Insignifica

Great Weekend, LA Times Kills Local, Amish, Cranky Daddy and Child, APAW, Anniversary, Friday

Happy Friday, and Happy Anniversary!

Picture of the day!

The happy couple.

Today's my 11th anniversary with The Girlfriend - we started dating this day way back in 1998. For perspective, I wasn't even in my 20s yet when we got together, and now I'm in my 30s. Awesome. I love you!

A Pound A Week - Weekly Weigh-In: 206.0lbs
Weight lost this week: 0.8lbs
Total weight lost: 3.6lbs

Just under my goal, but still a bit ahead overall. That said, I don't trust my scale - it's not giving me the consistency I want (sometimes off by a half pound or more), so I'll need to find another soon.

In other news, I'm tired - Katie's still not feeling well with her ear infection, and she got me up around 5:30 again this morning. She's doing pretty well on her Tylenol, but otherwise is super cranky. Such is life.

I'd like to thank the Amish (and my friend Kimberly) for the fine friendship bread. It's a great breakfast bread, almost like a muffin (the batter would make fantastic muffins, in fact). Now I've got some starter if anyone wants some - hit me up.

So, the LA Times killed their California (local) section this week - that's scary news. I know the industry is bad right now, but if I ever want to feel good working for the Register, I just have to look over to the cross town paper. Yikes. Sounds like the morale over there is pretty shitty too.

That's it for today. Next time we talk, it'll be February. Have a great weekend!

What's Happening, Almost Anniversary, Amish Chain Letter, Cheese, Exercise, Katie Improving, Thursday

It's Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Katie and her absurdly large Tinker Bell balloon yesterday. She got it from me for being a good girl at the doctor.

Back in the office, finally. Spent the morning with a ear-infected baby who didn't particularly want to go to daycare, and hadn't had any painkillers all night. That said, she slept VERY soundly last night (as opposed to the two nights previous) and perked up considerably once her drugs kicked in. Her antibiotics should start taking effect soon too, and hopefully she'll be her normal self later today or tomorrow.

A consequence of taking care of my little munchkin is that I've missed my run the last two days. Luckily I got to pull her to the store and back in her wagon yesterday - we'll see what I can get done tonight.

Made cheese last night - yes, cheese. Ricotta is horribly expensive in its organic forms, and I knew I could do it myself, but I didn't know it'd be so easy. More on it in an eventually food blog post...

Speaking of food, my Amish friendship bread is done, meaning I need three victims/volunteers to sign up for my chain letter and do the dough themselves.

Tomorrow's my anniversary! 11 years. Can't go out to eat, but trying to decide how to celebrate.

That's all I got. What's happening?

Short Post, Baked Goods, Sick Day, Birthdays

Happy Hump Day! Happy Birthday to Joe and Marie!

Picture of the day!

Marek gets a kiss. He's also wearing the Party Hat.

Staying home today - Katie's not feeing well (we think her ear or throat is infected, again), so I'm on parent duty. The funny thing is that once we get some Tylenol into her, she perks up and is almost normal - but she hasn't yet connected the medicine with feeling better.

Speaking of home, my house is suddenly full of baked goods, all homemade - the oft-mentioned red velvet cupcakes, a corn muffin and mini loaf, half a round of peasent bread, a breadmaker recipe of cinnamon raisin bread, and my Amish starter, which gets baked tomorrow. Non-dessert baking might be my next experiment - there are things like just a normal loaf of sandwich bread that I've never mastered. This sounds like a good post for the food blog, whenever it goes up...

Short post today. Have a happy one!

Hungry, Cool and Clear, Taxes, Cupcakes, Tuesday

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

This looks much worse than it is. These are the unmixed wet ingredients for my red velvet cupcakes (see yesterday's entry, below). Looked like brains, had to take a picture. Click for a higher detail shot.

Speaking of such things, I still have some left, and they're holding up nicely. Come and get it. I don't mean to keep pushing pastries on you, they're just much easier to share than the scratch spaghetti sauce I'm having tonight, or anything savory, really.

I'm eager to do my taxes, but only one of the 7 or 8 of the necessary forms have arrived in the mail. They've got to the end of the week before I start kicking some ass.

It's cool and clear today. We actually had to run heaters for the first time in weeks this morning and last night. It's also very windy, and will warm up again soon. Oh well, who needs winter?

