Still sick

Yep, still hacking away on day 8. My nose feels like it's just going to fall off in a tissue the next time I blow it. I made a doctor's appointment for tomorrow morning, since it looks like this has gone into an infection at this point. I really hate taking antibiotics, but even more so I hate constantly blowing my nose and not being able to sleep because I'm coughing so much. Good times.

Birth control pills may weaken bones

Hmmmm. This doesn't seem good considering I've been on a birth control pill of some sort for over a decade, and osteoporosis runs in my family.

Jim Gaffigan cracks me up

Thanks to my recent cold, I've been awake and asleep at random hours. Tonight, I caught a rerun of Jim Gaffigan's Beyond the Pale special on Comedy Central and remembered how funny his whole routine was, especially the section about hot pockets:



And the part about religion is hilarious, too:

Ribbit ribbit

Last night I started getting a sore throat and runny nose. This morning, it sounded like a frog came and settled down right in my throat. I feel like something has taken over my face, and I'd like it to leave now. I can't even believe how quickly this whole thing came on. Usually I don't get laryngitis until a few days into a cold, but not this time. It was almost immediate after I felt the initial symptoms coming on.

Gettin' down with Richard Cheese

L. took me to see Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine tonight at El Corazon. If you don't know who Richard Cheese is, he does lounge-singer versions of popular songs, from Slipknot to Britney Spears. I can say that if you're squeamish about vulgar language, he probably isn't your kind of guy since he covers songs that include some profanity. But, it's all in good fun.

It was an awesome show. They played for about two hours, and hit all of their best tunes, including some from their upcoming album. Richard is a great entertainer, and had some really funny things going on with audience members throughout the show. They took suggestions, and did a cover of some Rush tunes including Tom Sawyer - right on the spot; one of the band members wasn't even familiar with the song, so Richard got him going.

After the show, he and the band headed into the lounge where we met up with them, and got autographs and pictures from the whole band. It was a blast. And I got a burning question answered. In one of his Britney Spears covers, he mentions that he'd really like to get to know Britney in a for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge sense. Based on her recent behavior, I wasn't sure whether he'd still want to hit that, but he assured me that he does. So, there we have it. He'd still have sex with Britney Spears. Good to know.

A nice compliment

It's been a fairly good week. I found out that I had some content published in a technical book, so that was pretty exciting. Although I publish a lot of online technical content, this was the first time I was published in a book.

I also got a nice compliment from one of the PMs I work with about my design work. Right now, I do a lot of work on UI text and design for our team, and I really enjoy it. The PM told me that he really appreciates having my help on the text and design because he thinks that I'm very good at it. He said that they always bring the design stuff to me now, since we don't have an actual designer on the team. So, that was nice to hear. As a technical writer, you don't always get a lot of respect, so it's really good when people value what you do. And it's even nicer when it's something that isn't technically part of your job title, but something that you enjoy a lot and with which you are apparently doing a good job.

This was especially nice to hear because I'm thinking of taking some design-related classes next year when I have some more free time. I really want to learn more about the tools, like PhotoShop and InDesign. I love writing, but I'd like to pair it up with more background in design.

Problems with technological advances

The latest entry in the Red Tape Chronicles is about high tech spousal abuse. It was a rather timely article considering the other day my cousin was asking me about key logging software for her friend. Apparently this friend has a cheating husband, who has since sworn that he is no longer cheating, and actually appears to be making an effort at repairing his marriage. However, the friend has (understandably) lost all trust and decided that she wanted to put a key logging program on their computer to try and catch him cheating.

Of course since I'm the technology person in our family, my cousin comes to ask me about these programs, about which I have absolutely no clue. All I could tell her was that it sounded like a bad idea, and that her friend was going in the wrong direction if she really wanted to put her marriage back together and get trust back with her spouse.

Awhile back, L. and I watched a Dr. Phil episode about a woman whose husband was absolutely out of control and a complete creep. He had literally rigged everything of hers with GPS, spyware, etc. to keep track of her at all times and in all places. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen, and the whole time we couldn't believe how this woman stayed with him. In the end, she wanted to get out and I have no idea whether she was able to do that successfully. But, I sure hope so.

I sometimes wonder how far all of this technology will take us. There are so doors opened with each new advancement, but it sure brings up a lot of questions and people who will take advantage of a situation.

Post Secret

Last month, I celebrated Christmas in July with my friend, A. She had my Christmas gift in December, but we never seemed to get together at a time when she'd have it. So, she finally just brought it by my office when I was on vacation and left it on my desk. It was the book Post Secret by Frank Warren. I devoured it in a couple of hours, amazed at I was seeing and reading. Then I read through it all again. I hadn't heard of the project before, and I was completely immersed in the artwork and all the secrets that people keep inside, only to one day make their way anonymously onto the page of a book.

I now check the Post Secret blog every week to see new secrets. This week, Frank Warren posted a new mini-movie about his project: