Archives

  • Iā€™m cool enough for this mix tape: March 20, 2004

    Iā€™ve been writing many blog posts about albums I was too cool for in the mid-00s, so letā€™s change it up for a second. What was I actually listening to in that time frame? What did I deem to be...

  • Iā€™m too cool for this album: ā€œFever to Tellā€ by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

    I must have heard some Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs in 2003 when Fever to Tell was released, but I canā€™t really remember. They must have been mentioned in the many music magazines I bought and read back then (who else...

  • DrupalCon Pittsburgh 2023

    helioha on Flickr" src="/images/LXxB6HWrs3-300.jpeg" width="1024" height="684"> A couple weeks ago I attended DrupalCon Pittsburgh, a conference I look forward to every year. I had never been to Pittsburgh before this conference and I dug the bridges and rivers and hills! I...

  • Iā€™m too cool for this album: ā€œGive Upā€ by The Postal Service

    I have never really liked The Postal Service, based solely on the fact that I did not like "Such Great Heights" when it came out 20 years ago. I donā€™t know whyā€”I love electronic music plus, cringe, I did like...

  • Iā€™m too cool for this album: ā€œIn the Aeroplane Over the Seaā€ by Neutral Milk Hotel

    Before this year, the closest I came to listening to a Neutral Milk Hotel song was the Apples in Stereoā€™s cover of ā€œKing of Carrot Flowers Pt. Threeā€ (which, after learning that Neutral Milk Hotel and the Apples in Stereo...

  • Iā€™m too cool for this album: ā€œFuneralā€ by Arcade Fire

    Iā€™m trying to remember why I didnā€™t listen to Arcade Fire when they burst on the scene in 2004 with their first album, Funeral. I probably read a pretentious review of the album on Pitchfork or something and decided to...

  • Getting through a hard day

    The vast majority of the time, I feel good about my life and the progress Iā€™ve made in the past couple years in regards to my mental health, my impostor syndrome, and my day to day feelings. However, sometimes, a...

  • Five things I want to do in 2023

    I know, itā€™s March and Iā€™m just now writing about things I want to do this year! I donā€™t like calling them ā€˜goalsā€™ so they are ā€˜things I want to doā€™ instead. If I do them, great, and if not,...

  • Florida DrupalCamp 2023

    A couple weeks ago I finally attended Florida DrupalCamp, a camp I had wanted to attend for years! Not only was it the first time I attended, but it was my first time speaking at this conference and my first...

  • Challenge accepted

    Note: I posted about this on Mastodon a couple days ago, only because I couldnā€™t make myself sit down and write a blog post about this due to getting in my own head about my writing. Well, tonight I decided...

  • 2022 year in review

    This took me a million and a half years to write, but finally, here's my 2022 in review! The good! I started running again. Yes, I've started running in both 2020 and 2021, but in 2022, I stuck with it and completed...

  • 2020 good things list

    What do I even say about 2020? Seriously.

  • Weeknotes 5 - Monday morning edition

    Looks like I forgot to recap my week last week and I'm late in recapping this week. Let's see what I've done!

  • Weeknotes 4 - Physical wipe-out

    I sat out last week after overdoing it on a bike ride last weekend. But hey, I'm back in action this week!

  • Weeknotes 3 - Trying to stay cool

    Non-computer activities took precedence over getting any blog work done, but hey, at least I'm writing this post!

  • Weeknotes 2 - Late edition

    I'm a day late in posting my recap of the week, but better late than never!

  • Weeknotes 1 - The beginning

    I'm starting to recap my week on Sundays, and hopefully this time I keep up with it! Read about spinning yarn, yoga, and more.

  • 2019 good things list

    Here's a list of all the good things that happened in 2019. I traveled, spoke at conferences, and danced at awesome shows. Read what other good things I experienced in 2019!

  • NEDCamp 2019

    Another year, another fun time at NEDCamp! I enjoyed some fantastic sessions and even gave a talk of my own. Hanging with my Drupal friends is the best.

  • DrupalCamp New Jersey 2019

    Adam and I took multiple modes of transportation to attend DrupalCamp New Jersey, and we enjoyed time with friends, awesome sessions, and fantastic local brews.

  • Adam's awesome blue socks

    Since I've learned that Adam loves wearing handknit socks, I've fallen into a pattern of alternating between knitting a pair of socks for me and a pair of socks for him. I knit him a grand total of four pairs...