I'm hungry, so that's all for today. Have a great one!

That's That, Willed Body Program, Food Blog, Party, Happys

Happy Monday, Happy Year of the Ox, and Happy Birthday to Misty today!

Picture of the day!

Cupcakes, of the red velvet variety. If you'd like one, I've still got a bunch leftover from this weekend's events (mostly because I forgot to bring them to my party yesterday). Come find me.

On that topic, we had good times at Nathan's birthday party yesterday. All sorts of children there - it was like a daycare. I was on baby duty, but got roped into playing midway through and took third. Good times!

New food blog is on hold a few days until we get some web issues sorted out. But you'll know, oh yes - because I'll tell you.

Oh! Who's the comedian who signed me up for UCI's Willed Body program? I got a big 'ol packet in the mail (sent to my OC Atheists PO Box) with release forms and a letter thanking me for my interest. I'm not against such things, But I didn't sign up for it. Whoever it was can admit it now and not be in trouble.

That's that for today. Have a great one!

Busy Weekend, Bright Eyes, Red Velvet, tofufighting.com, APAW, Friday

Happy Friday!

Picture of the day!

I really have no idea what we're up to here. Taken at our post New Year's impromptu party.

A Pound A Week - Weekly Weigh-In: 206.8lbs
Weight lost this week: 1.8lbs
Total weight lost: 2.8lbs

Whew. For not even getting my walk in this morning (for sweating purposes) due to the rain and a late wake-up, I'm both a bit relieved and surprised at that number. I'm hoping the scale didn't malfunction. To support the totals, though, I did kick my own ass this week on runs, and managed my diet well. For the next two weeks, we're eating in every night, so I have a feeling that'll be fine for me.

On the new food blog topic, I settled on (and purchased) a new domain: tofufighting.com (as in "Everybody was...". I'm in the midst of some web server work right now, though, so it likely won't go live until Monday at the earliest. But I'll keep everyone updated.

On the food front, made Red Velvet cupcakes for the first time last night. They're good, and I haven't even frosted them yet. Folks celebrating the birth of Nathan will get to enjoy them Sunday.

Been listening to Bright Eyes' "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" quite a bit. That's really a fantastic album.

Busy weekend coming up. Hope yours is awesome. Have a great one!

Stay Tunes, Please Do, Food Blog?, Rainy, Acheiness?, Thursday

Happy Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Construction on the old Vons building at the corner of Harbor and Edinger in Fountain Valley. There are a few more pics in my photo stream. I used to live behind that building, so it's interesting to see the transformation, especially since I only make it that way a few times a year.

Ran a good deal of my 1.4 miles, and tired myself out. I'm starting to feel the effects of new shoes and the slightly intensified morning routine. I'm not a fan of "No Pain, No Gain", but there's gonna be some acheiness.

It's kinda rainy, but not very much, and cool, but not cold, out. I'm finding it quite pleasant.

After a twitter post this morning about my huevos rancheros breakfast and a reply from another OC food blogger/twitterer, I'm inspired to start another food blog, this time my own, and without as much Liberal and Atheist. Not that they won't crop up (it is me, after all), but I like the idea of somewhere to put all my food posts.

Since writing that, I've gotten two enthusiastic "please do!" requests. Lemme get on my deadlines, and then we'll see...

Speaking of that, time to sign off. Stay tuned for updates, and have a rockin' Thursday!

Nothing, Amish Chain Letter Bread, Workouts, That Obama Guy

Happy Wednesday! Someone tell that Obama guy to get to work - all the world's problems should have been fixed by now.

Picture of the day!

Part of my morning walk, taken with my camera phone.

Speaking of walks, I ran a good deal of my 1.4 miles today, and got some good work in last night too. As I twittered this morning, I might be turning into one of those people who loves running/working out because of the high afterward. You don't know how strange that is.

I got some of that Amish chain letter bread stuff yesterday. Looking forward to delicious bread and passing it on to you.

I really hate when I have nothing to talk about, but you probably hate having to read nonsense I write anyway. How about we all leave me a comment, and really get this party started? Have a fantastic day!

What's Happening, Exercise, Inauguration, Happy Day

Happy Day! So far, I like this new guy better than the old one.

Picture of the day!

Katie around Halloween, being Anonymous.

