Catching up

This blog has sat here, fairly unattended for longer than I’d meant it to sit. I only come here to write things when the spirit moves me, and when I have time. Those two things haven’t happened concurrently in quite a while. Work has been terribly busy, yet exciting, in spite of my working exclusively as a teleworker since March of 2020 when the pandemic sent us all to our home offices.

I believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for a return to the office, but I don’t know what the “after” will look like. Many of my coworkers are happy and productive working from home, myself included. But we are torn because we miss one another, the camaraderie, the friendships, the time between meetings when we got to discuss the latest shows we were watching or upcoming concerts we couldn’t wait to see, or even the latest political games being played on the national stage.

My husband and I both work at the same place in the same field on the same projects so we’ve attended many of the same meetings from his office (the basement) or mine (our first floor spare bedroom). Our home is farther than most from our place of work, making it nice to skip that drive. He uses it to sleep in and I have used it to work early and late in order to catch up on all of the things I need to do. I’ve been working two jobs for quite some time, and can never fit it all within a 40 hour work week.

Our oldest is off at college now, and I have yet to adjust. I suspect that I never will. Our youngest is in her junior year, so we’ve begun her search for college as well. These years, that I knew would go by too quickly for my likings, have flown by even faster than expected. I am painfully not ready for our children to leave the nest, yet also proud of their accomplishments and their maturation into the people they have and are becoming. I may be biased, but I happen to think that our kids are two of the most amazing people in the entire world.

I hope that the last year and a half has treated you all as well as can be expected and that you and your family have been able to take advantage of unexpected time together. While I will never be happy that a pandemic raged across the world, I have been blessed with more time with my children ahead of their departures for college and beyond, as we all hunkered down at home doing remote learning and teleworking. For that, I will always be grateful.

I wish you well and will try to check in more often.

RSM

Its been a long time…

I’ve been thinking about restarting this blog. Well, not so much restarting as just writing things in it again. With the introspection brought about by this pandemic, I’ve started to write in my personal journal again after about a year of just not finding the time. It feels like time to do so here.

Blogs have long been replaced with the quicker feedback destinations like Facebook and Instagram (or even Snapchat) but I still love reading them. I still read the blogs of the people I’ve followed over the years when a notification comes through my email inbox that they’ve published something.  A few of the folks I do follow have taken to posting their articles on Facebook rather than a personal blog space. I will read those but I miss personal blogs.

Since my last posts, so much has gone on that I’ve thought about writing about. The Star Wars sequel trilogy came to an end. The Mandalorian season 1 aired on Disney Plus. I’ve read a few books. Fell in love with Hamilton. Oh, yes, and a Pandemic came through the world and shut everything down. My children are in high school and while they were home for the last quarter of their school year from March to May, they are both back in school for a blended in person/remote approach. We are knee deep into the college searching/application experience with our oldest. My husband and I have been working from home full time since March. and we miss Disney World.

In the time since I last wrote something, my country seems to be topsy turvy. The anger is front and center, and our press seems to relish in stirring the pot. I miss the days where people shared the good.  Focus on the good. 

In the words of one of my favorite Disney podcasters, now more than ever is it important to Choose the Good.

Hopefully more posts to come.

 

 

 

Of Fathers and Sons: Phil Collins “Not Dead Yet” tour

Last night, the night before a significant birthday of mine that will not be named, I went to see what proved to be a really fantastic and unexpectedly emotional concert. Phil Collins in his Cleveland, Ohio appearance of his “Not Dead Yet” tour. One of the first concerts I ever went to back when I was in college, was the Genesis “Invisible Touch” tour back in 1987. I went with some of my very best friends in college and had the absolute best time. Phil was an amazing drummer and I loved the album and enjoyed the whole show.

Fast forward many years (and how the heck did *that* happen) and some friends at work wanted to know if my husband and I would like to see Phil as he did one more tour that, thankfully, took him through Cleveland. My husband, being a drummer, and knowing I loved Genesis, said yes! So last night, the night before my birthday, and a school night, we went downtown to enjoy dinner and some music.