  • 2018 good things list

    Last year, I started compiling a list of good things that happened throughout the year. I enjoyed coming up with good things last year, so I'm doing it again for 2018. Here are some good things from the year: I traveled...

  • NEDCamp 2018

    Last month I attended NEDCamp, one of my favorite local Drupal camps, and I had a fantastic time! I look forward to this conference every year so I can catch up with all my Drupal-ey friends and to learn new...

  • Blueberry socks

    For the past few years, I've focused my knitting on socks. I can easily throw my project in a backpack or purse, I don't need to carry a lot of yarn, and they don't make my hands break out in a sweat...

  • 2017 good things list

    So, 2017's almost over. The year's been a huge shitshow, politically, but this has been one of the best years of my life, personally. After many years of near constant suckitude, I'm so happy to have enjoyed a year full...

  • Crafty weekend.

    This past weekend was excellent. Much like last Saturday, I spent this Saturday in New Hampshire with some of my knitting friends. I hadn't seen a couple of them since 2014! We ate delicious food, caught up on our lives,...

  • Adventures in sweater knitting.

    One of the items on my 35 in 35 list? Knit my first real sweater! I've tried sweater knitting for years but they've never turned out quite right. I attempted my first sweater way back in 2003, using a few...

  • Let's go on a cross-stitch adventure!

    Right around the holidays, a few people I know started talking about the 2016 year-long mystery cross-stitch sampler from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. They've done a few mystery samplers in the past, but I've never really been interested in the...

  • First finished spin of 2016!

    Hooray, I've completed my first spin of 2016, and I am in love with it! I wasn't sure what to expect when I started spinning the September 2015 club colorway from Hedgehog Fibres. I loved all the colors - the bright...

  • 35 in 35

    Happy New Year, everybody! I'm excited that it's 2016. I'm looking forward to making 2016 my year, and of course, I have a few things I'd like to achieve. Since my birthday falls so close to the end of the...

  • A tiny cross-stitch update.

    Happy Tuesday, everyone! I kind of dropped off the face of the earth last week. I blame it on the holiday and on things going on in my personal life that I don't really want to get into here. I...

  • Aila Grace shawl

    Hey look, I finished a shawl! Well, I finished knitting it last year, but I finally got around to blocking it last week, so technically I just finished it. Pattern: Aila Grace shawl by Jennifer Lassonde Yarn: Araucania Huasco in the '3'...

  • Catching up on spinning.

    It's been a tough summer for spinning here in the Pacific Northwest, with temperatures in the 90s and 100s for most of the season! Plus, our apartment doesn't really have air conditioning, so the last thing I really wanted to...

  • 2014 Market Square Day 10k race recap

    I hadn't yet experienced a terrible race until this past Saturday's Market Square Day 10k. I blame my sub-par run on my lack of training. Since my half marathon a month ago, I've been taking a little break from running. I...

  • Providence Half Marathon race recap!

    Yesterday, I ran the United Healthcare Providence Half Marathon, my very first half marathon. Even though I put in the training and hit all my long runs, I still can't believe I did it. The weekend Ted and I drove down to...

  • Hops and Heat beer social

    A week and a half ago, I attended the Hops and Heat beer social at the Portsmouth Brewery here in town. This social paired spicy hot foods with hoppy beers, which go together nicely! I was excited to attend, especially since...

  • 2013 Hot Chocolate Run 5k race recap!

    Yeah, it's been almost a month since I run this race, and I'm finally getting around to writing about it! This was seriously the best race I've ever run, both in terms of PR (yeah, I totally smashed my previous...

  • 2013 Turkey Trot 5k race recap

    Last year, I started a new Thanksgiving tradition - running a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning! I ran it proudly and felt so happy that I got up and ran in freezing cold temperatures. So, this Thanksgiving, I ran it...

  • Jingle Bell 5k race recap!

    So, guess what I did on Saturday? That's right, I ran a sub-30 minute 5k!!! I ran the Jingle Bell 5k here in Portsmouth and crossed the finish line at 29:27, beating my previous PR by 40 seconds. Awesome. I'm not sure...

  • Autumn sewing

    I love to sew. I've dabbled in sewing here and there, but I've never spent quality time with it. I'll set up my machine, make a little bag or quilt something small, and I'll put the machine away for another 7-8...