Obama's speech was what I expected, but just a speech. I'm not one for all this pomp and circumstance, really. It's nice to see the new guard, though. Let's get to work. As I assumed, Rick Warren's invocation made me angry. It wasn't the talk of Jesus or the overt religiosity, but the content itself. He can talk about "freedom and justice for all" as soon as he stops equating homosexuality to incest and using his pulpit position to spread hate. At least Obama mentioned "non-believers" as a part of this country - that was nice.

No 1.4 miles today, but got a good deal of exercise in last night. I'm a bit worried about this week's weigh-in, but we'll see how it goes.

That's all for today. what's happening?

Good Day, Ethical Food Practices, Vegan Shoes, Rising Gas Prices, Weekend, MLK Day

Happy MLK Day!

Picture of the day!

The Girlfriend and Katie in the backyard yesterday, enjoying the sunshine.

Great weekend - had people over on Saturday for a semi-impromptu game night and pot luck, featuring too much good food and too much good beer. I paid for it Saturday night, but was 85% of normal yesterday and a good 95% today.

Sigh: gas is back up to $2.09 at my local "cheap" station. It's nice to be complaining about $2 compared to the $4 we were paying last year, but still, I was getting used to $1.50. With oil prices continuing to drop, I was hoping prices would stay low. Alas, no.

I got me some new vegan shoes this weekend - mostly black, similar to a "Converse" style, made by friendly labor, and they were only $35. Hopefully they'll last longer than the "No Sweat" brand they're replacing...

On that subject, I've found myself relaxing some of my views on eating out, in terms of what dairy and egg products I'll eat/buy. About a year and a half ago, I stopped buying from China (and still stick to that for almost everything) and stopped eating dairy and eggs unless I knew they came from humane farms. At first this meant only buying from a very few, select farms with humane certification. I then expanded this to include organic, content with the humane provisions written into organic standards. Going out to eat was still tough, though, as almost nowhere uses organic products in their foods.

In the last few weeks, though, I've realized that while my vegetarianism is a moral and ethical choice, my humane farm preferences are ethically driven by consumer based - that is, I don't want to buy non humane/less humane products, but they're still products I eat. And since I'm not stopping going out to eat, it doesn't make economic sense, in general, to skip an item or product at a restaurant that happens to have dairy, since my money's going to the restaurant's bottom line, not the specific product I'm boycotting. Who I spend money with makes a big difference when I'm buying eggs or cheese at a store, but out to eat, having ranch dressing doesn't show support either way, since it won't change that restaurant's business practices.

Is this a cop out? Maybe, but since I'm the only one who has to care about my diet and buying practices, and I'm OK with it, it works out just fine. I'm still doing more than most people on this front, and I'm realizing that doing something is much better than doing nothing.

Wow, that was long, I'll let the class out to recess now. Have a good day!

Rock and Roll, Fuckin' Amazing Plane Crashes, Myspace, Weigh-in, APAW, Vines, TTFSMIF

TTFSMIF!

Picture of the day!

Katie and me with our miles of vines.

We have a vine that climbs the back of our house every summer and fall, and we take it down once a year. It's amazingly strong (I always imagine Bear Grylls showing how he'd use the stuff to tie a raft or build a hammock) and we end up with at least a hundred feet of the stuff. Click through for a better view.

A Pound A Week - Weekly Weigh-In: 208.6lbs
Weight lost this week: 1.0lbs
Total weight lost: 1.0lbs

I was kinda mad this morning when I woke up with the scale showing very little weight lost, so I cheated and went on my run and weighed myself again. But it's not really cheating, since I also ate breakfast (half a bagel and a bowl of cereal), so I'm calling it fair. Besides, it's me vs. me. It's cool. Right on target.

I've started using Myspace again lately - it's kinda weird. I went months last year looking at it only a few times. I still don't use it like I use Facebook (which is very active, very clean, and does what I like it to do), but there are some people on Myspace that still haven't migrated.

Plane crashes where no one is at fault, everyone does everything right, and there aren't any deaths are pretty fuckin' amazing. Just saying.

That's what you get from me today. Happy weekending, whatever it is you may be doing. ROCK AND ROLL!

Beautiful Day, OCA Meeting, Shock Treatment, Walked, Cookies, Adam's Birthday

Happy Thursday, and happy birthday Adam!

Picture of the day!

Katie and her dad at Christmas.

I brought cookies in here for everyone, but in the last two days, 12 or so have disappeared between me leaving at night and coming in the next day. They were for everyone, so it's fine that they were eaten, but I'm just wondering who was doing the eating.

