Kevin and Shel

Last Post Ever ... at this location

2005-01-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

This is it - the last post at this location. From now on, you can view the online journal at http://writegirl.typepad.com/kevshel. My apologies if you got here from kevinandshel.com. I've tried to update all the links in the site, but there are a countless number and it's more than possible that I missed some.

I had an extra account at the new location. It now brings all my blogs into one behind-the-scenes tool, making it easier for me to manage. I "redecorated" the blog while I was at it as well. You'll see.

So update your bookmarks. Kevin and Shel's online journal (that's a blog) is now at http://writegirl.typepad.com/kevshel.

Spamalot

2005-01-07T16:42:00.000-05:00

For Christmas, I gave Kevin tickets to Spamalot in Chicago for New Year's Eve. If you're unfamiliar with it, Spamalot is in its pre-Broadway run in Chicago through mid-January. It stars famous people, like Tim Curry (from Rocky Horror), David Hyde Pierce (yep, the guy from Frasier), and Hank Azaria (Agador Spartacus in the Bird Cage, or Abu in the Simpsons). It's written by Monty Python's Eric Idle and its "lovingly ripped off" of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the amazingly popular movie.
It was absolutely hilarious. I wrote all about it here.
Here's a shot from outside the theatre, New Year's Eve 2004.

2004 Holiday Letter

2005-01-07T15:48:00.000-05:00

This is the holiday letter that appeared on the front page of kevinandshel.com throughout the month of December.

Hello everyone and happy holidays! I know this is an odd way to do a holiday note, but its also quicker and easier. This year, well, Kevin & I seem to have very little time on our hands.

My business, Write Technology, is doing better than I'd ever expected. While this isn't a bad thing at all, it has also eaten up every bit of time I once had. I had planned on having December to shop for the holidays and spend weeks baking wonderful, albeit fattening, goodies. I haven't had a moment to spare. Write Technology celebrated its one year anniversary in October.

Kevin is also very busy at Fifth-Third, where he is a java programmer. He is now a technical lead on a project. Kevin will be at Fifth-Third two years in June 2005.

We've had an entertaining year. From mundane yet exciting-to-us type things to actual, palpable exciting times,there is so much to tell. You can view our year in photos on our site by clicking here or on the Photo Albums link on each page of Kevinandshel.com.

Last January, we went to Las Vegas for my birthday. Kevin & I love Vegas, just for the fact that its so over the top and larger than life. We really don't gamble all that much. I love to shop in Vegas. They have a Chanel boutique! I can't afford to even walk into the Chanel store, but I gaze longingly in the windows and note fashion trends for the months ahead. We saw the Mac King magic show, the Imperial Palace car collection (including Marilyn Monroe's Caddy) and caught Tony Danza in concert. While Kevin & I were in Vegas, my best friend Pam, in Tampa, had her first child, Dominic.

In April we attended our third annual Maker's Mark Mile. This year, my Dad, Tom, and stepmom, Donna, as well as friends Melody & Jess, came with us. It was quite the party.

In late June/early July, we visited California. It was the first trip out west for either of us and we loved it. Kevin attended the Java One programmers conference in San Francisco. I tagged along and explored the city while he was at the conference. We extended the trip over the long July 4th weekend and visited Wine Country (Napa and Sonoma). We learned a lot about wine - in particular, what we like and what we don't. Wine country is beautiful and is probably my favorite place that we've visited. I can't wait to return.As for San Francisco, well, I've never met such nice people in my life. The city was so expansive and eclectic. I would move there in a heartbeat, given the opportunity.

We celebrated our one year wedding anniversary with a trip to Negril, Jamaica, over Labor Day weekend. It was an unbelievable experience, as we got caught about 20 miles outside of the eye of Hurricane Ivan. We were very lucky, but it was an incredibly scary experience. We were left without power and water for several days afterwards. The resort has offered us three free days for "our troubles," so it looks like we may be returning in the spring when its definitely NOT hurricane season. You can read about the whole hurricane experience here.