  • Endpaper mitts

    Hey, look! A post that's not about running! I've wanted to knit my own pair of Endpaper Mitts for years. In 2011, I finally figured out a color combination when I received a skein of rainbow Mini Mochi fingering weight yarn...

  • Great Bay 5k race recap

    I recall thinking, after running the Great Island 5k two weeks ago, that I'd need to postpone my dreams of a sub-30 minute 5k to 2014, as no way could I run a fast (for me) 5k so soon after...

  • Great Island 5k race recap

    First 5k since July? Check. First 5k since I hurt my ankle last month? Double check. First time I've run more than 2 miles since September 17th? Yes. Triple check. Today I ran the Great Island 5k in New Castle, NH....

  • 2012 Hot Chocolate Run 5k race recap!

    So, I've had a pretty exciting past few days -- I finish NaNoWriMo, then I run a 5k, and not only any 5k, but a 5k with hot chocolate at the end! This past autumn, my sister told me about the...

  • Runner's Alley / Red Hook 5k!

    So, I ran a 5k yesterday! Words can't describe how great I feel after the race yesterday. Crossing that finish line was one of the best feelings ever, and I'm proud of myself for being able to run 3.1 miles without...

  • Kate the Great Day 2012!

    Can you believe it's been a year since I last wrote about standing in line for a beer? No? Well, I can't either. Yesterday, Ted and I joined the ranks of many, many other beer geeks throughout the greater New England...

  • Halfway done!

    I should write about how I finished my first Snapdragon flip top mitt, right? Right. I'm only just a week late in posting it. But! I knit, and knit, and knit, and weaved in WAY TOO MANY loose ends, and...

  • Mitten-ey goodness.

    Look what I've been making! I'm knitting a pair of Snapdragon flip-top mitts by Ysolda Teague to replace the ones I knit a few years ago. Yeah, I didn't knit them that long ago, but tragedy struck last March when I...

  • Knitting and school.

    Want to see why I haven't been writing in this blog recently? Yes, knitting and school. My final exam is tomorrow and I'm hoping the studying I did yesterday and today will suffice! I'm excited to be done with this class. I'm...

  • Ginkgo leaves and knitting.

    I haven't really been posting much about my knitting these days. Suffice it to say, I'm still making things. I'm making the Ginkgo shawl for Ted's mother for Christmas. I'm fairly certain she does not read my blog, as she doesn't...

  • DrupalCamp NH 2011!

    I've been in and out of the Drupal community for the past couple years. I worked extensively with the CMS from mid 2009 to mid 2010 when I changed jobs, and since that point, I've been playing with it here...

  • Drupal Design Camp Boston 2011

    Last Saturday, I attended Drupal Design Camp Boston, an event I've been going to for the past few years. Throughout the years, I've participated, both as an attendee and as a speaker! This is the first Drupal event I ever...

  • Born to run.

    This past Thursday, Ted and I planned on hitting the Portsmouth Brewery for dinner, as it was rumored that the elusive Kate the Great would make a guest appearance that night. Not to miss another tapping of this excellent beer,...

  • Kate the Great Day 2011!

    So, I kind of like beer. A lot. I love trying new beers and scoping out breweries. My favorite brewery, however, has to be the Portsmouth Brewery, just a short walk away from my apartment! This brewery? One of the best...

  • DrupalCamp MontrĆ©al 2009

    This past weekend, I, along with a few cohorts at Commonplaces (@sethcohn, @himerus, @bymiche, and @ebeyrent), traveled by van up to the faraway land of Canada to attend DrupalCamp MontrƩal! My coworkers each presented at least one session over the...

  • This is my geeky Drupal Design Camp post.

    This weekend I attended my first nerd Drupal camp; Drupal Design Camp Boston! When I first heard of this event I figured only locals from the New England area would make the trek to Cambridge, but as more and more...

  • Playing catch-up.

    Finally, finally, spring has arrived. Sort of. The temperatures have been averaging in the upper 40s / lower 50s, which I can stand much much more than the below freezing temperatures we endured all winter. I'm so glad winter's mostly...

  • What I do best -- knitting and eating.

