Insignifica

This Weekend, Gift Exchange, Fat, Friday

Friday!

Picture of the day!

A picture from Point Lobos Reserve (near Monterey) last month. Check out all of them here. This one's my desktop now.

It's soggy out there - we're having our first real rain in a long, long time.

The holidays and not caring what I eat when I'm sick have struck, and I'm up 2 pounds this month. Should I not care? Should I tone it down before the cookies come calling? Should I wait until January like everyone else? I'm curious how those of you who have to watch what you eat do in such delicious months as this one.

I'm repeating my Christmas gift exchange request!

Here's what I'm doing this year: I'd like to send you a present, and I'd love to get a present from you. For the Insignifica exchange, however, I'd like to both give and receive only homemade or "collected" gifts. Homemade are things like crafts, art, writings, songs, food, recipes, etc. - anything you make or create. "Collected" means things around you house that you don't want. It shouldn't be trash, just things that you'd enjoy giving and receiving.

If you have requests for something I do/make that you'd like, I'm more than happy to send. This should be fun!

That's all I've got. What's up this weekend? I'm going to the Farmer's market and a birthday party. You?

Christmas, South County Outreach, Feeling Better, Thor

All hail Thor!

Picture of the day!

Baby and Daddy at BJ's.

I'm starting to feel better. I'm not currently on any drugs, other than my standard allergy meds. I'm hoping this lasts - I still have a dry scratchy throat in the mornings, but that could just as easily be related to the relatively dry weather. Here's to some damp, cool December evenings.

Orange County Atheists will be raising money this year for South County Outreach, a non-religious charity organization in South Orange County. Watch this space for ways to donate, and thanks in advance!

We've done zero Christmas decorating, but we might get some out this weekend. I'm excited about the holiday in terms of cooking, decorating, and spending time with family, not so much for the shopping and buying. Not that those things aren't fun, but I'm a bigger fan of the homemade stuff lately. Who wants cookies?

What's new and hip, my friends? Talk to me!

Phone Access, Messy Car, OC Courts Site, Busy December, Wednesday

Hey, it's Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

You don't want to know. I probably don't either.

December is busy, what with all the holiday parties, etc. But for some reason, December 15, a prime party day, is still open. In other holiday news, we have no New Year's Eve plans. Anything good happening?

Did you know there's a website hosted by the OC Courts that allows you to look up civil, criminal, family law and small claims cases that are filed in Orange County? Now you do.

You should see my car, especially if you enjoy frightenly messy and cluttered things. Since it's last wash it's been the victim of several birds, at least three Santa Ana wind events, several drizzles heavy enough to smear the dust left from the Santa Anas, an ill baby, and a candy corn explosion. I should really do something about that.

My new phone has a USB port, both for charging and connecting to a computer. By default, connecting it to a computer gives me access to the MicroSD card slot as a removable disk (and allows me to upload music files, at least, to the card for use on my phone). I know Motorola has software to allow for other uses of the USB, like moving and backing up phone lists, but I'd rather not buy it. Anyone out there know of free solutions that do the same thing? Any suggestions welcome.

That's it. What's new?

Christmas Exchange, New Phone, Recovering, 2,000, Tuesday

Hello and happy Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

Katie feeding her mom at Dim Sum.

Thanks for all the responses to yesterday's 2,000th post. If you haven't signed in yet, please do. And in case you missed it, Tori has the best tribute ever. Thanks Tori!

So, what else is new? I'm feeling better (I think I had whatever Katie had), and she's doing great. Here's to holding off on any more illnesses, at least for a while.

I got a new phone on Sunday - the Motorola RAZR V3xx. It's slick, has the features I want, and it works well. And it replaces my old phone, which was literally falling apart. I also changed plans around so I'll be saving $20 or so a month. Good stuff.

So, Christmas is almost upon us. Last year, I did a "homemade gift" exchange, and it was a lot of fun (and I got to show off my vodka making skills). My post from last year:

Here's what I'm doing this year: I'd like to send you a present, and I'd love to get a present from you. For the Insignifica exchange, however, I'd like to both give and receive only homemade or "collected" gifts. Homemade are things like crafts, art, writings, songs, food, recipes, etc. - anything you make or create. "Collected" means things around you house that you don't want. It shouldn't be trash, just things that you'd enjoy giving and receiving.

If you have requests for something I do/make that you'd like, I'm more than happy to send. This should be fun!

How's that sound? If you're interested, drop me an email or leave a comment.

