Where the Sidewalk Begins ...

"My Wine Education" Blog

I've started to make enough posts on wine that it doesn't really fit in with the rest of this blog. So I've started a new blog: My Wine Education: Adventures in the world of wine.
What's there now? Not much. I've duplicated the 50 or so wine posts that were on this blog on that one, so you've read those. When I post a new wine entry, I'll put in a quick note here. That way those of you who are actually interested in the wine postings can keep up.  Those of you who don't care can ignore them. :-)
Alternatively, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of the Wine blog.
It's all good.
I'm not insane, really. In fact, running 3.5 blogs is actually easier. It helps me compartmentalize a little more. eLearning, learning, ISD, and tech writing/language posts will go to the Write Tech blog. Wine/food related posts go to the Wine blog. All other posts go here on the Sidewalk. (Oh yeah - schedule & photo updates and kevinandshel.com website updates, as well as holiday letters, go to the Kevinandshel blog. That's the .5 blog and its mostly for the relatives.)
Enjoy!

My Wine Education: http://www.wine-girl.net

Technorati Tags: wine, wine blogs

What you might lose if you're not looking

I posted this once and I crashed and lost everything. Let's try again. My point that no one saw is that I only post politcally anymore when its something too stupid to be believed (common in our current climate) or something that evokes my passion. I researched this before I posted. It's real. It's something we all need to be passionate about.

The GOP and the telecommunications companies are trying to take away our Internet. I swear I'm not over-reacting and making things up. This isn't reactionary - it's true.

That other blog

By the way, I've been busily blogging away on the Write Technology blog since I got back from the user conference in late March. Why? Because I realized that, combined with Technorati, that blog is a powerful marketing tool. And it works.
Anyway, those of you with any interest in technical writing, elearning, or instructional design and HOW people learn, might find some of the posts interesting.
The Write Technology Blog: http://blog.write-tech.com

WBW #21 Announced!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #21 has been announced, and guess what? It's not on a Wednesday. May's event combines Wine Blogging Wednesday with Is My Blog Burning?. Is my Blog Burning? is another monthly web event, except for foodies. I suppose it was inevitable that the two come together.
This event will require my husband Kevin and I to work closely together. He is the one, after all, who does the cooking around here (for the most part). Perhaps we'll do a small multi-course meal with a wine/entree combo followed by a dessert/wine combo. I can definitely take care of the latter and I can already picture him thumbing happily through his Wine Spectator Guide to Food & Wine Pairings trying to find a perfect combination for dinner that night.
Oh - what night you ask? Wine Blogging Wednesday is on Friday, May 19. The wrap-up is hosted this month by the guy who started WBW, Lenn Thompson over at LennDevours. Cook up some grub and grab some wine!

Atlantic City not such a Monopoly

Let's keep in mind that I'm a real freak for nostalgia, especially things that have their roots in the 1930s and 40s. This extends to everything from film and music to clothing and toys. I still have my original Monopoly game from the 1970's, classic edition of course. That was before SpongeBob got his own Monopoly game. (I did recently see a Wine-opoly I'd love to get my hands on though.) So I was sad to see this article in the NY Times that Hasbro is recasting Monopoly, replacing Utilities with ISPs and Boardwalk with Disney World or some such thing. I always loved to own Boardwalk. Interestingly, they're also talking about replacing Railroads with Airlines. They might want to keep those railroads. Who knows when the airline industry will bankrupt itself out of business ...

NYTimes: Atlantic City may lose Monopoly

Technorati Tags: Monopoly, Atlantic City

With a little luck

I've been sort of disillusioned with my job lately. I mean, I love the working at home thing for the most part. However, I have a real procrastination problem. Truthfully, I'm great once I get started, but the motivation to get started is just plain missing. It's partially because I'm bored with it all. I'm doing technical writing on software (bleh) and sort of instructional design (ISD) on hardware (bleh). What I really want to be doing is ISD on software, but I suppose I need to help pay the bills until that falls into my lap.

