Category Archives: about me

The Twitter Diaries: October, 2008

These are nervous times, and my tweets reflect that…

Note: The time stamp is wrong on some of them, no idea why.

cancelled 1.5 hr meeting leaves me time to help with lab cleanup. Lots and lots of cables to pull and coil up… 9:25 AM Oct 1st

@ThinGuy you really want Congress deciding what’s a good business practice? Not that the business folks have a great track record… 9:26 AM Oct 1st in reply to ThinGuy

video: Ben Rockwood on “Storage in the Cloud” http://tinyurl.com/3w7xmp 9:37 AM Oct 1st

@ThinGuy yeah, that’s one thing I hate about politics: no one can stick to the topic 9:38 AM Oct 1st in reply to ThinGuy

let the games begin: http://tinyurl.com/6cvc5v 11:58 AM Oct 1st

almost at the end of a 2.5 hour meeting. Glad I don’t have to do this regularly. Need to develop executive stamina. 5:17 PM Oct 1st

two meetings, both scheduled at 9 am, neither of which I really want to attend… 7:37 AM Oct 2nd

Ross’ first midterms today. Hard to get over my long-standing habit of worrying about her in tests 7:40 AM Oct 2nd

@smaragdis what community summit? 8:50 AM Oct 2nd in reply to smaragdis

(Feeling a bit left out…)

@ThinGuy funny, my business card says I’m a community specialist (as well as videoblogger), but somehow I never hear about these things… 8:54 AM Oct 2nd in reply to ThinGuy

yay, no more meetings today. I can concentrate on editing Andy 9:02 AM Oct 2nd

waiting for last few minutes of video to process so I can get out of here 11:06 AM Oct 2nd

During the Vice-Presidential Debate

(I was following Twitter on my iPhone. Hadn’t realized one of my followers was the opposite end of the political spectrum from me. Made for an amusing evening.)

@giovanni national health yes, thanks and I can give you examples in my own family where it has worked very well 6:34 PM Oct 2nd from

@giovanni sure I also hate everything she stands for and belives in. She’s a fundamentalist wack job 6:35 PM Oct 2nd from twitterrific in reply to giovanni

@martinwake a really balanced ticket would include a gay person 6:43 PM Oct 2nd from twitterrific in reply to martinwake

Can we make it a requirement of office that you know how to pronounce “nuclear” 6:49 PM Oct 2nd from twitterrific

@giovanni we want a commander who won’t get us into the wrong wars 6:56 PM Oct 2nd from twitterrific in reply to giovanni

@giovanni Obama wants to use our military in the right place: Afghanistan 7:11 PM Oct 2nd from twitterrific in reply to giovanni

Dang we should have used “maverick” in the drinking game 7:22 PM Oct 2nd from twitterrific

@giovanni the only war McCain was in we LOST – because it was the wrong damn war in the first place 7:27 PM Oct 2nd from twitterrific in reply to giovanni

@giovanni Obama has an ivy league education and isn’t an idiot 7:30 PM Oct 2nd from twitterrific in reply to giovanni

@giovanni the most respectful thing anyone can do for our military is to not waste their lives uselessly 7:34 PM Oct 2nd from twitterrific in reply to giovanni

@giovanni there are plenty of very smart conservatives whom I respect. McCain used to be one of them. Palin never woud be. 5:54 AM Oct 3rd in reply to giovanni

@markingegno “Copriti e non prendere freddo” e’ il vero inno nazionale italiano, non solo tra le nonne 5:55 AM Oct 3rd in reply to markingegno

Translation: “Cover up and don’t get cold” is the real Italian national anthem, not just among grandmothers

@giovanni and of course plenty of conservatives went to Ivy League schools, W for one. But, yes, a good education should be a minimum 7:01 AM Oct 3rd in reply to giovanni

@giovanni as to socialized medicine: http://www.beginningwithi.c… 7:07 AM Oct 3rd in reply to giovanni

reality is that most college grads will end up in an office job. But ask a freshman what they want to do, and none imagine about offices 7:23 AM Oct 3rd

Thought while accompanying a high school senior to visit the UT campus.

sitting by the UT campus lawn, enjoying a fresh Texas breeze. Yes, everything in Texas is Texan, including the wind. 8:25 AM Oct 3rd

@timbray re. Guardian – interesting, maybe a bit scary. Never occurred to me that Twits might become news sources. 8:29 AM Oct 3rd in reply to timbray

My colleague Tim Bray was quoted (from his Twitter stream) in a UK newspaper.