That's it for today. How goes your late November?

Entry 2,000 Extravaganza!

Welcome to Insignifica Entry 2,000!

Some of my favorite Pictures Of The Day over the last couple years. Check out all 410 of the POTD photos here.

I wasn't sure what to do for this milestone other than talk about where I've been, which is always a good start, plus a nice way to document the blog's history all in one spot. This blog started January 10, 2001, but it wasn't actually at insignifica.org - at the time, I was using Blogger and hosting the site at michris.com, my email domain and one I've owned since 1997. I wanted a place to update daily and to post my writings, and new blog software made that easy.

Most entires of this era were pretty basic - rants, links to websites I found interesting, and some pictures. Back then I was much more crass and raw with my posts - mostly because I had very few readers - and I had a tendency to hurt feelings. I also posted more personal aspects of my life here, for the same reasons. Over the years, however, I've toned things down a bit as readership grew to include family and coworkers, and as I've discovered that life isn't as black and white as I used to make it out to be as a 23 year old. I actually talked about this back in April 2005.

My early entries didn't have comments (as Blogger didn't support them), and I went through several third-party applications before totally getting rid of Blogger in January 2002 and moving to Movable Type (which I still use today). That transition also moved me from michris.com to insignifica.org. I found Movable Type when looking for a more customizable solution for the Badassbaseball.com Strato news site, and liked it so much I kept it.

I made a lot of tweaks and changes over the years, and if the Internet Archive was working this morning, I'd be better able to document the major ones. The current design went into effect May 26, 2005. Because of the way my blog archives work, however, it looks like it's always looked this way. Not so!

I started my current posting format on January 30, 2006 - a greeting, Picture Of The Day, then some general ramblings about my life. As noted above, there are fewer insulting rants, though I believe a lot of the same things. I agree with John that it's a little less interesting, though the site has grown to serve as a way for friends to catch up with me, rather than a place for every rant (though I still rant plenty). I like how the site looks, I like that I'm using my pictures (I had 1,200 on my Flickr account when I started this format - I now have over 5,000). That said, I always welcome your suggestions.

By the numbers:

- Insignifica has 2,000 posts and 3,415 comments.
- I started this blog 6 years, 10 months, and 16 days ago (or 2512 days).
- I'm averaging a post every 1.256 days.
- There are an average of 1.7075 comments per post, though I'd bet the majority of posts have 0 comments.
- Though my above average would lead to about 290 posts a year, my current average is closer to 250, since I post just about every Monday - Friday and post once on those days.

My past milestones:

Post 1,500 hit on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2006. Three days later, I started using "small" images for the Picture Of The Day (the size I use for most posts now), as opposed to the "thumbnail" size (which I'm using today, and used when this format started).

Post 1,000 hit on January 6, 2004. I posted a list of my favorite links and stories from my first 3 years.

Post 500 went unnoticed by me, as I wished my readers a happy Tax day.

Features that have come and gone:

- Regular posts by Chris Clark and Chris Stankevitz (and eventually a sidebar with their posts)
- Regular webcam updates (yes, I know the webcam box is still there). There were at least four running simultaneously, at one point.
- Phonecam pic sidebar

What else do you remember?

Randomness I've run across in researching this:

I'm currently wearing the shirt I bought on May 14, 2002

My Livejournal Feed was started around June 27, 2005

My picture banner started on June 13, 2005.

What do you remember that I've missed? Going through old entries has been a great way for me to remember when things happened in my life that wouldn't have been documented otherwise (when things were purchased, internet memes, etc), but 2,000 posts is too much for even me to read all at once. What do you miss? What would you like to see? What are your fondest memories? I know I've got hundreds of daily readers, and I know many of you never post comments. Today, because it's special, say hello, even if it's just to say "hello". Thanks for reading, and I'll see you at 2,500 - sometime in December 2009.

1999, Buy Nothing Day, 2,000?, Going To Work, Happy Birthday Eric

Good day, and happy Friday!

Picture of the day!

A classic picture of Eric and Chris. Happy Birthday to Eric today!

Going to work today - have some stuff to finish since I missed Tuesday and Wednesday being home sick with Katie. She's starting to feel better, though prone to freak-outs when she's tired. Unfortunately, I either have what she's got or something new, though I'm not currently incapacitated by it.

This is the 1,999th post on Insignifica. Any suggestions for 2,000, which will come Monday?

