Thursday, November 5, 2009

Yip Yip Yip - My Favorite Sesame Street Skits

Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th anniversary. I was thinking about my sesame street memories - sitting on our 1970's mustard yellow couch in an oversized t-shirt, undies and socks watching Big Bird, Burt & Ernie and Oscar the Grouch - and being completely entertained. And this was before Elmo was a big deal and every episode had a movie/music/tv star.

I guess it was the random characters that captured my attention but I think it was also that I understood what they were saying to me. I understood a's and b's and 3-2-1. I understood blue and orange. And I understood playing, laughing, smiling. Watching something that resonates with you, even as a little kid, was pretty intriguing.

Here's a clip of my favorite characters, the Yip-yip-nope-nope aliens. Even as a kid, I guess I was mesmerized by sci-fi.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Not a Crazy Cat Lady

Just scanned through my last few blog posts and realized that if some stranger happened across my blog they would undoubtedly say to themselves, "another crazy cat person" and move on.

I'm really not. It just seems that this blog seems to be my random outlet for cat nonsense. To those that read every-so-often, I apologize. I'll try to diversify my content a bit.

For instance, I am putting together my list of top 10 X-File episodes for my own amusement. I shall share shortly. If you want to put your vote in, feel free.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Meet Joe

Those that have the opportunity to visit our home this past year know that we have a beautiful flamepoint cat named Remy who you should NEVER, EVER touch. He was busy killing high-flying birds the day God was passing out the 'cuddly' part of 'cute and cuddly.' Over the year, we learned to love him for what little attention he gave us and enjoyed the endless string of 'you'll never believe this' stories he provided us.

But his recent weight-gain and his increasing disdain for everything we are, prompted us to decide that he needed someone to play with | spar with | chew on. So, being the very smart people that we are, rather than get rid of our little devil, we decided to get a friend for him and see what happens.

Meet Joe.

Joe is cute and cuddly, loves tummy rubs and hiding spots. He also loves taunting Remy. Remy is adjusting to having to share his domicile but I think overall, he likes that Joe absorbs all the petting and touching and general affection. Remy is now free to sulk in peace.

Why Joe?
Joe was the name his previous owner gave him (we got him from the Humane Society) and the one he recognizes. You can call him Joe, Joey, or Joe-Joe. At certain times, I call him Johnny Racecar. Why you ask? Two reason: 1) he's a loud purr-er and 2) his favorite activity right now is to get Remy to chase him from the hallway, to our bedroom, under our bed, over our bed and back out to the hallway (morning or night).

The name also gives me the chance to frequently say some of my favorite 'Joe Quotes':
  • "My life has reached its pinnacle. Joe is letting me close the store tonight."
  • "Joe, I think it's gonna be okay." "What makes you think that?"" Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear."
  • "Joe, the money is gone." "Where's it gone?" "Atlantic City" "Is it coming back from Atlantic City" "Oh, I don't think so, Joe." "What's it doing in Atlantic City?" "Recirculating"
  • "Joe, I can categorically say that you are not a bigger banana-head."
  • "What's up, Joe? What's up with the boss threads."

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Exciting News: Oregon Trail For the iPhone

Blessed are you who remember playing Oregon Trail in elementary school, that fun little game where you help the naive travel across the U.S. in search of the great land of of the Northwest. The difficulty of course lied in staying alive. Your traveling party would run out of food if you were not smart about bartering or monitoring supplies. Then there was the difficulty of shooting for food. I could never quite shoot enough deer to survive the trek. And then if starvation didn't get you, cholera or dysentery would. Ah the fun of education.

I have a very vivid memory of sitting at the one computer in Mr. Philips' fourth grade classroom at Fullerton IV playing Oregon Trail. It was near the end of the day because it was dark outside and I remember watching the raindrops drip down the reflection of our milk-carton bean sprout experiments in the window (mine never grew, but that's another story). I was trying to shoot those darn deer and I remember thinking, "I wonder if this is how it looks when dad goes hunting." I think that is so funny now as it is clear that five or six four point bucks don't just prance gingerly in front of my dad as he sits patiently in a clearing. But in my head, the game seemed real enough to pose the question.

Now, years later (never mind how many) I co-own a company that develops online applications for social networking sites and analyzes complex algorithms to try to get a marketing edge. I guess the game is a little reminder that where we are now technologically is going to look so old in just a short amount of time. But I hope it will still seem fun and interesting.

It is exciting news to find out that this fun-loving game will soon be available as an app for the iPhone. Supposedly on February 28 you will be able to download this little gem from the app store.

I can't wait to try my hand at the journey again.

Check out screen shots from the iPhone version of the game.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Mad Fish SEO Is Hiring - Web Developer

Mad Fish SEO is looking for an entry level programmer to fill a web developer position. The growing Portland-based SEO firm is quickly expanding and in need of an eager programmer with PHP/MySQL, Smarty and XHTML/CSS knowledge.

This is a great opportunity to get in at the start of a small but exciting new Portland firm.

You can find the job posting at http://www.madfishseo.com/about_us/employment.