Category Archives: The World Wide Web

The Return of E-stella

Hello,

As I mentioned previously, I’ve been deeply inspired by the combination of Gary Vaynerchuk’s keynote speech and taking the time off to relax and BE with life and the Earth and EVERYTHING during my Hawaii trip.

I really need to get back in shape–TOTALLY not literally because I’m FAR from being inspired to actually get off my ass to exercise. I need to REBOOT a lot of things in my life. And there’s many portions of my life that I need to completely REVAMP altogether.

This blog theme layout has been bugging me for a while and I’ve begun checking away at the things I need to do in order to make it what I want it to be. And I want it to be how craisin.com used to be–original, created by me, to totally fit my own personality. I’ve lost touch of that greatly in the last 2 years.

Things I’ve done in the last two weeks after my wake-up trip:

  • Step 0: First things first–had to post the Hawaii pics! http://picasaweb.google.com/craisin All of the pics are up now. The “Part 2″ Oahu pics consists 90% of LOST references so uhhh I hope you watch LOST! ;) — DONE
  • Step 1: Found new hosting — DONE
  • Step 2: Backed up everything from the old server — DONE
  • Step 3: Transferred the blog from the old server to the new — DONE

Things to do from here:

  • Step 4: RESEARCH before revamping the site.
    I’m about 3 years behind with web knowledge and I’m gonna dive right in! So far, Alvin’s provided me with some pretty good resources that I’m soaking ALL in already: http://www.smashingmagazine.com and http://www.alistapart.com.
    Please let me know if you have any other suggestions!
  • Step 5: LEARN how to create my own WordPress theme
    :O GASP! I usually fail at these kind of personal projects because I end up getting lazy and seeing a nice theme that might be suitable, but I’m 100% willing to take on this challenge since the themes I see neevverrr seem to fully appeal to me.
  • Step 6: Figure out what to do about PHOTOS.
    I’m going to try to bring back my photo-blogging, since I’m taking pics so often, and since that’s why most people would visit my site in the past.

    Picasa 3 Beta seems to have a lot of potential and I’m willing to trial with it to see how it goes. But one thing I dislike the most about Picasa’s web albums is that you have to log into Picasa in order to comment! Meeehhhhh, I never seem to be able to find the right photo gallery. I might go back to hosting my own photos with Gallery, but it doesn’t seem to be as easy for me anymore.
    Got any suggestions for online photo galleries? Please let me know! :D

  • Step 7: IMPLEMENTATION!

I’m pretty excited to get started, and I’m pretty juiced to soak myself in all the possibilities!! Yayyyyy productivity!!! =D

Hawaii 2008

MUCH needed vacation! Totally needed to just chill out and not think about anything. I totally ate x10 over there and I totally feel very plump at the moment. Errggg…

Anyway, after a week of being away (a short week, at that… really…. way too short…) and returning home to my little nook of a room, I’ve come to the realization that there’s a lot of things I need to change and rebuild in my life.

A lot of this has been inspired when I was watching Garyvee’s Web 2.0 keynote speech: http://garyvaynerchuk.com/2008/09/23/my-web-20-keynote-in-nyc/ I know, sounds really “geeky” but there’s SO much that hits home…. for me, at least.

The idea of TRANSPARENCY… Man… I really need to revamp this site… I mean, I used to do major layout changes every year! Of course, I didn’t study worth a hee-haw when I was in school, so I spent most of my time hobbying. There’s been so little time to actually work on any progressive change on my page. Srsly, I probably lost half of my regular hits from back in the day! (Of course, a lot of my audience has composed of yellow-feverish folks that stumbled on my page one way or another.) Humm… I like the idea of possibly building more of a nerdy nerd audience…. GASP! Is it true? Am I starting to be a part of this whole… WEB 2.0 BUSINESS?! There’s so many ways to grow now, and I’m like 5 years behind with my technology now, but I’m planning to immerse myself again. And it all starts with my e-home…. gotta fix it up.

Coming home, sitting at my desk, I actually took the time to look around my room. Man… these pictures are old. Well, they’re from my last year in college, which wasn’t that long ago, but… this all seems so distant now. I’m totally NOT the same person I was 2-3 years ago, and I can FEEL it every time I look at these pictures. Following the flow of my life, I’ve taken them down, and I’m looking forward to what new things I can put up on my wall. I need something that resonates more… something that hits my core, something that won’t change. I guess I’ll figure that out soon.

Dedication, patience, and sacrifice.

Zomg… Is it true? Is it finally time for me to stop sleeping 9 hours a day to get back in touch with my personal life? (Read: this is the perfect time for you to place bets on this, btw.) Well… here I am, up at 11PM! Let’s see how long this can last….

Oh well, anyway, I’ve posted a few pics from the Hawaii – Kauai trip here: http://picasaweb.google.com/craisin I’ll be uploading the rest of the Oahu pics up to the same location.

(Erg… I know I’ve had a few of you following my photo galleries around from the Gallery program, now to Picasa… I can’t seem to find something that works, but Picasa seems to be doing well for me lately. I’ll be thinking about these type of things when I revamp. Thanks for hanging along!)

Some of my favorite pics of the batch:

Twittle-twattle

After much thought (actually, I really didn’t think about this too much), I’ve decided to make available my twitter account. http://twitter.com/craisin

Just a heads up that almost everything is probably geared towards the coworkers since they’re pretty up to date with the day-to-day, hour-by-hour situations.