Finally, we're upgrading the house. These items fall in the exciting-to-us category, but may seem mundane to everyone else. We have added a new, ceramic-top oven to the kitchen, as well as rolling counters to create "instant islands" and a better use of space while cooking. We are putting down hard-wood floors this month, in time for Christmas. The floors will be laid in the living room/dining room area, and possibly the upstairs hallway. Over the summer I tore down every last remaining piece of wallpaper in the house and painted all the walls. This coming winter, time permitting, I hope to re-do the family room in a vineyard theme.

That's about everything in the world of Kevin and Shel. Keep checking back at our web site, as its updated quite frequently.

We hope everyone has a warm, safe, and incredibly joyful holiday season, no matter what holiday you celebrate.

Love,

Kevin and Michelle

Wish Lists

2005-01-02T18:43:00.000-05:00

This past year I've discovered that no one knows what to buy us when holidays or, in particular, birthdays come along. I tend to orchestrate whatever Kevin gets (Buy him this, this, and this) to ensure he'll like it and I bet he does the same with me. I'm making this slightly easier. If you want to buy us something, you can go to our Amazon Wish Lists. There is a heading on the sidebar of this journal called Material Things. If you click on either, it will take you to a "wish list" from Amazon.com that should at least give you some basic ideas. For instance, my wish list would lead you to believe I enjoy Philosophy products, old movies, Marilyn Monroe, Barbie dolls, and art deco. You would be right. Kevin's wish list, well ... I need to get him to update it. It used to have things in it but appears to be blank at the moment. We'll fix that.
Doesn't this seem horribly material of me? I know. So I will remind you again that you can go to Amazon.com and donate directly to the victims of the Tsunami via the Red Cross. Amazon has now collected over $12,316,302.00 in this method and I encourage you to help up that total. Nothing is more important than helping the victims in Thailand, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the rest.

Tsunami

2004-12-29T15:37:00.000-05:00

Disaster
I keep thinking of these people and how wretched and awful this is. The death toll neared 77,000 today as bodies continued to float ashore. I am aghast at the horrible tragedy.
I watched a video yesterday, and saw a wall of water rise up taller than the palm trees on the beach. I had that same terrified feeling, just watching the video, that I had when we were trapped during Hurricane Ivan. Yet the destruction and death from this combined natural disaster outstrips even that which was wrought by Ivan.
You can watch videos of the tsunami here, although they are at times both frightening and heartwrenching.
(You can learn more about tsunamis, earthquakes, relief efforts and this disaster in particular from the always fabulous Wikipedia.)

How You Can Help (and you really should)
You can contribute to the relief effort at these sites:

American Red Cross Disaster Relief (via Amazon.com) This method, using your Amazon account information, is the quickest and easiest way to donate. There's a great post over at Instapundit on the sheer amount of donations Amazon is gathering for this specifc cause. Makes me feel a little better about the human race.

Also:

Oxfam International SE Asia Relief Fund
Mercy Corps, and the Tsunami Relief Blog has information as well.
The Network for Good has a page listing organizations accepting disaster relief donations, including a personal favorite of mine (and quite important as disease will spread like wildfire in the affected regions), Doctors without Borders.

Happy Everything!

2004-12-25T13:04:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays - Joyeux Noel - Feliz Navidad - Happy Belated Hannukah - Happy Belated Solstice - Merry Christmas - Happy New Year - Happy Whatever Else You Might Celebrate!
It's just that time of year.
On a side note, wish Kevin well. In the process of putting in our hardwood floors, moving a piano, shoveling snow & ice, dislodging the neighbor's car from the driveway, and other things this week, he burst a capillary in his forearm. So his left arm is in a sling and a bandage right now, and he's one-handed.
Happy Everything!

