Serves me right for rushing to write my weekly roundup in only twenty minutes. Perhaps the very best part of my week: 300-word fiction about pirate geese!

I really did receive an email asking, “Do you have a crochet pattern for a pirate hat small enough to fit a goose?” I seriously nearly hemorrhaged when I read it. And now five people have written very short fiction using that line. So polish up your word skillz and go over there and share your tale.

Absurdity is my favourite (yes, my top-of-the-list favourite) thing in the world.

No Comments / Jul 04.08 / Blather / by Kim

This week I’m going to write my roundup in less than twenty minutes. Ready? Go.

• I was unable to fully combat the vacuum this week. I was surprised by this. And not just a bit twitchy over it. Close to freaking out, actually. But one, single, good thing has come from it. It’s put me over the edge on an issue I’ve contemplated for many months: I’ve gone and rented myself a desk in a shared office on Granville Island. So come Monday, I’ll be out of the house. Surrounded by loud tourists, but out of the house. I really, really need to get out of the house. So I’m excited. And a little freaked out. But mostly excited.
• I’m heartbroken because I’m principled. I will not be buying an iPhone next Friday, as I already mentioned. I just don’t feel right about locking myself into a bad contract for three years. Also, I feel very strongly about voting with my dollars. Or withholding my dollars, as the case may be. The phone will still be around after the 11th, and we’ll see if my gut feeling changes.
• I really, desperately, want an iPhone.
• I don’t know what to do for my birthday next week. Fun but low-key. Hm. I’ll be 32!
• This is how distracted I’ve been:
  
• I’ve also been concerned about this, but first thing Monday morning I’ll have all the documents to send out for it.
  
• MAN, I’m looking forward to getting away this weekend. We’re going camping with a bunch of friends. It might rain. I’m bringing knitting and a couple of books and a bathing suit. And I’m most certainly going to avoid things like long hikes and ultimate frisbee, in favour of sitting on my bum and relaxing. I mean, I like hikes, but I just want to sit and relax. For the record, I hate team sports.
• A fun moment this week:
  
• I’m really enjoying the 365 self-portraits challenge. But it’s given me even more reason to contemplate myself this week, which I really could have done without. Still. It’s a fun creative project.
• OK, kids. My next weekly roundup will be of a less whining sort! It will be about more interesting things than my own silly woes! It will have more entertaining links! And I’ll be 32. Probably. Unless I write the next roundup before next Wednesday.

3 Comments / Jul 03.08 / Blather / by Kim

Wouldn’t it be awesome if Rogers prepared its stores for an onslaught on July 11th, and the news agencies made sure they sent a reporter to the busiest, most central store, and nobody showed up to buy the iPhone? The news reports would be so much more interesting than the same old lines snaking for blocks, shelves empty, dozens of staff running amok story we’ve seen for other Apple launches.

At the end of the day, my civic duty comes before my selfish desire. I won’t be buying an iPhone next week. I’m a bit heartbroken, but it’s the only decision I can live with. After all, they’ll still be around the following week, or whenever Rogers makes me want to sign a binding contract with them.

(It’s very, very good news that Bell has just announced a wicked inexpensive unlimited data plan for a Samsung phone to compete with iPhone. If it isn’t important to Rogers to, you know, attract and keep customers, perhaps it will be important to them to compete with one of the few rival cell carriers out there.)

No Comments / Jul 03.08 / Blather / by Kim

We know I’ve wanted an iPhone heartily. I’ve blogged about it, Twittered about it, talked about it, dreamed about it. We know it’s coming to Canada two days after my birthday. What we didn’t know until last week was how Rogers (the only company in Canada that supports the network the iPhone uses) was going to price its plans. In short, the plans are fairly appalling (even more so in light of AT&T announcing they’ll offer the phones in the U.S. for a higher price without a contract).