But something better may have fallen into my lap today. I refuse to jinx myself, so I'm not going into much detail. But let's just say there's a guy who is one of my mentors and an ISD guru. I may be helping him out with something. Its all just fluff right now, but as the wheels turn, it has the potential to turn into something amazing for my company and his. I hope. So cross your fingers for me and hope this turns out, as it would be fun, profitable, and a learning experience all rolled into one. Oh yeah, it would really look great on my resume as well. Sort of blow everything else away.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Claret: Our Wine Education

I keep thinking I should post more wine reviews, considering how much we drink. So I'll try to get better. This wine was an education for us in many ways. First off, it was our first Claret (but definitely not our last). Second, it was an education in sediment.
2002 Claret
A to Z Winery, Oregon
$18.00, local wine store
When I first unscrewed the cap, there was a strong and pleasant scent of dark chocolate and cherries. Yum. Later, after the wine had been open for a couple of hours, we also detected a peppery scent overtaking the chocolate.

So much for free

I have a small rant.
Aren't network tv stations, such as UPN, WB, CBS, etc, supposed to be free for all of us? I don't know if that was ever set down in the network bylaws (most likely not), but it is certainly the standard.
Why does the Cincinnati CBS affiliate insist on making the new network The CW (next fall's merged UPN and WB) only available via digital signal? I can't even explain how much this pisses me off.
Digital cable is expensive. I don't like Insight Cable enough to pay for the upgrade (I have enough outages with my modem), nor do we really need the thousands of channels available via digital cable. Who does? Our TVs are in fine condition and until they break, there is no need to invest in a digital-enabled television. All that aside, I'm under the (possibly mistaken) impression that my Tivo doesn't record digital transmissions anyway. (Tivo released a dual-tuner DVR yesterday that will pick up one digital band. Of course, we have a lifetime subscription on the non-digital box...)
Admittedly, there's not a ton of stuff I watch on the WB/UPN. But I am rather intensely loyal to Veronica Mars and Kevin is a fan of Supernatural. I don't like the fact that unless I want to buy an expensive TV or invest in expensive digital cable, I have no access to these shows.
I keep reading that TV stations are waiting for consumers to catch up to the technology. Tell you what? Make gas a lot more affordable and maybe we can all afford the ridiculous luxuries like giant TV sets. Or perhaps keep the cable companies from charging an arm and a leg for their service, which really isn't very nice since the TV stations are forcing us toward the digital tier, and maybe, just maybe, we'll all have enough money left over to pay for stupid things like 1000 television stations that rarely have anything quality on anyway.

4/26: An Update After the Jump

Bendable Things

Many of you have asked me about my arm recently, so I thought I'd do an update.
It's better. In fact, it's definitely improved. I don't know if it was the prednisone in March that kicked things into gear or what, but there's marked improvement. Thanks to Lunesta and a semi-regular schedule, I'm also sleeping again. I think that went a long way towards helping me heal.

I have full range of motion, which is good, and most of my strength, not that I ever had too much strength to begin with. I credit the Real Life for these improvements, and not Physical Therapy, which was mostly useless.

My palm and ring finger are mostly there, with just a little numbness. My pinkie is mostly numb, but none of them have the tingly feeling from before the surgery. My arm, between my elbow and wrist, is completely numb, like someone held an ice pack to it for far too long. It's strange, but liveable. The Nurse Practitioner told me that a nerve is like a phone cord (or Ethernet Cable). It's a bunch of wires protected by a sheath or tubing. When I had the surgery, the tubing was stripped. It can take up to two years to regenerate. (Cool - I'm regenerating.) Since I often feel itchy or burning in that area, I suppose its the healing process at work. The human body is pretty amazing.