You can read several wonderful reviews of the concert here and here so I won’t go into depth about the sets and Phil’s performance. What I will say is that it was surprisingly emotional . When the show opened, Mr. Collins walked out to center stage with the help of a cane. Apparently he’s recently had surgery and his foot isn’t in very good shape, so he would not be playing the drums. Instead he sat on a stool and sang every song from the front of the stage. His voice was sometimes soft, and at times, timid, but it was still the same Phil Collins voice I remembered from college. As he continued through the set, he became stronger in song and presence. His band and backup singers were delightful and it was obvious to the audience that there was love and admiration all around.

That wasn’t nearly the emotional part. No, that came when Phil introduced his band. He started with the horn section, because no Phil Collins or Genesis song is complete without horns. Then moved to the guitars, percussions, backup singers and keyboards. He skipped over the drums and the audience was on the edge of their seats waiting to find out who the young man was on the drums.

Turns out that the young man in question was Phil’s 17 year old son, Nicholas Collins. When introduced. the audience could not have beeb more loud. Yes, I cried. That was it for me the entire night. If Phil couldn’t play the drums, his son was there to carry on for the next generation. Maybe it was because I was about to turn a milestone birthday or maybe it’s because my own children are starting to mature and grown into teenagers who are their own people but I was deeply touched.

Here’s a little youtube video I found of the father/son duo during this tour.

If you can see Phil Collins on this tour, whether or not you’re a fan, it was definitely a wonderful time. Last night’s show was sold out, but I suspect there might have been one or two tickets still remaining here or there. I’d recommend it without hesitation.

Thank you again, Mr. Phil Collins, for your music, for your gift and for sharing both with the world.

RSM

Of disappointment, resolutions and drawing things

At the end of last year, I found myself very down. I’m not sure entirely why but as funny as it sounds, Disney’s depressing take on the Star Wars saga was a large part of that. I would read every article, every blog post and every comment I could of fellow SW fans who felt the portrayal of Luke (and Han and Leia for that matter) was just wrong. These comments assured me I wasn’t alone but in the end they left me even more sad.

Sad wasn’t good. I needed to do something. I needed a distraction. So on New Year’s Eve I decided to make a resolution for 2018. I resolved to draw more and Facebook less. That was it. Just draw more. Pretty nebulous.

On January first, I picked out one of my sketchbooks that had been sitting, unloved, in my bedroom and drew. It was a quick pen and ink sketch of our television. I drew while my son was playing Legend of Zelda on our new Nintendo switch. It took me maybe 15 minutes. It wasn’t anything special but it made me feel amazing.

I started this blog years ago, as a place to post drawings I would do using the Brushes app on my original iPhone. I used it as a motivator to make me draw or do something creative. For a time it worked, then I let life get busy.

After I finished my first drawing, I posted it on my Instagram account with the hashtag #drawingaday and my new resolution took form. It has been so fulfilling to draw that I decided I would find the time to draw every day. It’s February now and I’ve actually done it. I’ve done one, quick pen and ink sketch every day so far this year and it’s been wonderful. I feel more creative than I have in a while.

There’s only one rule I’ve given myself on these drawings. Just do them. They don’t have to be perfect. They don’t have to be amazing. They just have to be. Every drawing I’ve done has been a small learning experience. I feel that I’m improving with the practice. When I pick up the little sketchbook I love flipping through it to see what I’ve drawn so far. My kids have honored me by also flipping through it to see what I’ve done. I’m looking forward to what I might draw this year.

Since I’m setting aside that half hour a day to draw, I’ve less time to blog, but I might post a picture of one of my sketches from time to time.

I encourage you to do that thing you’ve been wanting to do. Give yourself permission not to be perfect. Just do.

