GOOD-BYE 2000
11:59P

You've been a great year, a very busy year, and I'm gonna think fondly back on you.

Yea! to surviving a lump in the breast. Yea! to doing the work I love. Yea! for the start-up experience. Yea! for going on. Yea! to Honey. He survived being around me another year.

Yea! to Sherah-Bear in the middle of young motherhood. You hang in there, girl. Yea! to BillyBob, sweetest grandson ever already clearing landing strips in his hair with the clippers. It's only hair, sweetie-pie.

Yea! to Mama who moved herself to Oklahoma, and set up her computer and got back online all by herself. WooHoo, Mama!

Yea! for making great friends. Yea! for keeping great friends.

Yea! for Rhonda being the best Jeep. Yea! for Birdie-Bear, Sweetest Beegus, Teddy-Bettie, and Jimmy Mo Jammin Johnson. Best pets ever.

Yea! to my special Billy wherever you are. Maybe we'll meet in 2001. Fingers crossed. Your Mama loves you.

Good-night,
Sleep tight,
Don't let the Bugs Bunnies bite.

REFLECTIVE
8:29A

Just in time for the new millenium, re-stocked and deadwood-free, the MGMC Resource Guide. Basically it's the depository of my best/favorite/most handy/mostly non-sexual (save those for Heartless) urls harvested from my Sheep pages, which makes it pretty Michelle-centric.

Link-cleaning got me out on the Web, and you know how one good thing can lead to another. Breadcrumb trails. Here they are:

Great essay by Rebecca Blood, Weblogs: A History and Perspective.

The desire to create some form of self-expression runs strong. The tighter we have to fit ourselves into work/world/people expectations and obligations, the greater the need for an outlet. That's why I like to run naked across my pages, dance on my own turf. Honey sits next to me and asks why am I ignoring him all day. He doesn't realize I'm busy dancing. He thinks I'm just sitting in front of a computer.

I digress...

Equally strong is the desire to connect with other like-minded people, compare experiences. I ran across fem•mass'r Julie Petersen's piece on sheep and the Web.

"If each of us were to catalog our own human experience and make it available on the web, we could lend to each other an omnipotence unattainable prior to the existence of the Net. We could take events in our own lives, which have mystified us since their occurrence, and search the web for similar encounters. We could compare and contrast other's experiences and draw deeper meaning into our own experience. We might too, find the one piece of information that will transform an experience we had nearly forgotten into a life changing moment which has been waiting years to unfold."

BTW Rebecca also has a niiice list of other blogs that are divided into categories. Que handy. Of course, Rebecca is the newest shining light in fem•mass.

Speaking of shining lights and breadcrumb trails, I've added Heather Champ, a shiney woman with a camera; and Caterina Fake, a shiney San Fransico editor, to fem•mass.

I also added a new bagged persona to my Believe It Or Not (Their Names Are Not Michelle). Do you know who's been bagged? I'll give you a clue: not a single one is named Michelle.

At work, we're determining what font standard to use for CSS that will give the user the ability to change the fonts and still have the other users have the experience that was intended by the Web Designer. Of course, all of this rubs off on my own site eventually. So far em is the winner.

Can't we all just get along?

I've been going crazy with Photoshop 6 and the color management thang. I had my computer at work and at home harmoniously in sync with the color settings until I installed v6.0. Embedded, working space,...I've re-calibrated monitor, re-colored the color settings, and still the web colors are not right. Here's an article about a PS 6 bug. Maybe it's part of my problem.

Just in case you need to know: Adobe's glossary of color management terms.

A little politics and then I'll shut up...

Doing a year-end summary, Molly Ivins, a columnist for a Texas newspaper, and one who should know, nominates as the worst idea of the year: "George W. Bush's contention that the U.S. Congress should become more like the Texas Legislature. Quick: stake, cross, garlic, pesticide." You did fasten your seatbelt, right?

