Surf like a man or a woman?

Your Surfing Habits are 60% Male, 40% Female

If we had to guess, we would guess that you are a man. You use the internet to make your life more efficient - and to make you smarter. For you, the internet is like a vast encyclopedia. You search and surf extensively. You look up everything online.

Do You Use the Internet Like a Man or a Woman?

An end to the email forwards??

While eating lunch at my desk today, I received an email message from my Mom. This isn't unusual, I receive at least 5 emails from her each and every day and not one of them is written by her, every one is something she has forwarded.

I handle all of these emails in the same manner. I scroll through the multiple headers (deleting this crap is apparently a foreign concept to the serial forwarder) from the previous senders until I get to the beginning of the message and begin reading. If it doesn't captivate my attention immediately, it gets deleted. If it is pertaining to golf, menopause, growing up in the 50's, or any other like minded subjects, it gets deleted and I momentarily ponder, "Why would she send me that?" If it is clearly an urban legend or something offering false information then I reply with a link that points out the problems/inaccuracies in the message. If the email requires you to forward to 10 people or more if you REALLY want your wish to come true then I delete it IMMEDIATELY! I had trouble with this last one for a while thinking that I have had my share of bad luck and am generally the kind of person that likes it when good things happen but I decided that I would likely bring myself better karma simply by not filling others email boxes with a bunch of crap.

So you can imagine how excited I was to see the following email today:

To: Darling Daughter, many others
From: Mom
Subject: FW: I'M STILL WAITING...

I'M STILL WAITING....

I did what you told me, I sent the email to 10 people like you said and I'm still waiting for that miracle to happen.



To all my friends who in the last year sent me best 'wishes', chain letters, 'angel' letters or other promises of good luck if I forwarded something, NONE OF THAT SHIT WORKED!

For 2009, could you please just send money, VODKA chocolate, movie tickets or petrol vouchers instead?

Thank you!

Immediately after reading it I dialed my mother's office phone and with great excitement asked if she was serious about not sending any more forwards. She laughed in a very maniacal way and said, "No!"

Damn! I was so hopeful!

Photo of the Day - Sushi Thumb Drive

Sushi Thumb Drive, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

This sushi thumb drive was a gift from our distributors in Japan which was given to me during a meeting in Reno, Nevada in May 2008. It is always a conversation starter when I have it plugged into the side of my laptop.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Jewells in Seattle has a new look! I decided it was time to get rid of the green layout that I have used for, well, far to long, and go with something a bit more simple. I hope you like it! I'm still playing around with it so you may notices some additional subitle changes in the next week or so.

And, I have decided to add a new feature, Photo of the Day. I love taking pictures but often find myself wishing that I took more of them. I love to share the pictures that I take and figured that by having a regularly appearing post it would make me take more pictures so that I had plenty to share.

Let me know what you think of the new design and the photos, I always love hearing for you.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Enjoyed a 3-day weekend trip to Cannon Beach, Oregon with Don this weekend. Some of the highlights:

• Woke early on Friday morning to finish packing and organizing so that we could leave between 9 and 10 as planned. Don and I were sending text messages back and forth to ensure that we didn't forget anything and I nearly fell over when I received a message saying that he wasn't bringing his laptop. I hadn't packed mine yet (but had been planning to take it) and was intrigued by the idea of having an "unplugged" weekend and that is exactly what we did.
  
• Enjoyed a easy drive (of course if was easy for me, I wasn't driving) south to Oregon.
• Stopped for a small lunch and a beer at Rogue Ales Public House in Astoria.
• Got settled in our beautiful room on the beach in Cannon Beach.
• Had dinner with our friends Nikki and Matt at Bigfoot's Pub and Grub in Seaside.
• Enjoyed a part rainy, part sunny stroll on the beach to have lunch at Mo's where we enjoyed sourdough bread bowls filled with Clam Chowder and Mo's own Half-e-weizen.
• Relaxed and enjoyed a sunny afternoon, followed by a spectacular sunset complete with snacks and wine.
• Had a fabulous dinner at the Wayfarer Restaurant.
• Slept in and then packed up and left the room just before check-out time and headed to the Pig N Pancake to indulge in some much needed carbs and protein.
• Took in the scenery on the ride home to Seattle (once again, spoiled cause I didn't have to drive!)
• Arrived home to empty kitchens/fridges, so we ran to get a few essentials at the store shortly after arriving home.
• "Plugged in" my laptop to check my email, RSS Feeds etc and realized that I didn't miss anything earth shattering.
  
