Writing Star

I’ve been hooked on the internet since my first page load in some unremembered location at some unremembered time (definitely pre-Google) . In those days the web was wild with roaming herds of gifs and copyright infringement and I had some of the most tasteful gifs and infringement in my entire Yahoo chat crew.

Years passed and the more the web grew, the more I loved creating things to put on it.

When I finally plunked down the cash for a domain name and hosting space, I was full of bright ideas and high expectations. I was going to write witty articles, helpful tutorials, insightful reviews and other such highbrow content. I was going to join The Web Community(tm) and be the next Molly, Scrivs or Dooce. The only thing standing in the way of my internet stardom and the subsequent groupies was the fact that the current (and then) Sunshine is terminally lacking in ambition.

The bruised, protesting web-rock-star inside of me cries little (tasteful) tears of agony every time I play games instead of writing or visit jayisgames instead of alistapart. I’m generally fine with that. Jay rocks and I’m working on a completing all missions in Kingdom Hearts II. I’m also busy collecting hobo gristle in Kingdom of Loathing. That takes time.

Also (in case you hadn’t noticed) I’m not writer of words. (Or a speaker of words but that’s another story). I’m primarily a reader of words. Most things I’ve ever written were brilliant in the heat of composition, but stank like hot fish guts two days later. In fact I stopped reading anything I wrote because the cringing was affecting my posture.

But, surprise, surprise, some of what I’ve written here does not make me want to hide under a rock. I was tagging old posts with the new and improved WordPress tagging feature and felt really weird… turns out it was the feeling of not blushing with shame. Yes the spelling, proofing and general sentence structure could use some help (really… was anybody going to tell me that I always spell friends wrong?) but the actual writing is bearable. Some of it even makes me laugh.

And that’s almost as good as being a webstar because groupies…? They are more trouble than they’re worth. So I hear. But words you’re not ashamed to re-print in the Holiday newsletter? That’s worth a gold star.

So this year we’re (I’m) going to try for a regular posting schedule so that I can perfect this phenomenon, or at least crank out some more goodies before the magic* leaves. It might be once a week or it might be once a quarter but it will be. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to act properly shocked and welcoming towards this post (yes this one that you’re reading now) and to anticipate future posts with all of the (tasteful) fervor of a chihuahua on speed.

*Your thoughts, opinions and/or revelations on the quality of previous entries on this site are irrelevant to them being magic. Just so you know.

Happy New Year

Happy New Martin Luther Valentines Bowl

So hi everybody… How ya doing? In effort to cross something off of my three page to-do list other than “watch superbowl commercials and be horribly disappointed” or “attempt to hem pants while watching superbowl commercials and completely mess it up and have to pick out the stitches one by one” I’m updating my blog. (shuddup jordan) Here goes…

Since January 9th I’ve been gainfully employed at a job where goofing off on the internet is frowned upon. The horror. It’s actually taking me more time to get used to that than to adjust to getting up at 6 every morning. Luckily besides that the job is pretty awesome. And yes… that’s all the detail you get. I’ve been a bit paranoid about identity theft lately although I could just be making that up to justify my new shredder. Funny how little obsessions work.

Lord of the Trilogy

In other news, if for some reason you (like me) somehow missed the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy on film you should rectify that situation immediately. If you don’t happen to have a wonderful friend with an overly large television and another wonderful friend with the directors cut of Return of the King (thanks jordan and blair) as well as a spare 12 hours or so… then I just don’t know what to tell you. For those of you keeping count you can now add Frodo (complete with purple shadowed eyes… does it make me dorky that I saw that scene and immediately wanted the hex code for that shade?), Sméagol of the multiple personalities, Samwise and the unutterably badass, beautiful Legolas to the list of characters (including Capn. Jack Sparrow and Kratos) that make my giddy. Ahh… Legolas… ahem.

For Humanity

On a more serious note; If you’re looking to be charitable in the near future, strongly consider checking out http://www.brinkmeyer.org A friend of mine just lost her father to cancer. He was very heavily involved with Habitat for Humanity here in Tallahassee and in his honor the family is doing a celebration build (awesome idea). They need donations to reach the $47,000 they need of so if you can offer anything, go to the website and see how you can help. I know Jamie and her family will appreciate anything you can do.

Better Living Through Design

Or as I almost immediately nicknamed it, the blog of beautiful things.
From the about blurb:

“Usually hours of work are required to locate sources for well-designed products that are affordable”. bltd takes some of the burden off your shoulders….”

I stumbled onto bltd while looking for a special sort of doormat (that apparently hasn’t been invented yet) and I am so in love. The flash header caused me some consternation, what with things appearing out of the corner of my eye and moving away when I try to click on them, but I got over it. Content is definitely king on this site and it is quite easy on the eyes.

Hurricane Poster Project

Just in time for gift-giving here comes the opportunity to get a beautiful limited edition poster for yourself or a loved one and the fuzzy warm sense of spreading joy and goodwill… it’s a win-win situation.

The Hurricane Poster Project has signed limited edition posters for sale that have been donated by various designers. Proceeds from the sale of the posters are, in turn, donated directly to the Red Cross.

There is some really beautiful work represented and because it’s different designers you should definitely find something you like.
Prices are determined by the number of posters left and the project is still accepting submissions so keep checking.

Unfunny

A coworker of mine (who shall remain nameless) gave me one of these page-a-day calendars after I sent out several emails (and posted a couple of announcements) with dates that were either far in the future or long past. Unfortunately, since it’s just one he had lying around, the calendar is “Medical Blooper: A Chuckle A Day from the Medical Community” and not at all relevant to me.

Let me tell you that “the Medical Community” is so depressingly not “a chuckle a day” that I feel like catching a cab to the airport, buying a ticket, getting on a plane, catching a cab to “the Medical Community” headquarters and slapping them in the face. I imagine them being in Portland. Here’s an example

Continue reading Unfunny