McCain’s formative experience overseas was in a war and then as a prisoner of war. Obama lived with family in other countries. 8:32 AM Oct 3rd

Just sayin’: perspectives differ. 8:33 AM Oct 3rd

if you need a laugh about the things in life that really matter: http://tinyurl.com/4a7wem (thanks Dr. Horrible!) 4:50 PM Oct 3rd

I follow links and then I can’t remember how I got there. “Jesus Use Me” by the Faith Tones – there are no words… 4:53 PM Oct 3rd

Apparently all towing companies are assholes 1:08 PM Oct 4th from twitterrific

@gapingvoid Austin tx waiting with a person I don’t even know to get her car out of the tow lot 1:10 PM Oct 4th from twitterrific in reply to gapingvoid

it’s a beautiful morning in Austin. Pity I had such a bad night. Breakfast at Magnolia Cafe should help. 7:33 AM Oct 5th

@robinbloor wow, I’d forgotten all about that song. It’s not in my 2-disc best of John Prine collection 1:02 PM Oct 5th in reply to robinbloor

finished blog stats for September and notified the winners. They will be receiving cool t-shirts 1:03 PM Oct 5th

remembering an old favorite, thanks to @robinbloor: http://tinyurl.com/3oomnp 1:04 PM Oct 5th

stock price owie. “Down so far it looks like up to me” ? 12:43 PM Oct 6th

photos from Folsom (yes, safe for work) http://tinyurl.com/4ybewr 4:38 PM Oct 6th

it rained in the night, Austin is lovely and fresh this morning 5:58 AM Oct 7th

want to do something really different? teach at Woodstock: http://www.woodstock.ac.in/… 6:05 AM Oct 7th

http://tinyurl.com/3toka3 7:55 AM Oct 7th

is the sky falling? 1:34 PM Oct 7th

Maybe not sorry I missed the [presidential] debate. Heartburn bad enough as it is 7:34 PM Oct 7th from twitterrific

laugh so you don’t cry department: http://michellanea.blogspot… 8:29 AM Oct 8th

@AmandaLorenzani ooh, when? I might have to fly over for that one. 8:44 AM Oct 8th in reply to AmandaLorenzani

Reference to a Girl Geeks Dinner to be held on a yacht!

has anyone from Sun ever spoken at Web 2.0? if so, what about? 10:57 AM Oct 8th

it’s hard to listen objectively to music by someone I’ve known for 30 years: http://www.thesinghsband.co… 11:48 AM Oct 8th

@stoweboyd okay, so I’m going to submit a proposal. Never done this before (talks yes, proposal no). Any pointers? 1:55 PM Oct 8th in reply to stoweboyd

going to work the phones for Obama tonight, a first for me. Should be interesting. the guy who contacted me is from Dehra Dun. Small world. 8:13 AM Oct 9th

I will be either very happy or very unhappy when this campaign ends. Either way, it will be a relief. 8:34 AM Oct 9th

doing something I’ve never done before. 9:37 AM Oct 9th

Writing a proposal to speak at O’Reilly’s Web 2.0 conferene next spring.

how long is a conference abstract supposed to be? 9:37 AM Oct 9th

@tehduh the form says 400 chars for the description, doesn’t specify for the abstract. 500 [words] sounds good, though – thanks 9:43 AM Oct 9th in reply to tehduh

spent ~2 hours on the phone for Obama, wasn’t as scary as I had feared. Mostly polite older women. 7:25 PM Oct 9th

@coffeewithian sentence: “I have got to sleep more now.” 7:30 PM Oct 9th in reply to coffeewithian

He asked for a sentence of seven one-syllable words.