I've kind of come to terms with the whole thing. I don't think it was a 100% successful surgery, unless random numbness is successful. But its all pretty much a non-issue in the scheme of life. If my biggest handicap is not recognizing immediately when I've touched a scalding hot stove, I'm not that bad off. Now, if it had gone on to become a claw - the end result of untreated cubital tunnel - then that would have been bad.

Unlock the Water Tower

First off, if I were in L.A., I'd hightail it over to the Motion Picture Academy, where the "It's Alive" exhibit on Animatronics features such wonders as Yoda, Aslan, and the Dark Crystal Muppets.

Next, two cartoon volumes are being released on DVD, both on July 25. The first is Pinky and the Brain, but the second is the best: The Animaniacs, Vol. 1. I love the Animaniacs, and truly believe there was more adult humour than for children. I'm a particular fan of Rita and Runt. The cat Rita, played by Bernadette Peters, is great and one of my favorite episodes, Les Miseranimals, is supposedly included on the DVD set, as well as the West Side Story knock-off with the GoodFeathers (the pigeons). I suspect that now that I'm older, I'll actually find even more humour in Animaniacs than I did the first time through (when I was in college).

Now if they'd only release Tiny Toons on DVD, I'd be so happy ...

DVD Details
Press Release (for both sets)
Trailer!! (for both sets)

Technorati Tags: Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain

Digital Glossary

To follow up my Tech Etiquette post the other day, here is a topic I posted to the Write Tech blog this morning on new language for our digital age. Think about it - in high school, did you ever dream you'd be reading a blog or loading music onto your iPod?

With technology advancing as fast as it is, new words and slang are inevitable. Ten years ago, who'd have thought "iPod" would be as ubiquitous as "Kleenex"?

Lisa Belkin tackles the new word order in two articles for the New York Times: Overly Wired (4/9/06) and Coming to Terms with a Wired Age (4/23/06). (Free registration req'd for the New York Times or just visit BugMeNot.)

Some of the terms she encounters/comes up with include

Screensucking: "wasting time engaging with any screen — for instance, computer, video game, television,Blackberry." He goes on to use his new word in a sentence: "I was supposed to write that article, but instead I spent the whole afternoon screensucking." That concept hits particularly close to home.
Logonorrhea: a related condition that renders you unable to use certain online accounts because you can remember neither your screen name nor your password.
Bluetooth fairy: a person who walks around with the blinking glow of a Bluetooth headset permanently in one ear.
Cylences: The long gaps in phone conversation that occur when a person is reading e-mail or cybershopping at the same time.
Stripped: The opposite of wired, when your computer tells you that there are wireless networks all around, but not one is accessible without a password, or when your computer tells you it has a signal, but won't connect for reasons it refuses to share.

Technorati Tags: digital language, digital slang, language

God Save the Queen

(Not a very original title, I know.)
Today is Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday, making her Europe's longest-serving living monarch. Happy Birthday to the Queen! She's also one year younger than my Grandma.

In honor of that special day, you could listen to a synthesized Tom Baker/Dr. Who intoning "God Save the Queen." ;-)

Technorati Tag: Queen Elizabeth

Tech Etiquette

I'm an etiquette freak. I admit it. So the changing world of technology has presented its challenges. The Christian Science Monitor has a good little article on this, though, and I think it covers a lot of good suggestions for handling Tech Etiquette in the work place.

For instance, even before my Blackberry, whenever I had a business meeting, I set my phone to vibrate or quiet. I think its rude for a cell phone to go off during a meeting. I was at a client site yesterday, talking about a potential contract, when the client's cell phone rang and he answered. On the other hand, I had received several emails during the same meeting, but because my phone was on vibrate, I didn't have to acknowledge the incoming messages until I was back in my car. No one heard my phone make its silent buzz. To be honest, the only reason I had my phone in my briefcase (I tend to leave my purse in the car to streamline things) was because its also my calendar.

