Wednesday, August 23, 2006

HTML Class

I started an online HTML class through PCC last week. Today we wrote our second simple web page using Notepad and HTML.

I never would have thought I'd be doing this! It's intimidating, but most of the stuff we've talked about so far I'm pretty comfortable with. I'm so used to being able to see what my creations look like as I make them, but this is so much different. You can try to imagine what the web page will look like as you type simple black code on a white screen, but it's hard for me to do right now. I find myself getting antsy, waiting to test my page in the browser window to see how the combinations work together.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Complaining Is the Best Conversation Starter

Have you ever gotten together with your girlfriends for a cocktail or a pedicure and before you know it you're all "venting." I find myself leaving these situations more depleted than when I went in and wondering "Am I really so pessimistic that I can only talk to her about the bad things?" Apparently I'm not alone.

According to Robin Kowalski, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Clemson University, in a recent article on MSN.com "We use complaints as icebreakers. We start a conversation with a negative observation because we know that will get us a bigger response than saying something positive would." The article goes on to say that women use complaining "in a ritualistical way, as a means of bonding."

As such it seems that constructive complaining is an essential life skill. Some rules for performing the ritual properly:

1) Be up-front about your need to complain (rather than try to pretend you're just having a regular conversation)
2) Limit your kvetch time
3) Don't act as though your gripes trump everyone else's
4) Select an appropriate listener

The article goes on to say, "Bad complainers are annoying at best, depressing at worst. They spread negativity and give griping a bad name. But if you really need to complain, go ahead. Because for most of us, behind the grousing is a basic human need: We're looking for connection."

Overweight Babies? I thought that was a good thing.

According to a recent article on MSN.com the number of overweight babies has increase 74% since 1980. I was always told that being a chubby baby was a good thing and had no bearing on how much you would weigh as an adult. According to the article, it may actually lead to obesity in the future and all the related health problems. Yikes!

Monday, August 07, 2006

Mommy Wow! I'm a Big Kid Now...

I learned how to do something technical by myself. What I mean by that is I didn't ask our help desk coordinator or our IT department. I did my own Google search and successfully found my own solution.

The problem: I wanted Photoshop CS2 to be my default photo viewer, because usually when I veiw a photo I also want to edit it. However, I had some other viewer opening all my images on both my home and work computers. Not any more!

Yay for me!

Thursday, August 03, 2006

I Can't Believe It's Been a Month

Summer time is soooooo busy, isn't it? Work is busy. Evenings are busy. Weekends are busy. I've been so busy, I've forgotten to read blogs let alone write my own.

Most of you know we just got back from a whirlwind trip to NYC a couple weeks ago. We had a good time. Saw a lot of the classics. (Pictures to follow.) I could shake the thought that I was supposed to be so excited and yet it was really just another city with another china town and another park and another metro system. Didn't really seem like the same thing I've seen in the movies. However, I did call my Mom as we stood outside Macy's on 34th street and Broadway. (I'm named after Natalie Wood who was the little girl in my mom's favorite movie Miracle on 34th Street.) And Times Square was pretty impressive. I got dizzy trying to look at everything.

Thanks again Paige and Ben for watching the doggies. We all appreciate it.