KENKEN, the New Sudoku?

Dear Friends and Family,

Nothing like a quick 15-20 minute stretch for the brain each morning to get it going. I used to play sudoku, but lately, I've gotten hooked on kenken. There's a new puzzle everyday on the NY Times site at http://www.nytimes.com/ref/crosswords/kenken.html. Instead of just mixing and matching, it forces a level of mathematical logic. Hopefully, the mental gymnastics keeps the mind elastic.


Cheers!
mouse

New Google Maps Feature

Dear Friends and Family,

I have to say it, I love Google sometimes. They just added a new feature to their maps functionality that allows you to get directions using public transportation (in addition to the driving directions they've always provided).

www.google.com/transit

has a list of the different cities covered and

maps.google.com/help/maps/transit/index.html

has a short video clip on how it all works.

I have to admit it, I am excited.


Cheers!
mouse

101 Cookbooks

Dear Friends and Family,

No flashes of brilliance this morning. But, want to share one of the better cooking blogs I've been reading. Lots of gorgeous photos and inspiring recipes.

www.101cookbooks.com

I'm eager to spend some time in the kitchen this weekend. It's almost spring!


Cheers!
mouse

New Morning Transit Entertainment

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm super excited about a website a friend told me about.

www.dailylit.com

You can subscribe to books, and they email you an installment everyday at a specified time. Perfect for my morning and evening commutes. And, it solves the dilemma of not getting the paper or magazines or books since it doesn't generate paper. And, I'm not adding to future landfills with another electronic device.

I ordered The Time Machine. My first installment is due at 6 o'clock this morning. I haven't been this excited since I found out my lovely friends at Google have an SMS account.


Cheers!
mouse

I-35W Bridge Collapse

Dear Friends and Family,

Mr. mouse called me last night to tell me about a horrible accident that happened in the Twin Cities. A bridge collapsed during rush hour traffic sending dozens of cars plummeting into the river below.

• Star Tribune
• Pioneer Press
• CNN
• NY Times
• Yahoo News

I've always had a fear of bridges. So, this really gives me the willies. And, things like this aren't supposed to happen in Minnesota. For me, Minnesota was such a safe haven, a refuge, a little Eden. Bad things aren't supposed to happen there. And, when they do, it really jars me.

I wish there was something I could do, besides keep all the people affected by the accident in my thoughts today.


mouse

Clutter Control Weekend

Dear Friends and Family,

I woke up early this morning because of a really bad dream. And, I spent a couple of hours futzing on the computer and straining some crab stock we made last night.

While on the Weight Watchers message boards, I came across a post on clutter control, and I couldn't resist following the link. After all, the only reason this weekend isn't booked on our calendar is because I had it blocked out as a clutter control weekend.

The URL for the site is www.flylady.net. And, it was just enough motivation to make me spend 15 minutes this morning cleaning up the living room. So, what did I accomplish in my 15 minutes? I stowed away the airbed, pump, pillows, and blankets from when we had guests over (Memorial Day weekend), replaced a missing pillow on our bed, folded my evening blanket that I use when I get chilly, organized the mail for the prior owner so we can drop it off at the post office, stowed away all of the shoes by the door, tossed a pair of really ratty shoes I never wear, collected all the coasters into their holder, moved a pair of sunglasses to their proper holding spot, and added a bookmark to a book I've been reading.

I have to say, it feels good.


Cheers!
mouse

06.04.07: Twin Cities Time

Dear Friends and Family,

Just got home. Mr. mouse is headed home soon. Figured it was a good time to catch up on the weekend.

I flew over to the Twin Cities Friday for a dermatologist appointment bundled with some time with friends from old work and a 40th birthday party for one of my neighbors.

Friday morning, I got a request from a person to link to my blog from his. Huh. Okay. You can get to it from the comments area of my last weekend update if you're curious. I guess there's a first time for everything.

The dermatologist appointment was par for the course. After the skin exam, the docs (my usual doctor plus a resident) decided to remove an atypical mole that had formed on the palm of my hand. That's right, on the palm of my hand. They'll biopsy it. Hopefully it comes back as no news. For now, I'm treating it like I did all of the past moles. I've gotten good at wound care. Now, the resident. I gotta say, he was kinda hot. I could say more, but I won't. After the appointment, I met up with several friends from old work for lunch and then drinks. It was almost as if I hadn't been gone for six months... It was so good to catch up with all of them.

Then, I headed over to Trixie's. Trixie, Ms. Jordan and I headed out for some sushi and girl talk. Then, we headed back for some scrabble. I got bandanas for a bingo and Ms. Jordan, with the help of the dictionary, taught us several new words to add to the scrabble arsenal - camas, lich, soth and vang. Nicely done, Ms. Jordan.

We slept in Saturday morning. Then, I drove back to the old hood and met my neighbors for lunch - more sushi. I can never say no to sushi. I love it. After sushi, we headed for ice cream. Mmm. I love ice cream too. Then, it was over to the book store and Target before heading over for the party. Before I knew it, it was midnight, and I needed to get some shut eye before catching an early morning flight home. Mr. mouse's flight filled up, so I wanted to get home to spend some time with him.

