Comments of cifarelli (139)
Comment on post Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking review:
2013-03-25T08:42:09+00:00
Oddly enough, I just finished reading this book this morning. :)
I, too, am an introvert, though I know I enjoy going out and socializing more than some (my husband, for example) do. But I definitely prefer small group interactions; in larger groups I tend to find myself unable/unwilling to "butt in" and thus get shunted to the fringes.
Overall, what I took away from this book is that my "way of interacting with the world" isn't something I need to work to try to "change" or "fix." Instead, I need to get comfortable with my "difference" and find better ways to make it work for me. :)
Also, I was reading with an eye to Corwin (who I suspect is introverted as well) and ways that I can work to make school work for him. I definitely came away with some things to think about.
The style of writing was definitely such that it was an enjoyable read.
Comment on post links: Goldman Sachs, Santorum v. Romney, rubber ducking:
2012-03-16T14:10:29+00:00
I found "lamp-posting" to work quite well back when I was a full-time librarian -- no programming involved. I'd go to ask my boss a question that I'd been struggling with for a while, and halfway through asking her the question, the answer would come to me. Nowadays, I'll get the same result when asking Andrew things. Never thought to try it with an inanimate object, though.
Comment on post Independence Day links!:
2012-03-02T19:53:06+00:00
I'm amused by the penguin article. The headline reads "nearly 5 feet tall," the first paragraph says "almost 4 ft 6 in", and later in the article it says the penguins were 4' 2". Whatever happened to consistency? And accuracy?
Comment on post frustrated links:
2012-02-25T13:00:18+00:00
I appreciated that one as well!
Comment on post webOS app sales: how are my apps doing?:
2011-08-17T21:59:29+00:00
Being able to choose custom days of the week for an alarm to go off sounds awesome. That would be great for things like getting my son to preschool on T/W/Th but not M/F. :) Being able to set it once and have it go off on all those days (as opposed to three times, once for Tues, once for Weds, and once for Thurs) would rock :)
Comment on post pouring good news:
2011-08-01T15:54:21+00:00
Congrats! :)
And, I wanna know the secret... ;)
Comment on post links on a friday:
2010-10-22T10:55:29+00:00
Thanks for the online tv link! We've been contemplating that switch for a while, and that link will be helpful once I can peruse it on a screen larger than my iPod.
Comment on post productivity techniques (or: remembering stuff):
2010-10-20T15:13:05+00:00
25 emails, huh?
Don't ever, ever, ever look in my email inbox! ;)
Comment on post hospice care:
2010-07-29T16:11:43+00:00
After watching all three of my grandparents die in hospitals under circumstances that were really not pleasant (the 4th died before I was born), hospice care sounds really good to me. I'd much rather die at home than go through what I saw them endure by dying in a hospital.
And I hope I'll be able to make that decision for my own parents when the time comes, if they aren't able to make it for themselves.
Comment on post clearing out some tabs:
2010-04-14T13:39:49+00:00
Home equity loans weren't allowed back when I was applying to colleges (1995). I really really really wanted to go to Duke, and I can remember sitting in a financial aid seminar there when I visited and their standard recommendation to people was to have their parents take out a 2nd mortgage. Didn't leave me feeling too hopeful since that was illegal in my state. :P (Not that I would have asked my parents to do that anyway...their house was paid off by then and I didn't want them taking on more debt on my behalf.)
Ultimately, Duke was a lot more expensive than Rice, and Rice offered much better financial aid. :)
Comment on post More snow pics:
2010-02-23T13:11:06+00:00
Wait...why is Jonathan on crutches?!
Comment on post Ah, childhood:
2010-02-14T16:40:51+00:00
My parents asked me and my cousin to be godparents to my sister (who is 7 years younger than me). For several years, I thought that meant that when I grew up I would have to marry my cousin. Which was fine with me because we got along well. *shrug*
Now that I'm older....that was a really strange thing to think!
Comment on post daily weight tracking - one year later:
2010-01-12T16:42:32+00:00
I've always heard that slow and steady is the best way to lose weight; apparently it is much easier to maintain that way. *shrug* I think you're doing fine!
Comment on post stuck at work links:
2009-12-21T16:56:38+00:00
Merry Christmas!
We're here through Wednesday, so give us a call if you have spare time and would like to get together! :) (I'll certainly understand if you don't, though -- my family visits to Austin are often whirlwind-ish.)
Comment on post Texas senators support Defense of Marriage Act:
2009-10-05T15:34:40+00:00
Yeah, I was struck by the way they seem to be stating a personal position as well. IMO, politicians should not be basing their decisions on their personal beliefs but rather on those of their constituents. However, I know that politics doesn't really work that way in reality. *sigh*
Comment on post days go by and still I think of you:
2009-05-29T11:49:27+00:00
The girl in the NASA moon rock story was my brother's lab partner in one of his science classes in college at TLU. How's that for connections? ;)
Comment on post I am the law!:
2009-05-08T21:36:24+00:00
Really, you've never been called for jury duty? How the heck have you managed that?!
Comment on post flu marches on:
2009-05-04T15:14:03+00:00
I want that car warranty company owner's $17mil mansion. It looks like a Gothic dream, at least from above. :)
Comment on post same-sex marriage legal in vermont!:
2009-04-07T10:36:16+00:00
Yay!! :)
Comment on post marriage in Iowa?:
2009-04-02T14:41:43+00:00
From the article about Sweden:
The new legislation eliminates legal distinctions between heterosexual and homosexual spouses, but does not force dissenting clergy to wed gay couples.
This is exactly what I would like to see happen here in the US. Wonder how long it will take for us to come around. *sigh*
Comment on post marriage in Iowa?:
2009-04-02T13:47:14+00:00
Those are some pretty impressive sheepdogs, too, I'd say.