• Relaxed the evening away, all the while remembering the beach and the fabulous weekend, trying to forget that the "real world" would be back in full-force today.

I took tons of pictures but haven't finished sorting through and uploading them yet, but am hoping to do so tonight, I'll keep you posted.

Weekend Wrap-Up

A bit later than usual but it's been a crazy busy Monday thus far. The weekends highlights:

• Raced out of the office Friday afternoon to beat the majority of the traffic headed northbound to join Kat for an early dinner at Outback. It worked as the commute only took a little over an hour complete with 1 work-related stop.
• Tossed and turned Friday night worried about pulling everything together for Saturday night's Fondue Party.
• Woke early Saturday morning (likely a result of the tossing and turning) to organize my grocery list for the 26,476th time and get ready to face the day.
• Had breakfast with Kat at the Queen Anne Cafe.
• Pampered ourselves (Kat & I) with a much needed pedicures.
• Purchased all of the food and gathered all of the *stuff* for the Fondue Party and with Kat's help got everything packed up with time to spare.
• Successfully pulled off the Fondue Party with the assistance of my P.E.O. sisters and a whole lot of wine. Only minor glitch was the damn chocolate fountain which if it continues to make me crazy will be thrown off the Aurora bridge it utter frustration.
• Fell into bed totally exhausted from the business of the day and tossed and turned again, this time thanks to back pain.
• Woke early again on Sunday and laid in bed and watched the movie Little Miss Sunshine.
• Picked up Kat at 9 a.m. and headed to breakfast at the Crystal Creek Cafe where we agreed after a brief discussion that pancakes should never be put on the same plate as the eggs.
• Bought a few essentials (codeword for undergarments/kitchen gadgets) at the Seattle Premium Outlets in Tulalip, WA.
• Made the mistake of going to Radio Shack to purchase an adapter for the Mini SD card in my cell phone. Ended up buying something that will not work in my phone that I have to return. Also had to endure the WORST sales pitch for switching my cell phone from Verizon to Sprint or AT&T (which he is still calling Cingular) in the history of the world. He had to look up the answers to every single technical question that I asked about the phones/plans etc. Yo dude, Rule #1 in sales - Know Your Product!
  
• Watched the first three of the Love Comes Softly movies that my TiVo had picked up on Saturday when Hallmark Channel had a marathon. I liked the movies but as sequels often go the first was my favorite and they went downhill from there, I have 3 more sitting on the TiVo and am still undecided if and when they will be watched.
• Went to bed early to get ready for the week ahead.
  

How was your weekend?

Weekend Wrap-Up

Another weekend has flown by all too quickly. The highlights:

• Celebrated a very belated birthday dinner with Suzie at Mama's Mexican Kitchen in Belltown on Friday night. The food was yummy, as usual, and so were the margarita's and it was great to get caught up with Suzie.
• Woke up early on Saturday morning so Don and I could head up with hill to do laundry. I do love being able to do 4 loads of laundry in less than 2 hours.
• Sorted through every pair of socks that I own with Kat and threw those that met the following criteria: 1.) holes or runs of any size or shape (cause let's face it a small hole will be a big hole in no time at all), 2.) translucent fabric (when gym socks resemble nylons it's time for them to go away), 3.) outdated styles (remember those thick crew socks that you would pull up and then scrunch down for that *legwarmer lite* look), 4.) haven't been worn in the nearly 3 years that I have lived in Seattle (I used to love crew socks but don't anymore so they got thrown in the donation bag)
• Made a list of the replacement socks that would be needed to have a good selection/collection and set out with Kat to find them which we were able to do with a stop at Fred Meyer and another at Macy's.
• Stopped shopping long enough to enjoy a burger, fries and onion rings with Kat at Red Mill Burgers.
• Browsed through Barnes & Nobel and picked up a few books that we had been looking for.
• Saw 27 Dresses, which was good, except for the really creepy solo dude that was seated next to me.
• Laughed so hard that I cried during the "Benny & the Jets" mondegreen scene. Kat and I were both having major "Myzah Georgia" and "DaVinci View" flashbacks.
• Unpackaged and put away 46 new pairs of socks! :-)
• Watched and mocked the "not-so modernized or improved" Miss America pageant which my TiVo had recorded. I was disappointed in the final choice, Miss Michigan, cause what beauty queen can't sing "Over the Rainbow," give me a break. She is the stereo-typical Miss America proving that some things just don't change. Miss Washington made a great showing and I was really proud of her top finish.
• Savored a wonderful dinner at DeNunzio's Italian Restaurant in Seattle's Pioneer Square with Don on Saturday night. It has been on my *Seattle restaurants to try* list for nearly 2 years ago and it lived up to all the reviews that I had read. We had excellent authentic food, good wine and wonderful service.
• Watched The Nanny Diaries.
• Spent 4 hours on Sunday morning determined to fix the problems that I have been having with the external hard drive that stores my iTunes library. For no apparent reason it switched from F:\ to G:\ in the middle of last week. A quick google search reveled a fix in Windows, I then reinstalled the driver and I was back in business. I had to consolidate my library a few times and still have some individual errors but I was able to sync after 5 days which made me unbelievably happy.
• Watched Jersey Girl, Green Card and Dawn Anna all movies that my TiVo had recently recorded as suggestions when not recording game shows.
• Read numerous chapters on Eat Pray Love in an attempt to finish it before my Thursday night book club.
• Ordered pizza and groceries online so I didn't have to leave the house on Sunday.
• Missed forced-air heat as baseboard heaters just don't cut it when it's really, really, really cold outside.
• Waited for the snow that never came.

How was your weekend?

4,159 visits

I have been tracking visitors to my site for 1 year now and ClustrMaps just archived the first year of data (map appears above) and the new map is nearly blank. I really enjoyed watching the little red dots appear this year and hopefully I will get even more visitors this year. :-)

iTunes Top 40

I just finished reorganized my iTunes library and the playlists that sync to my iPod in an attempt to better enjoy the 12,857 songs in my library. I have 7,872 that have never been played. I think that is because I listen to the same things/artists over and over and over and over again. I am interested to see how my stats on LastFM change over the next couple of months. Here is my Top 40 play counts as they stand right now, let's see what reorganization does to that.

1. Harbor - Vienna Teng
2. Shasta - Vienna Teng
3. Drunkard Logic - The Fat Lady Sings
4. Hope On Fire - Vienna Teng
5. City Hall - Vienna Teng
6. You Dance – Eastmountainsouth
7. The Tower - Vienna Teng
8. Nothing Without You - Vienna Teng
9. Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
10. Homecoming - Vienna Teng
11. Soul Meets Body - Death Cab For Cutie
12. Providence - The Fat Lady Sings
13. Feather Moon - Vienna Teng
14. Life Less Ordinary - Carbon Leaf
15. If I Had $1,000,000 - Barenaked Ladies
16. So Are You To Me – Eastmountainsouth
17. Forever My Friend - Ray LaMontagne
18. Streetcorner Symphony - Rob Thomas
19. Hard Times – Eastmountainsouth
20. Eric's Song - Vienna Teng
21. Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell
22. Push - Sarah McLachlan
23. Winter – Eastmountainsouth
24. Dirty Little Secret – Sarah McLachlan
25. Enough To Go By - Vienna Teng
26. Chocolate - Snow Patrol
27. Celtic New Year - Van Morrison
28. A Girl And Her Horse - Carbon Leaf
29. Crooked Teeth - Death Cab For Cutie
30. Father & Daughter - Paul Simon
31. Unwritten Letter #1 - Vienna Teng
32. Whatever You Want - Vienna Teng
33. Blue Eyes Blue - Eric Clapton
34. The Atheist Christmas Carol - Vienna Teng
35. Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well - Mike Doughty
36. 1 Br/1 Ba - Vienna Teng
37. On Your Way – Eastmountainsouth
38. Blue Caravan - Vienna Teng
39. There She Goes - The La's
40. It Never Entered My Mind - Miles Davis