My notes from Yesterday’s Apple Announcement (iPhone X)

I put together some notes as I watched yesterday’s Apple event streamed live from the new Steve Jobs theater at the new Apple campus. I sent them out to fellow Mac users at work (I am one of the strong supporters of Macs where I work), and got such good feedback, I thought I’d gather the notes here on my blog to capture them for myself in the future.

Plus, this blog is lonely. I don’t write on it nearly as much as I would like.

So with that being said, here’s my notes from yesterday’s Apple event (aka the annual fall announcement of the new iPhones).

• Tim Cook opened the event with a tribute to Steve Jobs.
• Broadcasting from the new Steve Jobs theater in the new Apple park.
• Apple park converted from a “sea of asphalt” into a green space. Designed to be seamless with Nature. Brings the outside in and connects everyone to the beautiful California landscape
• 100% renewable energy powered. One of the world largest on site solar farms
• Great visitor center open later this year. More than just an apple store. Focus on inspiring people, as well as discovering and exploring new products
• Retail update – Angela Ahrendts
  • No longer call them “stores”, call them Town Squares
  • new store designs – creating plaza, open spaces open to everyone,
  • Launched “Today at Apple” – classes/sessions to teach people to use their phones to take photos, or swift playgrounds, to teacher Tuesdays where they keep educators up to date on the latest technologies
  • These sessions are led by a new position called the “creative pro”, a complement to the genius bar
  • Continue to open new ones, and reinvesting in the current ones.
  • Tim Cook especially proud of the apple employees
• First product up: Apple Watch
  • 50% year over year sales growth
  • Apple watch is now the #1 watch in the world
  • 97% customer satisfaction rate (industry leading)
  • Tim Cook: most important thing to apple is how the watch is helping to change people’s lives.
  • Bring on Jeff Williams to talk about new stuff.
  • Watch OS 4 – redesigned workout app, Gymkit a new app to link to gym equipment.
  • Enhancing the heart rate app. more data displayed, adding feature to detect elevated heart rate when not active.
  • Announcing Apple Heart Study: Will use Watch data to analyze arrhythmia and notify users. Collaboration with Stanford Medical. Starts in US.
  • Next gen apple watch: Apple Watch series 3
    • Cellular built in
    • number is the same as your iPhone
    • Can use Siri, maps, text and phone calls, Find my Friends automatically switches to Watch from iPhone.
    • Same size cases. New gold aluminum finish in sport. New band colors. New band called Sport loop (light, stretchy and breathable)
    • Cellular, GPS, 70% faster processor, Watch OS 4
    • Series 1 $249, Series 3 without cellular $329, Series 3 with cellular $399
    • All versions Available in both 38mm and 42mm
    • Orders begin Sept 15, Available Sept 22nd
• Next up: Apple TV
  • Announcing Apple TV 4K
  • Eddie Que
  • Supports HDR 10 and Dolby Vision.
  • To be honest, I am not a video aficionado so I don’t know what all of the different terms mean.
  •  A10X fusion chip. 2x CPU performance and 4x graphics performance of current Apple TV
  • Working with large studies to bring all their 4K versions to the iTunes store, all at same price as the HD versions
  • If you’ve bought HD version, automatically upgraded to 4K at no charge
  • Apple TV 4K starts at $179, Sept 15th order, Ships Sept 22,
• Next up iPhone: iPhone 8
  • Giving a summary of the impact of the iPhone these 10 years.
  • No other device has had the impact on the world like the iPhone.
  • so essential or put so much power into people’s hands as the iPhone