Comment on post looking for a tree place:
2009-03-25T17:23:25+00:00
Well that jives with my parents' tree only recently beginning to produce pecans. :) I know they've never given it any special fertilizer or anything, though they do make a good effort to keep it (well, just the lawn in general, but the tree benefits) watered during the droughts and the like.
Comment on post looking for a tree place:
2009-03-25T13:42:44+00:00
My parents have a pecan tree in their backyard, but it's been there for 25+ years and only in the last year or two actually bothered to start producing pecans.
Comment on post anyone want a camera?:
2009-03-16T13:05:06+00:00
Give it to llemma - she sounds like she needs it more than we do! :)
Comment on post anyone want a camera?:
2009-03-16T11:38:30+00:00
We might be interested. Your camera sounds roughly equivalent to the one we have now (some version of the Kodak Easyshare from 2003) that I am DYING to replace, but if its response time (time between pushing the button and it actually taking a picture) and time between pictures are faster than "excruciatingly slow" we might be interested. If no one else has taken this off your hands by the next time we see you, I'd like to try it out and see if I like it any better than mine. But if you get a more immediate and/or local taker, feel free to hand it off to them.
Comment on post we got rings!:
2009-03-08T14:56:11+00:00
Very nice :)
Comment on post anti-gay monday!:
2009-02-23T15:43:51+00:00
"By holding hands and kissing in the public area...is stating that he or she practices sodomy...": And every het couple who holds hands or kisses in a public place is declaring that they have sex? I don't think so.
And further down, "What one cannot do is display his or her sexual conduct and force the people to accept it.": By this argument, straight people should never kiss or hold hands or talk about their partners in public either.
I could go on, too. Fun, fun.
Comment on post book review: First, Break All The Rules:
2009-02-11T15:53:49+00:00
Andrew's company has separate technical and managerial tracks as well. Andrew too appreciates this, as while he could probably do reasonably well as a manager, he would not enjoy it at all.
Comment on post book review: First, Break All The Rules:
2009-02-11T15:44:24+00:00
A corollary of this is that not everyone wants to go into management, and you should create a career path for people who are happy and good at what they're doing now. That way people won't feel forced to do something they're not good at to get more money, prestige, etc.
This is one of the problems of librarianship that I have run into. There mostly isn't anywhere to be promoted to aside from "into management" -- and even some of the entry level positions are managerial. This made my decision to focus on being a mom easier, since I really don't have any desire to ever manage people again (I did it for a couple of years and generally hated it). I can work "with" other people, no problem. But actively managing them is stressful for me 100% of the time. And I don't think I'm exceptionally good at it either.
Edited: Yes, I realize being a mom is pretty managerial, too. But somehow, that's different.
Comment on post ok, guys:
2009-01-28T22:09:30+00:00
Ditto. Except we're not getting the expired warranty calls. Just the notices about our current account, with no specification of which account it might be and the "press a number" thing if I listen to the whole message. I have to admit to being somewhat tempted to "press a number' so I might actually get to a real person to tell them to f*ck off. But yeah, the fact that they don't give any affiliation for me to complain about to the government wrt do not call lists and the like really pisses me off.
Comment on post ok, guys:
2009-01-28T17:02:47+00:00
Hey, I get a "final notice regarding my existing credit card account" at least 4 times a week. *sigh*
Comment on post hello married people/people who know about weddings:
2009-01-26T20:34:36+00:00
The ballroom was nice (though I seem to recall it not quite being 100% finished at the time we were there), but it was the mansion that attracted me there in the first place. The fact that the mansion itself was a real let-down was enough to kill the whole venue for me.
Comment on post hello married people/people who know about weddings:
2009-01-26T15:37:35+00:00
Were there really 100ish there? (I honestly can't remember....though I'm thinking we invited 100ish but less than that showed up.)
Comment on post hello married people/people who know about weddings:
2009-01-26T15:36:46+00:00
Yeah, the buffet was through the hotel. You meet with their chef to do a tasting ahead of time and pick out your menu. We got our cake elsewhere, though (though I have forgotten where, though.....I can check with my mom if you really want to know). The groom's cake was cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.
Our wedding was pretty small. I'm wanting to say in the range of 50-60 people, but it's been long enough now that I wouldn't swear to that number. However, I'm sure the Driskill could handle something much larger than that; they'd just put you in a bigger room than we were in.
Comment on post hello married people/people who know about weddings:
2009-01-26T15:35:50+00:00
Yes the food (omg the food.....sorry) was through the Driskill, except for the cakes I think. Wedding was around 100ish people.
Comment on post hello married people/people who know about weddings:
2009-01-26T15:03:34+00:00
We had our wedding reception at the Driskill Hotel downtown. It was really nice, but NOT cheap. Their coordinator person was awesome to work with, and that really made it feel worth the money for us. We did a buffet at our reception and I have never heard anything but compliments about the food. Christi and Liz can give you their impressions, too, if you want to know what the guests thought. One of the reasons we chose it was that we were looking for somewhere that didn't just feel like a generic big room that was decorated for the wedding. We wanted somewhere with some "pizzazz" of its own. The Driskill definitely fit that bill. :)
The Barr Mansion is one of the sites we looked at (as its location is very close to my parents' house and they had been driving by it for years). They had some nice-looking reception facilities behind the mansion, but the mansion itself was a real let-down. It wasn't very well-kept-up and was extremely musty inside. Definitely not what I wanted for my wedding reception/private hang-out spot. (Disclaimer: we got married over 7 years ago, so who knows if it's been fixed up since then.)
Comment on post politics, whereslunch, magazines: an entry in three parts:
2008-10-24T12:30:13+00:00
My parents got Newsweek when I was growing up as well. I read it an enjoyed it....and then I encountered Time at Andrew's parents' house and found I liked it better. I think Time's layout and article length are just better suited to the amount of time I have to read.
That said, I don't actually subscribe to either at the moment. However, whenever I find myself in a place with both, I will invariably pick up Time over Newsweek.