Upgrading the Home

2004-12-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

Well, the tree went up last night, but is crooked (hey, we're really tired at this point). We still have to put the train around the bottom. There are also still tools and such lying about and we haven't put everything back into the rooms yet. What's not pictured is the upstairs hallway, which no longer has pink wallpaper and has hardwood floors instead of ugly blue carpet. Prints will be hung on the walls and actual furniture will eventually be purchased. Chandeliers will be replaced. Goodness, we have the right to be tired, right?

	This is a photo of the dining room before the makeover. Notice the ugly wallpaper and blue carpet.
	This is a photo of the dining room now. No wallpaper to be seen and hardwood, rosewood floors. Pure wood - not laminate. I intend to "stripe" the dining room at some point, but I'm not in a hurry to see a paint can again anytime soon.
	This is the new living room (with the crooked tree). Tinkerbell is our treetopper! I can't find a photo of the old living room, but it had the garish wallpaper and grandma-blue carpet. It also used to have curtains that matched the garish, flowered wallpaper. How scary is that? I prefer layered sheers myself.
	This is a photo of the foyer and part of the living room before the makeover. Notice the ugly wallpaper and blue carpet. In the hallway, there is pink, yes pink, wallpaper. That wallpaper covers the entire entranceway and all the upstairs hallway. In the foyer, there is also an ugly black glass chandelier.
	Pink wallpaper, flowered wallpaper, any wallpaper actually, is completely gone. Black chandelier replaced with silver. Walls painted. Hardwood floors in the living room. Those are holiday cards you see around the entranceway.

GMail for the Holidays

2004-12-20T06:58:00.000-05:00

By the way, is there anyone who would like a GMail email account? GMail is Google's email service that is web-based, by "invitation only," and gives you like 1 Gb of space. I have a couple of invitations to spare and, in the spirit of the season, thought I'd offer them up! Just email me if you're interested.

Holiday Letter

2004-12-15T14:22:00.000-05:00

Well, the holiday newsletter has been posted to the main page of Kevinandshel.com.
It will hang out there until around January 15, when I'll move it to this blog and return to the old entrance page for kevinandshel.com. You can view the holiday newsletter here.

Everything is going well here. We're in the midst of clearing out all the living room/dining room/hallway carpet, padding, staples, nails, etc so that Kevin and his buddies can put down our new hardwood floors on Sunday.

My work has slowed down - a little - to just one current client instead of two or three. Until January at least. Then I'm back to at least two. Two is rough. Do-able, but rough. Three comes close to killing me.

Next week I start baking all week. Every year we give our great neighbors gifts of homemade cookies and candy. This started out as a low-cost thing, but its become a rather large undertaking. I try to get a little more creative every year.

Tonite we meet Kevin's parents at Pompilio's in Newport for Christmas dinner. They are leaving to go to Florida on Friday and won't be back until January 2. Steven will join them next week. Marianne is with them this weekend but comes back next week. We are the only ones staying put for the holidays. Even my dad is heading to Florida with his family. I could really do with some sun myself, but I'll just cross my fingers that we go back to Jamaica in February.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Thanksgiving 2004

2004-11-29T11:38:00.000-05:00

We had a great trip to Chicago for Thanksgiving. As usual, Thanksgiving dinner at Joanne & Dale's was wonderful. Thank you for having us!
Photos are posted of the day after Thanksgiving at Marshall-Field's and trip home, including a side trip to Mar's Cheese Castle in Wisconsin.

New Photos are Published!

2004-11-06T13:39:00.000-05:00

Just head on over to http://www.kevinandshel.com (you probably came from there anyway) and click on the Photo Albums link. I've uploaded Steven's Homecoming and Cross-Country Tournament photos, photos from Krystal's Homecoming, photos from Halloween, and GenCon photos.

*If for some reason you have issues getting to the main site, click here to head through the "back door."*

Don't forget to visit Shel's personal (& slightly political) blog.

Blogger Upgrades?