  • Our intention with iPhone has always been to create something so powerful, immersive such that the hardware disappears.
  • “Apple has always believed that technology infused with humanity can change people’s lives and improve the world.”
  • Phil Schiller to talk iPhone 8 (4.7”), iPhone 8 plus (5.5”)
    • This is a huge step forward for iPhone
    • Glass in front and back. Side band made of aluminum (Assume this is the antenna)
    • Silver, space grey, and new gold finish
    • 7-layer color process, 50% strengthening, glass reinforced by steel. Most durable ever in a smartphone. Microscopically sealed.
    • A11 processor, six-core CPU, 64 bit design
    • Lots of specs, but basically, better for games, and much better for photos (dual cameras in the Plus)
    • More power allows for AR (augmented reality). AR being added to apps – MLB at bat to show player stats in real time as scan around the ballpark. Sky Guide uses AR to superimpose star maps on the sky around you (awesome app. I use it myself a lot)
    • Still has home button
    • Future is wireless. – Wireless charging
    • Qi open wireless standard – Any Qi-certified charger will work with iPhone 8.
    • New generation of iPhone, packed with innovations.
    • iPhone 8: 64GB ($699), 256 GB ($849)
    • iPhone 8 plus: 64 GB ($799), 256 GB ($949)
    • Preorder Sept 15, available Sept 22nd
• One more thing – iPhone X (X pronounced “ten”)
  • “We’re not stopping there. We do have… one more thing.”
  • The Future of the Smart phone
  • “Reveal a product that will set the path of technology for the next decade” (video)
  • Biggest leap forward since original iPhone.
  • Phil Schiller back up again
  • iPhone X
    • Edge to edge, top to bottom display,
    • Glass on front and back, same as iPhone 8
    • side Band made of polished stainless steel (assume this is the antenna)
    • water and dust resistant at microscopic layer
    • Two colors: Space grey and silver
    • Super retina display
    • Super Retina Display: 5.8-inches. 2426×1125, 458 ppi. First OLED display great enough for iPhone.
    • Raise to Wake, or tap the screen to wake
    • no more home button – opportunity to rethink the way to use it
    • swipe up from bottom to go “home”
    • iPhone X locked until you look at it, and it recognizes you – Face ID
      • Uses True depth camera system area – sensors at the top of the screen
      • neural networks and machine learning creates a mathematical model of your face, and check the results from the camera against the mathematical model created on board, to unlock the phone
      • A11 bionic chip with built in neural engine
      • requires user attention to unlock., opens even in the dark
      • Chance of random person unlocking your phone is 1 in 50,000 touch ID, 1 in 1,000,000 for Face ID
      • also works with apple pay & 3rd party apps that work with Touch ID
      • Animoji – can create custom emoji’s that follow your facial motion, and record them and send in iMessages
    • Amazing cameras – dual optical image stabilization, low light zoom, f/1.8 and f2.4, larger, faster, deeper. *Dual* optical image stabilization. Better low-light. 2x bright Quad LED flash.
    • Battery life: 2 hours longer than the iPhone 7
    • Wireless – also wireless charging, Qi certified charging, but made it better to move the industry forward
      • Airpower: new Apple wireless charging matt that can be used by both iPhone and apple watch and new air-pods with wireless optional charging case – coming next year
    • new Jonny Ivy video played of the iPhone X.
    • iPhone X: 64GB ($999) and 256GB ($1149). 
    • pre-Order starts October 27, shipping November 3
  • iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 7 (regular and Plus) also still being sold
• In summary, Tim Cook thanks everyone who works at Apple
• “I think Steve would be really proud.” – Tim Cook

