web-goddess

Yesterday was my last day at Epson. Man, last days are fun. Everybody’s nice to you and you get presents and stuff. It makes you wonder why you wanted to leave in the first place! (But only for a second.) We all went out to the Ranch for lunch and then in the afternoon we had the gift presentation. The Head of Marketing gave a very nice speech and then I opened the box (decorated with custom-made Harry Potter wrapping paper by my friend Mardi) to find exactly what I wanted: a fluffy sheep knitting bag! (They’re too cheesy for me to buy for myself, but I’ll happily take one for free.) It was stuffed with wool and Epson toys. All in all, a very nice send-off. Now I’m just enjoying a couple days’ rest before I start at Tapestry Craft on Tuesday.

And in related I’ll-sleep-better-now news, the Snook got a raise and promotion at work! So I don’t have to worry that my inability to stand my Epson boss any longer is leaving us destitute. Kickass.

This one’s for my sister, who works for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of California. A nine-year-old kid named Ben was in remission from leukemia and told the Make-a-Wish Foundation that he wanted to design a video game that would help kids like himself with the pain and stress. LucasArts stepped in to make the dream come through. Now Ben’s Game is available to play. I haven’t tried it out yet since I’m still at work, but it got good reviews from the folks on the ‘Filter.

Lordy, lordy. Sex and the Knitty is here! The Snook caught me ogling this pattern and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. (I like the sizing designations myself. Hee.) And hello? Edible panties knit out of licorice ropes? That is the coolest thing ever.

I’m thinking of taking a belly dancing class. Any of y’all ever done anything like that?

I love sunny days… but this is getting ridiculous. This past June in Sydney was the all-time sunniest and driest! I’ve been making plans for the garden this year, but I’m starting to wonder if there’s any use. I can’t remember the last time it rained.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball has an excellent essay about the whole Dashboard vs. Konfabulator controversy. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, the guys who wrote this application think that Apple’s new Dashboard is a rip-off of their idea. Gruber basically tears that allegation to shreds. Good on ‘im. I looked at Konfabulator a while ago but didn’t really see the point of using it. Dashboard, on the other hand, looks like something that could be really useful. I love the fact that the “widgets” (or gadgets or whatever they’re calling them) are basically little web pages, built using HTML, CSS, and Javascript. I’m already envisioning writing my own blog posting widget as an alternative to bookmarklets. Ooh, and you could have one that alerts you if you have new Gmail (since there doesn’t seem to be a convenient way to do that on OS X yet)! The possibilities are endless here, really.

This one’s for my Dad: A 14-year-old kid has landed a 52-pound striped bass while fishing in a kayak off the Atlantic City shore. That is a big fish.

Happy birthday to my Mom! (Well, technically it was yesterday here, but it’s still her birthday today there. You know what I mean.)

Marty and Jess from Big Brother are getting hitched. My prediction: Channel 10 will televise the whole event, which will feature Shannon Noll and Killing Heidi performing at the reception (during the AFL Grand Final, naturally). Afterwards Marty and Jess will star in the Australian version of “Newlyweds.” Mark my words!

Bush fire!
For several hours now my co-workers and I have been watching a bush fire not far off from our office in North Ryde. It started with just a gigantic plume of smoke down near the river. Eventually a couple choppers showed up – one from the Fire Department to drop water on it, and another from Channel 7 News. My friend Roy took this picture from our office on the 3rd floor. Now we can hear sirens off in the distance. None of the Aussie news sites seem to have any information on it yet. How excitement!