OurGirl: Affairs of the Heart

confession: this is what i'm listening to on my 'pod.


Beach Walk 595 - Cranky Geeklt;/a>

i know. i know. i'm nearly whimpering as i type this. what have i become? i'm my own worst nightmare.

its like the green eggs and ham story and i'm that guy who has steadfastly refused the suspicious culinary delights of the green ovums and slice of the porcine. and then beat down, exhausted, and weary, i capitulate and try it.

and i relax.

and i feel better for the first time since...hmmm...shortly before harvest, this past september.

lets be clear here. i don't buy her. not the seemingly perpetual cheeriness or the wide open arms of acceptance...at any other time in my life i would just dismiss her.

now i need her.

its the lilting hawaiian music intro music. its the sound of her talking very positively, very assuredly. happy chatter. light. foamy bits of nothing. and then the sound of the rushing waves hitting the sand, pushing it forward and pulling it back into place like once giant therapeutic massage of noise. i don't watch her, i really find her distracting. but i do listen to her. if i have trouble falling asleep, i walk the beach with rox over and over until i get the sleeping part right.

did i type that?

i've made no bones about the fact i have great people involved in my life. there are a few people i know that are going through some shaky ground right now. i watch them real careful-like—the same way i watch my kids. a wait-ful watch. ready to fly at any threat, ready to fly to their rescue, but here, i am hopeless. they aren't my kids, these are grownups. most likely, i wouldnt be of much rescue or saving value, even if they wanted or needed the effort. things are a bit crazy on my end as well.

so i will settle for telling you, all my friends going through some scary stuff: i love you. and i worry for you. and when i give you a small loaf of my homemade bread, i'm telling you that i'm glad you've made it, glad you landed on safe ground—although it may not be the same ground that you were aiming to land upon. i was really scared. i'm glad you are here.

happy you made it.

Morgan: Visitors Welcome!

I love looking at our ClustrMaps and speculating on whether our viewer in Irkustk is on a dial up computer, or perhaps using his laptop with a wireless connection on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Do they spend much time on our Blog or simply click through. Maybe language is a problem, afterall not everyone reads "American". That would explain why we have no viewers in Vietnam I know they have internet connection there, internet cafes abound on every street corner. I see we have a few viewers in Iran and wonder what other kind of sites are they reading. Or does their government restrict content?
I think it safe to say our main readership is from the US and Europe. I'm worried that no one in North Dakota is logging on, don't they have high speed internet out there? We really need to increase or hits in South America (Language issues again) and Africa. Do they surf in Africa? Well somebody is reading us in South Africa.
Maybe we should blog in Spanish. Byrne you've been studying spanish, wanna give it a try?








Every Monday I receive an Automatic e-mail from Byrne containing Google Analytics I love studying the data and trying to discern trends and patterns. We seem to be averaging 10 viewers every other day. What do we need to do boost hits? We use keywords, advertising, We have a Google search tool. How come no one but Andy comments? Only the Raj thanked Byrne for her blog. Oh well, I guess we blog for ourselves and the love of blogging. Visitors are welcome though!

Disclaimer: If the content of this blog seems eerily familiar, like a older blog that I have posted, the author claims full responsibility and will try to refrain from recycling old thoughts and promise to strive for more originality in the future. My sincere apologies. Blog recycling was unintentional.

OurGirl: uniformity and the love of rhinos

i entered design school, a freshly-scrubbed, shiny-face young lass, without thinking about appearances. in my lee jeans and farm plaid shirts (many of them short sleeved!) i completely stood out in the crowd of very serious design students. it was a sea of multilayered thrift store chic, multicolored mussed hair, and multicolored pancake eyelids hidden under darkly slashed kohled eyes. everything smelled like patchouli and slight mildew and was held together with sashes of ribbons cut from pantyhose, old skirts, and safetypins. in the zoo of exotic design animals, i was the prairie dog exhibit. every once in a while, i tried to fit in but i always felt uncomfortable. prairie dogs in spangles are, well, prairie dogs in spangles...

the blog template is much the same way. it was a uniform, it fit, it was functional, i put it on and headed out the door without a thought.

but i get what my rhino says. and i love the banner photo, 'cause that's just what this blog is. a meandering commentary path in a series of topic hills. and i'm happy he's back. one more post on my domestic overlook trail and i would have thrown myself off the virtual overlook just to see if anything interesting happened. i like having the ability to play off his posts. i get inspired by rhino.

so i have a proposal for a greek photo blog:
rhino, what if you take that plastic rhino with you and take pics of the rhino in gorgeous greek settings—but have the rhino huge in scale to say, the acropolis. like an ala magritte change in scale. then give us a story of what you did that day.

here is a site: themorningnews.org i've been digging into for the last few days, purely for the visuals. like kent rogowski who takes stuffed animals and turns them inside out and he also buys puzzles from the same manufacturer and then combines the different puzzles to make new compositions.

Morgan: New Title Banner

I got sick and tired of looking at our drab banner. We're Graphics for crying out loud, lets act like it!
Byrne, If you don't like the banner, I can change it. However I'll have to limit you to three changes.
Walsh you check the spelling and Andy, I would appreciate all the feedback you can muster.
Please route all communiques through the Customer Service Representatives.

Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart! - Bruce Campbell and the Army of Darkness

Morgan: The Prodigal Blogger Returns

As our readers may have noticed I have been on blogging sabbatical. With numerous issues weighing heavily on my mind I thought it best that Byrne blog on without me, and she did. She wondered if I would return to the blog and I reassured her that I would when the time was right. The respite served me well and I feel the urge to blog again. Perhaps I should never have stopped writing as I find deep comfort and therapeutic value in sharing our thoughts online.
What I seek is Cosmos...I need to find order in Chaos. I feel the need to seek and know the truth. I need to dissect my existence and find my purpose. Do I feel lost? Yes, a little bit like flotsam drifting in a beltway sea of bureaucracy. I seek Inspiration...something to ignite the passion which seems always to elude me in this mental morass that has such a grip on me. Firm upper lip lad! Press on and all that! Even now I fear my stoicism is crumbling and caution myself to strengthen my brave facade.
One ever present fact that burns like a beacon at the end of a long tunnel is my Family is there, waiting with open arms. Shouting words of encouragement. They're there, and need me as much as I need them. They are my inspiration. I can't falter.

Maybe I just need a vacation! After all it has been over a year since my wife and I traveled to Vietnam and had such wonderful adventures exploring Saigon, Hue and Hoi An. So we prepare for our next great adventure in Greece! I have been researching all things Greece and eagerly look forward to the day when we climb the hill to the ancient citadel, the Acropolis and explore the Parthenon together. As a student of history nothing is as intoxicating as the anticipation of seeing and experiencing the Greek Isles. I will walk where Thales walked. Seek answers from Plato and Socrates, study the Spartans, Athenians and my favorite the ever questioning Ionians.


Maybe I should listen to Thales, after all he defined a happy man as...

“Who is healthy in body, resourceful in soul and of a readily teachable nature”