Firewallender // Cassie Wallender

After months of going sans camera due to a lost charger and a debacle with an online purchase attempting to replace said charger, my camera is back in business!  Anyone who has friended me on Flickr knows how much joy this means to me.  I was also able to get some photos off of my camera from early December, here’s one of my favourites of my Little and I goofing around at the Christmas tree farm:

But, like the circle of life for electronics, after I regained my camera my iPhone promptly died. It had just been dropped inadvertently into the street one too many times and gave up the ghost.  Suffice to say, I am a sad panda.

It’s a weird feeling to be without a phone, freeing in some ways (no one can contact me) and terribly bothersome in others (I can’t contact anyone).  Suddenly I no longer have the power to access any information I’d like on a whim. My curiosity is used to being instantly satisfied. What does this word or term mean? When is this happening? What was so-and-so’s last name? What am I doing Thursday?  How do I get there? Does your man have a beard? I am now finding myself having to… *gasp!* PLAN AHEAD.  It’s tragic, folks, truly.  And by tragic I mean, tragic how lucky I am, and how rarely I appreciate it.  Life is very, very convenient in 2009.  I don’t have to grow my own vegetables.  I just walk into the store and they are there - like magic!  Life is beautiful… even without the iPhone.  :-)

On an only semi-related note… today was the second day I was able to go for a walk around Capitol Hill without a jacket.  That might also play into my current state of gratitude and appreciation.  There is nothing that lifts one’s spirits like fresh air.

And a little good, old fashioned slapstick… always a winner.  :-)

Who is the biggest advertising loser of the Super Bowl?  It appears to be GoDaddy, who started quite a stir on Twitter with their not only degrading but also blatantly stupid and absolutely uncreative ad campaign.  People are fleeing the domain hosting company like rats off a sinking ship.  This includes me.  I had one single domain left there which I plan on transfering to 1&1 today.  Not all publicity is good publicity, GoDaddy.

I bought and downloaded Pixelmator after a recommendation and short demo from my friend Andrew Woods. It’s a beautiful image editing program for Mac that at $59 is a superb replacement for Photoshop. And on top of their low price, I saved $10 by finding a coupon through RetailMeNot, a site I would always recommend everyone check before finishing a checkout on any purchase. The above was my first experiment playing around for a few minutes with Pixelmator and so far I’m very impressed. Anyone familiar with Photoshop will have no problem finding the tools intuitive and superior to Gimp in its elegance. (Though, I should mention that Gimp is free… so there’s that.  But you get what you pay for, as Valor always says.)

Oh yes, and… about the picture itself… :-) I love living in a country where one is free to photoshop the leader of the free world into ridiculous jokes. Life is good.

Testing out some new fun from deep within the labs of iLike; this is what I’ve been listening to lately:

UPDATE: Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head!

Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head - Sophisticated Side Ponytail

I find myself with a lot of airline credit expiring this spring, racked up from last year’s travel nightmares. With a few days left to spend it all, I wonder, what are your favourite cities to spend a weekend in?

Booking travel is a lot like refinancing your mortgage.  There is this impending cloud of stress hovering about as your fret over whether to buy now or wait and see if the rates drop.  I wish there was a Farecast for mortgages, however.

So, some random number texts my roommate’s phone while we were hanging out at home tonight with friends, breaking in the new Nintendo Wii.  We decided rather than ignore the text, to engage the person. I think we just broke up some high school romance.  The conversation went as such:

Random: N**ga, you be trynna mackkk on my girl?
Us: Why, yes, Sir. I indubitably am, my fine fellow.
Random: Who this
Us: Sir, I doth believe you contacted me first.
Random: N**ga, you were at the Auburn game texting my girl
Us: Kind Sir, I suggest you have further trust in “your girl” - this is a grave invasion of her privacy.
Us: Is this insidious quarrel over?
Random: Shut the f**k up.
Us: So you’ve figured out I’m the wrong person then?
Random: No.
Us: You are truly a gentleman and a scholar.

Ah, delightful chap.  She’s quite the lucky one, eh?

[Update in the comments... all out texting war!]

While I realize one cannot both be an honest person and act happy all the time, I do strive to see the silver lining around even the very dark and stormiest clouds that enter our skies.

The truth is, 2008 was my toughest year yet for personal reasons. But that also means it was a year of great opportunity to learn and to try to be a better person for it. This is not a time to get jaded, it’s a time to count the blessings and strive to find joy in what you have, even the memories of things now lost.

So in my own Pollyanna-like way, I’ve decided to list some highlights of my worst year ever. I want to look back on this year and think of these things. And if a personal blog is for anything, it’s for reminding oneself of what’s good in life. Without further ado…

Happy Highlights from the Worst Year Ever

Volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters

I have a really awesome little friend, she’s seven years old, about to be eight, and I just started hanging out with her this year. Being a part of a child’s life is a significant commitment, but it’s a blessing too - her friendship really warms my heart and she always cracks me up. We do a lot of activities together like bike riding and swimming. In motivating me to try to be a good example for her, I think maybe she’d done me more good than vice versa. :-)

She’s a bit of a ham (okay, a huge ham), and loves playing with my computer, so we made a video the other day:

I think it’s pretty easy to see how special being a Big is to me; I hope we’re always friends and someday when she’s taller than me we can celebrate 2008 as the year we met.

Becoming a Part of the Seattle Startup Community

It’s hard to imagine that is was only January 25th, 2008 when Seattle Startup Weekend was held at the Adobe headquarters just a stone’s throw from my house. That weekend was really the beginning of something much more for me though, it introduced me to so many amazing people. More than just networking, I’m happy to count them as friends, and have had such a blast spending time with them.