Thoughts about Star Wars Celebration 2017

Starting tomorrow, the annual Star Wars convention, also known as Celebration, will start in Orlando, Florida. I won’t be attending, but I will be trying to follow along virtually via twitter and the various bloggers out there.

One such blogger,  at Inside the Magic, wrote his top 5 things he hopes will be announced at Celebration here.

I was going to reply on his blog with my own thoughts, but decided to post them here (so I didn’t complain about The Force Awakens on another person’s website).

I am on board with almost all of his hopes.

(5) George at the 40th Anniversary of the release of Star wars panel.

Say what you will, but George created this world and his absence is noticeable in the lack of originality and cohesive character actions in The Force Awakens (no, Han and Leia wouldn’t have failed parenting so hard and no, Luke wouldn’t have run away – I may have blogged about that in excess over the last couple of years). He needs to be there to celebrate the 40th. I hope Disney invited him, and I hope, as you say, he decides to attend.

(4) Announcement of Luke Skywalker / Ben Solo fill-in novels set between Episodes VI and VII

I don’t really care about Ben Solo/Kylo Ren so I am not at all interested in a book about him. I found him to be an entirely annoying character. Yes, I am one of those old “get off my lawn” Original Trilogy folks who really didn’t like TFA (but find things in this rebirth to love: like Rogue One, and especially the TV cartoon Rebels). On the other hand, more Luke Skywalker is always good!

(3) Lando in The Last Jedi! You bet. We need some “hello what have we here” after the depression of TFA. Fingers crossed.

(2) An Obi-wan Kenobi spinoff movie with Ewan and I am there opening day.

(1) Original theatrical release cuts on blu-ray without the special features would make my year. I’m more excited about that potential than The Last Jedi. 🙂

Are any of you going to attend Star Wars Celebration? I wish I could but I can’t convince the rest of my family to go with me, and I’d feel guilty leaving them. Plus, when you add up ticket prices and then the cost of autographs and photos (because why go without getting an autograph), and it’s a rather expensive few days. Still, Star Wars! Maybe next year. I have a feeing there will be many more Celebrations to come.

RSM

 

Carrie Fisher: 1956-2016

She’s been gone for almost a month now, and I still haven’t been able to put words together here on this blog. I keep waiting for the right words, the best words, but they don’t seem to come. Perhaps they never will. Until then, here are some interim words.

Princess Leia has been a part of my life since I was 8 years old. I almost can’t remember my life without Leia in it. I saw Star Wars when I was a young girl, and immediately started to want to be her (and Luke). I played with my brother’s Star Wars toys. I asked Santa for every Princess Leia action figure and doll they made. I had a doll house and Leia, not some doll, lived in it. I drew her image countless times when I was teaching myself to draw faces. I wrote letters to Carrie Fisher (the kind only a 10 year old can write) and have the autographed picture of her she sent me in response saved in my photo album of Star Wars memorabilia.

Yes, Princess Leia a fictitious character, but she was also a huge part of my childhood. Someone I looked up to. Someone I emulated. I know that the internet is quick to remind everyone who only mentions Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia when they remember that they are missing much of what she was and who she was and what she was important. For the me growing up, Princess Leia was everything.

Growing up, I liked science, math, and engineering. I knew I wanted to do something in the sciences from a very young age. While Leia wasn’t a scientist, she was an ever present example that women were equal to men. Women could be leaders, be looked up to, and take care of themselves and their friends. I never once thought I couldn’t do math, or I couldn’t go to college and graduate school. I never once thought there were things I couldn’t do because I was a woman. I just did them. If Leia could walk in to a room and immediately command respect of those who followed her, I could take advanced calculus and orbital mechanics.

When I heard the news over Christmas break that Carrie Fisher had suffered a cardiac event while on a flight home to LA from London, I braced for the worst. I searched the internet for news of her condition every day. I waited for something positive. When I heard she was in stable condition, I started to hope. Then the news came that she’d passed away and I felt empty. I know that Carrie fought her demons, but she seemed to have possessed some immortal quality. I wasn’t ready to lose her. Her story wasn’t over. She wasn’t done telling it. I wasn’t done listening to it.

My heart goes out to her daughter, Billy. My father died when I was only 26, so I understand the heartbreak of losing a parent (especially one that had their battles with their own chemical demons), just not losing one quite so publicly.

My biggest regret is that I never had the chance to tell Ms Fisher how much she meant to me, how much Princess Leia meant to me. I never got the chance to tell her that I am probably a Rocket Scientist today because her Leia instilled in me the belief that I could do anything I put my mind to. I am sure she heard this same story countless times, and after reading the Princess Diarist,  maybe if I had been able to tell her, I think her response would have been.

” I know.”

Her Universe Annual Christmas Pin

It’s available! In spite of the recent Her Universe/Hot Topic merger, Ashley Eckstein has continued the annual tradition of an autographed Star Wars themed holiday pin included in orders of Her Universe items at Hot Topic for a limited time.