2004-11-06T13:37:00.000-05:00

Blogger and Typepad have both recently upgraded their systems. I'm not overly thrilled with the results at Blogger, whereas Typepad seems to have mastered it. Of course, Blogger, which you are viewing right now, is free whereas Typepad, where my personal blog is located, is something I pay for on a monthly basis. You get what you pay for I guess.
Anyway, I'm finding that Blogger's new WYSIWYG formatting is going a little wonky. If it looks strange, just ignore it.

Tigger Dog Passed Away

2004-10-09T08:29:00.000-04:00

I'm not actually coping very well. Last night, my dog Tigger passed away from old age. It was fairly sudden, as she was fine yesterday morning and all the past week. Tigger was 12.5 years old. She was a mix of Lab and German Shepherd. She was a really big dog, and while she looked like a Shepherd, her personality was all Labrador. She was a great dog - big heart, big personality, she loved everyone. She lived with my mom most of the time - esp these last few years with Kevin's allergies and all. Mom is taking it hard, like me.
Tigger was just a great dog. Lucky for us, I guess, she went easy. I still have yet to have to put an animal down, and that's good. But goodness ... first I lose my cat at the end of July and now my dog .... I've never been without a pet in my life. Now, without Tigger, I am finally pet-less. (I'm still thinking about a bunny, but not until January, after we replace our carpeting with hard wood floors.)

Anyway, may Tigger rest in peace. She was the greatest dog and I will miss her unbelievably. I can't seem to stop crying.

Vacation & Hurricane Photos Posted

2004-09-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

Photos from Jamaica are now posted. For the moment, it's easiest to go straight to the Photo Album and decide where to go from there. You can look at the Before the Hurricane photos (my favorites), During/After the Hurricane, and view videos from the whole trip. Enjoy!

Surviving Ivan

2004-09-14T15:12:00.000-04:00

We're back from Jamaica as of late last night. We survived the literal brunt of the hurricane. The trip, overall, was awesome but is rather overshadowed by the ending 72 hours without running water and electricity. I journalled throughout the entire ordeal and transcribed it all into one document. You can read all about our adventure/ordeal here. In the meantime, we're back safe, in one piece, and are taking many many showers.

Gatlinburg Photos are posted

2004-08-01T15:24:00.000-04:00

Kate & I went to Gatlinburg for a quick girls getaway in late July. The photos have been posted. You can get to them from the photo album page or just take the direct route.

Samantha has passed away ...

2004-07-22T17:54:00.000-04:00

My cat passed away last night. Even though she was 22 years old, it has hit me really hard. There have been so many times in the last two years when I thought I was going to lose her, and then she'd bounce back, all full of energy. I had sort of started to believe she was an immortal kitty or something. So when she seemed to rapidly age before my eyes in the last two weeks, I was shocked. I almost took her into the vet to be euthanized - something I was really wrestling with - when she died on her own. I'm so glad she was able to die here, in her home, on her pillow, instead of in a scary, cold medical office.
I've been quite the wreck all week, and haven't made it into my office today. I can't imagine sitting at my desk, working, without my cat at my feet. She was my furry best friend for a very very long time, and she was pretty unconditional about her love.
I'm also shaken because I've never gone 24 hours without a pet. I don't know how to not have a pet. I need something small and furry and quiet to take care of, I think.

July Update

2004-07-18T22:51:00.000-04:00

Well, all the wallpaper is down. However, I haven't had a single moment of time to start primering and painting. Hopefully this week - definitely before we go to Jamaica in early September.

We found a new home store today - Home Emporium. It's a Big Lots for home goods - seriously. They had a little bit of everything, including a kitchen counter extension that I would dearly love to have. It was a pretty neat store. I have some great ideas for improving our bar area and they had great prices on hardwood flooring.

Kate and I are heading to Gatlinburg next weekend for a quick girls weekend where we'll hike and go whitewater rafting.