Comment on post debate on:
2008-09-26T11:45:47+00:00
We have our main checking account at Chase, but I had been contemplating moving it to WaMu for a while now. Just hadn't gotten around to it because it requires both Andrew's and my presence (joint account, two signatures, all that). Now, very glad I didn't. Would suck to have put forth the effort to move our account, just to have it end up back at Chase again.
Comment on post best TV shows quiz:
2008-09-09T11:09:00+00:00
You've seen random episodes of the Daily Show and Colbert Report. :P
Comment on post best TV shows quiz:
2008-09-09T11:06:30+00:00
Veronica Mars was excellent....but it's been cancelled for at least two years now. Don't think it qualifies as being "on television" unless you're also going to go back and count all the other excellent series that are no longer airing.
As for the rest of the list, I've seen about two seasons plus a few random episodes of Lost (enjoyed it; will probably watch it all on DVD eventually) and a few random episodes of the Daily Show and Colbert Report. And all of Veronica Mars.
Yeah, I haven't watched much TV since Corwin was born (though I finished out the series of Gilmore Girls when he was really little and I pretty much just had to hold him in my lap all day). Was hoping to get back into watching Bones now that I'm not having to nurse Corwin before bed every night which would fall right in the middle of the 7:00 hour. But it's on Wednesdays, which is the one night of the week when we have dinner with friends, and while I could watch it at their house (I actually started watching it with Nancy a few years back), Wednesday is the one night that I HAVE to put Corwin to bed since Andrew is in the midst of playing Magic with the guys. The fates are conspiring against me.
We really should get a DVR. Except I'm not sure it would get enough use to be worth it.
Comment on post best TV shows quiz:
2008-09-09T10:58:13+00:00
Simple anwser...
None of the above.
I haven't really watched anything on TV with any consistancy since Farscape.
Comment on post things that, upon further reflection, really piss me off and have come up recently:
2008-09-03T16:24:09+00:00
You can minimize the risks.
But to me the risks are a sub set of the consequences. Especially with teenagers, the potential emotial consequences and all that mess are not to be ignored.
Comment on post things that, upon further reflection, really piss me off and have come up recently:
2008-09-03T16:09:31+00:00
... except there is no such thing as consequences-free sex (well in my opinion). And I think that too is major important lesson that is being omitted.
Comment on post things that, upon further reflection, really piss me off and have come up recently:
2008-09-03T15:42:34+00:00
Agreed on Abstinence. Cause we all know telling teenagers 'don't do that, your too young' works so well. And abstinence is an easy, one step program instead of actually doing work to inform about something they will have to deal with their whole life. Part of making a responsible decision is having adequate information on which to actually excercise decent judgement. The need for information is even greater when it potentially can change not just one life, but several.
On gender roles.... well you answered your own question really. The majority of religions are conservative entities. They too want to keep things how they are/were. I do suspect we have some degrees of actual 'typical' gender role adaptations, but those are minor in comparision to actual talent and skill. But there is a lot of social adaptations to certain roles, and anyone going against typical role still sees a ton of resistance.
Comment on post back from beach, more Palin:
2008-09-02T12:14:32+00:00
Actually, hospitals/doctors will put a TON of pressure on you to deliver within 24 hours due to risk of infection, but they can't FORCE you to do so. I had this argument with my doctor when they wanted to put me on pitocin about 8 hours after my water broke. What she said was that if we didn't do the pitocin and labor went more than 24 hours, the baby would have to go to the NICU after birth due to risk of infection. But she couldn't force me to do the pitocin or have the baby within 24 hours.
Not saying the story isn't fishy (it is), but the 24-hour rule you're referring to is not a hard and fast thing.
Comment on post new poll on gay marriage:
2008-07-17T20:10:09+00:00
For those of you who favor "no government marriage at all," can you explain your reasoning? I'm genuinely curious.
I personally think that government marriage and religious marriage should be completely uncoupled and that government marriage should be expanded to include gay marriage and polyamorous marriage (and any other marriage between consenting adults that I haven't thought of if it isn't encompassed by those two). But I haven't reasoned through as far as abolishing government marriage altogether.
Comment on post best day ever:
2008-06-17T11:14:33+00:00
I suspected elopement, too. Great minds and all?
Comment on post gay marriage in california!:
2008-05-15T15:40:20+00:00
The only *B's I can think of are AB, NB, and MB, all in Canada. :P
And I'm with Liz on this one.
Comment on post SxSW music:
2008-03-25T21:54:26+00:00
You are the second person in the last week or two who has mentioned Freezepop. Guess I am gonna have to hunt them up and give them a listen, if nothing else so I'll be edumacated as to what you folks are talking about! :)
Comment on post I still dislike moving:
2008-03-13T15:28:37+00:00
I love Carrabba's, but I'm not familiar with their Austin locations. It's a chain, though, so googling should tell you if there's one near you.
Comment on post Website redesign:
2008-03-02T22:21:26+00:00
That works.
I think I'd personally prefer a visual divider other than just the highlighting, but that may just be my personal preference. It's definitely better with more spacing, though.
Comment on post Website redesign:
2008-03-02T21:42:00+00:00
Another nitpick: Consider adding a | or other break between each TOC link so that the viewer can more easily tell where one link ends and the next begins.
Comment on post I won't mess up your game, dear reader:
2008-02-26T18:45:13+00:00
Possibly a stupid question: Can I vote in the primary without being labelled a Democrat officially? I am independent, and I like being independent, and I want neither the Dems or the Reps to be able to count me as "theirs."