Today's "Buy Nothing Day". Am I participating? Not really. I'm not planning on going shopping, but if I need to, I will. That said, we're again paring down on Christmas this year, but that's due mainly to not needing anything new, preferring to cook/create/make our gifts, and being generally cash poor. I can see the appeal in getting away from Black Friday sales and the idea that you have to have the latest and greatest, but I've just never seen the appeal in making a point of not buying anything on a specific day, unless it's something you're going to transfer to the rest of your life.

That's it for today. How was the Turkey, Tofurky, or animal/non-animal substitute of your choice?

1998 - Still home, Thanksgiving eve

Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve!

Picture of the day!

Katherine and myself, last Thanksgiving. Notice our short hair.

We're still home today. I didn't intend to take two days off - believe me - but here we are. Katie's doing about 100% better today, and she slept much better last night. She's still crankier than usual (gets more easily annoyed and cries a little longer), but she's no where near as clingy, she's got energy, and she's eating better. Hopefully this rate of improvement continues.

While I'm not sick, I've been having the kind of "fever dreams" I often get with the flu - probably because I'm thinking about all the stuff I've got to do. I've learned, through my dreams, that there's some sort of pie cartel out there, hunting you down for not making the right kind. Just so you know.

There may or may not be a post tomorrow, so happy Thanksgiving, from my home to yours!

1997 - Home Sick

Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

Katie and her sheep.

I'm home with the baby today, who's come down with what seems to be the flu. It's very unfortunate for all involved. Good thing is that The Girlfriend and I seem ok - either we've had it, we haven't gotten it yet, or it's much more mild for us.

Now, let's see if the baby can get better soon so I don't have to take a week off without meaning to...more later.

1996, Xmas Xchange, Question, 40,000, Cold, Birthday

Monday!

Picture of the day!

The Girlfriend, last year's birthday.

We had a great birthday party for The Girlfriend yesterday - went out to lunch and saw most of her family. Late happy birthday to her!

There might be another cold going around that's hit our house. That would suck. Screw you, mother nature!

I hit 40,000 miles on my car yesterday in the Whole Foods parking lot. Oh, and District at Tustin Legacy - your parking scheme sucks. Thanks.

John's the only person who answered my question from Friday. Gimme your thoughts. Gimme!

I'd also like you to gimme your name and address (in email) if you'd like a Xmas card this year. I'm also considering another food/drink/homemade present gift exchange, for anyone interested. More details to come post-Thanksgiving.

What's up today?

1995, Next Week, Carrots and Hummus, Atheist Bracelet, Less Biting, Tofurkies, Friday

Friday already!

Picture of the day!

Chris and Ben belt out the hits at Halloween.

I have two more tofurkies in my freezer today than I did yesterday.

John noted yesterday, quite correctly, that my posts here don't have the bite they used to. That's true - I've been saving some of the politics and religion talk for the Liberal Atheist Vegetarian Blog, and in general I've started viewing this site as more of a "what's up with Michael" portal for my friends and family. Not that I don't still have some rants, they're just not the focus anymore (especially since I started writing daily - I'm not that angry). That said, here's one for you:

I have a black rubber bracelet (similar to those yellow "LIVESTRONG" bracelets and knockoffs) that says "Atheist" on it. One thing I've discovered running a social and political group for atheists is that people are at very disparate stages of "coming out" to their friends and family. Many, like me, are very open about it. Many others, however, wouldn't imagine being able to tell their families or coworkers. By wearing my bracelet, I hope to a) inspire other atheists to be open and b) start conversations with people who have any questions. A few things I'm curious about:

1. What would the reaction be to someone wearing that bracelet at your workplace? At your Thanksgiving dinner?

2. Would someone wearing a cross necklace get the same reaction? Why or why not?

Carrots and hummus make a delicious low calorie snack. Just sayin'.

What's up for all of you next week? Five days of vacation? Slingin' turkey? Dealing with a unbearably slow workload? What's up?

1994, Comments, Gmail, Heina's Blog, LAV Cell Phones, Ready To Go, November

We're halfway through November already? A week until Thanksgiving? Yikes, man. Yikes.

Picture of the day!

A very good picture of my ladies, taken one year ago today.

I got my hair cut today. Tomorrow I shave and trim up the beard. Someday this week I'll get my car washed, and damn, I'll be ready to go. I'll ignore, for now, the fact that I don't have anywhere I'm going.

I'm looking for a cell phone not made in China. Anyone know of any? Let me know over at the LAV Blog.