On the Phone for Obama: http://tinyurl.com/3hn8rn – hey, fellow Coloradans – we need you! 8:14 PM Oct 9th

@bicyclemark I so hated that movie [Zorba the Greek]. One redeeming feature of “Mamma Mia” was that it seemed like the anti-Zorba. 7:19 AM Oct 10th in reply to bicyclemark

finally heard from Ironworks BBQ. Usually closed on Sundays, but for our guest list, they’ll open. 7:55 AM Oct 10th

@jowyang my company is. I’d have a few things to say about recent stuff I’ve seen from you guys, though. Offline. 8:56 AM Oct 10th in reply to jowyang

@italylogue if you have an Italian credit card or any card with an Italian billing address, you can use iTunes Italy 8:56 AM Oct 10th in reply to italylogue

the ultimate ZFS Tutorial (video, part 1 of 3): http://tinyurl.com/3g7naa 8:57 AM Oct 10th

@MarketingProfs my daughter is now 19 and has been online since age ~10, pre-Facebook. online communications skills are essential today 12:18 PM Oct 10th in reply to MarketingProfs

She was asking what parents thought of underage kids being on Facebook.

Hate having to write my own bio. It always sounds smarmy to me. 12:48 PM Oct 10th

@jowyang ask first what % of voters even understand the issues. After all, how much do we really understand about the products we buy? 1:14 PM Oct 10th in reply to jowyang

hmm, possible snow on Sunday when I’m supposed to go door-to-door canvassing. 2:49 PM Oct 10th

not an American citizen? You can still vote in the US presidential election… virtually. http://www.economist.com/vo… 7:44 PM Oct 10th in reply to italylogue

@MarketingProfs FYI, I wrote about kids online a while ago: http://www.beginningwithi.c… 7:44 AM Oct 11th in reply to MarketingProfs

a drizzly, foggy day here in Colorado – writing weather! 7:45 AM Oct 11th

!@#$@#$ I write about politics on my blog and I get “a proven maverick” ad from Google. What the hell – let’s cost them money 8:08 AM Oct 11th

actually, that’s kind of amusing since it shows up right next to my photos from the Folsom Street Fair – not the juxtaposition Palin wants 8:09 AM Oct 11th

@rosso at least you’ve got a name they can spell. I have seen Italian magazine articles misspell the same foreign name 3 times in one page! 11:01 AM Oct 11th in reply to rosso

lunch was homemade rajmah dal and basmati – the Indian equivalent of good ol’ red beans and rice. Yum. Time for a nap. 1:14 PM Oct 11th

new rule: I will not follow you back on Twitter unless I know you, or you send a private message explaining why I should. 7:06 AM Oct 12th

got Palin off my website, now Bob Barr is advertising there. 7:10 AM Oct 12th

just back from 1.5 hrs of canvassing for Obama on a cold, dreary Colorado day. Very tired and hungry now. 1:00 PM Oct 12th

unAmerican activities: http://tinyurl.com/4zeonz 1:24 PM Oct 13th

argh. I really don’t need to be getting sick right now 4:13 PM Oct 13th

complete wardrobe failure. These cords looked black at home, turns out they’re navy 8:07 AM Oct 14th

today’s laugh/cringe, courtesy of another Deirdre: http://dsmoen.livejournal.c… 8:36 AM Oct 14th

the song “This Old House” always makes me grieve for my aunt Rosie. Catharsis on the morning commute is tiring 8:02 AM Oct 15th

then my daughter calls to tell me she’s desperately craving a dosa in Austin, perhaps because the weather is monsoony. Only my kid! 8:02 AM Oct 15th

trying to sort out November travel, plans are changing too rapidly 3:02 PM Oct 15th

a tool I’m using more and more as I move my life into the cloud: http://passpack.com 4:18 PM Oct 15th

@smaragdis Just don’t watch TV, or use Tivo to skip all ads. That’s the only way to avoid heartburn. 7:20 AM Oct 16th in reply to smaragdis

just finished reworking travel arrangements for November. Now I actually get a Sunday off – yay! 9:44 AM Oct 16th

playing with a Facebook election app http://zembly.com/mypicksus/ 10:20 AM Oct 16th

in his own words: http://www.brasschecktv.com… 12:29 PM Oct 16th

laugh at ourselves: http://cuddletech.com/blog/… 1:23 PM Oct 16th

@lskrocki mine’s campaigning for a Mac. Told her full-time school + 3.5 GPA = new Mac 3:43 PM Oct 16th in reply to lskrocki

the HPC student/community party I’m planning for SC08 in Austin is looking like it’ll be a blast. if you’re an HPC developer, write me 7:36 AM Oct 17th

Portrait of a Videoblogger

One of the activities at the Open Storage Summit party was to have our portraits drawn by talented caricature artist Doug Shannon.