I’m severely bugged by this. On one hand, the plans are outrageous and Rogers’ insistence that they designed the plans with their consumers’ needs in mind is a patronizing load of crap. I wrote to Rogers to complain last week, and received a response this morning that included this paragraph (the emphasis is mine):

“Please be aware that the plans unveiled were designed specifically for the iPhone. At this time, all pricing and plans that will be available for the iPhone have yet to be finalized.”

I can only hope that in the next ten days, Rogers will finalize some plans that include the following: An unlimited data option, an option for new customers that allows them to add unlimited data onto a voice plan of their choosing (as is now being offered to existing customers, if I read reports correctly), a voice plan that includes long distance (especially long distance to the U.S., which might be required by business users, and by me so I can phone my parents when I’m out and about), call display included in all plans ($7/month extra, seriously?), and an option for one- or two-year contracts. Actually, they should follow AT&T’s lead and offer the phone at full, unsubsidized price with no minimum contract. I’d happily pay full price for the phone if it meant I wouldn’t be screwed up, down and all around by my service provider.

So. Help me out with some friendly advice, eh? Should I put off getting the phone until Rogers comes around? Should I put off getting the phone as part of a collective effort to help convince Rogers to come around? Should I just get the phone because I want it so bad (as one old friend reminded me, we do have universal health care, after all)? Should I just get the phone because it would be unrealistic to think Rogers would ever come around?

ETA (2 July): I nearly forgot another factor. Part of Rogers’ plans is free wifi at all Rogers/Fido hotspots. Which is cool, from what I understand, if you live in Rogers-dominated eastern Canada. But out here in the west, it’s Telus land. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Rogers hotspot. This is one of the things that lead Canadians to refer to our cell phone situation as monopolized. Grr.

6 Comments / Jul 01.08 / Blather / by Kim

Happy Canada Day, y’all! It’s a workday for me, but I’ll be off on Friday for the 4th (and specifically, I’ll be off camping. Psyched.)

So, a bit more on combating the WorkFromHome Vaccuum.

Step 4: Tackle email. After that iced soy chai on Sunday, I started going through my email, having finally decided to read the oft-bookmarked Inbox Zero posts on 43 Folders. First, I moved all the messages from before June 1st into a new folder. Then I sat shocked at the 198 messages just from June. Starting at the bottom, I went through them one by one. Most needed filing. Many needed to be deleted. A good bunch needed my attention. After an hour, I’d whittled it down to 98 messages, and I needed to call it a day. It’s important to note, though, that just doing that added to my feeling of relief. I started to feel far more on top of things, and just as important, I started to feel like I was accomplishing real work.

Yesterday I went through the remaining messages in my work inbox, and although I’d be kidding myself to think that means I’m caught up, I do feel poised to get real work done. The power of that feeling should not be underestimated.

I discovered I don’t need my inbox to be empty. Like David Pogue, who wrote about this last week, I use my inbox as a to-do list, and it works for me. What I need to improve on is moving stuff out of there when it doesn’t need my attention. And you know what? After I finished going through the old messages, I had an easy time quickly processing new ones. I answered those I could reply to quickly, filed those I needed to archive, deleted those I didn’t need, and left alone the ones that need more involved attention. So now there are 51 emails in my work inbox, and I’m okay with that.

And so yesterday I went back to my in-laws’ house and spread out and got some work done. Thank. the. gods.

6 Comments / Jul 01.08 / Blather, Photos / by Kim

[365.4, originally uploaded by kpwerker]

It’s kinda nice to know I’m not alone in my occasional submission to inertia. In an effort to further the conversation about it, and to experiment with some strategies, I’ll update this post as the day progresses.

Today is all about combating the vacuum. It’s a hot hot Sunday, and I’ll have a lot to catch up on this week, so I want to start off tomorrow in tip-top shape.

Step 1: Get something (anything) done. I started the day by tackling a much-put-off domestic chore: I repotted a few plants. I made a total mess on our back deck. And I’m very happy to have gotten that done. Minor feeling of accomplishment = a good start to combat the vacuum.