Walked 1.4 miles today. I love the clear, sunny weather, but I'm kinda looking forward to a couple months of cool mornings before summer starts for real.

Been listening to the "Shock Treatment" soundtrack. It's really very good, considerably better than the film the songs come from.

We had a really great OC Atheists meeting last night, with a lot of new faces and good discussion. We've also re-kicked off our Invocations project. More on that to come.

It's another beautiful day. What's new?

What's Going On, Tax Time, Warm, 1.4, Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

Katie, looking fashionable.

Jogged 1.4 miles today, and got some core work in last night. Feeling good and inspired lately.

It's still warm. Nice thing about warm days in the winter, though, is that they usually cool down nicely at night (it was quite pleasant yesterday after the sun set). It is nice to be able to play outdoor events a few days in advance, too.

Can't wait until all my W2s come in, and I can see my tax guy. I'm gonna have some funky numbers this year.

What's going on with you, my friends?

That's All, XM Radio, Windy, OC Atheists, Picture Taking Fools, What's Happening

What's happening, world!?

Picture of the day!

Some fountains at the Spectrum. Taken with the camera phone.

We've been picture-taking fools lately - several hundred in the last couple weeks. I also did my thrice annual dump of cell phone pics, so that added a few. Check them out here.

Orange County Atheists meet tomorrow. Lots of business to discuss, including all sorts of real-life, getting-stuff-done-in-the-world type things. I hope you can make it!

Still windy and warm out there - we had hurricane-force winds during the night, pretty nasty stuff. Nothing fell down, blew out, or smashed to pieces, at least yet.

My XM radio started working again (after not working when I needed it, on my Vegas trip). I feel, however, that it might be dying, and it's several years old, so I'm sure I'm missing features. Anyone have recommendations for XM receivers? I have the Roady2 now.

That's all for today readers. Leave a note and say hello!

Happy Monday, Weight Loss, Cookies, Weather, Hi There

Hi there!

Picture of the day!

This is yesterday's Daily Picture, but I think it turned out great (especially for a fairly random shot, taken at arm's length). Enjoy!

It's warm out - Santa Ana winds are blowing, and it's at least 75 degrees outside. For you non-Californians, that's a bit strange, even for us.

I have cookies if you'd like to come and get one.

On the subject of cookies, I need to eat fewer. I'm starting to see how people can relapse after losing weight (especially those of us who find comfort in food, or just really like eating it). My goals for the week are finding healthier snacks - I eat when I'm bored, so it might as well be good for me - and not making any more desserts for a while =)

I'm sure I had more to say, but this'll do. Happy Monday!

Keep On Rockin', Weekend Plans, January, Busy, APAW, Beth's Birthday

Happy Friday, and happy birthday to Beth today!

Picture of the day!

Beth and Adam, Halloween 2003.

A Pound A Week: Weekly Weigh-In: 209.6lbs. This is the first of a series of weekly updates for my "A Pound A Week" program I'm trying this year. I figure if I can lose a pound a week (which isn't too difficult - 4 pounds a month), I'll be at my goal weight in June. I'm starting kinda high - I'm 4lbs above where I ended November's weight loss contest. I have a feeling today was a high morning, though. That said, I figure weighing in every Friday when I get up keeps it fairly constant. We'll see what happens next week.

Busy morning so far, but that makes the day go faster.

It's supposed to be dry and windy today, after a week of foggy mornings. I love you, January in California.

Not sure about this weekend's plans - we're at least going to see my mom's new house on Sunday, and I've got the kid all day Saturday, but otherwise, we'd still like to do something. Thoughts?

I hope everyone out there has a fantastic weekend. Keep on rockin'!

Whoops, Sleep, 1.4, Ice Cream, Thursday

Happy Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Dolphin with Jesus. Assist by Katie.

Made "real" ice cream last night (my first ice cream maker endeavor was sherbet), and it turned out pretty nice. It's a standard vanilla, plus I added those mini/Halloween size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped up. Flavor's great, it's rich (I used cream and skim milk, and it's still very nice), but it's a little "airy" for me - not quite like soft-serve, but not like a commercial ice cream either. Still, I'm liking it.

Jogged 1.4 miles today in the fog. Tomorrow's my first weekly weigh-in. More on that manana.