Also, I think after ever class, I’ll be posting up my drawings from the class: http://twitpic.com/photos/craisin

Sloooowwwwlllyyy getting back into the e-world.

Thoughts on a Rainy Day

Yesss! Rain! Four years living in LA has really made me go through some rain withdrawal. Walking home from the bus stop the other day, I took a big whiff and really appreciated the nice CRISPNESS of the Fall air. I miss the days of layer up into a nice big jacket with a nice chill overcast weather. Yeah, talk about getting in touch with my darker self, huh? Nevertheless, I was curled up in my two blankets last night and I slept like a BABY!!

Catching up on my Bay Area news/events, I stumbled on an article about KTVU Channel 2′s Leslie Griffith. I remember a few months ago, I turned to my 10 o’ clock news to not see my ultimate news duo! Some new chick was on and I just brushed it off since I figured Ms. Griffith was off that day or something.

Where’s Leslie?

October 25, 2006 — http://sfist.com/2006/10/25/wheres_leslie.php

Leslie Griffith

For months, the entire Bay Area has been flummoxed by one question, one mystery so confounding that it’s all everyone, or at least several people, have been talking about– where’s Leslie Griffith of KTVU?

Sometime a few weeks ago, Dennis Richmond’s co-anchor stopped being Dennis Richmond’s co-anchor and was nowhere to be found. For weeks, the word from KTVU had been only that she was taking a break and that she’ll be right back. For her own part, Leslie wasn’t talking.

Rumors spread. Did she get fired? Did she quit? Did they Elaine Corral her?

Anyway, reading this article was kinda interesting and even made me think back to the time when Elaine Corral used to work for KTVU too. Which made me think about how awesome Dennis Richmond is! I mean, the way he says “San Francisco” always makes me smile! Saaannnnnnnfrancisco! (Did you know Dennis Richmond is a Vietnam War veteran?) I also read up on some details about an anonymous Oakland Tribune opinion article that undermined Griffith’s qualifications as a news anchor, suspecting that she probably only got the job because she’s blond and attractive looking. And then that REALLY made me think about the sexist stereotypes that are still perpetuated today. I mean, people are never happy, huh? Some women are asked to be more “presentable” and to dress more feminine when they go to work, and when they do like nice, they’re intelligence and experiences are put into question since “they probably got the job because they’re good looking.”

Doesn’t everyone realize that all of this is all related to gender? Don’t people realize how much of our habits, beliefs, and values are built on the idea of maintaining gender norms?

It’s almost the year 2008. And it ‘effin SUCKS that some people have to constantly defend and justify themselves just because of how they look or dress. Recently, a woman was thrown out of a women’s restroom because the restaurant’s bouncer didn’t care if she was really female or not, didn’t bother to look at her ID where it clearly says she’s a female, and continued to discriminate her solely because “her appearance did not comply with society’s norms concerning gender identity.”

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that all this stuff PISSES. ME. OFF!! How can people sit with this kind of unequal treatment?

In Price Waterhouse vs. Hopkins, the court held that Amy Hopkins, a senior female accountant, could sue under the gender discrimination provisions of the Civil Rights Act after her proposed promotion to partnership in the firm was dropped because she was overly aggressive, did not dress appropriately for her sex and otherwise did not fit into the feminine stereotype.

Although highly praised for her work, Hopkins was advised that if she wished to become partner, she should “walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely, wear make-up, have her hair styled, and wear jewelry.”

From an SF Gate article

If there’s anything I could ever pass down to all my girls, it’s the power to be able to stand up for their rights as women, and to have the knowledge and strength to empower themselves to not put up with stuff like this! One of the best reads I’ve ever had, which greatly correlates with the Griffith story: Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth. On the topic of women in the workplace…

Marco: “So how’s your new job? Are you getting paid more?”
me: “Yeah”
Marco: “You’re sleeping with your boss, aren’t you, you little strumpet!”

Oh how I love him so.

This is SO past my bedtime…

Alright, here’s the deal.

I snore.

A LOT.

I won’t get into detail about Veronica’s techniques to get me to stop snoring in the middle of the night. And I won’t discuss how Henry gets 0 sleep when I pass out at 9PM at his apt.

Before, it was the tonsils that blocked my nasal passage, but I know I still snore. I feel it. I wake myself up from it. I KNOW. Sure, there’s nasal strips but they only dull it out… but it still goes on… and on… and on… Truth is: my snoring is INVINCIBLE!

Scientist invents computer pillow to stop snoring

Wed Oct 3, 2:14 PM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) – A German scientist has come up with a solution for snoring — a computerized pillow that shifts the head’s sleeping position until the noise stops.

Daryoush Bazargani, professor of computer science at the University of Rostock and the pillow’s inventor, was displaying a prototype of his pillow at a health conference in Germany on Wednesday.

“The pillow is attached to a computer, which is the size of a book, rests on a bedside table, and analyses snoring noises,” Bazargani told Reuters.

“The computer then reduces or enlarges air compartments within the pillow to facilitate nasal airflow to minimize snoring as the user shifts during sleep,” he said.

The ergonomic pillow can also be used for neck massages.

Bazargani said several U.S. firms were interested in manufacturing the pillow.

“I invented it because I snore,” he said. “I tried all sorts of products, but nothing worked. I hope people who use it will sleep more peacefully.”

I definitely have 0 problem sleeping peacefully. It’s the people around me that I feel so guilty about :~(

Maybe if I ever move in with anyone again, house-warming present? :DD