Harassing an AutoBot

Over the weekend I received an invitation from my friend Nikki to join reunion.com

Susan Says: HEY WAIT, we hate to see you go without seeing all we have to offer. Registering is free, and who knows... you might just get reunited with an old friend.

Susan Says: Just type 'HI' or 'HELLO' in the space below to let me know you are there

You: Hi

You: I did register, I just had a couple of windows open at the same time.

Susan Says: Connect with old friends, classmates, family, lost loves, military buddies or anyone. CLICK HERE to Register FREE to register for free.

You: You are a robot aren't you?

Susan Says: I'm a real person.

You: Then why when I told you that I had registered, did you encourage me to register?

Susan Says: Stay in touch and share updates with family and friends... who knows who you can find?

Susan Says: Would you like to register for free today?

You: You are totally a robot.

You: That pisses me off so much that I want to delete my membership.

Susan Says: You can change your mailing options at anytime. We offer self-managed mailing options for subscribers to use as needed. We are also available Monday through Friday at 1-888-704-1900 for your customer service needs.

Susan Says: Reunion.com is the leader in keeping people in touch online... discover what 35 million other members already know by registering today. CLICK HERE to Register FREE

You: Too bad I didn't ask you about mailing options.

Susan Says: Would you like the link back to the registration page?

You: Oh, honest to GOD! I have told you over and over again, I have registered! But you are a stupid robot and all you are going to do is remind me to register and ask me to register over and over again.

Susan Says: For customer service CLICK HERE

You: Will customer service confirm that you are a robot?

Susan Says:CLICK HERE for customer service.

You: Is that all you will say now?

You: Cat got your tongue?

You: Apparently so or I prefer to think that no one programmed you this far because they didn't think that anyone would chat with you this long.

Midday Silliness

I had lunch with 2 co-workers today and the conversation centered around funny things from the world wide web. Upon returning to the office we forwarded numerous links and funnies to one another which immediately induced a small fit of the giggles.

Just when I was starting to be productive again I stumbled across my new favorite website youparklikeanasshole.com. We were laughing uncontrollably while looking at these pics. There are some real idiots out there! And what perfect vengence to get back at the parking-challenged drivers out there. We have all been there - you walk out to your car and find that someone has attempted to park next to you but has messed it up so badly that you are sure a 5-year-old was driving! Now you can snap a picture and post it on this website. I can't wait till someone parks like a jerk near me again!

Not worth much

Well if this is true then I am way off from quiting my job to become a full-time blogger. :-)

My blog is worth $564.54.
How much is your blog worth?

I'm a Mac!

You Are a Mac

You are creative, stylish, and super trendy. You demand the best - even if it costs an arm and a leg.

Are You a Mac or a PC?

Slow SLC Media websites

I am just finishing up my lunch break at work. In my typical routine I ate at my desk so that I could check my RSS feeds and email. Primarily I wanted to get some additional information about the shooting that took place at Trolley Square in my hometown of Salt Lake City last night. But after 30 or so minutes of attempting to watch video of a news conference that happened over 30 minutes ago, I am frustrated beyond belief by horrible websites of the SLC news outlets.

I started off on the KSL website. I was able to find an article but when I clicked on the video player I received an error message and it only works with Internet Explorer. So I launched IE and pulled up the article and got a totally blank screen. I attempted a few additional times and got the same thing.

