bon voyage

I'm so happy for you, lizalou42. But I'll miss you terribly.

the stupid bus

I was almost to work this morning when I saw that the right lane (which I was in) was closed. Traffic is usually thick in this area, so I didn't think there was an issue until I hit the top of the hill. Then I had the challenge of trying to squeeze into the packed line of cars to my left. Joy.

Next to me there was a minivan with those annoying little puffs of colored ribbon tied to the four corners of the luggage rack on the roof and behind the minivan was a school bus. Now, there was a little extra room in front of the minivan, but that would require speeding up and seem a bit rude. I didn't want to be considered a line jumper. Besides, school buses have to be more polite; they have kids on board. So I turn my blinker on to get in front of the school bus.

It doesn't let me in. Not only that but it speeds up to drive the point home. It's all pettiness, because the bus turns left soon after. Argh. Anyway, so I speed up to try to get in that space in front of the minivan. There's a good car length there, my blinker was on, and I thought all was good. I gave the little thank-you wave and begin to get over. The minivan speeds up and honks at me.

Geez people. I'd understand this attitude if I was a line jumper who speed down the soon to end line to slip into an undeserved spot. But I was trying politely to take my place in line right when notice was given that the lane was closed up ahead. Give me a break people. I'm just trying to get to work.

Side note: My shoes are very cute today.

the hatchling

When people speak of a person’s metamorphosis, they usually are comparing the person’s change with that of a butterfly breaking from its cocoon and flying away in a reborn body. I feel like I’m going through a metamorphosis. But I’m not a butterfly. I feel more like a newly hatched chick.

I’ve broken through the shell and am standing awkwardly on my new little legs. I’m unsure and uncertain of my surroundings. I’m that chick with the egg goo matting down her feathers.

I’m one of the last chicks in the incubator to hatch. I stayed in my shell too long. I stayed where I was warm and comfortable and felt safe. But safe, of course, I was not. Remember what happens to the eggs that don’t hatch. Their occupants die and are thrown away.

Thankfully, by some shine of the incubator light through my shell or perhaps a bit of boredom, I moved a bit and a bit more and then couldn’t get comfortable again. I finally realized I’d out grown my shell. It was time to break free.

Now, I’m not someone who closes her eyes and jumps. I’m the one who crawls up to the edge and peeks over to see the fall. I’m the one who must touch her toe in the water before going in. I’m the chick that first makes a tiny hole to peak through into the new world –- cautious, timid, worried.

But I’m also a fretter. I begin to pick at the edges of the hole -– not so much because I want to get out –- remember, I really like the safety and warmth I felt inside my shell –- but more out of boredom and worry -– the way that a child picks at a scattered scab that runs in bits along a limb. It’s just a little bit here, and, oh, that little bit there was about to come off anyway.

I’m so involved with worrying about the shell that I fail to notice my surroundings. I’ve hatched. I’ve hatched?! Oh my, I’ve hatched! Ahh, I don’t know what to do. This feels so weird.

I look around at all the other chicks. They don’t have goo matting down their feathers. They are beautiful with feathers all puffed up and sticking out in soft, yellow glory. And they’ve got this movement thing down. I’m still trying to stand. I’m not beautiful or talented like them. But a part of me knows that I can be just like them. I mean, if they can do it, I should be able to do it too.

So, I’m a chick with goo. Appealing, isn’t it? Oh, especially that bit of litter that’s stuck to my backside. I tried to roll around to remove it but only picked up more. Ah, well. At least I don't know yet that I'm going to end up as someone's dinner.

god, reality and everything

I had a dream a few nights ago that people were all in an uproar because God had known the winners of a reality TV show before the end of the show. They--whoever they were--said that they shouldn't have allowed God to have chosen the contestants in the first place. I thought this was ridiculous because even if they selected someone to choose the contestants, many would argue that God was still the selector and determiner of the outcome due to his overall control over, well, everything.

Maybe I've just been watching too much reality TV. And, if you think about it, we are all part of God's reality programming. He just happens to be the show creator, director and viewer.

work computer

It takes forever to turn this baby on anymore.

I thought I knew what to do, the proper moves to make. But apparently the tried and true is tired out. And I wait and wait impatiently for it to warm up.

I haven't threatened it with going out and getting a new, younger, faster and prettier (beige is so out) model. But, trust me, I've been thinking about it.

new name

We just found out what the new name of our company is. Groan.

We're very excited about our new name because it's a great name that conveys a positive message and reflects the broad spectrum of media solutions we offer our customers.

Now, I'm not saying that I envy the job of trying to come up with a name for such a large organization, but I am hinting that I think I could have done a better job.

We ask everyone in the organization to enthusiastically embrace our new name. Carry it positively to the marketplace and avoid the inclination to say "why didn't we name it this or that." It was a very tough process and many excellent names weren't usable due to trademark issues. We were thrilled to find a name that says so much about our business and our goals--and that sounds great and that we can be very proud of.

The new name is kind of touchy-feely. Are they trying to sugarcoat over the fact that this is a money-hungry corporation? Change the name, but the company is still the same. It's corporate culture. It's money culture. And I'm the pee-on who helps make it all happen.

Hmm... I wonder if this post shows how ready I am to "enthusiastically embrace" the name? Well, from here on out I will. Yay! Go team!

the new yorker

Christmas came a little early for theCallowQueen thanks to kcprogrammer.

I'm a bit giddy.

Now I just have to be patient and wait until Jan. 16 for my first issue to arrive.

Right, I can do that. Everyone says patience is one of my best traits...

camera lover

Baby Series, Photo Two
Originally uploaded by theCallowQueen.

I've put up the beginning of a series of photos I took recently of my roomie’s nephew, Dominic, on Flickr.

