Holiday Lights...Jessica Style

From Queen Anne to Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA

Just finished captioning my album of light photos, which were taken as my mom, her neighbor Karen, and I traveled by car from Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood to Capitol Hill (and First Hill) and back with a stop off at Quinn's Pub for a delicious dinner!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night

by dan_the_dinosaur

A Christmas List

1. I had a White Christmas today as it actually snowed in Seattle!

2. My mom and I watched the Cleveland Cavs (my new home team) beat the Miami Heat on TV. Great game!

3. I found out USC is in the Rose Bowl this year, so that means I gotta cheer for them on New Year's Day.

4. I had champagne with my breakfast--a Christmas Day tradition, but one that I think should happen more often.

5. My mom loved all her gifts and I loved mine, especially these beautiful earrings, which I am wearing now.

6. We stopped by Amanda and James' place for a glass of wine and heard the good news that Amanda will be the Asst. Manager at a new hotel. Good for her!

7. We have a turkey in the oven, cranberry sauce on the stove and a bottle of wine waiting to be opened.

8. We spoke to all the people we love the most today and wished them all a Merry Christmas.

9. My cat CJ has been snuggling with me at night, and lounging on me during the day; it's good to see my "little brother."

10. The best Christmas present ever is my boyfriend Dan, who is just as adventerous as I am--baby, we're gonna take Cleveland by storm!

For the Love of Band Geeks

For all my band geek friends out there (and there are many!), this goes out to you:

I definitely made the "nice" list this year...

Jessica's Christmas Wish List

Without further ado...I'm just writing up my Christmas Wish List for all my friends and family out there. It's also a wish list for me because now that we're moving to Cleveland, we'll need a few things to deck out our new place!

1. Cycling gloves

2. Cycling pants

3. Cycling shirt

4. Cycling jacket

5. Some new music (just got some Alicia Keys)

6. Nigella Express cookbook

7. Crate & Barrel gift cards

8. Apple gift cards (for a Mac)

9. Coffee maker

10. Espresso maker

11. Subscription to Domino magazine

12. DVD player

For Futurama Fans

The inspiration for the Futuramatheme song!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Good news for fans of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: It airs on ABC on October 27, 2007 at 8 p.m. In the past, I remember them airing it waaaaaaaay early, like the first week of October, and I always missed it, cursing the TV execs for showing it before I was in the mood for Halloween fun and old-school Schulz.

I think I will watch it while my boyfriend and I carve our pumpkin. Yipee!

Pelicans!

Pelicans. Just Pelicans.

This one's for you, my love!

Ummm...yeah

Furries vs. Trekkies bowling night. 'nuf said.

Wassup with SmugMug Hatin' on Cats?

I thought the Internets loved cats? Hmph!

Obama in '08

C'mon, America. You know he's the best person for the job.

I want chocolate!

Tee hee hee!

Stylin'

This photo by Webshots member Coostay makes me want to put on my short-shorts, throw my hair in a low-slung pony tail and skate like a bad ass!

Of Air and Rock

I took this photo to test out the new tagging entry system for the Creative Challenges on Webshots. The theme for the Challenge was "One Object, Three Shots," and I found a cool sculpture that was begging to be photographed.

I started my career in journalism as a photographer and have always loved the art. Taking these pictures for the Challenge totally invigorated me to take more. Plus, we just got a new camera that's so awesome it makes me squeal!

Popping the iBubble

To get your own iBubble widget, visit iBubble.com

Just made this for Dan using iBubble. Pretty cool!

Web 2.0 Burger Joint

Andrew sent this to CNET Spam and gave me the link to where it was originally posted on Center Networks. Check it out as their version has some additional background and tasty links, but I am all about this Web 2.0 menu!



If there were a web 2.0 burger joint, this would be the menu:

* The Mashable: Comes with 49 types of cheese, 16 sauces, 32 packets of salt and 9 varieties of beef.