Comment on post I do not heart huckabee:
2008-01-18T13:36:55+00:00
I don't see how legalizing gay marriage is going to result in animals being given legal rights (did you see the article today where a Texas appeals court has stated that chimps and monkeys can't sue?), which they would have to have before they could marry. They'd need to be able to legally consent and all. :P
Legalizing the marriage of a man and three women (or any group of people) could follow, and I personally wouldn't have a problem if it did (see polyamory). But extending this to marrying animals and children, I just don't see it. Though by historical precedent (which these people like to call into play a lot) I don't see why a man couldn't marry a child. :P
Comment on post big day:
2008-01-09T15:04:32+00:00
Yeah, I'd love to not have an HOA, but I don't know that you can get a new or new-ish house that isn't part of one any more these days. My parents' neighborhood in Austin has a "neighborhood association" like what fairydust1 is talking about, in which membership is voluntary. But my parents' house (and neighborhood) is as old as I am.
Comment on post big day:
2008-01-09T15:02:32+00:00
You might or you might not. It basically depends on whether the HOA has decided they want to own it/be responsible for it or not.
Our HOA has recently been discussing this issue because there is a perimeter fence that's having issues, and we've been debating whether we pay to fix it, or we ask the homeowners whose yards the fence borders to take care of it. We'd like to do it ourselves, but we're not sure the HOA can afford it.
Comment on post big day:
2008-01-09T09:54:41+00:00
That's less than what we pay also, and our neighborhood doesn't even have a pool!
As an HOA boardmember, though, I can tell you that money does go toward more than just the pool. It maintains all common areas in the neighborhood (landscaping, watering, lighting, etc.) things like any pocket parks, entry monument, etc. It quite possibly pays a management company to do stuff like, yes, monitor the deed restrictions and send out letters to folks who don't keep their yards looking nice. It pays for insurance to protect the board members from liability. It pays for any neighborhood events that take place (National Night Out or other "get to know your neighbors" type events) sponsored by the HOA. Your HOA fees may also pay for maintenance of that fence you mentioned that separates your back yard from the street. Oh, and if your neighborhood is gated, you then have private streets and your HOA is responsible for all maintenance of the streets -- the city won't maintain them if there is a gate.
Our fee here is so high because there are only 90 homes in our neighborhood, so the cost per residence is much higher, even though ultimately our expenses are fairly low.
Comment on post oh well:
2008-01-05T15:17:07+00:00
$44/month seems high to me. Our average water bill for the last 12 months has been $24.65 with a high of $35 and a low of $14.
Of course, we live in Houston where water pricing may be different than Austin (no idea if this is true or not). And we have a tiny yard that hasn't required much watering this year due to an exceptionally rainy summer.
Comment on post houses houses houses...I made you out of clay...:
2007-12-21T11:52:48+00:00
I'm with destroyerj. I think they'll be almost exactly the same, but for some reason I think stopping on floors 3 and 6 would be very slightly faster.
Comment on post i dunno, stuff and such:
2007-11-27T14:00:43+00:00
Last night was my 2nd ZA trip. A stupid wipe on bear trash and we missed the timer by like 1 minute as the emote that you ran out of time came with the boss at like 20% health.
Eagle boss seemed pretty easy. However the gauntlet run of trash to get to him is a nasty mess.
Comment on post house-hunting: part 2 of 5000:
2007-11-20T13:56:41+00:00
Wanna buy a house in Houston?
Oh wait...rats. :P
Comment on post iTunes rating analysis! Portal, TexRenFest.:
2007-11-19T10:41:15+00:00
Yup. They can be a pretty big production.
Though Bob says they're not what they used to be. But on the other hand I understand his veiwpoint is biased (though not necessarily wrong).
Comment on post iTunes rating analysis! Portal, TexRenFest.:
2007-11-19T10:32:09+00:00
Heh, they make money off the scheduled weddings, so yeah the unauthorized wedding rejection doesn't surprise me.
Our friends Bob & Nancy used to be regulars in the mostly volunteer crew that helped to do renfest weddings. Till a couple of years ago when the fest took over the process to more directly make money off the weddings.
Comment on post iTunes ratings analysis - what looks nicer?:
2007-11-06T10:46:29+00:00
I like the darker alternating colors in version 3.
And I haven't seen any opposition to any of the amendments, so I'm guessing they'll all pass.
Comment on post schizowhatever:
2007-11-02T22:08:03+00:00
I got right on the border of happy/normal, but the quiz said my result was "happy."
I was likewise irritated by the binary nature of the questions. On "Are you good at public speaking?" where was the option for "Yes, but I hate it." :P
Comment on post washing machine follies:
2007-10-09T13:27:17+00:00
11 days!? That's crazy.
I guess this is where you hit up your friends to let you come over and do laundry while you hang out.
Comment on post nightbane down!:
2007-10-01T11:34:48+00:00
Grats on nightbane down.
He is a lot nastier than prince in what he can do, but prince seems so much more luck based with the random infernal landing spots.
Comment on post baseball, WoW, MacBook Pro?:
2007-09-18T16:41:23+00:00
Most anti Imp strats I'm aware of hinge off using a warlock chain casting seed of corruption on Illhoof. The seeds hurt the imps and keep all the agro on the warlock. With some FR gear and soul link or nether protection the warlock can tank the imps pretty well. AoE assist from a mage can be neccessary once there is enough imps that the pushback prevents getting the next seed off. Clear out the imps and start over. Very boring and stressfull fight for the warlock but it in theory works.
Comment on post baseball, WoW, MacBook Pro?:
2007-09-18T11:11:58+00:00
Illhoof is the most unforgiving Kara boss in terms of having to have just the right party composition. He's the only Kara boss I haven't killed, but he doesn't drop any loot I want. Our guild usually saves him for last and skips him altogether if there is no time or no motvation to go after him. Last week I stepped out of the group at the end so they could replace me with an additional healer and go after illhoof since people actually wanted his loots. Are ya'll having everyone use a macro to target the demonic chains? Losing time trying to target the chains manually in a room full of imps can really hurt ya.
Comment on post Theorycrafting: spell hit rating and me:
2007-09-12T16:48:02+00:00
Well... it was the best in PvP till they introduced Resiliance. Resiliance means crit is no longer the automatic king of PvP.