Step 2: Change of scenery. Next, I loaded up my bike (see photo [the fourth of my 365 self portraits]). In the basket are the winter IC submissions I need to pay much attention to. On my back is a bag containing my computer, a notebook, a peanut butter sandwich, a sweatshirt, and my iPod. I’m writing this post at my in-laws’ house while they’re out for the day. It’s totally quiet save for my music, and the solitude is good for my soul.

I’m going to eat that sandwich now, and will let you know what I’m able to accomplish, and how. Fingers crossed!

Update 1 - Step 3: Alleviate Guilt. One of the relatively small tasks I’ve had at the top of my to-do list for far too long is to submit my expenses. I’m a disaster when it comes to this. These are the most significant deadlines I fail to meet, and I brow-beat myself every time. This past week, I had quite a list of expenses that were overdue, and I let the guilt over not having already submitted them stress me out. Guilt is never productive. Although my expenses are only the tip of the guilt iceberg, having just submitted them has resulted in immediate relief of some of the pressure. Now I’m going to take a short nap (hey, it’s Sunday. And it’s hot), and then I’ll start on the next major source of counterproductive guilt: Email.

Update 2 - I totally just rode back from Starbucks with a grande iced soy chai strapped into my egg crate with the bungee cord.

5 Comments / Jun 29.08 / Blather, Photos / by Kim

This week I suffered from what I’ve come to think of as the WorkFromHome Vacuum. From what I understand, everyone who works from home experiences this from time to time. I used to succumb to it more frequently before I started working on the magazine, and I’ve gotten better at both avoiding it altogether and at cutting it short should I fail to avoid it. But this week I was hit hard.

WorkFromHome Vacuum involves the utter failure to to be productive in any useful way. One of the reasons I stopped experiencing it when I started with the magazine is the sheer amount of work I have to do. Also, I usually need to be in touch with a lot of people. That high level of activity keeps the vacuum at bay.

The Vacuum is different from the everyday temptation to be distracted by home-related things. It’s more dramatic than that, and I have much less control over it.

I was unable to combat the vacuum this week, and I’ve learned over the years that there’s little I can do once it’s settled in. I just need to wait it out till it passes, and I’m sure by next week all will be well.

Still. If I owe you an email, please know I’m on it. I’m sort of banking on the vacuum departing by Monday morning. For now, I’m trying my best to enjoy this gorgeous weekend so I’ll be rested up in time to fire all engines come the workweek.

What challenges do you occasionally face in your work life?

11 Comments / Jun 28.08 / Blather / by Kim

[Cleo & Jayne Amigurumi = Defenders of the Yard, originally uploaded by kpwerker.]

It arrived! My early birthday present to myself. Geek Central Station is a genius. She paid such amazing attention to detail! That there gun is the only one I’ve ever liked. Every crafty geek should pay her shop a visit.

In an attempt to clear my scattered brain of late, I’ve succumbed to decided to take the 365 self-portraits challenge. We’ll see how that goes…

2 Comments / Jun 26.08 / Photos / by Kim

Time to let an image do the talking. (Robyn reworked this to be all about yarn!)

1. First name: Kim, 2. Favourite food: Sushi, 3. Bethlehem Central High School, 4. Favourite colour at this moment: Grey, 5. Celeb crush: After a night chatting about him, Nathan Fillion, 6. Favourite drink: Coffee, 7. Dream vacation: Highlands, 8. Favourite dessert: Pie, 9. What I want to be: Editor (didn’t know there’s a band!), 10. What I love most: Trueness, 11. I am: Me, 12. My Flickr ID

Here’s how you play:

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search.
2. Using only the first page, choose an image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs into the mosaic maker over at FD’s image maker.