* The Calacanis: It's a simple burger, there are no fixins and you will not comment to the staff about the quality.

* The Twitter: Small beef burger which may or may not arrive at your table but if it does, everyone will know you are eating it.

* The Facebook: Burger comes without anything on it, you add whatever you like later on.

* The Scoble: Burger comes with free video explaining how the burger was made, what's on the burger and a free Seagate burger manager.

* The Digg: Twenty burgers are served tableside. Whichever burger receives the most amount of votes from the other guests is the burger which you shall eat. Some burgers will appear better than others.

* The Skype: Burger will be missing one of the items you requested; the establishment will blame the store down the street for not including the missing item.

* The Microsoft: It's not sure what type of burger it wants to be.

* The Apple: The most beautiful burger ever.

* The AT&T: Will be served with a side of 400 potatoes in a box even though you asked for no potatoes.

* The Google: Upon purchasing The Google, all other burgers currently on order will be acquired by The Google.

* The Zune: Probably tastes good but looks like crap.

* The Revision3: Order this burger and get a coupon for a free The Digg burger to be used on your next visit.

* The WebbAlert: This burger may be closer than it appears.

* The MizPee: A directory of nearby toilets will be provided in case said burger does not agree with one's self.

* The Ustream: You will watch another person eat a burger live.

* The YouTube: You will watch yourself eat the same burger 1 million times.

* The Pownce: See The Twitter burger

* The SecondLife: You won't feel full after eating this burger.

* The Read/WriteWeb: The smartest burger on the menu.

* The GoDaddy: This burger comes with a variety of large-breasted women all of whom have nothing to do with burgers but don't they look good?

* The Mahalo: The burger won't be fully cooked but it will come with a how-to on how to properly eat a burger.

* The Valleywag: The staff won't check the ingredients for this burger, they just use whatever they are sent.

* The Real: Comes with a string that once eaten, will follow behind you everywhere you go. No matter how hard you try, you can't remove the string.

* The Crazy Egg: This burger will come with a heatmap showing how others ate the burger before you.

* The Ryan Carson: The most organised, perfectly formed burger on the menu.

* The Popurls: This burger will take pieces from the other burgers to make its own.

* The Original Signal: Similar to the Popurls burger.

* The Clicky: After you eat the burger, stats will be provided on fat consumption, miles to run to burn off burger, where the burger meat came from, and to what extent others may have eaten the same burger.

* The Lending Club: If you can't afford this burger, they will help you get a loan to pay for the burger.

Vinnie LaRussa

I ran into my friend Stephen the other day and asked him what he'd been up to. "Not much," he said. And then I found this video.

Watch it and then be sure to vote that it's funny...or else you'll get a five-finger sandwich.

I am obsessed with this cat!

OMG, how freakin' cute it this cat? I spent half an hour looking at all the photos and comment on some of them. Just another reason why I love my job: Getting to look at kittens!

I'm posting this using Gigya from Webshots!

I hope we get to sing songs at WordCamp

Dan and I are going to WordCamp in San Francisco this weekend. We're gonna geek out for sure. Should be a lot of fun. Photos and updates to follow...maybe, cuz geeks like to get drunk and party.

I Heart Fish Tacos

I am eating the BEST fish tacos right now. Well, I am not eating and writing the post, but you know what I mean. They're from Maya's in San Francisco's SOMA district. You gotta get them on the hand-made tortillas--an extra 50 cents but well worth it. Of course, I got a side of guacamole because I also heart guac.

Why I want a kitten

Kittens rock! I want one so bad!

Stop Animation + Kinko's = One Rad Music Video

One of my favorite email newsletters is by the fine folks a Photojojo, who are always sharing cool things to do with your camera.