Comments Change

Typepad implemented some upgrades and I'm going to take advantage of them. You can now post a comment without my approval. You can either
a) sign in using a TypeKey account, which you already have if you blog on Typepad
or
b)post a comment but deal with CAPTCHA

Typepad finally caught up with Blogger in this area, and I'm glad. If I'm out of the office, on vacation or something, I can't get to your comment to approve it, even from my Blackberry. I've tried. So it could be days and I hate that. Especially if you're posting to my Write Tech blog. With CAPTCHA, I don't have to approve your comment anymore. You just have to type in the crazily printed letters using visual skills that distinguish you from the average spam-bot.* Hopefully, this will still eliminate spam. If I go back to getting comment spam, I'll go back to requiring full approval of comments again.

Trackbacks are still turned off on new entries. There doesn't yet seem to be a CAPTCHA option for trackbacks and for some reason, I was inundated by trackback spam for MP3 sites.

Google Calendar

I imported some things into Google Calendar (Beta) today. Like any Beta proct, there are some pros and cons.

For a while, I was using iCal as a handy-dandy way to access my calendar anywhere/share my calendar. Then it got to be a pain. In order to update iCal, I had to sync with my Palm, which I Cthen had to sync with my Mac, which then sync'd with iCal. All my categories got messed up and it was just awful. (If I could figure out how, I'd just can my current iCal, but I have no idea how to remove everything, so its out there being hopelessly out of date.) Since I acquired my Blackberry, I have my latest calendar everywhere on my mobile device, but an online calendar allows me to share events and such with others.

Enter Google Calendar - I'm calling it gCal. It has all sorts of nifty features, not the least of which is the nice idea that Kevin and I can update each other's calendars with the right permissions and I can remind him of events via email or SMS. I like that I can selectively add people to view everything (who wants to see my doctor's app'ts, etc after all?) but I can allow people to see the details of specific events to which they are invited, even though the rest of the calendar just reads as free/busy.

Every planet has a north

I've lately fallen hopelessly in love with the 2005 Doctor Who series from the BBC, currently running on Sci-Fi on Friday. Christopher Eccleston has this wonderful and absolutely dangerous smile. You just think he's going to snap and have a brilliant time doing so. I love him. My new infatuation with the sonic screwdriver-wielding Doctor led me to compulsively research the whole series. I spent hours on the web, in particular within Wikipedia, learning everything I could.

At the risk of irritating a few of you, now that I've read the entire history of the show and completely familiarized myself with its mythology, I have no desire on earth to see the early episodes. I wouldn't mind seeing the Tom Baker years. A lot of the early episodes, in particular with the first Doctor, I just am not interested in. I'm very intrigued by our 2005 Doctor and curious about the 2006 incarnation currently airing on the BBC. The new guy seems to have good fashion sense.

Chuck points out a hilarious site, using (I think) the voice of Tom Baker (the Doctor with the scarf who reminds me of Willy Wonka/Gene Wilder). Dr. Who Sings.  I'm particularly enamoured of the Doctor's version of Bohemian Rhapsody, although How Soon is Now is pretty awesome.

Technorati Tags: Doctor Who, The Doctor, Dr. Who

My heritage ...

The MyHeritage.com site is a bit fun. You can upload your photo (with free & quick registration) and it uses facial recognition technology to compare your face to celebrities in their database. It tells you what celebrities you look like.
When I was in high school (and had big blonde hair), people told me I looked like [younger] Cybill Shepherd and Kathleen Turner (these were the days of Moonlighting and Romancing the Stone. Note the hair similarities.) Anyway, I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I got.
Based on facial recognition technology, I look like
- Monica Lewinsky
- Shannen Doherty
- Oprah Winfrey
Huh. Not sure how I'm feeling about this. 
Try it.