I’ve been thinking lately about the differences between videoblogging and professional video.

Fashion Statement

Swatch watch "Eve"This Swatch was my major fashion statement for several years, until (as you can see) I wore it out. The design isn’t easy to understand at a casual glance, so people would ask me about it: “Is that a mermaid?”

“No,” I would explain: “It’s Eve, gathering apples.” (As for the snake, take a close look at the strap…)

It goes with my theme song, by Cole Porter from his show, Nymph Errant.

Experiment

Before you leave these portals

To meet less fortunate mortals,

There’s just one final message

I would give to you.

You all have learned reliance

On the sacred teachings of science,

So I hope through life you never will decline,

In spite of philistine defiance,

To do what all good scientists do:

 

Experiment!

Make it your motto day and night.

Experiment!

And it will lead you to the light.

The apple on the top of the tree

Is never too high to achieve,

So take an example from Eve –

Experiment!

 

Be curious,

Though interfering friends may frown.

Get furious

At each attempt to hold you down.

If this advice you always employ,

The future can offer you infinite joy

And merriment,

Experiment!

And you’ll see…

Biopsy: Digging to China Through My Breast

Well, that was extremely unpleasant.

First there was the wait, from Thursday to Tuesday, going through stages from: “I certainly don’t have cancer, they’re just being careful” to: “Ohmigod I’m going to die!”

I spent a lot of the weekend working hard in the garden – a very good distraction. Saturday afternoon Enrico and I went to the bookstore to look for birthday presents for his mother. As usual, I gravitated towards the comics (aka graphic novels). My eye was caught by Il Cancro Mi Ha Resa Piu’ Frivola (originally titled Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person: A Memoir in Comics), by Miriam Engelberg. In other circumstances I probably would have liked, if not exactly enjoyed, this book. The first few pages described exactly what I was going through. I flipped to the About the Author blurb in the back. She died last year. No, don’t want to read that now.

On another shelf, my eye lit upon: “The Big Book of Breasts” (a book of photographs – the book, and presumably the breasts inside, was indeed big). Then Non C’e’ Paradiso Senza Le Tette (“There’s No Heaven Without Tits” – about a Colombian girl who wants breast implants so she can be a mistress to drug dealers. ?!?). I fled the store.

Sunday night we went out to dinner at Lanterna Verde, as an early celebration of Ross’ birthday – we’re running out of weekends with her! I was feeling pretty good Sunday. Friends had sent in encouraging information: only one test in one hundred turns up positive. Another friend backed this up, and she’s got a lot more to worry about as there is a strong history of cancer in her family; I have no such history. As yet. My mother is having a (probably ovarian) cyst removed next Monday, and won’t know whether it’s benign until it’s out.

Monday I went to the office, also a good distraction. Had an interesting lunch that day, too.

Tuesday morning I got up early and worked on Sun stuff. Then it was time to go to the hospital. Ross came along for moral support.

The Radiology department was nearly deserted, and we spent only ten minutes in the waiting area, then another five or so inside the changing room, where I was increasingly uneasy at all the preparations I could hear. This was sounding less and less like a quick in-and-out with a fine needle.

Sure enough, the mammogram machine was set up with a whole different set of torture devices. This time there were two clear plastic platforms, each with a rectangular hole, one above and one below. My breast was carefully arranged and squashed (not quite as painful as last time – my period has come, so the pre-menstrual tenderness is over – but not comfortable, either), and an x-ray taken for positioning. The doctor entered x, y, and z coordinates on the machine, and attached to it two pieces of metal which she explained were needle guides. (I think this is called in English a stereotactic biopsy.)

The z coordinate – depth – was set to 14.8 millimeters. They’d be drilling one and a half centimeters into my breast. I guess the gap under the plastic platform my breast was resting on was in case they came out the other side!