In other blog news, I found Heina's blog, "In the Realm of the Rational". Do take a look.

I've been using gmail for a few months now to read my mail sent to michris.com. It's all kinds of awesome, though, for some reason, there isn't a "check your other accounts" button on your email screen - in grand Google fashion, it knows best and does it for you. Sometimes, however, it just doesn't bother to check my account for 10 or 20 minutes, and you have to go in manually through 2 other screens to have it fetch mail. Dudes, come on.

No one heeded my warning about comments yesterday. Don't force me to make it mandatory.

What is up, my friends?

I Miss Your Comments, AT&T, Drive-By Christianity, Flu, Hump

Happy Hump Day!

Picture of the day!

A great Grand Canyon shot from May. Check out the full size shot for more goodness.

The flu has been reported in Orange County. If you're sick yourself, or the parent of a young child, the OC Health Care Agency will give you a free flu shot. I'm getting mine today.

Last night's Orange County Atheists meeting was awesome - 30+ people again, and now I know we've finally "made it" as a group - two gentlemen came up the stairs, silently handed out bible tracts (based on Ray Comfort's The Way of the Master), then rushed down the stairs and out of the restaurant - a sort of drive-by witnessing. I have no idea how they found out about us, but they certainly knew we were coming, and were waiting. Awesome.

Apparently there's a very lucky woman at AT&T Wireless who has never received a piece of spam in her life. I say this only because when I was on the phone with her, discussing why and how I'm getting 20-30 MMS email spams (from internet addresses) every day, she told me to just call those companies and have them stop sending me the mail, or for me to not give my address to these companies. When I told her I did not, and that they somehow acquired my address, she had no idea what I was talking about. Also, it seems to be impossible for AT&T Wireless to disable your phone's email address (which in my case is phonenumber@mms.att.net), so to stop the messages, I'll have to disable all MMS services, including the ability to send picture messages to myself. That's the breaks, but it's better than paying the flat "all you can eat" fee just so I don't pay $40/month for spam, again.

That's all the ranting I have for the moment. Tell me what's new with you - I miss your comments!

1992, Atheist, OCA Meeting, Better, Nudewindow, Birthday, Tuesday

Good day and happy Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

The Girlfriend and Mariah. Happy birthday to Mariah!

On a somewhat related subject, check out M. Carle's nudewindow.com, a very cool photography project featuring nudes in windows, and the stories behind each. Be aware, however, that the site contains artistic nudity and is Not Safe For Work. Save it for home!

I think I'm better from my cold. My cough didn't come back last night, I'm not exhausted, and I'm two days drug-free. Now for the flu shot, unless that was the flu. No man can say.

The next meeting of the Orange County Atheists will be held Tonight, November 13 at 7:30PM at the International House of Pancakes at 18542 MacArthur Blvd in Irvine. If you consider yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a freethinker, a humanist, or are just curious, check out this month's event. If you're planning on attending please RSVP at our website forums. Hope to see you there!

Again, somewhat related, I'm wearing my "Atheist" bracelet today. Let's see what people say.

What's up today for you, friends and readers?

1991, Old Coke, Bloons, Sunny and Warm, Monday

Hello friends, and happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Song with Hana, The Girlfriend with Katie. We went to Hana's first birthday on Saturday.

Today's the first sunny, warm, not hazy or cloudy day we've had since the fires started. It'd be a great day for a picnic, and a nice day for all the kids off from school. Alas, I'm working.

There's a new Bloons Tower Defense game out there now. Ninjakiwi makes some fine flash-based web games, I tell you what.

I found out that old Diet Coke (and old soda in general) is flat tasting and watery. I'll still drink it, however. Just so you know.

This is Insignifica entry 1991. I'm counting up to 2000, and looking for something interested to do November 26th or 27th, whenever it is I hit that mark. Thoughts?

Weekend, OC Atheists, LAV, Health, Friday

Happy Friday, my friends!

Picture of the day!

Katie and her devil mommy on Halloween (observed).

Feelin' better. I'd put me at 92% of normal. In terms of illness, anyway.

Remember to read the Liberal Atheist Vegetarian Blog.

Speaking of atheists, the next meeting of the Orange County Atheists will be held Tuesday, November 13 at 7:30PM at the International House of Pancakes at 18542 MacArthur Blvd in Irvine. If you consider yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a freethinker, a humanist, or are just curious, check out this month's event. If you're planning on attending please RSVP at our website forums. Hope to see you there!

