Another reason for the glow is my website is now thirteen years old. Yea! Barely alive, but still a sheepish entry here and there.

I'm also recovering nicely from the hip replacement surgery. Using the walker for getting around and am even driving short distances. Doing physical therapy every day and walking more. Things look good. Incredible to have the pain that was so persistent for so long to be gone. Things are going so well that I'm scheduled for Jan / Feb time period to have the other hip replaced.

Things I've learned about myself since my surgery:

1. I don't do well stuck in one room of the house
2. I need to go for a ride in the car to feel whole
3. I need to be as independent as much as physically possible
4. I need to be kind and patient when I'm dependent on others

Things that have served me well during this time: love, humor, the patience of my family, the thoughtfulness and positivity of friends, the kindness of strangers, hope, visualizing walking in Yosemite.

It's unreal to sit here, reading about the meltdown taking place on Wall Street, with hip replacement surgery tomorrow. But the world will have to carry on without me for awhile. I have to focus on peace, healing, and positivity. I must not let negativity get the upper hand.

I must visualize walking in Yosemite next summer and how good it will feel not to have that arthritis pain in that hip. I will also visualize camping at Sunset State Beach, and camping in the backyard.

I've prepared for the surgery as much as I know how (bought the walker, the portable commode, the cane, the hip replacement kit, the Deva Premal CD, the stash of trash mags to read). I've completed annoying details like: completing my health care directive, following up with the state disability office, confirming my Kaiser coverage.

I feel badly for not having done my will, but I ran out of time. I also wanted to make a last sheep entry, but didn't. (But the summation of a lifetime: thank you world, thank you beautiful colors, thank you family and friends, thank you world wide web, thank you john, thank you karen, thank you sherah-bear, thank you god, thank you jesus)

But I've also taken care of the good stuff to tide me over. I have good audiobooks (“A Thousand Splendid Suns,” “Blindness”) to keep me occupied. I have a crocheting project started. I've got DVDs from Blockbuster to watch while in bed. I've moved into the bigger bedroom so as to accommodate the physical therapist and my walker. Sherah gave me a two-hour most gentle pedicure because I will not be touching my tootsies for awhile. I've bought some beautiful purple hair dye and Sherah will be giving me some fun highlights since I won't be returning to work until the middle of December.

I've gone to all of my doctor appointments, hair appointments, and lastly this afternoon an appointment with the vet to have my Teddy Bear checked out. Then that's it except for going out to a movie tonight.

So last words until later: Go Obama! God bless Dennis Kucinich for having the balls to tell it like it is! And Rachel, you my grrl!

“The Killer of Hope”. Is that a sad commentary on a candidate? It seems she's willing to take down the whole Democratic party in order to be president, which I personally don't think she has a chance of winning.

With all the media getting hyped up over some guy fooling around, the real issues get lost. Iraq…hello?

I agree with something I heard about the American people, you can hold sex and drugs out in one hand and hide a whole fuckin bus behind you with the other and the American people will never notice. I'm afraid for our country.

It's our 20th wedding anniversary and we decided to splurge big-time. Anyone who has been in a long-term relationship knows the ups and downs, the near misses, the broken hearts that happen along the way of living every day with another person. Few illusions remain intact. But we decided to celebrate the fact we're still together, still love each other, and still see what originally attracted us to each other.

I want to cry because it's such a perfect moment. Life's too full of crap to not cling to the perfect moments. Our souls touch, we hold fast to each other. We kiss in the sunset oblivious to other eyes.

This particularly hateful telemarketer harrassed us with repeated calls whenever she was on duty. And that was when we quit answering our phone and begin screening all callers.

Our friends and family were understanding and knew the drill to go ahead and say, “Are you there? Are you there?” whenever our answering machine began its recording. They knew we'd pick up if we were there.

We put our number on the Do Not Call list and waited as the telemarketers still kept calling.

On a deep level this just chapped my hide. Dang it, I pay for my phone. I'd like to pick it up when it rings. So, three years later, we move from Sunnyvale to Santa Clara. We get a new landline number. It was nice for about a half a minute and then the telemarketers began again.

I had run across this link a few weeks back: Anti-telemarketing script. I printed it out and kept it by the phone. I didn't use it until yesterday because, quite frankly, I just didn't want to deal with them.

Maybe it was that wild hair that crawled up my ass or something, but yesterday when Unknown Name Unkown Number rang me up, I answered. Brian started his spiel. Imagine that, my phone number had been entered in a drawing and I won.

Before I let him get any further along, I asked him if he was trying to sell me something. No, I'm a winner. Well then, what is your name? It took him a minute, but he came up with Brian Jones.

Brian started to continue his spiel. Wait, I need to know what company you represent. He said, Global Exchange, and almost began again.