The questions:

What is your first name?
What is your favorite food?
What high school did you attend?
What is your favorite color?
Who is your celebrity crush?
Favorite drink?
Dream vacation?
Favorite dessert?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you love most in life?
One word to describe you.
Your Flickr name.

5 Comments / Jun 26.08 / Blather / by Kim

Clearly, weekly roundups need not happen on the same day each time. Nor weekly. Whatever.

This week’s roundup has a loose theme. You tell me what it is.

• Oh, giddy:
  
  Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.
• On Sunday, I attended my very first large-scale geek event. I was sort of expecting to feel like I do at a yarn event—like I was with my people. I didn’t really feel that way. Apparently, I’m a bit of a loner geek. But it was awesome to see Serenity on the big screen. Also, there were a lot of Jayne hats in the audience. That rocked.
• We cycled to the screening. Thanks to the man, I now have a turquoise milk crate on the back of my bike (it’s not really a milk crate but a remnant of some ill-conceived decorating plan I hatched when I was still living with my parents, I think). So now I ride a yellow mountain bike with road slicks and a turquoise milk crate with one end of a bungee cord permanently attached to it for holding stuff in. And I totally freaking love it. I ride it to the bank and to my PO box. For example, today I brought home yarn samples and colour cards in my basket.
• I’m reading After Dark, by Haruki Murakami, for book club. It’s lovely and surreal.
• I did the second geekiest thing yesterday. Actually, it might be the first geekiest. You judge. I wore my spanking-new Roslin ‘08 t-shirt to run some errands (at least one person became confused about my politics, and I had to explain). But that’s not the half of it. Last night, I wore it over to the man’s parents’ place to watch… wait for it… Battlestar Galactica. (We don’t get the cable station that plays it, so my in-laws record it on their DVR and we go there to watch it. We’re four episodes from the season break. Don’t spoil it!). I’m seriously torn between feeling mortified and feeling, like, way too cool for school.
• Speaking of webcomics (which I was, even if you didn’t notice). Seriously into Hijinks Ensue of late. Go there and read for a while (start here [not so much work-safe], if you’re so inclined). And in the less lighthearted, more post-apocalypse vein of fiction I love so much, FreakAngels is brilliant.
• I’m still enamoured of the Twitter. Yesterday I tweeted about needing some help with work music, and Ravelry came to the rescue almost immediately. I now have Adele (thanks to Mary-Heather) and Sia (thanks to Jess) on my iPod, and am slowly falling in love with each. I’m listening to Adele now. Ok, I totally love it.
• Sixteen days till the iPhone comes to Canada (read: into my grubby hands).
• Today is my little brother’s birthday. Happy birthday, Day! May only good things come from this coming year, kiddo.
• We had our fall photo shoot last week, and I’m waiting for some weird news to come of it. Two things happened that give me pause: First, the weather cooperated. It was chilly and rainy the first day, and sunny but not too hot the second. Given that it snowed during our summer shoot, I barely knew what to do with myself. Second, we ran on time, to the quarter-hour, the entire time. The models were gorgeous and friendly (one of them was once a stand-in on BSG, *snort*), and we all had fun behind the camera. And now, back to working on the rest of the issue.
• My birthday present to myself must be stuck in customs. :(
• I’m not ready to believe we might lose a wee tomato plant. Not to the coldcoldrainy June we’ve had. Or the weeds. It might have been the morning glory (which I don’t consider to be a normal weed, I’m sure you agree), and I actually think morning glory isn’t really of this earth. I think it’s the insidious spawn of an unfriendly otherworldly beast that arrived millenniums* ago and promptly departed, but left its spawn here to slowly kill our food. It’s not global warming, dear readers. It’s insidious alien spawn in the form of morning glory. Tell your kids’ science teachers.

* My Firefox spellchecker thinks millennia is not a word. Merriam-Webster says either plural is acceptable. I’ll let Firefox win this time, since it does such nice things for me every day.

8 Comments / Jun 25.08 / Blather / by Kim