Today's email features this awesome stop-animation music video of the Modest Mouse song "Missed the Boat" created by Max Tyrie and his friends. In a quote from Wooster Collective, Max says:

"Myself and a couple have friends have entered the above into the Modest Mouse video competition. Using green screen footage provided by the band we cut a simple music video. We then degraded the images and printed out each frame sequentially. (all 4133 of them) We then nailed each "shot" of 50-100 posters to various structures and posts. Then using a digital SLR camera with a long exposure we frame by frame shot each poster. Oh, and theres a little video projection (again, frame by frame on the SLR) just to mix it up. There is no compositing, no shortcuts, just lots of blood, sweat and tears, and a huge Kinkos bill!"

Taco John's: It does exist!

Dan and I have this running joke about "Taco John's"...little did we know it was a real place with a humorous sign to boot!

London baby, yeah!

London

Check out the new London slideshow from Webshots!

The Name Game!

Just got this email from my lovely cousin Starr. I think I'll give it a whirl.

SCATTEGORIES....it's harder than it looks! But Fun!

Rules: Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the categories!

They MUST be real places, names, things (NOTHING made up!) If you can't think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the
same first initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question and you can't use a search engine. Now go!

Your Name: Jessica

1. Famous singer/band: Joss Stone

2. 4 letter word: Jump (Kris Kross will make you...)

3. Street name: Junipero Serra

4. Color: Jade

5. Gifts / presents: Jewelry

6. Vehicle: Jeep

7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Jackalope stickers

8. Boy Name: John

9. Girl Name: Jennifer

10. Movie Title: Jaws

11. Drink: Julip, Mint

12. An Occupation: Juggler

13. Flower: Julip (a tulip filled with a mint julip!)

14. Celebrity: Jessica Simpson

15. Magazine: Jane

16. U.S. City: Jonestown

17. Pro Sports Team: Jacksonville Jaguars

18. Fruit: Jicama

19. Reason for Being Late for Work: Just don't care!

20. Something You Throw Away: Junk

21. Things You Shout: Jesus!

22. Cartoon Character: JEM

AIDS Walk San Francisco 2007

I am doing the AIDS Walk this year with CNET Networks. I am on the committee at work to raise awareness and funds, so please check out my AIDS Walk page and donate for a good cause.

I promise to bring you lots of pictures of the event as well as a wrap up and a HUGE thank you for your support.

Just donate $1. Every bit counts.

The Filth

I am really digging Lilly Allen's new album Alright, Still. I was groovin' to it on the 38 Geary this morning on my way to work and my shuffle served up the song "LDN." I started laughing at the line "Riding through the city on my bike all day Cause the filth took away my license" because I love hearing slang terms for police.

Here are some of my favs:

Pig
PoPo
The Fuzz
Charlie
Puerco
Copper

Check out Wikipedia's extensive list, too.

An "A" for effort

Old Mac Donald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o! And on that farm he had a bull, e-i-e-i-o. With a "c'me on, baby" here and a "oh, no!" there, here a slip, there a fall, everywhere a big no-no, e-i-e-i-o!

Cop makes pot brownies with confiscated marijuana

The 911 call is hilarious! I think the cop and his wife must have eaten the entire pan of brownies by the way he's talking.

Want this on your blog? Click here to get the code. I have taken out MySpace's included links cuz I like to mess with HTML and make my own links. I am the manager, B!

Best. Cupcake. Eva.

I just saw this on flickr and it made me crack up. Sorry to flickr member helloquynh for nabbing a screenshot of this awesome pic, but you really should allow embed codes if you take pics this good. :)

It reminds me of a birthday cake my dad and I saw in a bakery window once. It read: "Happy Birthday Little Shit!"

Mr. Moses rocks!

I like CTOs like Dean Moses of Widgetbox.com who search Blogger to see what people are saying about their company. Here's what Mr. Moses had to say about my post on Widgetbox.com:

"Jessica, thanks for the most entertaining constructive criticism we've heard all year.

We get a lot of feedback that 'blidget' sounds like bludger, the ball Harry Potter uses in Quidditch matches.

I like your take on it better.

Dean Moses
CTO
Widgetbox"

I think Widgetbox.com has a future my friends!

