In homage to the Discovery Channel....

August 1 brings us Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. My husband and I FINALLY caved in and got cable (for the reception - those digital TV antennas and close proximity to MSP airport don't mix) a few months ago. Hence, it will be our first Shark Week as a couple.

But we've been married 20 years. This week. So we decided that we needed to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary with a week long string of events (some big, some small, some not really events at all...but work with us, we've never done this before).

So we're celebrating 20th Wedding Anniversary Week (restraining order free since 1990!)

Sunday: Como Zoo and brunch
http://www.comozooconservatory.org/

Monday: husband picked me up after Italian class w/ a box full of gourmet cupcakes from Sweet's Bakeshop
http://www.theitalianculturalcenter.org/
http://www.sweetsbakeshop.com/

Tuesday (tonight): Tapas and drinks at Solera!
http://www.solera-restaurant.com/

We'll see what else happens this week!

PS - My niece will be moving close to the HQ of the Discovery Channel in MD (in honor of shark week?)

I've simply GOT to start blogging more!

Would be a pity to let this space go to waste.

to quote John Lennon

life is what happens when you're busy making other plans

my blogging has fallen by the wayside in the rush to keep up at work

going bananas loading RSS feeds into my google reader

mwah ha ha ha......(rubbing hands together vigorously)

8 Things - Thing Number Three

Just started the lesson on RSS feeds, ashamed to say I was kind of clueless. Haven't finished the Thing yet, but will work on it as time allows. Seems to me it's similar to when i sign up for a site and ask to be emailed any time there is an update - but different!

Web 2.0

Moving along into "thing 2"
BMJ editorial - good to see - the big challenge is getting increased participation. some people are not big on embracing technolgy (age old dilemma). The article has a lot of good references to check out too.

Stephen's Lighthouse - lots of good stuff here - a bit overwhelming. but i took a quiz on smartphones and i like the latest post about "50 things" - important to think about

LOVED the video - saw it once before but i can't remember where

I'm the kind of person who wants to go in and "clean up" all of the unused websites that have been abandoned.... I hate clutter! So i'll try not to think about it

BLOG PROMPTS
1. why take this course? why not? i'll learn neat and interesting stuff - i can amaze my friends at cocktail parties
2. some of those videos are from 3 years ago (posted) - i don't think i was aware of YouTube 3 years ago
3. the Wayback Machine is cool....sites are definitely more user-friendly now. The old ICSI.org website is a dinosaur!
4. at 2 different times, probably spent about 2 hours reading and surfing around

extra bonus: not sure if i think the number of articles on PubMed is large or small. Seems to me that this stuff isn't going away. Younger people are embracing this sort of stuff. Us "older" sorts better get w/ the program (change or get left behind)

back from vacation

Vacation was lovely, though Tampa was colder than normal.
I HIGHLY recommend "Bel Canto" by Ann Patchett. I'm kicking myself for waiting this long to read it (published about 9 years ago?). I really enjoyed it