I then went to the KUTV website and was able to locate the video immediately from their main page. The player launched immediately and played for a few seconds and then stopped to buffer the feed. I thought this would work itself out for after a minute or so but to no luck. I gave up.

Next stop was KTVX website which I was able to find the link to the press conference immediately and it initiated playing an advertisement immediately but upon completion did not play the press conference.

I am so frustrated that I want to scream!

UPDATE: At 13:14 I was able to get the video to successfully play on the KTVX website.

Evile Alarm Clock

Don and I were discussing my freakish ability to sleep right through my alarm clock this weekend. I told him that I was contemplating an alarm clock with a vibrating disc attached that shakes your pillow along with the standard audible alarm. He suggested that I get the clock that "runs away and hides" so that you have to get out of bed to find the damn thing. I thought he was kidding until I saw such a gadget on Crave this morning.

Clocky is a bargain at just under $50.00. I am the first to admit that I am not a *morning person* and things that don't bother me once I am fully awake and functioning for the day really bug me in the morning. So I fear that if I purchased this clock and had the least bit of difficulty finding it that I would be compelled to throw it off my 3rd floor balcony.

Yahoo! IM Freeks

What is wrong with the people that IM using the Yahoo! messenger service? I get more random conversation invitations from Yahoo! than AIM or MSN and they all turn out to be total weirdos and freaks.

Last November I chatted with a Yahoo! member that had found me though a Yahoo! group that we were both a member of. The conversation was primarily about cancer (the subject of the Yahoo! group) and I added him to my buddy list. Well he must not be very smart because within less than a month he must have though that I was interested in him in other ways (No I don't want to see your webcam). And in January he began sending offline message. I told him on numerous occasions that I appear online when I am available, I don't play the invisible game. But still the messages continued. So tonight I cut him off with the following conversation.

[22:41] freakshow: ur here?
[22:46] me: yes
[22:46] me: But you are still appearing invisible
[22:49] me: I am growing tired of your offline messages. They continue even though I have asked you not to IM me when I am not online. And you always appear invisible. I think I am going to block you.
[22:51] me: Well since you haven't responded, I have decided. It's over. You are blocked.

So, what the hell is wrong with the people that chat on Yahoo?

What else?

I received an invitation from Don to join Twitter last night. I always join the sites he invites me to join and often times end up loving them. I spent a while "getting my Twitter on" last night and think it's going to be another fun one. If I recall correctly I think the first one he invited me to join was upcoming.org which I joined because he had posted an event that we were both attending. I thought it was fun but didn't think that I would get that into it. Yet now, I love it. And when I am wondering what is going on around town it's one of the first places that I look.

After logging off I began to give some thought to these sites and realized that a whole lot of my life is tracked online and not just by blogging but by random websites including:

• The list of places that I want to visit is tracked at 43 Places.
• Articles that I find interesting on my Bloglines Feed are tracked on my Bloglines Blog.
• People that I dream of meeting are tracked at 43 People.
• Pictures that I take are stored at Flickr.
• Songs that I listen to are tracked on LastFM.
• Things that want to accomplish are tracked at 43 Things.
• Items that I want to own are tracked on my Amazon Wish List.
• My mood is tracked on imood.
• Things I have consumed are tracked on All Consuming. (yet I have not done a good job keeping this one up to date)
• The "lists" that I am working on are tracked on Lists of Bests.
• Places that I visit are tacked at Dodgeball.
• And now random and fleeting thoughts about my daily activities are tracked at Twitter.

So this begs that question, what next? What else can possibly be tracked by a fun and interactive website? I am not sure, but I am pretty sure I will join!

Frozen Brain

When the alarm screamed into the cold silence this morning I was sound asleep in my warm bed. It was pure torture to even think about getting up and stepping out into the cold, but I did. I got dressed and got to work, and on time! But apparently my brain was frozen along with the city this morning because I arrived at work without my palm pilot or my i-pod. Oh it's gonna be a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really long day.