Kevin and I have now seen all the operas in our subscription series. Overall, it was really great, and as of right now, we intend to subscribe next year. In conjunction with the new Underground Railroad Museum, they've commisioned a new opera called Margaret Garner, based on the true story of a runaway slave. The libretto (lyrics) are by acclaimed author Toni Morrison (Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got her Groove Back) and they've secured Denyse Graves for the lead. I'm incredibly excited about that show next season.

Shel's Personal Blog has Moved/Write Technology Blog

2004-07-12T00:43:00.000-04:00

Two announcements:
My personal blog has moved from the URL previously published in this journal. You can now visit me at http://www.writegirl.net.

Also, I have launched a blog for my business: Write Technology Blog. This blog covers innovations in technical writing, eLearning, and instructional design.

We're back ... Photos are up!

2004-07-08T00:18:00.000-04:00

Well, we're back and are still adjusting to the time change, plus the missing day due to the Monday holiday, and finally, I'm in carb withdrawal as I started the South Beach diet.
Photos will be up soon. For some reason, all my files aren't loading, but I'm working on it. Been working on it all day.

7/8 Update: Photos are up! http://www.kevinandshel.com , select Photo Albums from the menu or go directly to the Napa/San Francisco photo album.

Wine Country

2004-07-08T00:17:00.000-04:00

(Posted to my other blog, Sunday, 7/4)
Hello! I can't post photos today, as my bag o' cables and cords is elsewhere. However, I'll eventually have several hundred photos from this trip online. By the end of the week, probably. I sunburnt my nose something awful on "Clinton Monday" as I was unexpectedly outside (I assumed it would be inside, silly me) and it has blistered and is attempting to heal. In the midst of putting moisturizer on my face to quell the sunburn, I managed to break out like a pre-teen everywhere but my nose, and I currently look something like a red-headed bride of Frankenstein. Very embarrassing. Make-up makes it worse. Ugh! Okay, now that my vanity rant is out of the way ...
Wine country is gorgeous. We sped through Napa in a limo with 2 other couples on Friday. We visited 5 vineyards - small to large. We bought 5 bottles of wine. I was forewarned that V. Sattui wasn't very good, but we found if you ask the right questions you end up tasting not only their awful stuff (and it is truly awful) but their reserve stuff (which isn't awful). At other vineyards, such as Coppola and Beringer, we went right for the more expensive reserve tastings, as we discovered that you can split the tasting (the pours are very liberal) and you get much more personalized service. Plus, even though we would just pay for one tasting, they'd usually end up giving us two glasses anyway, just because everyone is so nice. I don't think Coppola or Beringer would have been as interesting if we hadn't gone for the reserve. Saturday we started in Napa, at Domaine Chandon, which is beautiful, and then drove to Sonoma where we joined the Gundlach-Bundschu wine club. We fell in love with this vineyard a month or so ago, and were thrilled to visit and tour the wine caves. We like not only the wine, but the attitude. They're just plain fun. They once "held up" the Napa Valley wine train and made the occupants drink Sonoma wine. I like that attitude! From there, we drove to Ravenswood, where we had a delicious BBQ lunch (Bobby Flay has visited their BBQ pit) and visited with Milton, the giant winery cat. We tasted there too, but we managed to only buy BBQ sauce. We then headed out to Cline, which I loved. We're going to join their wine club too, we think, as it's only 2 bottles quarterly, which is quite affordable. After Cline, we went to Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves. They were getting ready for a wedding though, so we couldn't take a cave tour, which I'd wanted to do. We had cheese and flatbread and wine/sparkling wine and sat out on the veranda and relaxed. I think Gloria Ferrer has the best views in Sonoma from their terraces.
After Ferrer, we debated on Viansa or zipping into St. Helena/Napa for Beringer or Mondavi. Napa won, as those vineyards were open later. So we zipped down Hwy 29 to Mondavi which was closed! They had the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in concert that night and were only letting in ticket holders. So down we went to Beringer. I was quite skeptical but John had told me it was lovely. And it was! I was thrilled with the landscaping. And the reserve wines were not the dull stuff I had come to expect from Beringer.
For dinner, we headed all the way down to Calistoga (I wanted to see a little bit of everything!) and ate at the Flatiron Grill. Fish & Chips and a good Hefeweizen to drink. Yep - beer and fish! After a day packed so full of wine, we were both wanting an anti-wine dinner. It was quite delicious!
Today, we are boarding the wine train and then perhaps hitting one more winery. Then we're heading into Sausalito and San Francisco to spend the day until we board our overbooked red-eye at 1 am, home to Cincinnati. Of course, if it is overbooked, maybe we can trade in our tickets.
See you all next week!