Don't call it a "blidget"

I like Widgetbox.com, a site for listing and making widgets. I even have one of my boyfriend's blog on my page--see Pacific Pelican.

As a member marketer (one of my many roles at my job), I write most of the communication to members, including naming new features. I always try not to be too cutesy because I think it undermines the member. Also, if I am going to name something, I don't want to feel like an idiot (if you're a Simpsons fan, you'll get it) when I say the term in public.

I feel like an idiot when using the word "blidget," WidgetBox.com's name for a blog widget. A widget's a widget. Let's not get fancy just because we want to coin a new term. When my boyfriend used the term, I thought he sounded like a 14-year-old white boy in Cincinnati who'd smoked some weed and was being stupid with his friends: "Yo I got this blidget and I smoke weed with my cridget and my mom she's a bidget." You get my drift?

Please, just call it a widget.

P.S. widgetizing the web?! I hope you make it to Web 2.1, WidgetBox!

Brooklyn Industries

I just got my white Brooklyn Industries hoodie today! It's on sale for $15 so go get one while they last.

I first found the store a few years back when my friend Les and I went to Brooklyn for the day. I adored the clothes in the shop, plus everyone working there was so nice and helpful. I am glad they have an online store now!

If you're in the NYC area, go check 'em out.

Love this photo!

Working for Webshots is pretty awesome because I come across some of the most amazing photos like the one above. I love the bright color!

MyWeb: Tag, You're It!

I love this photographer!

Webshots member RichSwanner is an amazing photographer. He has some stunning pictures of Jaguars, which is my spirit animal and nickname for those who know me! Check out his fantastic album of animals:

I hope I'm not addicted to coffee...

I used to live in this typical San Francisco apartment--it had a long hallway with all the rooms off to the right--on Hayes and Lyon with two guys, Tom and Adam, who were in different punk rock bands. How I ended up there is a story for another time, but I remember one Saturday morning we were having a casual roommate meeting in the kitchen (our only common room as Adam's room was the living room) because we all happened to be home at the same time.

One issue was Adam's compost--we have a compost, I thought? Cool! Of course, I had no idea how to use it, but still, I liked the idea that my grungy rockers were eco-friendly. I think Adam also had a lot of organic, homemade food in jars in the fridge, but my memory fails me, so Adam, no offense.

Anyway, before the discussion really got going, Adam stopped us and put his hand to his head. I could see a bulging vein and hear the strain in his voice: "Before we do this, I really need coffee." I thought he was trying to cop out of the meeting--and having had many a pointless "roommate meetings," I couldn't blame him, especially since the focus seemed to be on him.

So, I joked that we'd be done soon and let's just get this over with. Big mistake. He flashed his eyes up at me and looked at me with a mix of pain and anger. "No, I NEED coffee!" And with that, he was up and out the door, probably going to our local shop, which has nice coffee and the best bagels, plus a really chill staff.

I looked at Tom in disbelief. "He's addicted to coffee." What? Now, I've heard of people who can't "function" in the morning without their first cup, but is this what they meant? I was still in college at the time and hadn't yet experience the 9 to 5 grind, so I thought I still had time to save myself from this horrible affliction.

I have started my mornings with a nice cup of coffee ever since I started my new job--at my old job, I would have it a few times a week thing, but Adam's bulging vein would remind me to have tea or water once in a while so as not to get addicted.

But alas, the fog is hanging heavy in San Francisco this morning (I was up early to move the car), and I have just made a cup of Peet's House Blend in the French Press with some soy milk and Splenda. It is SOOOOO good. I can see why people get addicted, but I hope I am not addicted to coffee.

P.S. Thanks to Webshots member dhwanisharshi for the awesome photo!

Push-ups

I did a lot of push-ups yesterday. So much so that my arms are killing me today. Why do workout instructors like to make everyone do push-ups?

I feel pretty!

I cut my hair. Waddya think?