Wait, I said, I need your phone number. Brian said he'd give it to me at the end of our conversation. I said, no, give it to me now or we're not having a conversation.

He said, good day ma'am, and hung up.

Well, that was fairly painless, I thought.

Today Unknown Name Unknown Number called again. I got out my script. This time is was Harry Brown from Global Exchange. He did his dance. I did my dance. When we got to the phone number part, he asked me if I was on the Do Not Call List. I said yes, I was, and what was your phone number? Harry, dear heart, backed out and said he'd make sure they wouldn't call again.

Right.

I popped right overto the FCC's website to see how to complain. Simple.

You can file a complaint by e-mail (fccinfo@fcc.gov), telephone 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY, by fax to 1-866-418-0232, via our electronic complaint form at www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html, or mail.

I think I'm going to start answering my phone again. That felt good.

And so at 10:45 a.m. today, I caved in and bought my iPhone.

Now, after purchasing two iPhones (his and mine…probably why he didn't try too hard to talk me out of it) and a bluetooth headset, I sit here spent and craving the cigarette that I've given up.

I think what set it up was the fact that I found out I don't have emphysema (my long-term asthma created the scarring in my lungs and my pulmonary function test showed that I've improved instead of being in decline) and I had that crazy sense that I was going to live live live, life was good, blue skies, kiss me honey, let's spend some money.

Then watching the live blogging from MacWorld yesterday with fingers crossed that a new provider would be announced other than AT&T. Didn't happen. The feeling that I could not possibly wait another four years for Apple to lose AT&T was the straw that broke this camel's back.

So much for being a non-consumer. Dang, I would be disappointed in myself except for the fact that the iPhone is so darned niiiice. But I got the family plan from AT&T and so our monthly cell phone bill will only be $40 more a month. And I get to keep my same cell phone number. Que handy.

I'm trying hard to feel bad about it, but it's not working. I'm just giddy with it all.

A good definition of web design:

“Web design is the creation of digital environments that facilitate and encourage human activity; reflect or adapt to individual voices and content; and change gracefully over time while always retaining their identity.” –Jeffrey Zeldman, Understanding Web Design.

Sun's Web Design Style Guide is back. Excellent example of a great style guide.

CSS Eleven. Okay, I'm going to point this out: one woman, ten men…I do get tired of the lopsideness of gender representation in web design. Not that gender should be a primary consideration over knowledge, but no other women invited to join the W3C fray, or are women just not interested? It's one of those things I think about.

In between all my Stuff, I am still dipping my toes into Leopard and all its neato features. Quick Looks seems such a time-saver. Here is a little plugin to go along with it that will show the contents of a zipped file.

My Calendar was not syncing correctly. It's a real problem when you have three computers syncing through .Mac. If you're having that problem (you add new appointments on one calendar on one mosheen, but when you sync—no new data), here's the direction to head towards: Reset .Mac Sync.

Overcoming blankcanvasphobia. Cameron gives some tips on getting the creativity flowing.

Creating simple art brushes in Illustrator.

• “Beautiful Evidence” - Edward Tufte
• “Creativity for Graphic Designers” - Mark Oldach
• “Stop Stealing Sheep and Find Out How Type Works” - Erik Spiekermann and E.M. Ginger
• “Thinking with Type” - Ellen Lupton
• “The Brand Gap” - Marty Newmeier
• “Making and Breaking the Grid” - Timothy Samara
• “Layout Workbook” - Kristin Cullen
• “Photoshop LAB Color” - Dan Margulis
• “Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction” - Dan Margulis
• “Photoshop CS2” - Deke McClelland
• “Transcending CSS” - Andy Clark
• “Flash CS3: The Missing Manual”
• “Learning JavaScript” - Shelley Powers
• “The Principles of Beautiful Web Design” - Jason Beaird

Million Book Project FAQ

Booked Sunset State Beach campground in December which is what you have to do in order to get a great campsite for the following June.

I'm in the early stages of emphysema. I had to learn how to spell the word. This sucks too. Along with the diabetes. How many balls can I juggle before dropping one? We'll see.

I'm on vacation which means I'm at home. This year I decided to take the last week of December off and the first week of January. I like it better when I'm the only one on vacation.

I cancelled the cruise to Alaska I had set-up for September 2008. With the economy, the sub-prime meltdown, the price of gas ($3.52 today), the fact that after six years I'm still temping at the same place, I felt like it might be better to sock the cash away. My credit cards are paid off. I owe nothing. I wait while being thankful that I've never been able to afford a house despite that mortgage guy telling me I could have a condo with nothing down and $1500 a month last year.