Comment on post Theorycrafting: spell hit rating and me:
2007-09-12T16:12:21+00:00
More versed in melee (rogue) theory craft but in general for raiding DPS both spells and melee +hit is a superior stat to load up on up to the max accuracy point. The other thing about +hit vs +crit is loading up on hit gives a steady consistant increase in damage. Loading on crit will give you huge damage spikes as you randomly get chain crits which is much harder to watch and manage threat with.
Crit vs hit value also varies a lot with class (and spec). Shadow priests and affliction warlocks have lots of damage sources that never crit so they will load up on +hit. Mages have a lot more talent options that care about getting crits so balance is more useful.
And yeah, actually starting to put value on these vs raw +damage will get messy fast.
Comment on post if music be the food of love:
2007-09-10T10:45:12+00:00
Not that hard. We just have a person or two who need to be reminded before they fight every time.
We had one warlock guilty of dieing in the circle far more often than he should. But I expect in general its more a healer problem as they can zone out watching health bars and forget to watch the actual stuff going on screen.
Comment on post if music be the food of love:
2007-09-10T10:12:34+00:00
Yup. I think its the green beam that heals him if no one tanks it. I'm often on blue beam duty depending on how many warlocks are along. I've occasionally jumped into the green beam as asked since I have no mana bar to lose. Not sure what the red beam does since the tanks always use that one.
But the key to that fight is managing the beams (easier said than done) and everyone learning to not die to all the forms of AoE does (the black circles are death till people learn to watch the ground)
Comment on post if music be the food of love:
2007-09-10T09:53:04+00:00
Netherspite is just a crazy crazy fight with so many ways for things to go wrong. My personal problem with the fight is his agro can be wonky and I get randomly eaten.
But kinda fun once you get it down.
Comment on post LiveJournal auto-post:
2007-08-28T19:07:12+00:00
When I try this, I just get "Error generating post" messages. :(
Comment on post starcraft, buying stuff:
2007-08-08T21:42:30+00:00
I suppose if you're one of those couples that doesn't do joint finances (or the ones that have "my account," "your account," and "our account") and you were really super-rich, you could justify surprising your spouse with a luxury car that you spent "your" money on. If Andrew ever did that to me, though, I'd kill him (we don't have any separate accounts). Okay, I wouldn't kill him, but I'd eviscerate him verbally and we'd go return the car. :P
I have a hard time with buying presents for Andrew (my hubby), too, since all our money is joint money. Especially as he really likes his "stuff" -- gaming books, cds, games, books, Magic and WoW cards, etc. and is really hard to shop for in terms of things like clothing, jewelry, etc. If I just buy him something from his list of wants, I always wonder if I wouldn't be better off just letting him go buy something himself -- then he can get whatever is his highest priority, as opposed to whatever I happen to randomly pick off the list. This is even more awkward now that I am a stay-at-home parent and thus he is the only one bringing in income. It's not like I feel that the money isn't "mine" -- it just feels weird to spend money that he earned on stuff for him that he didn't pick out himself. :P
As for the original question, I'm with the crowd. It's not tacky or inappropriate to pick up something for yourself while you're out shopping for a gift for someone else. It's problematic if you're "shopping" and you end up getting stuff for yourself and/or other people and not finding anything for the original intended recipient, but as long as you get what you set out for (whether that was predetermined beforehand or found during the trip), I don't see a problem.
Comment on post starcraft, buying stuff:
2007-08-08T09:57:48+00:00
Mmm, Zerglings...
Have you looked at the preview stuff on Starcraft 2? I'm still waiting for the zerg preview to start, but they just updated terran stuff that looks interesting.
Comment on post For taesmar:
2007-06-15T20:12:42+00:00
The whole time I was pregnant, my logical brain told me that alcohol in small quantities was fine -- my kid wasn't going to get fetal alcohol syndrome because I had a sip or small glass of wine/champagne now and then. But the government recommends that pregnant women abstain completely...which put this little nagging voice in the back of my head that made me feel guilty every time I touched alcohol. Reading this makes me wish I'd had a whole glass of champagne at New Year's (instead of just an inch in the bottom of the glass), or a whole glass of wine on certain occasions when I had just a sip instead. My logical brain was RIGHT...but alcohol for pregnant women is so frowned upon here in the States that even if I can convince myself it's okay, there are still a bazillion other people present to tell me that it's not and freak out because OMG I ate the chocolate fondue and there was ALCOHOL in it!!!!
I didn't completely abstain from alcohol while pregnant, and Corwin is perfectly fine. :)
Comment on post what if money were no object?:
2007-06-05T15:39:15+00:00
I have been meaning to reply to this but haven't found the requisite time and free hands until now.
Since my current job isn't paid, the first question is kinda irrelevant. However, in general, if I were independently wealthy, I would never work a full time job again. If I just needed a little extra to maintain the standard of living to which I am accustomed, I'd get a part-time gig doing something that I didn't find too stressful -- and there are a lot of things that that might be. In my free time (assuming my kid(s) are no longer taking all of it), I'd read books, probably take up WoW again, play other computer games, TRAVEL!!!!, and get my house more organized and kept cleaner (either by hiring a maid or by devoting more time to it myself). If I didn't need the extra money, I'd probably eventually end up volunteering for some cause that interested me, or working part-time doing something I found interesting and fulfilling. A part-time library gig would probably do me just fine. But I suspect I'd take a substantial period of time off first. I also might go back to school and get another bachelor's degree, either in biology or computer science. I really regret screwing up my SE courses freshman year at Rice, and would love to re-take some of that stuff and devote my full ability to it.
Comment on post travel notes:
2007-05-29T10:45:55+00:00
You guys should come visit us and met Corwin sometime when you are in Houston, if you can sneak away from the family for a couple hours. Or with advance notice we might be able to put together a game night even. :)
Comment on post happy birthday to meeee:
2007-04-20T11:55:06+00:00
Happy birthday!