From Salon, No Way to Treat A Lady, a story about Condoleeza Rice, prospective National Security Advisor. The media treats women politians less seriously. You think? With Condoleeza coming aboard, woman or not, she is still very Republican, all I have to say is, "Jesse Jackson, CYA babe." You heard it here first.

KNOWLEDGE IS GOOD
7:49P

I think Christmas this year was the best I've ever had. It was not any one thing, it was a lot of little important things:

1. Rhonda is running good (remember the Christmas where I wrecked the car)
2. I had a great tree (remember the Christmas when I had no money for a tree and hung ornaments and lights around the window)
3. I was able to get a little something for everyone I wanted (remember when all the presents were hand-made and for only $15)
4. I was safe and warm (remember the shelter for battered women)
5. I was with someone I loved (remember the shelter for battered women)

I thought I had the Heartless redesign down, but I'm still dissatisfied, and it's back to the drawing board.

So while that's on the back-burner, I did redesign my MGMC Resource Guide. Basically, no mo' frames and I tacked on a style sheet. Also, I revised the content to be more focused on specific subjects as opposed to an all-inclusive list. Next step is to add the Palm-load of links I've been collecting the past two months.

FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS
12:05P

Where We Stand. The League of Women Voters initiative to abolish the electoral college.

Layoffs all around. Sad to hear that my former company had to layoff 30% of their people. With the merger a done deal in my current company, who knows. Job redundancy being the dreaded word.

With all those profit warnings coming out and more expected in January, here's Andreas's Jobs in Silicon Valley resources.

Well, I'm still determined to have my Christmas, and my New Years too. But the glow's not as bright. Glad I already had my perfect Christmas moment.

Fasten your seatbelts, kiddies. Keep your hands inside the window. 2001 is coming to town and we're along for the ride.

AMBUSHED
9:36A

I didn't think I was politically naive about much anymore since way back in the Vietnam and Watergate day, but today I find myself disillusioned by the Supreme Court. Silly me, I thought they were suppose to be impartial, judicious, having the wisdom of Solomon. And then their ruling is one-time only. Que chickenshit, que convenient.

So now we have a snarky frat boy at the helm. Man, I'm gonna miss Clinton. Are we sure he can't run again?

I'm depressed. Don't know if it's the busting of my supreme court cherry. Or this miserable cold that made me miss my WAP meetings I wanted to go to. Or the big upheaval of Christmas shopping done, wrapped, and mailed. (Bite me, Federal Express, you'll not be getting my last minute dollars this year.) Or the fact that the PG&E could go bankrupt and we get to pay for it. Or the threat of rolling blackouts on a daily basis now, and the seemingly permanent state of stage two power alerts. WTF?!?

In my world today, the sun is not as bright, the sky is not as blue. I turn on my Christmas tree lights to by-god make up for it. Fuck the power company. Fuck the supreme court. I'm goin surfin now, everybody's learnin how...

I JUST MIGHT LIVE
2:18P

Mind games at logic-bomb.com. I played Joel's experiment, The Desert Island. The idea is if you had to spend one year of your life on a desert island paradise, what would you choose to help you make it through that year? (20 books you've read, 20 movies you've seen, 20 dinner guests—living or dead) Of course, I chose music. Great exercise.

Added the name Trygve, to Believe It or Not (Their Names are not Michelle). While you're at Trygve's site, see what happens when you combine Rocky Horror and Star Trek, The Trekkie Terror Show.

Added two new shining lights to fem•mass:

1. Beverly Yuen Thompson aka Snakegirl, a shiney pool-playing gurl.
2. Christine Castro, a shiney imperfect media fiend.

Yeah, where are the women artists?

BoobToob: Well-Endowed Television. Here's their tv blog

Thanks to Damn Hell Ass Kings and Soapbox Girls for the breadcrumb trails.

Use of ALT text in IMGs. A thorough explanation of the importance and proper usage of ALT text. See in particular the use of TITLE in IMG vs ALT. Good job, Alan.

From Human Factors International, their section on Color. Tips on using color sparingly, using color to aid scanning, and more.