Bill Moyer's Journal is back on PBS. His topics are right-on and so enlightening if you are one of those liberals floating around. In particular, what got to me was his interview with Benjamin Barber (link).

“Capitalism has put democracy in trouble, because capitalism has tried to persuade us that being a private consumer is enough. That a citizen is nothing more than a consumer.”

Needless to say, I don't want to be defined as a consumer. Guess I'll have to quit acting like one. Which makes it even less likely that I'll own an iPhone. Dang, already it's tough not being a consumer.

Happy New Year to y'all. I leave you with 2007's last link: The lyrics to Always look on the bright side of life. Thank you, Monty Python.

1. Away From Her - Alice Munro
   I will read anything this Canadian author writes. I saw the movie already, but expect the story to be even better.
2. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
   It's an Oprah Book Club book, but I don't hold that against the book. 622 affairs? I'm curious.
3. The Septembers of Shiraz - Dalia Sofer
   Set in Iran. Goes between Iran and Arizona. I'm gonna want to see that connection.
4. Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures - Vincent Lam.
   Another Canadian author and a doctor to boot. Gruesome humor…sounds like my cup of tea.
5. The Bastard of Instanbul - Elif Shafak
   I had read briefly about the burning of Smyrna in 1922 via Jeffrey Eugenides' ”Middlesex.” Should be interesting to read this slant.
6. Peony in Love- Lisa See
   I'm afraid it may be a version of “Tammy in Love,” but Lisa's a good writer and I'm a sucker for fiction set in seventeenth century China.
7. Bridge of Sighs - Richard Russo.
   I've read all of his books as is my wont when I hit upon a fantastic writer. Just lick all the flavor off. So, this is his new one and I can't wait to step into his world again.

I feel all satiated and the reserves are full. 2008 can just bring it on, because at least I'll have my books to read.

1. The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls
   I loved the way the author doesn't blame her parents for her unorthodox upbringing, but looks at the positive side of things.
2. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
   I've been following Kazuo's literary progress since the exquisitely painful “Remains of the Day.” In this one, he tells of a group of schools in England where they basically raise children to be donors for the rich.
3. The Noodle Maker- Ma Jian
   A writer in post-Tiananmen China tells stories he would create if he had the courage.
4. Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2- Annie Proulx
   Annie writes great short stories, scraped clean of artifice and some with a bit of sci-fi thrown in.
5. Almost Like Being in Love - Steve Kluger
   It's a pleasure to read Steve's stories. After reading the funny and touching “Last Days of Summer,” I had to read this one also. A love story told via email, stationery, attorney notes, and Faculty Search Requests at a college library. Works as well as the flurry of letter writing in “Dangerous Liasons,” but without all the nastiness and vile intrigue.
6. The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
   Wonderful multi-generational story of a young couple who moves to the U.S. from India. You find out the importance of names and family ties. I also read her collection of short stories, “Interpreter of Maladies,” which was good reading, but in some ways kind of a repeat telling of the book.
7. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
   Set in nineteenth century China, two young girls become “old-sames” for life. You follow them through foot binding (ouch), marriage, children, war. Poignant ending.

I've read more good stuff, but I started a “Great Book Lunch” at work where like-minded bookworms swap their great books, so I don't have some of the books I read. I highly recommend starting your own Great Book Lunch. You get great recommendations, a chance to view books you might have passed by, and it's free!

The turntable came with the open source ap, Audacity (for both Macs and PCs). I successfully recorded Jeff Beck's Gets Us All in the End and converted it to an mp3. Then I played it on iTunes. Yuck!

Was it just that recording? I got out REO Speedwagon's You Can Tune a Piano But You Can't Tuna Fish and recorded the ever-yearning ballad, “Sing to Me.”. I played the exported mp3…yuck. I played the version I downloaded from iTunes last year. I played the Audacity .aup file. So, even with all the snap, crackle and pop, the .aup version was better than the other two. For one thing, there were highs and lows.

I need to do the same thing with an album vs. a CD, but I suspect it will be the same deterioration. I'm no audiophile, but this is crap. I've gotten so used to crap that until I played my records (and that's through computer speakers as opposed to a whole stereo system), I didn't know what I was missing.

Then I read The Death of High Fidelity and now I know the technical reasons why the degradation.

And I thought the death of the guitar solo sad.

Call it the straw that broke my back, but when I ordered a Christmas present for a friend who will be out of the country beginning today and that present is nowhere to be seen and I can't cancel the order, my temperature begins to rise.

After paying for second day delivery when I placed the order on December 4th and it's still not here on December 11th (and probably won't be here until tomorrow) and Amazon only says “sorry, here's five bucks we're gonna refund you”, well I say it's time to say, “Hasta la vista, Amazon. You've lost a former loyal customer.”