My 40-minutes-on-average one-way commute is one of the factors that led to me quitting my job. That tacks on about an extra 1.5 hours every day that I'd have to be away from my child (even if his day care were right next to work, he has to ride in a rear-facing car seat in the back seat, which means even though we're in the car together, I can't even see him, much less interact with him) on top of the time I'd spend at work. I hated that commute when I didn't have a child; I think I'd dislike it that much more now.
Comment on post hangin' on:
2007-04-11T22:48:39+00:00
Yeah, me too!
Comment on post Recent local laws...:
2007-02-12T11:35:54+00:00
Agreed on the iPods.
On the smoking in a car with children in it....I'd only vote for that if they also outlaw all other smoking in the presence of children, including in one's own home. I agree that smoking is bad for children (everyone, actually) and that they shouldn't be exposed to it, but as long as parents are allowed to make the decision to smoke around their children in their private spaces, they should be allowed to smoke in their vehicle as that is also a private space.
Comment on post Snickers ad pulled:
2007-02-06T21:32:05+00:00
I don't agree with socially unacceptable = funny.
I know a lot of people find such things funny, but I never have. I guess my sense of humor just isn't quite in line with the mainstream.
Comment on post Public service announcements:
2007-01-29T15:03:12+00:00
I actually still have all the phone bills for the requisite time period (I knew I kept all this useless stuff for a reason...), and will be doing the math to see which way we get more $$. But then, I keep all my receipts for sales tax, too (and every year so far we have come out ahead doing it that way, even with some of the receipts going missing and thus not being included in the tally).
Sometimes I swear I should have been a bookkeeper or an accountant instead of a librarian. :P
Comment on post Public service announcements:
2007-01-29T08:29:21+00:00
Also, I'm engaged!
Congrats! :)
Comment on post Wii story:
2006-12-08T15:08:22+00:00
Grats on the loot.
We played with a friends over the weekend. A bit of bowling on the sports and some Zelda. The controls was definately different and interesting.
Comment on post Safe-wii first!:
2006-12-05T19:32:35+00:00
Just...wow.
You know, some of the arguments gay-marriage opponents make seem to me that they ought to be arguments in favor of allowing gay marriage:
"An invalidation of Maryland's law would have the unfortunate consequence of placing these issues outside the arena of public debate, outside the legislative and democratic process," Zarnoch said.
Well, yes I think these issues SHOULD be outside the arena of public debate and the democratic process. But that's what I get for looking at it as a civil rights issue. We don't debate whether African Americans or Hispanics or disabled people can get married. So why debate it about gays?
She said children who are raised "in the home with their married mother and father in a low-conflict marriage" are more likely to succeed in school and to avoid such social hazards as illegal drug use.
Well, yes, I'll agree with that statement. However, there are a darn lot of children in this world who don't have that kind of family, and we haven't made it illegal for married mothers and fathers in high-conflict marriages to have kids, or for single parents or unmarried-but-living-together parents to have kids. How is barring gay couples from adopting children going to increase the number of children with married mothers and fathers in low-conflict marriages? It isn't. So this isn't even really an argument to make in relation to gay marriage at all.
And your quote is the second half of the statement I just quoted. When she argues in favor of banning everyone but married mothers and fathers in low-conflict marriages from having kids, then I'll consider her argument (and reject it, but at least then it would be a logically consistent argument).
However, I know I'm preaching to the choir. I wish the non-choir-members could see all the holes in their logic.
Comment on post (no subject):
2006-11-01T15:35:23+00:00
I don't mind the older kids either...if they bother to dress up. I was just disgusted last year as we didn't get very many trick or treaters at all, and the ones we did get were all older boys in groups not wearing costumes. I think I remember having ONE cute kid in a costume that came to our door. I was very disillusioned. This year was much better!
Comment on post (no subject):
2006-11-01T14:07:12+00:00
The kids scared you?
We actually got a decent number of trick-or-treaters this year ourselves, and all but one of them were wearing costumes. This made me happy. :) And the one who wasn't wearing a costume was at least with his little sister who was wearing a costume, as opposed to in a group of 4-5 early-teen-aged boys none of whom were wearing costumes, which is all we seemed to get last year. The first trick-or-treater we had was a girl in a princess costume, whose parents were walking around with her. They had their little dog with them, dressed in a devil costume. Very very cute! :)
I did turn the light off at 8:15 though, as I figured all the cute little kids that I was interested in handing out candy to were probably done by then.
Comment on post unexpected goodness:
2006-09-30T21:57:35+00:00
Glad it all worked out :)
Comment on post one week at a time:
2006-09-26T08:51:23+00:00
I'm not really focused on losing weight as much as wanting a better ration of what makes up that weight. I keep reading that muscle weighs more than fat so in theory you could gain weight but still be much better off.
But keeping at it is rough. So many days I just want to come home, eat dinner and relax rather than go spend another hour away from home at the gym.
Comment on post newspaper irritations:
2006-09-18T16:12:36+00:00
Or recruit a grandparent, other family member, or friend to look after their child so they can work.
(just for the record, no I don't think anyone should feel like they have to do that....of course if I had my druthers, all families would be able to afford for one parent to stay home with the children if they wanted to do so, too)
Comment on post feelin' breezy:
2006-09-06T16:18:44+00:00
I wanted to go to the Atlanta Aquarium while we were there this weekend, but we didn't end up having time to fit in a visit. I LOVE aquariums, zoos, etc. When I started college, I wanted to be either a marine biologist or an animal behavior researcher, but cellular/molecular biology/chemistry really aren't that interesting to me, and I had to get through a LOT of that before I could take courses on the topics I was really interested in, and sad to say I gave up before getting very far. I do occasionally contemplate going back to school and getting a biology degree, but I doubt that it's really feasible at this point in my life.