    Look what I've picked up again; my Arisaig cardigan! Actually, I picked it up again sometime in December, but I didn't really ramp up my progress on the sleeves until recently. I never really talked about the disaster that struck me...

  • Knitting goodness.

    I'm finally getting around to posting some of my more recent knitting projects; I've been a knitting fool the past few months, but I have a hard time photographing the things I make. My apartment lighting is not the greatest,...

  • Hey, look! I do knit!

    So, it's been awhile since I've posted any of my knitting here. Knitting has kept me sane the past few months when life has been nuts, and I'm grateful that I found a hobby that keeps my hands busy! Sometime last...

  • The demise of Pomatomus.

    Today, my beautiful Pomatomus socks went from this - to this - all because of this - and now I am sad. I knit these socks last summer while camping in Missouri with Scott's family; I don't believe the temperatures dipped below 95F...

  • Of roads, quilting, photos, and blogs.

    This weekend, I randomly went to Kentucky. I also spent an insubordinate amount of time in a car, driving the interstate between Louisville and Cincinnati, happily gazing outside the windows to see mountains much like the mountains near my hometown...

  • Dear spring, please come soon.

    I've been quiet this week, mainly because I've been so tired after a day of work. Today's been a good day, mainly because I've been able to relax, get a few things done, and take time to update Wordpress to...

  • Knitting, Heroes, restaurants, and relaxation.

    I spent the majority of this past weekend knitting one of the front panels of the Arisaig cardigan and watching Season 1 of Heroes, which I borrowed from a friend months ago. (Yes, Josh, I'm finally watching the series. Finally.)...

  • Michigan Fiber Fest!

    Yeah, yeah, I know Iā€™m two WEEKS late in posting about Michigan Fiber Fest, but hey, Iā€™m getting around to it, at least! Iā€™ve been too busy playing Everquest II with Scott, knitting and spinning up a storm, and spending...

  • Ravelry!

    So, while at work today, I received an invitation to try out Ravelry, a social network/organizer for people who knit and crochet. Iā€™d been waiting for my request for about a month; I requested an invitation a few days behind...

  • An entry about yarn.

    Look what I finally finished! Iā€™ve decided to call this bundle of yarn love Pumpkin Candy, because it reminds me of candy corn and those little pumpkin candies that seem to never disappear around Halloween. (Unless, of course, Iā€™m eating them.) Unfortunately,...

  • Safari for Windows

    Yesterday, when I returned home from work, I discovered something I had hoped would happen for the longest time; Apple released a version of Safari for Windows. Iā€™ve used Safari on the Mac a few times a few years ago...

  • Migraines and fiber!

    You know whatā€™s not fun? Driving home from Chicago with an in-between headache and migraine. I canā€™t decide if these particular aches are migraines or not; I know that a few hours prior to the head pounding fun, my eyesight...

  • I'm a wheel owner!

    I first learned of spinning my own yarn at the end of 2004, when a few friends of mine purchased drop spindles and roving from a store on ebay. Intrigued, I ordered my own kit, wanting to spin myself my...

  • Stoles and scarves

    At long last, after two weeks of idling, Iā€™ve taken pictures of my completed Mystery Stole (also known as Scheherazade)! I traveled a long road of blood, sweat, and tears to get this bad boy completed, and finally, I can...

  • Anastasia socks

    At long last, Iā€™ve completed a knitting project; the Anastasia socks by Pepperknit Patterns. I started them roughly sometime in November, and it took me forever to finish the first sock! I flew through the second, knitting most of it...

  • Knitting progress!

    Iā€™ve been spending a fair amount of time knitting recently, but Iā€™ve been slacking off with documenting my progress. I finally, finally took pictures of my works in progress over the weekend, and Iā€™m just now getting around to writing...

  • A little bit of craftiness...

    Nope, I can't get enough of posting my crafty stuff these days. I'm spinning myself some laceweight yarn (I hope) to knit the Branching Out scarf from Knitty. I've wanted to try my hand at lace knitting for awhile, and what...

  • I am the spinning goddess.

    Look what I finally plied! Well, I actually plied it last week and set the twist on Monday, but I just got around to posting pictures of the completed yarn today. I LOVE how it turned out; the weight's a bit...

  • Purple spun yarn-age.

    I'm proud of myself; I've finally spun up around 6oz of purple roving I bought last weekend, and it looks halfway decent! It's taken me roughly a week to spin this up; I started it last weekend at our monthly knitting...