Only slept 6 hours last night (I'm blaming Tony Stark and Harry Potter for that), and it's made my brain hazy. Not good on deadline day.

I've just been informed that this hasn't been posted yet...though by the time you read it, it better have been...happy Thursday!

What's Happening, Christmas Done, Harry Potter 7, Reluctant Child, Hump

Happy Hump Day!

Picture of the day!

Pretty rose in my backyard. It was taken in the rain, but you can't see the drops in the background birdbath.

1.4 miles again this morning, though these excursions would be easier if my daughter wasn't sleeping in so late, and reluctant to go to daycare (causing me to not get home until almost 9 most mornings) Alas, these are the adventures of a 2 1/2 year old.

I'm rereading Harry Potter 7 (after quickly finishing 6), and I'm enjoying it much more this time than last. The first time I read it was the week it came out, and I went through quickly - I think I'm getting everything a little more this time around.

Christmas is done - we took everything down and got the tree out of the house in record time, even with Katie's "help". Now the house looks empty, and we're looking for new decorations. We're not looking for the college dorm room feel, but the house could definitely use some color.

Not much else more to say. It's Wednesday, the week's passing quickly, and I'm looking for things to do this weekend. what's happening?

New Year, Planes, Web Eureka, Cupcakes, 1.4, Tuesday

Good day, and happy Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

Me and Roomba. This is my Picture A Day shot for today.

Got my 1.4 miles in for the first time this year. It's chilly in workout shorts.

A friend called my cupcakes "phenomenal" today. That rocks my world. If you work with me (or nearby, even!), come get a cupcake. They're a rich vanilla with buttercream frosting. They're also giving off some sorts of magic aroma when the container they're in is opened, as if they're saying "eat me!" It's pretty cool.

For a couple months, I've been stressing over how best to fix/make web accessible a site that a friend from OC Atheists wanted put up. Because of some format issues, it wasn't an easy or straight forward job. But I had a bit of a breakthrough yesterday, and now it's coming into place.

I'm looking at my window at a plane with a contrail, in an otherwise clear sky. I see dozens of planes a day, but this one is so high that I wouldn't be able to see it if not for it's tail. It's remarkable to me that a) I wouldn't have even known it was there (and wonder how many other things are always flying over my head) and b) in the time I've written this, it's probably traveled a good 100 miles. Technology: still cool.

What's going on, friends? Comments have slow coming. What's the new year bringing for you?

Repeat News, New Website, CA State Director, Pictures, Back To Work, Monday

Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Cupcakes! If you're around and reading this, come get one.

Back to the grind - I'm at work. I've been off since December 27 (except for four hours to get my quiz done), so a lot of this morning will be catch up. 30 minutes in, however, and I think I'm doing pretty well.

We've been picture uploading fools over at Flickr - vacation pictures, party pictures, and a new feature for me, a daily self-portrit. As usual, I'm looking for projects in the new year, and one for 2009 is to take a new picture every day. If you're curious, they're all in this set, and tagged with pictureaday.

Other big news: An announcement has been made - I'm now officially the new California state director of American Atheists. I'm looking forward to getting started.

I've got some ongoing projects I'm woefully behind on, but I'm planning on a new "big ego" site for me and my stuff and my happenings, very possibly on the michaeldoss.com domain. It'll have insignifica postings, flickr and twitter updates, atheist stuff, etc. We'll see where that goes.

Just realized this post has a lot of repeat news - but I have a feeling there are a lot of people who haven't been reading much lately, as I'm not the only one returning to work today. What's happening out there?

Vacation, NYE, Resolutions, Pictures, Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Picture of the day!

The Girlfriend and Katie with a bunch of birds.

I've uploaded a bunch of picture from the last couple weeks today, and they're currently unedited (in terms of tagging them and putting them in sets). Feel free to look around, though...

I've also started a project where I'm going to take a picture of myself every day this year. Dunno what I'll do in terms of format, etc, but I wanted to get it started with the new year. We'll see where it goes.

On that note, I don't have any resolutions, but I'd still like some projects to do this year. Thoughts?

New Year's eve was small but fun - hung out with a lot of folks at Marek's place, then drove home in some amazingly thick fog to celebrate midnight at home. We'll make sure next year's party is larger - it's 2010, after all. That's important or something.

Today's the last weekday of my vacation - I go back to work Monday. As usual, too short. What's up?