I was actually worried about this one when I learned about Ashley’s new path with Her Universe. I have put in an order at Her Universe on Black Friday every year sine she started offering these free Star Wars limited edition holiday pins with an autograph card. This year the pin is so awesome, I knew I had to have it. It’s a Holiday Ahsoka!

I logged in to Hot Topic early this morning, not quite at the stroke of midnight, but before the kids woke up. Sadly, almost all of the Her Universe Star Wars clothing had sold out of my size. So I bought an item that probably won’t fit me but might just fit my daughter, and was able to get the pin!

Looking forward to wearing this one on Christmas with my family.

Thanks, Ashley, for such a wonderful tradition. I wish you and Her Universe many more years of happiness. Looking forward to what you bring us next year.

RSM

The Books I read in 2015

As I did in 2014, I challenged myself to read 12 books in 12 months during 2015. I am happy to say that I was successful. Without further adieu, here is the list of the 13 books I read over the course of 2015, as cataloged in my Goodreads account (one of my favorite social media resources).

They are a varied collection of books, reflective of my varied interests.  Some of them were books i picked and some were from the book club that my youngest sister tried to start amongst her friends.

1. November 2015: Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure, Cecil Castellucci
2. November 2015: Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike, #3), Robert Galbraith
3. November 2015: Aftermath, Chuck Wendig
4. September 2015: Bellweather Rhapsody, Kate Racily
5. August 2015: New Dawn, John Jackson Miller
6. June 2015: A Desperate Fortune, Susanna Kearsley
7. June 2015: Yes Please, Amy Poehler
8. April 2015: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride, Cary Elwes
9. March 2015: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, Susannah Cahalan
10. February 2015: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed
11. February 2015: The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
12. January 2015: The Husband’s Secret, Liane Moriarty
13. January 2015: Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Maria Semple

When I have time,  will go back through this list and give you a quick summary of my thoughts on each one, and whether I bought them in hard cover, in ebook or read them via library ebook loan. I meant to do that with my 2014 reading list, and as you can see I have never gotten to that.  One of these days….

The Books I read in 2014

I used to love to read. < scratch that! I still love to read>

My love of reading started in high school and never really stopped. I’d always be reading a book, and when I’d finish one, I would immediately start the next in my queue. There was a used bookstore near my home, and I’d visit it monthly, to see what books I could add to my own library. First I started with mysteries like Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, and then, inspired by Tolkien, moved onto fantasy and (given my eventual profession) science fiction.

After my children were born, my time available to read dwindled to almost nothing. I was able to finish the last couple of Harry Potter books as they came out, but aside from one or two books here or there, reading just ended up being the last thing on my list of things to accomplish, and as such, was no priority at all.

This year, inspired by Goodreads and the “challenges” the site was promoting, I decided to challenge myself to read 12 books in 12 months. Checking most of the books out of the library using the Overdrive app on my iPad mini, I not only met but exceeded that challenge and managed to read 16 books in 2014.

And here they are, starting chronologically from last January to December, the 16 books I read in 2014. Let’s hope that in 2015 I can manage to read at least that many. I will follow up in a future blog post with a few sentence summary of each one and my recommendation of whether or not I’d read them again (or suggest anyone else read them).

1. Frozen Heat (book #4 in the Nikki Heat series), by Richard Castle
2. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel
3. Enders Game (the Ender Quintet #1), by Orson Scott Card
4. A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki
5. Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke
6. Wonder, by R. J. Palacio
7. Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis
8. Murdering my Youth: A memoir, by Cady McClain
9. Disney in Shadow (Kingdom Keepers #3), by Ridley Pearson
10. The Fault in our Stars, by John Green
11. The Splendour Falls, by Susanna Kearsley
12. A Pedigree to Die For (Melanie Travis, #1), by Laurien Berenson
13. The Silkworm (Coromon Strike #2), by Robert Galbraith
14. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
15. Will to Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg
16. Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry