle/
put in a word and toogle takes the image that would have been returned and recreates it using colored text (in the form of the word queried).











soople: http://www.soople.com/
shows all the google search capabilities, makes them easy to use.

google for: http://googlefor.com/squakk.aspx
create your own search engine homepage.












gsig: http://gsig.brightdev.com/index.php
create an email signature for your website






google is king, eh?

my friend tracy

i hung out with my friend tracy today. we made apple cake, quesadilla's and apple pie. we talked a lot and had a really great time.

i like the fact that we used to work together, so we've seen the best and worst of each other, and we can also bitch and complain about our current work when it's bothering us. she's a really good listener.

we talk about having babies at the same time and babysitting for each other. that's a nice thought. having babies...

i'm ready to start having babies... soon.

so anyway, tracy was fun to hang out with today (and the pie turned out great!).

magical

she put a peice of paper in front of me. it showed how many fingers to put down on what string in what order. not even real music. completely simplified so even an amateur like me could play it.

i started slowly, until magically the tune came back to me and i didn't even have to look at the paper anymore. =)

then she said i have a great bow hand.

she said that i really am much further along than i give myself credit for.

it was magical.

i came very close to crying just a little, that's is how i felt inside.

more site navigation uniqueness

to think, everything doesn't need to be a header and sub navigation: http://www.historiascepsa.com/

Thanks Josh!!

i figure, if josh has to look at the chicken joke of the day every single day, the least i can do is continue to recieve my playboy bunnies.

http://quakk.blogspot.com/2005/11/free-shipping.html

brings me back to drawing at MCAD

i think this is pretty cool:
http://www.brizzone.nm.ru/2005/flash/Flash_2005-03-01.htm

site navigation evolution

i'm seeing a lot more sites explore unique navigation solutions. i've seen more and more like this one: http://www.arnoldproject.com/

this picture doesn't do it justice, you have to try it for yourself.














i like it for the most part, but i've only seen it on portfolio sites. would this be as successful on a more hardworking /more heavily content driven type of website?

mortimer icabod marker

there you are and here i am. remember picture pages? i rediscovered picture pages again recently.
















here was the site that made me smile all over again.

http://www.mystiesplace.com/picturepages/pictures.html

thank you bill cosby.

November 10- first cello lesson

i overcame my fears and scheduled my first lesson with my teacher.

i'm nervous and really really excited.

=)

neat site

i like it, but i don't have anything to say other than that. http://www.historiascepsa.com/

free shipping

was it fair for me to sign josh (coworker) up for the chicken joke of the day? probably not.

is it like salt in the wound that he has tried multiple times to unsubscribe from the list, unsuccessfully? absolutely.


















is my unexplained subscription to the playboy promotional email list an extremely equitable counter-attack? i think so.

mailman's kid?!

no one can say this child does not belong uniquely to john and stephanie ralya. he is the spitting image of his father, and the most adorable boy on the planet.