Life and Taxes

Last week was a rough week.
We got my car out of the shop, and are now $600 poorer for the experience. We also found out that my company made too much money last year (really? Because it's still less than half of what I brought in when I worked in an office every day) and we owed a large amount in taxes. I mailed in the taxes Friday morning. Ouch! My company is back to broke. I hate taxes. It looks like I'm at a point where I'll start making quarterly tax payments.
I've been working on a lump-sum project since January. I thought it would be complete in March. When I bill lump-sum projects, I get the first 50% up front and the second 50% when the project is complete. Since the project is moving at the speed of a turtle, I haven't yet received that second 50% and it feels like I'm working for free. This is why I usually try to bill hourly. My hourly client kicks into gear this week, I hope. I have some reservations about it that should be cleared up today, I think.
I'm behind on the lump-sum client. I'm not thrilled with the subject matter (manufacturing) so it becomes very trying for me to be motivated enough to work on the project. In fact, not only do I not understand what I'm writing about really, I am also bored to tears.
Part of me is ready to go back to work in an office. But part of me is not. It would have to be the right company, with the right job. And that could be very hard to find.

WBW #20: Off the Beaten Path Whites

Wine Blogging Wednesday #20 has arrived. This month's theme is Off the Beaten Path Whites (i.e., anything but Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauv Blanc, and no blends). I was able to shop at home this time around, as we had a nice Cline Viognier just waiting to be opened.

We're not very familiar with Viognier and based on my notes, this was our first. We picked it up at the Cline winery last July, as it was perfect during our tasting on that warm July day.

Wine: Cline Viognier, 2004, Sonoma County

If you want to know how it tastes, you really need to click the link to read more. ;-)

Frustration

My car died. It just stopped going. Turns out the problem is the idle speed control motor, otherwise known as $600. Ouch!
We had a nice weekend planned in Lexington. We were going to the races at Keeneland on Friday, a party that night, and to the Maker's Mark Distillery on Saturday. Now that money plus some more is going towards the unexpected car expense. We'll still go to the races on Friday; we're just coming home that night. I'm hoping we might still manage to go to the distillery on Saturday too.
My car actually died the day before I left for Florida 2.5 weeks ago. It sat in the garage for the week I was gone. Then we took it to my Dad's friend, because we thought it was the fuel pump and we could get it fixed much cheaper from the friend. Turns out it wasn't the fuel pump. So we took it to a guy he recommended, who recommended another guy who does imports (it's a Mazda - made at the Ford factory in Detroit, but okay - I guess it's an import ...). Finally someone who can fix the car. Odd though, the cost went up each time I took it to a new location. Getting it to all these places wasn't exactly easy either.
Anyway, paying for the repair is cheaper, at the moment, than a down payment on a new car and car payments - which I don't have at the moment. Still, it's all frustrating.

Chubby Little Tubby All Stuffed with Fluff

Winnie the Pooh got his own well-deserved star on the Walk of Fame. Yay Pooh!

"Nobody went this crazy over Britney Spears," a photographer marveled, as he and others snapped off shot after shot of the star. "Winnie -- to your right!" another yelled.

The scene was the unveiling of the Hollywood Walk of Fame star for Winnie the Pooh, who is marking the 80th anniversary of the publication of his story in the London Evening News with an 18-month-long celebration hosted by the Walt Disney Co.

Pooh is among about a dozen animated stars, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Snow White, to merit a star on the famous sidewalk, where it joins nearby markers for Tim Allen, Rod Serling and Jane Russell.

"They're an important part of the industry now," Hollywood's Honorary Mayor Johnny Grant said of cartoon characters like Pooh. "Some of the movies (the studios) are putting out don't do so well, but animated characters are doing great business."

Technorati Tags: Winnie the Pooh

Wikipedia Meme

Much healthier this week. Still phlegm-y and stuck with a lingering cough, but in comparison to last week, I'm in great shape. Still taking my all powerful anti-terrorist antibiotics.
To celebrate the return of semi-decent health, I give you the fascinating Wikipedia Meme, courtesy of Chuck.

1. Go to Wikipedia and enter your DOB without the year.
2. List three historical events, two births and one death that happened on your birthday.

