god do i need to redesign this site

I think maybe I would post more if I wasn't SO over this design. I was all set (like, last year???) on putting up a new header with one of my new photos every month, but I wasn't doing my photography for so long that I felt like all my favorite photos that would work were 2 years old. Gah!

Plus, Blogger may be reaching it's limits for me. I put so much work into customizing my site design that I still haven't upgraded to the new version because I'm afraid it'll totally mess the site up (and I don't have time to troubleshoot it.) I also wonder if it's not time to look into a different blogging platform. Right now, I don't have the time to do any of those things.

Add to that the fact that I'm so wedding-crazy right now that I fear that's all I may have to blog about, and I don't want to bore everyone to death.

what's up with me?

I just completely blew off the last two days of work. And I'm not really sure why. I'm not pulling my hair out at how much I hate the job, and it's not like I'm bored to tears either. I just... didn't go in. And I didn't call in. I "hid" in the real world. I didn't get on the corporate network, so no one could IM me. I checked my email a few times on my iPhone, but nothing urgent came up. And I didn't fill the time with all the other important stuff I could be doing either. I napped a lot. But I worked out too. I watched some TV, but not a lot. I read. I bought household supplies, with coupons! I also bought some sewing necessities, since I'm learning to sew. I did laundry, and got the mail. I picked up prescriptions. I didn't even spend a lot of time on facebook. I *did* spend a lot of time finding great new people to follow on twitter, though.

I guess I just needed some space. Time to not rush. I walked at a normal pace. I enjoyed what a nice day it was. I'm recovered from this bought of illness, but I guess I still wasn't at 100%. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be 100%...

Anyways, I enjoyed the time, and actually got a decent amount of stuff done. Nothing work-related, but stuff that needed to get done. Now I have a weekend to myself. JR is off on a ski-trip to Tahoe, so it's just me and my shadow. And Winston & Mercury. We'll be cooking at home, and sewing, and reading, and watching movies, maybe drinking a bit of wine.

I'm seeing unexpected possibilities open up around me, and I'm just trying to be open to those opportunities. I have interests that aren't confined to experience design, and I'm trying to give them room to grow. Maybe that's what's up with me.

meh new year

It's been a busy holiday season, with family emergencies, lots of travel, more than a bit of allergies on my part, etc., etc.

These days I feel like I have so much going on I'm having trouble keeping stuffthatbugsme updated. I can always find more reasons not to post than *to* post. I'm tired, under-the-weather, and I feel incredibly boring. It feels like it's been ten years since my last post. And so I stress out about how long it's been since I posted. And talk about timely - JR just sent me this link:

Blogging to an Early Grave?

Some bloggers have seen the stress that comes alongside blogging to have a substantial health effect. The New York Times notes three whose stress may have contributed to heart attacks: tech blogger Russell Shaw, 60, and Marc Orchant, 50, who died recently. Om Malik, a well-known tech blogger, survived a heart attack as well. He is only 41.

In happier news, I've picked up a bit of a crafting bug, so that's taking away some of my time too - I'm learning to sew, and I'm doing paper crafts - stamps and paper and embossing and ribbons, etc. I even handmade all the gift tags for my gifts to my coworkers.

So that's about it on my end until I wade through all the photos. Hope you're having a happy new year!

forgive me reader, for i have sinned

It has been over a month since my last post.

Things have been sometimes crazy busy, and when they're not, I just couldn't bring myself to post. I have a few posts fuzzily mapped out in my head, and there's no lack of things* to report on, I just ... couldn't do it. I think even my Twittering had dropped off until recently.

*Things such as:

• Winston's eye surgery: 1 replaced w/non-functional prosthetic, the other cataracts fixed.
  
• Outside Lands Festival and the most amazing Radiohead show ever.
  
• Some industry-related writing
  
• Our amazing Yard 2.0 launch party
  
• Visit to Chihuly at the de Young
  

Miscellaneous other drags have gotten in the way: writing peer reviews, putting off finding a CPA to finish my taxes, paying bills I'd lost repeatedly, generally being disorganized, looking for a new head doctor, watching my G stock tumble to it's death, etc. etc. Remember how I was so proud about reaching Inbox Zero a while back? I am now at Inbox 1125, 492 unread. Yay me...

So generally, I'm either drowning or practicing strict avoidance. That's a solid plan, don't you think? That and not updating my blog design since July. It taunts me every time I pull up the site. But if it weren't for that date, I might not get the gumption to refresh the design at all. (And I had such high hopes for monthly designs at the start of the year... Sigh.)

I do have such goodies to share, so hopefully I'll get to it soon. In the meantime, please to enjoy: http://twitter.com/michael_bay

hey, how ya doin'?

Hi! You might not remember me... No, Angela's close! But I'm Ashley. That's okay. We haven't spoken in so long! So... how have things been?

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Great, great! Glad to hear that. Me? Oh - I'm fine. You know, same-old same-old... Finally saw Ironman. It was really good! Love that Robert Downey Jr.! Oh, went to an arctic pig roast on Saturday! No - not an actual arctic pig. Goodness no - they don't have pigs, do they? It was actually just unexpectedly freezing cold, you know - outside, during the pig roast. How about you - any big events over the weekend?

Ah. Hmmph. Radiohead you say. Well. How nice for you. No, I didn't get to see them, I have to wait until late summer. Oh - and you there - you did Bay to Breakers? What fun! I've missed it 3 years in a row now. I figure I must be too old for it now. Being drunk by 10am and walking 7 miles surrounded by crazy drunk costumed or naked people just doesn't hold the allure for me that it used to. I know! It's sad really. I never thought I'd hear those words coming out of my mouth.

No. I didn't even go to a bar to watch. That smashed by 10am thing again. Plus, I had to get together supplies for an Indiana Jones marathon. You know - had to get all that Indiana history fresh in my head for the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Thursday. My company bought out a gazillion showtimes in theatres in Mountain View and San Francisco. Cool, right?!

What? Oh, sorry, I thought you said something else. (Losing my hearing and my willingness to get smashed on a Sunday morning - the curse of old age!) I can't believe it's Memorial Day weekend either! Really snuck up on me. No plans. Too late to book a camping site or anything. JR and I will probably just do day trips up and down the coast. Relaxing weekend getting caught up on flickr photos, then get even more behind with all the photos I'll probably take on our day trips! Ha! Such is life, right?

Yeah, me too. Busy, busy, busy! Well, it was good running into you - here of all places! Weird. Anyhoo... See you soon! Don't be a stranger!

generic & disposable april design

Yes - you may have noticed the temporary design for April that finally went out yesterday. I figured I should post that I did it, for all you RSS readers out there. I considered not doing one at all, with only 8 days left in the month and all, but I said I'd do a design for every month, and I'm gonna stick to that.

I thought of going all grey, or all white, or 404, but I settled on the barcode because I've always liked the aesthetics of the barcode (I don't know why.) So enjoy for the few days you have to enjoy it.

not in coma, as possibly suspected

Hooray! It's alive! And it finally posts!!!

I have so much to report on, but with family in for Thanksgiving, vacationing in Jamaica, being nutty busy at work, Christmas gifting and driving from SF to SA for the holidays (you heard me - driving!), I haven't had the time to even post, because there is just too much to say! And as usual, I'm way behind on the photos, and I can't tell you about Jamaica without the photos, now, can I?