WAPPED
12:07P

Will be going to the BayCHI meeting tonight where they'll be discussing Web Browsing on Handheld Devices. Tomorrow night it's the WebGuild meeting, Benefits of Mobilizing Enterprise Apps. with Handheld Devices. Mr. Usability will also be chatting about his WAP stats at Yahoo today: 70% of users not ready for WAP within next year. Will have to check that out too. Looks like the topic de month.

Mo Usability
Usability Sucks: Useless Flash Intro

Just got Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. Will have to see if he gives Jakob a run for his money.

Christmas Cheer and Ads
Here's a 3-part Sony ad that's been pulled for being too edgy. Great shades of Fargo! Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

And while you're at the AdCritic, don't forget to check out the tough life of a male model. Poor baby.

We saw Dungeons & Dragons this past weekend. Here's the QT trailer. May be more for the gamer, but had great special effects.

Webpage Stuff
Want to get ideas about what keywords to use in your meta tags? Goto.com tells you how many searches there are for any keyword in the last month and will suggest other keywords. Thanks, Moe!

Need stats on monitor size, resolution, platform, isp? Go here. Want more stats, go here.

Pink and Blue
From LowEndMac.com, Internet Grandma. Struck a chord since I set Mama up with my old PowerMac last year in Arkansas. Since then, she's moved to Oklahoma, and with the help of my extemely easy, color-coded how to plug in your Mac booklet, she set the computer up herself and sent me the email telling me about it.

Ladies Against Women, an oldie but it'll make the feminist in you smile.

Holey curiosity. I was looking at some holey flash, when I put in the wrong url "http://www.presstube.com/holes.shtml, holey flash". Check out their 404. Hey, it's those cheap thrills.

HE DIDN'T FLY
9:44P

David Copperfield didn't fly. Honey feels cheated as there was a write-up in the Merc that specifically said He Would Fly. It was THE only thing I, who don't like magic except for Penn & Teller, wanted to see. Also, David was a tad sleazy, doing a trick with women's underwear, making tacky innuendos with a lot of children in the audience. I was surprised as he didn't seem that way on his TV specials. And he didn't dress up. Didn't feel special. One last thing: Dave, babe, forget the bed-head.

Despite the disappointment, Honey and I ended the night warm and cozy with burgers and drinks at an Irish pub in downtown Sunnyvale while listening to a small jazz band playing Christmas carols. Some moments are just so perfect you want to hold your breath.

Today we took off a half day, snuck to the mall and finished our shopping in just under two hours. Yea! Links tomorrow.

MAGIC
2:24P

Honey and I are fixin to go see David Copperfield in a few minutes. No big deal for me as I don't like magic (except for Penn & Teller). But Honey is an amateur magician, and I do my part by going with him to see various magicians and critiquing his coin tricks. And I'm sworn to secrecy on not revealing how anything is done.

Although it has been a quiet week, I've been working my little fingers down to the bone on my Heartless redesign. Finally broke through the ice today. Yea! Just set up a search engine to add to my beloved Holey Haven. Also, have been reading a hole lot on typography, design, and playing with Photoshop 6. My collection of links that I was going to post is still on my Palm and I don't have time to sync up. Well, tomorrow's another url…

LET THE GAMES BEGIN
8:14P

December has been declared my month o' fun. No projects (except Heartless redesign which is not like work but more like fun), no looking for a job, no building my portfolio, no doctor appointments, no constant push to keep up.

And to kick it off this weekend, we bought our Christmas tree, the yearly "special" ornament, candy canes, and a couple of boxes of blue and lilac ornaments. Honey has a special affinity for blue balls, and so half of the tree is covered with them. We put more lights up outside. I even made my first wreath to hang on the door. Que craftsy of me.

Now, how to get everyone's presents with the least amount of crowd. Last year, I did nothing but online shopping. It was not a perfect experience (late deliveries, wrong product, unclear return policies). I will not be repeating this year. So I plot on which stores have what I want at the closest door to the parking lot and if it can be obtained on my lunch hour or a Saturday morning or Sunday morning.

Yes, I live for the challenge.