I appear to be low on things to talk about. We've got Baby birthdays and brunches this weekend. What's up for you?

Katie Grows, Sun, Jesusy, Still Sick, Thursday

Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Tori, Katie and Me at Saturn.

Still not totally better here. All of our coughs got worse yesterday, to the point of new raw throats and sore ab muscles. Seriously, it's been a week. Time for the betterment.

Tori got me the awesomest present, and I keep meaning to share all the Jesusy goodness with everyone. I will, I promise. Also, Who wants to take Jesus for a ride? Update! Great Minds Think Alike.

First smoky, then hazy, now cloudy. Where's my sun at?

I'm pretty sure Katie's grown about 2 inches taller in the last month. None of her clothes fit well anymore, we're squeezing her into her PJs, and her "too big" clothes suddenly aren't too big. Thanks goodness for Christmas!

That's it. What's up?

Humpday, Spam, Cookies, Feeling Better, The Golden Compass

Happy Hump Day!

Picture of the day!

Great jellyfish shot from the aquarium.

Before this morning, I had no inclination or desire to see "The Golden Compass", a new children's fantasy film staring Nicole Kidman that comes out next month. But I got a myspace bulletin saying the film was "anti-god" (much of the text of the bulletin is available on Snopes), and now it's very likely I'll see it and buy the books. Thanks, poorly written protest!

We're all feeling a bit better this morning - I'm congested, but have more energy. It's the first day since Friday that I've actually felt better, not worse - good stuff.

I'm interested in Cookie Exchange with my local and non-local friends this holiday season. Inquire within.

On October 17, just twenty-one days ago, I wrote that I was considering not checking my "spam" folder on Gmail anymore. I did, in fact, stop checking that day, and I now have 10,600 spam messages in there. That means I'm getting almost 15,000 spam a month, or 180,000 spam a year. That's insane.

That's all for today. What's up with you this humpday?

What's up, Ubuntu, House Stuff, Still Sick, Tuesday

Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

More cute Katie from our trip.

Going back to work today. Still sick, but hopefully recovering. Katie and The Girlfriend are sick too. It's a weird kind of cold - manageable in that you don't feel that run down, but you've still got a lot of the symptoms. At least I wasn't sick during my trip, just before and after.

Before we got too sick, we were able to get some good stuff done at the house on Friday and early Sunday. Cleared off a few surfaces, finally moved my desk to my bedroom and cleared stuff out of the baby's room, uncluttered the kitchen's high shelves, patched and sanded the walls where the cabinets were, and got some computer stuff done. I figure if I were to just take 2 weeks off, I could get everything done. Barring layoffs, that ain't happening, though...

On computers, I sat down with my Ubuntu machine to see if I could get it to run a webcam for the baby's room (the oft discussed "babycam"). I plugged in my USB cam to find my mouse fucked up - not the intended response - so I unplugged, rebooted, searched online to see if the cam was supported, found it wasn't, found an old cam and found that it was supported, shut down, plugged in, and had a working cam.

Awesome.

Of course, I still needed software, and while I consider myself more savvy with computers than 98% of the population, I don't know a lot of the "basics" on Linux. You don't think about it, but when you don't know the specifics of what terms like "packages" and "dependencies" mean, and there's no simple installer file to double-click, it can be a learning experience. But I finally found software that connected me to Yahoo's servers and supported cams, and fixed my problems with dependencies, and I'm more comfortable for the work. Ubuntu as my primary computer? Not yet, maybe someday. Maybe.

What's new with you, my friends? How's November shaping up?

Thanksgiving, November, Sick, Good Trip, Traffic, Friday

Hello there!

Picture of the day!

Katie with a skate at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Today is Monday. I wrote the next two paragraphs on Friday, but never got around to posting them.

We're back. The drive was smooth until getting into the LA basin, where we hit traffic. I guess rush hour's in full effect by 3pm nowadays.

The trip was a lot of fun - saw a lot of people, had a very good conference (and made some good connections), and generally enjoyed ourselves. One question - which one of you at dinner had a cold, cause we do here now.

Back to today. We're still sick - this cold sucks. Tight chest, congestion, runny nose, etc. Stay away from us and live.

In other news, it's November. That's insane. I'm amazed that time's gone by so fast this year.

Speaking of such things, I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. Usually my opinion is closer to "eh, it's fine". This year, I'm looking forward to cooking, family, etc. etc.

What's new with all of you?

On the road...

Leaving beautiful Monterey. We'll see ya when we see ya!