The nurse swabbed iodine on the part of my breast exposed by the upper rectangular opening. The doctor injected a local anesthetic, which burned as she worked the needle around to cover all the areas she expected to work in. Ow, ow, ow. The technician was again unsympathetic: “Does it really hurt that much?” You should have heard me when I was in labor, lady. I am not heroic about pain, and I don’t care who knows it.

The doctor and nurse were kinder. They kept asking questions to distract me: “What kind of name is Deirdré Straughan? I’ve never heard it before.” I was relieved to chatter away, though even I was only half-aware of what I was saying. They touched me as they bustled back and forth, gently on the shoulder, as if to acknowledge that I was a scared human being they were doing things to, not just a lump of meat. That was reassuring and comforting.

My right arm was stretched around the machine as before, and I was panting with discomfort and stress. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a big, thick needle coming at me, and promptly squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t feel the needle going in, or at least it wasn’t painful. But the loud chunk! as it bit off something inside was startling. That needle was withdrawn and another one put in. This time I was braced for the sound, but still didn’t like it. “It’s just the noise that bothers you, right?” asked the doctor.

She took x-rays again, I think while the needle was still in place (I didn’t look). Then I had to wait, maintaining my position, while those were developed. I leaned my head against the machine. The nurse pressed hard on the wound with a wad of cotton held in medical forceps, I suppose to stop it bleeding, so I couldn’t see how big the hole actually was. I’d seen a scalpel at some point, don’t know whether they used it.

After examining the x-rays, the doctor evidently decided she hadn’t quite got what she wanted. One more needle, one more chunk bitten out of my tissues. Then, finally, it was over. My breast, with a round red hole in it, was released from the machine. The nurse helped me over to an examining table nearby (“Don’t bump your head on the machine”), cleaned off the iodine, closed the wound with three little strips of tape, and put a big bandage on top of that. After I had got dressed again, she gave me an ice pack to place between my bra and my t-shirt. I probably looked pretty funny walking around Lecco afterwards, clutching this big lump to my chest.

The doctor took my cell number and said she would call me as soon as she had results, probably next Monday. In the meantime we’re all going to Roseto to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday. We’re not going to tell herr about this.

I was exhausted last night. Anesthetic and kindness aside, what I went through yesterday would in any other context be called torture. In the aftermath, I feel bruised inside, both physically and emotionally.

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Internet Memes: Deirdre Needs…

Caught up with this meme via Sognatrice, and found it a bit of good silly fun. You can play, too! Put your name followed by “needs” into Google and copy the first ten results you get. Add your own comments as to the applicability of each.

Deirdre needs a parent who will take responsibility and act as a parent should.

Well, that would have been nice 40 years ago or so.

Until she finds him, Deirdre needs a place to crash, and that’s where Ellen comes in.

Finds who? I generally have no trouble finding places to crash. Friends all over the world.

Deirdre needs our support! 15 January 2006 04:07:43 … Deirdre needs someone to help her that knows a lot about computers.

Moral support, maybe. Tech support, rarely.

Deirdre needs to meet her biological father though she risks tearing apart her family, which has taken years to come together.

Uh, no, I know my biological father quite well. And can tear my family apart all by myself quite nicely…

Deirdre needs a parent who will take responsibility and act as a parent should Deirdre needs to find a space in Sydney Harbour to park that liner

Again with the parents! A place to park a liner in Sydney Harbour is far more promising.

Deirdre needs a haircut badly

Hey! I just got one Friday!

Deirdre needs your votes on iRADIO LA.

???

Deirdre, she suggests Deirdre needs reassurance and says they should go round together.

I hope going round with this person will in fact be reassuring.

Deirdre needs to pull herself together and tell the truth for everyone’s sake.

I usually do tell the truth, probably more than I should.

However, all Deirdre needs to do is to put her emotions to one side and have a good long think about what has happened leading up to the murder.

Wow. My emotions must be causing amnesia – I don’t remember any murder.

I didn’t look at any of the actual results pages, but my impression is that there are a lot of soap opera characters named Deirdre. Or maybe it’s all the same character who, like most soap characters, has an improbably eventful life, what with murders and yachts and all.