January 14

3 Historical Events:
1690 - The clarinet is invented in Nuremburg, Germany
1900 - Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca premieres in Rome (I'll be seeing this opera this year, so it's even more special now!)
1954 - Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio

2 Births:
1741 - Benedict Arnold, American general and traitor (d. 1801)
1941 - Faye Dunaway, American actress

1 Death:
You know, many wonderful people died on my birthday, including Shelley Winters, Anais Nin, and Humphrey Bogart. But I give you
1898 - Lewis Carroll, English writer and mathematician (b. 1832)

Technorati Tags: meme, wikipedia

Lost, Life, & Bluetooth

I've decided that I only ever need to watch the last 5 minutes of Lost. Seriously. I just caught the last 5 minutes, before Tivo flipped over to Law & Order. I'm pretty sure I figured out everything of consequence that had happened in the whole episode. Lost is moving so damned slow this season ... can anyone honestly think of any reason why I should watch more than the last 5 minutes? The big moments and big secrets are always revealed then.

Bluetooth headset #1 got sent back to Buy.com today. Buy.com makes it incredibly easy to return things - kudos to them. Bluetooth headset #2 arrived from Amazon.com. It's a Plantronics. It's not pink, sadly, and its larger than the other one. It tested really well in recorded tests and on C|Net. Again, it met my price range, which surprised me. I expected it to be more. I tested it out today, as did Kevin and we had no problems at all. Yay!

I'm substantially better after 24 hours on antibiotics. I have a voice again, sort of, and I'm only hit by wracking fits of coughing every now and then as opposed to every sentence or every breath. It's most definitely worse in the evenings. Today I tried to work (sort of failed) and finally faded out around 3:45 pm. We'll see how long I last tomorrow. I have to actually get things accomplished tomorrow ...

Conference Postings

For those of you involved in the eLearning/ISD field, as well as those of you curious as to how I spent my time last week beyond getting sick and visiting amusement parks, I've recapped the conference days over on the Write Technology blog.

• Thursday
• Friday

Technorati Tags: instructional design, Lectora User Conference, eLearning, Lectora

Technology Tidbits

• Free Flash tutorials! See, Flash isn't as scary as you thought. Just visit gotoandlearn.com and learn all about it, for free!
• It won't be long until you'll be dual-booting an Intel-based Mac with Windows. And Apple will be the one to provide you the means. Boot Camp is in beta and available for download now, with a possible release date on the next new Intel-based Macs.
• Eyespot allows you to upload, share, and edit your video clips online. No need to buy an expensive and complicated editor when you can just do it for free online. Remember, video clips are large and take time to upload and manipulate. There's a downside to this nifty new service. Don't forget to watch your copyrights!
• Cool Tool Alpha uses AJAX to let you interactively develop color schemes. It's a great way to see how your colors look together before dropping them into your courses or sites.

Cross-posted from the Write-Tech blog.

Diagnosis & Drugs

So today I was diagnosed with tracheitis, which is usually a kid's disease. Maybe Kate is right and I did pick it up at Universal or Sea World. It is highly contagious (great - I've been on two airplanes and constantly around Kevin, plus wandering around grocery stores since I've been back. Oh yeah, and an entire conference full of people since I first started feeling wonky ...) My crazy & nonstop cough, plus the gooey stuff living in my chest were all dead giveaways to the doctor. Apparently my cough differs somehow from someone with bronchitis. More barking maybe? Ruff!

And more bleh ...

I am still sick. Bleh. Whatever it is has taken up residence in my chest cavity - sort of like in Alien. Bleh. Tomorrow I see the dr, thank god. Antibiotic goodness awaits.

Bleh

I got home late Friday night with what had morphed from sinuses into something akin to hell on an airplane - or bronchitis.
Still dealing with that by laying on a couch, playing my nose like a trumpet, and hacking up a lung.
I'll blog more about the conference once I shake this thing. Bleh.