Palace of Fine Arts ... And Great People

2004-07-08T00:16:00.000-04:00

(Posted to my other blog on Tuesday, 6/29)
I'm convinced that the nicest people in the world live in San Francisco. I've met a slew of incredibly nice locals - from the people in the hotel to the people on the trolley. It's great! Maybe its because I'm alone (Kevin is at his conference), but I've just been amazed at the friendliness, and that makes me a friendlier person in return.
Yesterday I was going to take a free tour of North Beach offered by the Public Library. Unfortunately, the tour guide didn't show up. The other two ladies waiting for the tour turned out to be locals - a retired tour guide and her sister, a hotel concierge, who just wanted to familiarize herself with the tour in case she should recommend it to guests. I hooked up with them (Barbara and Sarah) and we rode the bus through Marina to Krissy Field and the Palace of Fine Arts. The Palace of Fine Arts is this gorgeous old building that now houses the Exploratorium. Krissy Field is the wetlands/beach area that curves around to the Bay Bridge. I never would have found these places without my new friends. They showed me all sorts of places and invited me to lunch. I declined, not wanting to intrude on them any more, and hopped off the bus at noon in front of Ghiradelli Square. I wandered around all afternoon (bought an incredible hat!) and finally streetcar'd it back to the hotel. I took the Powell-Hyde line and saw Lombard Street - it's gorgeous and scary all at once. And the streetcar itself - well, I call San Francisco "Mother Nature's Rollercoaster." It's a little nervewracking at first to hang off the side of a 100+ yr old streetcar and careen up and down those hills. Then it just becomes fun!
Today I accompanied Kevin to JavaOne for conference goodies and then I finished off the day by shopping. Tonite is Chinatown. Then I think we'll head back up to the Buena Vista for Irish Coffee. I loved the Irish Coffee - who knew? I hate coffee, but really, all I could taste was the whiskey. Maybe we'll finish the evening at Ghiradelli with a sundae.


A cablecar from Cincinnati, circa 1951, put into use on the streets of San Francisco	The Palace of Fine Arts and Exploratorium