And these pics knock down the ones of l42 on main window--which I'm sure she likes. But, for the rest, do not fear, I have new l42 photos to add. I just need to get around to doing that...

news bites

THE KING KONG CRAZE: Production costs ballooned from $185 million, to $207 million (some say closer to $230 million), as Jackson added fight scenes between Kong and dinosaurs and other action filler. In the end, the critics liked--but didn’t necessarily love--what Jackson had wrought. Meanwhile, the film’s dramatic trailers, with a snarling, leaping Kong, may have put off some female moviegoers, Hollywood insiders believe. (Source: Business Week Online)

COMMENTARY: I saw the trailer and wasn’t impressed. It was that snarling, leaping Kong that made me think the movie was yet another over-produced remake. And while the reviews were lukewarm, I didn’t know it from watching TV. The media’s latched on to this big ape as being the next “Titanic.” Goody. Just what we needed. They laud the behemoth movie at every turn. It was number one at the box office, trouncing Narnia and others, they say. But it also made quite a bit less than expected. And Jackson spent much more than he was initially given. I’m not going to see it.

APPRENTICE UNDER FIRE: Moments after Randall Pinkett was selected by Donald Trump to be the “Apprentice,” he made it clear he didn’t want any company. During the live broadcast, Trump, after hiring Pinkett, asked if he should hire Rebecca Jarvis, too. “It's not ‘The Apprenti,’ it's ‘The Apprentice,’” Pinkett said, shooting down Jarvis’ shot at a gig with Trump.

“I was surprised, because I think most people would have said hire Rebecca, too,” Trump said. “It shows he’s certainly an independent thinker.” … However, Jarvis won’t be out of work long. The folks at Yahoo offered her a job yesterday. (Source: New York Daily News)

And more from TVGuide.com:
TVGuide.com: The less-cynical fans have noted that your exact response to Trump was that he should not hire Rebecca “tonight.” Was that your way of saying, “Hey, I believe in her. Let’s just not give her a job at this particular moment, OK?”

Randal: I absolutely believe in Rebecca. The premise of the show that evening was to hire the Apprentice. I encourage Mr. Trump to bring Rebecca into the Trump organization--I think she would be a great addition--but competition is competition. I hate to see my favorite sports team lose, but I don’t expect them to share the title. Again, I have tremendous respect for Rebecca; I just think it was a situation where you had two very strong candidates. Mr. Trump could have easily made the decision himself if he wanted to hire both of us last night.

COMMENTARY: Fine, Randal won. I was good with that. But I found his attitude disgusting and completely out of character with the man we’d previously seen. My initial thought was that Randal was worried for the first time that The Donald would choose Rebecca. I know now that he had a good hint that both of them could be potentially hired. Remember, he did say to the eliminated candidates, “If you believe that I should be the sole and single Apprentice tonight, candidates please stand, please stand.”

He is welcome to his opinion. But I found his tact and lauded niceness lacking. Worse, in the end was Trump. First, he should have been clued into the fact that Randal wasn’t on the Apprenti bandwagon with the “sole and single Apprentice” remark. Second, he let a new hire decide for him. Who’s the boss? It was his decision, and when confronted with a unexpected response from Randal, he wilted. Sad. Sad for The Donald, who puts out a my-way-or-the-highway image. Sad for Randal, who lost all the credibility he’d gained throughout the show. Happy for Rebecca, who now has limitless job opportunities.

NO MORE IE: Microsoft will end support for Internet Explorer for Mac on December 31st, 2005, and will provide no further security or performance updates. (Source: Microsoft’s Mactopia website)

COMMENTARY: Yawn, not surprised. And good riddance.

GATES, GATES AND BONO: For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are TIME's Persons of the Year. (Source: Time)

COMMENTARY: I really hate Microsoft. Really. I’d add them to my boycott list with Wal-Mart if their software weren’t so deeply entwined in the passage of information. But the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provides great service, as well as a great tax write-off for Bill.

GOOGLING AOL: Time Warner has picked its partner--it’s going to marry off its AOL unit to Google for a dowry of $1 billion for 5% of the company, plus a share of ad revenue. That has the Google gang smiling, the jilted Microsoft suitors scowling and a lot of conventional-wisdom purveyors scratching their heads. Not only will Google retain AOL's pay-per-click dollars that make up 10% of its revenue, but it will forge a relationship with a huge content producer. The question is how Google, which has prided itself in the past for being a content-neutral guide to the Web, will be able to work with an Internet property that spends a lot of its energy rounding up proprietary stuff. In the meantime, Google CEO Eric Schmidt gets to bask in the glory of besting Bill Gates...

Microsoft … desperately wanted to pull AOL’s paid-search ads away from Google, but without a deal, Microsoft's search capabilities will lag further behind. People familiar with Microsoft’s thinking say that it didn't lose the deal over dollars--it certainly could have matched any financial offer--but that it had proposed a more complex deal than Google's offering. (Source: Forbes)

COMMENTARY: NOOOOO! First Flickr was bought by Yahoo! Now this. Sigh. I love Google. I fully support it. I know that it is on it’s way towards becoming a dominator and pain--at which time it will be added to my boycott list. But I had hoped it would take a slower course. I hate AOL. More important, AOL is stupid and unnecessary. Really, why do people still use AOL? What’s the point?

word of the day: sneakernetting

sneakernetting, verb. The act of updating or transferring content on a non-networked or offline machine by physical visits rater than remotely.

Example: Since I don't have access to the Internet at home, I've been sneakernetting my photos to my computer at work to upload them on the Internet.

Caveat: This is a made-up definition by theCallowQueen. The term sneaker-netting popped up in one of the articles I'm editing. I tried to search on the Web to figure out just what the heck it was and if that hyphen was needed. I'm still cloudy on both counts.