Comment on post Greetings from the most anti-gay state in the nation!:
2006-08-26T21:35:44+00:00
When I finished grad school in NC, a large chunk of my family came up there for my graduation. After graduation, one of the things we did was take a driving tour of a stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC with my grandmothers. We all really enjoyed the scenery; the worst part for me was that the whole way along there were lots of little hiking trails leading off from the highway. I would have loved to stop and do some hiking, but neither of my grandmothers was in good enough shape to allow it. :(
Glad y'all made the drive safely today, even if it was a bit harrowing at times.
Comment on post LJ - Arkansas edition!:
2006-08-24T21:00:20+00:00
My family went to Hot Springs on vacation one year when I was a kid. Unfortunately, I can't say I really remember much about it.
Sorry you're not feeling well. Here's hoping you're better tomorrow!
Comment on post one more milestone:
2006-08-22T08:54:28+00:00
Me too. Good luck with the move!
Andrew and I have been in our house for a little over three years now, and that's the longest I've been in one place since I started college. We are probably going to have to move at least once more in a few years, as if we have a second child, our current house probably won't be sufficient (in terms of storage space, if nothing else). Plus the school district we're in is, at least currently, not that great. Anyway, I'm dreading that...but we'll get through it if it does come to pass.
Comment on post (no subject):
2006-08-15T11:48:53+00:00
I was just poking at your pictures over on Greg's site, and saw you had a couple up from your visit here last month. Did the pic you took of Andrew playing with Matthew not come out? Just curious, 'cause I'd like to see it if it was at all decent. :)
Comment on post look what we can do!:
2006-08-08T11:21:47+00:00
Most people realize that commenting on a feed is pointless as the person whose feed it is will likely never see it. If you're concerned about it (or people ARE commenting on your Livejournal feed) you could make a post telling people not to do such as you won't see it, and if they want to comment, they should instead click on the link to your actual blog and comment there. That should generally take care of the issue.
Comment on post look what we can do!:
2006-08-08T09:56:57+00:00
I've also set up feeds for dakao and timdanner, if y'all are interested.
Comment on post a few links:
2006-08-02T09:10:36+00:00
I had the painful brainspark while writing my reply above that the english college system most americans would be most familiar with would be the Harry Potter one, and promptly banished using it as a point of reference.
Comment on post a few links:
2006-08-02T08:08:55+00:00
Rice uses the 'college system', more commonly used by universites in england. Your a member of your college, and while people ask to switch colleges its extremely rare. Each of the colleges have their own government, rules, traditions, sports teams, and chosen rivals.
In some ways it doesn't sound all that different than dorms... but it is mostly by the mindset that the college system has.
As for serveries.... *shrug* your probably right. The label is new for being applied to the area's that serve more than one college. Which is a relatively recent development.
Comment on post a few links:
2006-08-01T17:35:44+00:00
Okay, half of that video was enough torture for me. (Andrew was screaming at me to turn it off after about 5 seconds of the audio...)
Comment on post a few links:
2006-08-01T16:38:57+00:00
Hmm, and drive it where?
Comment on post a few links:
2006-08-01T16:37:56+00:00
Of course you can. That's what makes it ironic and fun to taunt you with.
Comment on post a few links:
2006-08-01T16:25:41+00:00
*snicker*
Hmmm, because I have a certain tired wife who likes her comforts and naps at home? *shrug* Something will be done somewhen.
Comment on post a few links:
2006-08-01T16:03:14+00:00
Oh, a rant from Christ? Excellent.
So, how about that new dean of engineering, who I have never met and know nothing about?
Comment on post a few links:
2006-08-01T15:24:58+00:00
I'll add a 2nd Pah! to your first on.
Expand the student body by 30%?!?!?
Comment on post Maryland pictures up:
2006-06-29T10:27:01+00:00
Hey, your pic of people playing Chess in Dupont Circle looks like the setting of one of the last scenes in X-Men 3, where Magneto is playing chess by himself.
Comment on post back from graduation!:
2006-05-23T13:50:17+00:00
Ahhhhh..... :)
Okay, I feel less dumb now. (that work for you, Christi?)
Comment on post back from graduation!:
2006-05-23T13:43:15+00:00
Okay, I may regret asking this. But what is "meliora?" I've never heard the word, and neither dictionary.com nor the online OED turn up any results when I search.
Comment on post "burn baby burn" - poll:
2006-05-17T11:11:11+00:00
That makes more sense to me. I can certainly see the sentiment being offensive; Greg was more focused on the phrase in his post, though, which is where I got confused.
Comment on post "burn baby burn" - poll:
2006-05-17T10:00:59+00:00
Maybe the black community was offended because the phrase was used by white police officers (mind you, I'm making an assumption that the police officers might have been white...but I don't know)? Sorta the way a black person can call another black person "nigger" and no one gets upset, but if a white person uses that term, it's offensive.
Comment on post "burn baby burn" - poll:
2006-05-17T09:33:33+00:00
I don't get the "burn baby burn" thing at all. Was the club that burned a primarily black hangout? Where does the reference come from that it has negative connotations? If I filled out the poll right now, my answer would be the third option. But I wonder if I'm missing some information -- either some kind of cultural reference, or some incident I'd know about if I lived in Austin?
Comment on post friiiiiiday!:
2006-05-12T14:44:14+00:00
I'm not living in Austin any more, so I'm a little out of the loop. However, I'd be inclined to vote against Prop 1 -- on the basis of the vast amount of busy work that would create for city employees. Do you know how much time it would take to keep a written record of every phone call and meeting a person attends? Especially in the detail they request -- name, date, time, and summary of content.
I'm all for transparency and open access to information, but Prop 1 seems to be going a bit far.
Comment on post weekendish activities!:
2006-05-08T10:56:06+00:00
Loop 1 in Austin isn't a loop, either. :P
(but we won't start on Houston -- I've finally learned all the freeway names, I think...)