Bill Clinton Book Signing = Mass Chaos

2004-07-08T00:15:00.000-04:00

(Posted to my other blog on Monday, 6/28)
I failed. I did not get my copy of the overpriced My Life memoir signed by Bill Clinton. Here's what happened.
The signing was to begin at 2:30 pm (PST). We had to check our purses/bags, etc. No cell phones, cameras, iPods, or anything were allowed. Only one book signed per person and no personal conversations or chatting with the author. Everyone had been assigned a number ahead of time - I was number 2150. I know, it seems like a huge number, but they had sold over 4000 copies - each with a number. All 4000+ people were there. And we all arrived between noon and 1 pm. It started out okay. We were put in groups of 500ish. Each group would be shown into the building when their group number was called. Sort of like it works when you board Southwest Airlines - or even Delta with their new "zones." This was a very reasonable way of doing things. Of course, we were all lined up outside in the hot California sun. Well, everyone around me said it was hot. I was enjoying the 70 degree weather. Round about 4 pm, word came forth that he was still signing the first 100 books. While we may have been told no chatting, apparently someone forgot to tell Bill Clinton. I would venture to guess that chatting just comes naturally to someone who loves people, and the public eye, so much. He can't help himself. Indeed, as the few who had books signed drifted out to the masses in lines, it was confirmed that he was chatting up a storm. Especially if you had a kid with you. Then he would also chat with the kid or play with the baby! These are some of the reasons I love Bill Clinton, but today I found it frustrating.
At 4ish, the bookstore abolished the previous system of groups of 500. We were told to disperse to wherever and check back occasionally. They would now take people in groups of 100. I re-claimed my purse and iPod and went shopping. (The Ferry building, where the signing was held, is sort of a gourmet and organic farmer's market. I bought cheese, wine, flatbread, chocolate ... yum!) I checked back at 5 pm. He was on numbers 300-400. At that point, I gave up. He has a $200/plate benefit tonite for the Himalayan Society, or some such thing, at 6 pm (PST). It's been well publicized. Even if he went to that slightly late, which is typical Clinton, there is still no logistical way, at his current rate, that I would have had my book signed at number 2170. I hopped an electric cable car back up Market Street and came back to the hotel (which is excellent - the Hotel Palomar is great!).
On the up side, it was a site that I could only see in San Francisco. All these people milling about, chatting with perfect strangers, BONDING over politics. I am in a city of liberals, and today I was adrift in the Democratic sea. It was awesome. I met Karen, Marjorie, and Jim, with whom I chatted for the hours we stood in line. I got to eat lunch sitting on the ferry dock, looking at the Bay Bridge, Oakland, and various sailboats while there was a perfect breeze. I am convinced that this is the absolute friendliest city I have ever visited, including the people in the stores in which I shop and the folks I met in line. So while I didn't get the book signed, I had a great time.
A lot of people will be incredibly disappointed that they didn't get signed, although there won't be riots or anything. I'm sad that I didn't. But those who are upset - and there will probably be about 3500 of them - will not be kind towards the little independent bookseller that set this up. Book Passage planned very poorly for this event. Clinton is signing in Berkeley tomorrow and that bookstore only sold 400 copies with line numbers. That is the way to do it. Don't sell 4000 copies with line numbers when you only have 3.5 hours for a signing. It was a great publicity stunt gone sour. :(
In other news, I explored Union Square this morning. Hovered in fear outside of stores like Gump's and Chanel. Wandered happily into the Gap, Old Navy, DSW, and Betsey Johnson. (I wish I could afford Betsey Johnson.) And stopped by the visitor's center to add to my Barbie doll Collection with an "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" edition Barbie doll. (She's dressed from the 50's with a great hat!)
Tonite, I think we may appease Kevin and eat at the Stinking Rose - an all garlic restaurant. Last night was a very cold, but incredibly interesting, trip to Alcatraz Island. It's the most touristy thing we'll do while we're here.
In the meantime, I'm going to eat that Portugese Cheese and Rosemary flatbread I bought today.

South Park Kevin and Shel

2004-06-14T10:25:00.000-04:00

South Park Kevin and Shel - I don't even really like South Park. Kevin made these though, and they're really cute!

2004-06-12T15:23:00.000-04:00

Just testing the photo option of blogger. This is a spur-of-the-moment shot captured by our wedding photographer, showing how Kevin found a way to beat the heat. (The bridesmaids carried fans.)

Not much new ...

2004-06-06T11:23:00.000-04:00

Goodness, having a "blog" causes pressure to post. But there's nothing much going on right now. We're getting ready for our San Fran/Napa trip - err, I'm researching the heck out of it as usual, with a little Jamaica research thrown in for good measure. I've picked out furniture that we can't in any way afford at Lazarus-Macy's. So I'm hoping that by the time we're ready to buy the furniture (I hope this is our Christmas gift to each other) that we can find the same furniture on clearance or at someplace other than Lazarus-Macy's. I'm going for art deco in the living room.
Currently I'm ripping down the awful pink-ish wallpaper that covers our upstairs hallway, first floor entranceway, and stairway to the family room. First off, who uses pink wallpaper for a common area? And second, who uses so much wallpaper? It will have taken me over a week by the time I'm finished. As soon as the common areas are done, I'm tearing down those awful flowers in the living room/dining room. There will be no wallpaper left in this house. I want to the living room in muted greens, creams, and silver accents. Which is why we'll need furniture. And wood laminate flooring - the beat-to-hell blue carpet has got to go.