  • Knitting and spinning goodness.

    Since it's been forever and a day since I've posted any of my finished objects on this weblog, I have a massive backlog of things I've completed since the beginning of the year. Here goes! Blue Baby Blanket I started this sometime...

  • Yarn excursion

    I took a break yesterday from my computer and ventured to a local craft store to shop for yarn; I received a fair amount of gift cards to this place and I need to start knitting a baby blanket for...

  • Clapotis annoyances

    I am annoyed. Want to see why? (Ignore the decidedly bad picture quality; it's cloudy outside and couldn't get sufficient lighting, even with flash.) See that unfinished bit at the upper right hand side of the picture? Yeah, it's going to...

  • Quilling

    A few weeks ago, I learned a new craft; quilling. It's not difficult at all; it involves creating shapes by rolling strips of paper around a thin stylus, then piecing them together to make shapes, flowers, whatever one wishes. Obviously...

  • New things from Apple

    Let's be honest: I'm not a huge Mac geek. I do like Apple and some of its products, but I'm not an Apple nerd. I'd love to own a Mac someday, once my student loans are a bit lower and...

  • Fun with sewing

    Scott and I spent the weekend at his parents' house; I brought my sewing machine over per his mother's request and learned how to sew a few things. I've needed a new purse for a long time; I wanted to craft...

  • Ribbon Xback

    I've begun work on the Ribbon Xback tank. I bought a few skeins of Lion Brand Incredible in 'Blue Shades' and so far, knitting with a ribbon yarn has been an experience. I love the color of the yarn; the...

  • Spinning hell

    Ok. Let me rant a little bit about how much I suck at spinning yarn. Let me also rant a bit about how much it sucks being left handed trying to figure out how to spin the yarn. Yarn looks fun, yes, and...

  • Striped sock!

    Finally, Iā€™m getting around to completing the second sock of a pair of socks I began knitting back in March. I really wish I had kept track of how many rows I had done for the various parts of the first...

  • Shimmer progress!

    Shimmer has been a chore so far, Iā€™m telling you! I tried completing the back piece first, but after tearing it out twice (the second time I had been nearly finished!) I decided to do the arms first. Iā€™m happy...

  • Starting to shimmer...

    Iā€™m happy; Iā€™m knitting again! Ever since last winterā€™s Knitty came out, Iā€™ve really wanted to try my hand at Shimmer, a pretty sparkly shrug that seems to be just my style. However, I never wanted to spend the exorbitant...

  • Livemarks

    So, apparently the most recent Firefox nightly builds have been implementing something called ā€˜Livemarksā€™; that is, a combination of an RSS feed and a bookmark. Iā€™m terrible at explaining this idea, and someone else has already done a good job...

  • Why you should dump IE

    Why You Should Dump Internet Explorer: An excellent article written by an MCSE about all that is wrong with IE; bad standards-compliance, security flaws, and many other things that make this browser the last one anyone should use in navigating...

  • Firefox 0.9

    After about a week or so of release candidates, the final version of Firefox 0.9 has been released. So far, I haven't noticed much of a difference; apparently the downloaded file is smaller (about 4MB; I forget what it had...

  • One finished sock

    I am bad. Iā€™ve been working on a pair of socks for a week now, and no pictures. But wait. I have taken pictures, but I havenā€™t posted them. Until now. Behold! Last weekend, I journeyed to the store and bought a skein of Lion...

  • Mozilla Firebirdfox

    I woke up this morning to find that my favorite browser, Mozilla Firebird, had released a new version AND had changed its name to Mozilla Firefox! Needless to say, I was surprised, and wondered why the change occurred. After reading...

  • XHTML workshop

    Yesterday night, Scott and I attended an XHTML workshop on campus. We get to take these workshops for free because weā€™re employed by the university, so we figured weā€™d take advantage of it and see if we learned anything new....

  • Designing with Web Standards

    While at Borders the other day with Scott, I came across a book called Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman, and after a little deliberation, I purchased it. I love this book so far! Iā€™m pretty interested in making...

  • On RSS

    These days, when Iā€™m surfing the net and checking out new websites, I read all about RSS and how RSS feeds should be implemented. Whatā€™s RSS? Yeah, I could give out one of those long-winded explanations on what it is,...