Comment on post I went to the 108th best high school in the country!:
2006-05-03T14:29:00+00:00
o, are we supposed to be honored by NOT making the list and still succeeding? (grin)
I like that idea! :)
Comment on post I went to the 108th best high school in the country!:
2006-05-03T13:20:44+00:00
*shrug* I stopped scanning once I got to the 500s. I thought my school was pretty good but no idea what's happened much in the decade since.
Comment on post I went to the 108th best high school in the country!:
2006-05-03T12:58:27+00:00
Hey, mine wasn't on the list, so I think I get the honors!
Comment on post I went to the 108th best high school in the country!:
2006-05-03T12:02:08+00:00
Read the explanation. That helps me stomach Reagan HS in Austin being #232 on that list. I was a bit dumbfounded before that -- they were abysmal back when I was in high school (I guess 10-15 years is enough time to show improvement...but I haven't seen or heard of it being crowed about lately, either).
My high school didn't make the list, which doesn't surprise me in the least. Of course, it's also not the same school now that it was when I went there (they've taken the LAA, which I was part of, out and moved it to LBJ, which did make the list, and quite highly, too).
Comment on post everybody's working for last weekend:
2006-05-01T13:28:54+00:00
MUCH better now. Thanks! :)
Comment on post everybody's working for last weekend:
2006-05-01T12:13:58+00:00
I've been trying to look at your pictures, but I keep getting "Problem loading page" errors, or they just load REALLY infernally slowly. :(
Comment on post weekend, everybody's working for the:
2006-04-28T19:09:41+00:00
Agreed.
Comment on post it's my birthday!:
2006-04-20T11:53:03+00:00
Yes, we are :)
Comment on post it's my birthday!:
2006-04-20T11:15:46+00:00
Happy birthday! :)
Comment on post cute math song and "V for Vendetta":
2006-03-29T13:22:08+00:00
10 emails!?
Gah....if I created a new account, I'd have more than that by the end of Day 1. Guess I am just horrible about deleting stuff.
"V for Vendetta" is too violent for the Paulina-ometer (as verified by hubby who saw it while I was in Atlanta), but Andrew really liked it. He just recently devoured the graphic novel as well. I may take a look at that, since I can tolerate violence in print much better than I can on film.
Comment on post Quick poll:
2006-03-07T14:01:58+00:00
I actually would like to see "Brokeback Mountain," but movies are generally pretty low on my priority list of things to do, mainly because I can't get Andrew to go to anything that's not sf/fantasy (and even then, only some of those) or the occasional animated movie. The last movie I saw was Memoirs of a Geisha, and I went to that with a girlfriend of mine one evening when both our hubbies were otherwise occupied, and we couldn't think of anything else to do. At any rate, I may rent "Brokeback" whenever it comes out on DVD, if an opportunity to see it doesn't otherwise fall in my lap.
At any rate, just wanted to say I'm not avoiding "Brokeback" -- I actually would like to see it. :)
Comment on post early morning thoughts!:
2005-12-12T10:34:21+00:00
I want the rubber duckie one! :)
(I have a small but growing "weird rubber duckie" collection in my bathroom)
Comment on post Reminder: vote tomorrow!:
2005-11-08T18:12:53+00:00
Andrew and I voted.
Unfortunately, I'm getting more and more disgusted with the numbers of people telling me they didn't/aren't voting today because they don't have time and didn't plan ahead to take advantage of early voting. And then there are the two of my friends who aren't even REGISTERED. *sigh* *grumbles*
Ah well, my voice was heard. I can't make anyone else do anything.
Comment on post vote next tuesday!:
2005-10-28T13:54:58+00:00
Isn't it still two Tuesdays away? I thought next Tuesday will be November 1. ;)
I've also read some scaremongering on the part of CONSERVATIVES to vote against the amendment because they fear that some activist judge might interpret "legal status identical or similar to marriage" to include marriages between a man and a woman as well (after all...."identical to marriage"), causing the amendment to make all marriage illegal. I somehow don't see that coming to pass, but if it gets conservatives to vote against the amendment, I'm all for it! ;)
Comment on post The Two-Variable Intuition Test (ganked from
2005-08-18T16:14:32+00:00
Yes, I've seen people get higher than 62%.
In fact, several of my friends have ended up in the "Unusually smart" area.
Comment on post tired, and ugh:
2005-08-01T18:32:44+00:00
Worry about whether you'd say yes again AFTER you've learned your lines and done the show. You don't even know how it's gonna go yet! :)
Comment on post interesting weekend!:
2005-07-18T10:14:34+00:00
Does this mean you'll be peeved that you weren't mentioned in my weekend events, either?
Hrmmm...well I guess there is the fact that we didn't see you this weekend. I could make up something, though ;)
Sorry, feeling silly.
Comment on post non-weekend post:
2005-07-06T15:30:40+00:00
Zug Zug
Just got my Night Elf Rogue to lvl 60 last night. Wheee. Hope to see ya'll on when ya get to it.
Comment on post flag burning, mostly:
2005-06-23T11:29:17+00:00
Would they start prosecuting businesses that don't take the flag down at night and let it fly until it is in tatters as well?
Comment on post -verb agreement:
2005-06-09T15:07:28+00:00
Amen!
And, well....Texans HAVEN'T made a decision about marriage, yet. Yes, I know the amendment is likely to pass, but it hasn't been voted on yet. His celebration is a bit premature.
Comment on post Yes, I'm still around...:
2005-05-11T21:32:13+00:00
Might help if you replied to my last email (of yesterday)....
Comment on post awesome weekend!:
2005-05-02T12:09:33+00:00
You should move back to Houston! You obviously sleep well here, and didn't seem to be having too much trouble with the allergies either. ;)
Comment on post awesome weekend!:
2005-05-02T10:49:42+00:00
Glad y'all had fun!! :)
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