If anyone is curious, I'm running a personal blog over at http://satindoll1.blogspot.com/. I would say it's mildly entertaining. Be forewarned though, as I have very very strong political leanings and my opinions run rampant through that blog. You might call me a liberal. ;)

Take care,
Shel

Travelling!

2004-05-21T16:29:00.000-04:00

Well, the travel bug we've both been infected with for so long has bitten us again - in a big way.
Kevin is heading for San Francisco in late June/early July for the Java One convention (that's programming, not coffee) and I'm tagging along. I'll explore San Francisco all day while he does computer convention stuff. Then over 4th of July weekend, we're exploring Napa Valley! I'm quite excited!
Today I also booked us at Couples Negril, Jamaica. It's an all-inclusive resort that sounds incredible and several of our friends have recommended it. We're heading there over Labor Day for 7 days for our 1 year anniversary. Thank goodness for the tax return!
I love travelling!

Thought I'd Share ...

2004-05-16T18:24:00.000-04:00

A friend of Kevin’s from high school is getting married. I offered to do their web site, as a wedding gift, for an insanely low cost. The results can be seen here. Please visit. I'm pretty proud of some of the techie-behind-the-scenes stuff that's going on. 90% of it was created using Dreamweaver and Photoshop. I claim no responsibility for the writing and content however.
I'm thinking there may be a market here, and if I can get it together, I should post a special Write Tech page for brides in search of a web site. I figure the amount of work I did might equate to a flat $200/site for a basic web site for brides and grooms. I'd have to get more hosting space though, I think. I'm only allowed so many add-on domains.
Enjoy!
Shel

So ... All Settled in then?

2004-05-16T17:47:00.000-04:00

Sure! The latest news, then, is what I guess you'd like to hear. Well, my business is functioning as a business, which means the paychecks are slightly more regular, at least for the last few months. May and June are sort of up in the air, but I'm working on it. Kevin seems to be enjoying his job at 5/3 Bank. We're working on planning a vacation - possibly San Francisco and Napa Valley in July and hopefully (I have my fingers crossed on this one and my heart set on it) someplace wonderfully warm and beachy and tropical, etc, in September, on or shortly after our anniversary. (That would be August 30, in case you've lost track.)
No - no kids yet. No kids on the horizon. We're rather enjoying the moment of just being married.
This summer I'm tearing every last piece of wallpaper off the walls and painting them(the walls, not the wallpaper). I also have a goal of investing in living room furniture (finally!) by the end of 2004. I'm hoping that can be our holiday gifts to each other.
I just finished up Parker's. Check out the pics. The pics aren't that great. My camera ran out of batteries so I had to extract photos from the video I took. Also, I'm looking to convert all of our wedding video items (lots of filming between the wedding, reception, and honeymoon) to DVD from our camcorder. Not that difficult except that I want to edit the films, add music, transitions, etc. I've used iMovie in the past and that's what I am looking for - except that I no longer have a Mac that can handle the file sizes, etc, and need something comparable for the PC. Please don't suggest Windows Movie Maker - I tried it and it's awful. Simply does not compare to iMovie.
I am trying to find a way to post recommended links and such via Blogger, but despite it's claims of being new, improved, and flush with money, I'm not finding it overly user friendly.
Till later,
Shel

Welcome!

2004-05-16T17:05:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my blog ... For those of you new to "blogging," a blog is basically an online journal. I read a lot of blogs fairly regularly. In the case of this web site, it's a great way to keep the News section, well, newsy. Much easier to update a blog than to keep updating a web site.
I'm going to settle in and get "cozy" in my new blogspot. Actual news to come later!