Startup Weekend truly was the toppling of that first domino that led to my attending so many other tech events in Seattle like Gnomedex, nPost events, MindCamp, Lunch 2.0 and Hops and Chops, and of course Startup Drinks, and making further friends and acquaintances. It’s funny this all happened this year, because it really feels like some of these people have been in my life for much longer than that. We’re like one big geeky family, and I am grateful for 2008 because of it.

Being a Best “Man”

I got to be in my best friend’s wedding. Definitely a highlight, even if I did sound shaky and nervous during the toast, it was such an honor to be in the wedding party, and spending time in Kansas City with so many friends was a blast.

Traveling my Little Heart Out

I went to the Caribbean this year! I went to Leavenworth and Hood Canal! I went to Phoenix to see Connie! It was all a blast.

Seeing Last Year’s Resolutions Through

Guys, I did it. I really quit biting my nails. Really and finally.  Other minor but happy accomplishments include doing my longest run yet, putting chains on my tires all alone, and doing a lot of helpful introspection (something I’ve never been very great at before).  This is the first year I’ve really paid attention to fitness and taking care of my body and made it a priority, and I think that’s an important milestone since it’s been a huge attitude adjustment for me. I’m pretty sure I can do just about anything I set my mind to now. Watch out, 2009!  You’re going to be the best year ever.

A Few Goals for 2009 (trite, but good):
Spend more quality time with close friends & my family
Work on being more focused and efficient with time
Continue to deepen healthy eating habits started in ‘08

A Few Goals for 2009 (less trite and also good):
Visit people in Washington, D.C., St. Paul, & Phoenix
Run another 5k or two at least, stay on fitness targets
Jump off that abandoned part of the 520 bridge
Sneak into that members-only goth club just for fun
Try seeing the opera once more before you give up entirely
More dancing, canoeing, hiking and climbing this year
Read “Atlas Shrugged” by March 18th

Mr. Watson, come here. I need you.

Step 1: Pick a domain and check if it’s free. Try to make it something easy to remember, that you don’t have to spell out to people.

Step 2: Buy a hosting package.  I use 1&1 to host, and so far, they’ve been swell.  All you’ll probably need is the beginners Linux hosting package, it comes with a domain, 10 MySQL databases, and 10 gigs of space.  It’s $3.99 a month (but there’s always specials to be had).  You can host elsewhere, just so long as you have a MySQL database and FTP access.

Step 3: Profit!  Just kidding.  Download the latest from WordPress.org.  There’s a bunch of steps here, but rather than just plagiarize, I’m just going to point you in this direction for the general directions, and to here for directions using 1&1 hosting.

Step 4: Time to customize!  You can find easy to install themes to make your blog look more “you”. I believe in crossposting, because not everyone is going to put your blog in their RSS Reader, or even use one.  Here’s a handy MySpace Crossposter and a Live Journal Cross Poster. I also import my blog’s feed into my Facebook.  You probably want to use something like Disqus or IntenseDebate to turn your comments into conversations (I use IntenseDebate and love it).  If you make pages such as the ever popular “resume” or “about me” pages, you may want to checkout this post on removing the comments section from the bottom of a post.  If you see any customization on my blog that you’re curious how I’ve done, let me know.

I’ll try to expand on this as I learn more myself, but for now this should definaely get you on the right track.  Happy blogging!

[Update: I'd recommend reading 10 Things to do after Installing WordPress after this post. It's got additional tips, especially regarding search engine optimization.]

Please don’t take this too seriously or personally - as you all know New Year’s Resolutions rarely involve much “resolve” and are more likely to be a general direction one would like to head in than any hard and fast rules.  That being said, I humbly present for your critique my brainstorm on potential 2009 microblogging resolutions:

1. I will not #unnecessarily #hashtag nearly every #other word.  Not even for #ironic effect.
2. I will not post vague and mysterious emo crud, nor vague and mysterious emo lyrics.
3. I will not post and mention someone just to namedrop. Really. I will search my heart first.
4. I will not attempt to make ten consecutive 140 character posts instead of one 1400 character blog post.
5. I will not post a link to every blog post I make, but rather sparingly link to the ones that are pertinent to a conversation at hand.  Twitter is not my RSS feed.
6. I will use direct messages whenever appropriate, and make “quality over quantity” my mantra for posting publicly.  No daily “Good morning/night, Twitterverse!” posts.
7. I will try to filter Twitter lingo from showing up in my Facebook status, so as to be kind to n00bs.
8. I will not take Quitter personally, everyone follows and unfollows people for different reasons.
9. I will make connections offline, and use microblogging as a tool for rather than a substitute for real life. I will use it as a tool to rally friends for impromptu face time.  :-)
10. I will not overshare or post while consuming alcohol… which generally results in oversharing.
11. I will not be bullied into adding anyone on LinkedIn just because we randomly follow each other, I will retain my LinkedIn network as a list of people that I know that I would recommend professionally.
12. I will strictly limit my forays into the following topics: every cute thing my cat/dog/baby/significant other does, every slightly notable quote by every speaker at every conference I’m at, every food or drink item I’ve consumed all day, every address I’ve arrived at, and every change in the local weather… even if it is SNOPOCOLYPSE 2009 because Seattle got 2mm of snow.
13. I will remember that just because I’m bored at the airport, doesn’t mean that I should inflict that boredom upon everyone else.
14. I will never post a lone URL without some other text to describe why you should follow the link, unless the link is quite self-explanatory.
15. And for all that is good and holy in the world, I will stop rickrolling people already.  Even if I am Wil fraking Wheaton.  It’s 2009 already after all… we need to let it go.

In a nutshell: noise < signal.

Any suggestions for additions to this list?