Sunday, we spent the morning organizing and cleaning the house. Then, I napped while Mr. mouse did some shopping. We ate a gianormous dinner of salmon sashimi, rice, kalbi, kim chee and tofu before going up to the deck to enjoy the evening. A day well spent.


Cheers!
mouse

The Adventures of The Wild Hat

Dear Friends and Family,

On New Year's Eve, Mr. mouse and I flew in for a party with the neighbors. I needed to drop off some stuff with a friend at the mall. Mr. mouse and our neighbor came along for the ride. Mr. mouse wanted to look for a Minnesota themed gift for his boss. He found something or other for the boss, and picked up a hat for himself.

The hat came out for the party and has quickly developed a persona of its own. On my last trip back this weekend, we bought three additional hats. Now, it's got its own blog, a mission and an ode.

thewildhat.blogspot.com


Cheers!
mouse

Congratulations on a Job Well Done

Dear Friends and Family,

I've been following the adventures of Kyle MacDonald, oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com, in his quest to trade a single red paper clip for a house. In the span of a year, he's accomplished just that. Hats off to him!

Things that make you go hmm...


Cheers!
mouse

Cogs in Wheels

Dear Friends and Family,

An article, The Rise of Crowdsourcing, was quoted in a meeting I was in yesterday. It helped gel an idea that I have encountered several times now.

How do you get the masses to do the work? What obvious business models are waiting to be invented?

I still think free-bay will replace eBay one day. But, what does that mean? Things to ponder.


Cheers!
mouse

Mouse Watches TV

Dear Friends and Family,

Monday night was the series finale of the TV show Alias. My friend got me hooked on Alias years back, but I stopped following it when the TiVo had to choose between it and Survivor. The people dynamics on Survivor fascinate the organizational behavior major in me, and the trade-off was easy once they killed off Michael Vartan's character. Fortunately for me, when they brought the show back on the air (post Violet's birth and Jennifer Garner's maternity leave), they brought the show back on Wednesday, so I figured I might as well watch.

Well, this post is about the interesting change I've seen in my TV watching behavior since early May. ABC started offering episodes of Alias online, free of charge, with "limited" commercials. On average, it's three 30-second spots brought to your by one sponsor. I've seen Ford, Tylenol, Zyrtec, Suave, Jennifer Aniston's movie - The Break Up and a couple of others. So, it's interesting, much more brand impression than "normal" TV would leave me with.

The quality of the stream is iffy at night. With cable broadband, if my neighbor starts hitting the pipe hard, I get some buffering. It's happened once or twice, but not enough to be a nuisance.

So, just so you understand the trade-off... Both are on my time, since both TiVo and ABC queue the show. I hit the play button and watch, pause, etc. But, TiVo is hooked up to a TV screen and surround sound. ABC.com is hooked up to a computer screen and computer speakers. No one's questioning the sight and sound trade-off here. Clearly the Home Theater set-up should win. TiVo has no commercials, ABC.com has three. TiVo doesn't need buffering. ABC.com did on a couple of occasions. So, the clear winner should be TiVo, right? So, tell me, why have I been watching online and not on TV?!?!

Hmm...

Okay, before I sign-off, one of the Ford commercials was really cool. They have a site for Warriors in Pink. I commend them for doing something so different. It makes me think more of them as a brand.

Oh, and one other site, then I'm done. Promise. Mr. mouse found it. I'll watch it from time to time. Woot's Beta Wine Site.


Cheers!
mouse

Mouse Discovers Monk-e-mail

Dear Friends and Family,

One of my close friends came over last night. We worked on her resume. And while we were chatting, she showed me one of the funniest sites. I'm sure it's been around forever, but it was new for me and so much fun. Monk-e-mail or "monkey mail" can be found at careerbuilder.com. I've added the hyperlink for practice.

I'm off from work today. I'm going into the dermatologist to get my mole removed. Gross, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Here's to hoping the biopsy comes back with normal results.


Cheers!
mouse

Mouse Reads a Blog

Dear Friends and Family,

This morning, I want to experiment with adding links to other websites on my blog. What better way than to tell you about a couple of blogs I read every morning?

For the latest in celebrity gossip, which unfortunately, I can't resist, I follow trent.blogspot.com (aka Pink is the New Blog). For snippets of office humor, there's www.overheardintheoffice.com which updates hourly if you are so inclined. And, for food recommendations I go to The Blissful Glutton.

So, let's see... The second one, which started with www was automatically hyperlinked. The first which is a blogger sites didn't... Where's the integration within the site??? Okay, let's try the link button - hmm... Seems simple enough. Let me try that on the titled one as well...

Here goes nothing. Let's publish the post and see what happens.


Cheers!
mouse


PS: It worked, but the links are only highlighted. I think I'll be old fashioned and try to underline them... Seems to involve adding old-fashioned html tags in the raw file... If it doesn't work, I'll fiddle with it more tomorrow.

PPS: Couldn't resist trying again. Tried adding TARGET="_blank" to the tag. For example: less than symbol a href http://www.nytimes.com TARGET="_blank" greater than symbol. Let's see if it works.