Fabulous Weekend

It's freezing cold in Seattle but I had a warm, wonderful weekend!

I had planned on being home and solo on Friday evening but instead found myself at one of my favorite neighborhood places to drink Cosmopolitan's and celebrate my friend Heather's promotion to Executive Vice President of Dumb Ass Management (I would explain that here but it's I couldn't do it justice).

Saturday was busy with class and a few errands and the usual Saturday stuff. Don and I had dinner at the Icon Grill which we had both wanted to try for quite some time and once there we were there wondered why we hadn't. It's as if they made a restaurant with many of our favorite things including yummy American comfort food and a great wine list. The atmosphere is cozy (despite the overabundance of Chihuly glass which Don is not so fond of) and the service was great (despite an unfortunate incident that I won't mention in detail because it could happen anywhere and was handled by the staff with the utmost professionalism). I have a feeling that we will be dining there again soon.

Following dinner we bundled up in our winter finest at walked to Benaroya Hall for the Seattle Symphony performance of the Brandenberg Concerti. Although I spent a great deal of time this week listening to the music and had been looking forward to seeing a live performance of Concerto No. 3 for as long as I can remember when the musicians took the stage and began performing I was totally overcome with emotion. It was an amazing show with the Bach and Vivaldi pieces.

This morning Don and I had planned to meet friends for breakfast at one of our favorite neighborhood spots to watch the playoff game. Unfortunately when we arrived 15 minutes prior to the start of the game the place was packed and the host laughed at me when I inquired about a table. So we ended up having breakfast at another neighborhood spot and then went back to my place to catch the end of the game. Seattle put up a tough fight but lost in OT to the Bears. The remainder of the morning and early afternoon we were contented with coffee and laptops
and *geekin out.* I am now a huge fan of the Doogle search. And no, I didn't spell Google wrong. A Doogle search is when I lay on the couch snuggled under a blanket and shoot questions at Don who then uses google or wikipedia to find answer to all my questions. :-)

The day wasn't all play as I did get Don to assist me in placing my *new* oriental rug in the dining room. It's not new because it was actually inherited from my mother but it's *new* to my apartment and does a wonderful job covering the stain in the dining room that has been driving me nuts since I moved in.

I just ordered a pizza from Pagliacci Pizza and am going to relax with my favorite Sunday night TV shows and get to bed early so that I am ready to face the week ahead which promises to be a long and hopefully not too stressful one.

I hope you all had a good weekend and you are staying warm wherever you are.

Great Weekend

This weekend was filled with all of the elements that make a weekend truly good. On Friday night, Don and I totally geeked out at my place and set up my new wireless router and external hard drive. I am so loving having a wireless network again. Now I can surf anywhere in my apartment. And having a new external hard drive has given me the freedom to expand my music collection. I spend a ton of time this weekend adding songs to my collection that I have been collecting for months because I didn't have the space to do so.

Saturday morning I saw the return of school. I attended class on Saturday morning and became the leader of my lab group. I didn't want to be the leader last term but then found myself being VERY competitive with the group leader. I really wanted to be in a totally different group this term but as it turned out several of my classmates from last semester really enjoyed working with me so I we reunited and created a group complete with the leader from last semester. It should be interesting. Then it was off to coffee with a girlfriend and an afternoon of errands and palm tree hunting.

This morning Don and I had brunch (that's what you call it when you eat eggs late on Sunday right?) at one of my favorite neighborhood places. Then I had a lazy afternoon at home. It watched a movie and relaxed. Tonight I enjoyed the return of some of my favorite TV shows (Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters).

I had planned on taking down the Christmas tree this weekend but realized today that I am not quite ready. I am ready to say goodbye to the Christmas knick-knacks and other decorations but the tree is something that I not quite ready to part with. So I gathered together all of the decorations and prepared them for packing and didn't do anything with the tree. I realize that Saturday was Epiphany marking the official end of the holiday season but I figure I can do it in my own timing which means that I will spend portions of this evening this week making Christmas disappear from my home.

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the week ahead. :-)