October 2011
1 post
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Taking a Social Media Holiday
Been feeling overloaded lately. Also feeling something of a sense of ennui with social media. Sometimes it’s good, and sometimes I just see things in my various feeds that annoy me. Sometimes I feel like it’s not fun anymore, but instead is merely a pointless distraction.
Time for a break.
(I was going to do this starting in November, but fuck it - am starting today.)
So,...
April 2011
1 post
3 tags
A few thoughts on traveling with other people
Traveling with other people can be tricky. First, just trying to coordinate schedules to go somewhere can be challenging. Then, you might discover new and interesting personality quirks in people you thought you’d known for a while. Lastly, after being with the same people for days - if not weeks - on end, you might all wind up getting on each others nerves a bit. It’s tempting to...
January 2011
1 post
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Further Adventures in Online Persona Management
So, it was not quite two years ago that I decided to set up a second Twitter account, @jenvetterlicom, and move all my “work”-related Tweets on User Experience, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, etc. there from my main Twitter account @jenvetterli.
It seemed to be needed, since I was posting on a wide variety of topics, including a lot of food posts (not to mention a lot...
December 2010
1 post
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When life gives you lemons...
You know how the saying goes…
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Which is fine. For a while. But what if you keep getting lemons, over and over?
Maybe - just maybe - the problem is that you’re sitting under a lemon tree.
In which case you either learn to like lemons a lot, or you find a new tree to sit under.
Have you had enough lemonade yet?
(Pic is courtesy of...
November 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Miscellany 2010-11-14
A few links that have crossed my radar lately*:
The top 10 buildings lost to demolition in Toronto - being familiar with some of the locations, I keep trying to picture how those buildings would look in present-day context, especially the original Toronto Star building
Intervin’s Top Scoring Value Wines for 2010 - lots of good bottles selling for $15 or less; I think a trip to the liquor...
4 tags
Saturday at the library
I’ve been trying to get into the habit of going to the library on weekends to get some reading done, and some writing done. So far, so good - even if the results haven’t been particularly outstanding, at least I’ve been showing up and accomplishing something. That’s half the battle.
Why am I doing this?
In late July, I’d made up a list of 14 books I wanted to...
October 2010
10 posts
3 tags
Paris: Day 3
Managed to get out and see a fair bit. Even more surprisingly, accomplished this without copious amounts of caffeine. Also got pretty good at hopping on and off the Metro - I don’t find it quite as easy as the Tube in London, but not as baffling as the New York subway system. (I don’t know why I’m intimidated by the subway in New York. I just am.)
Things I saw:
Place du...
3 tags
Paris: Day 2
Things didn’t really get off to a great start, considering that I woke up achy and sick. Even my appetite was slightly shot, and that’s never a good sign.
So what do you do when you feel like crap? In Paris, go for crepes…
For breakfast, I wound up at Creperie Josselin, which was recommended by Time Out Paris. Nice, homey atmosphere, all decked out in provincial decor....
3 tags
Paris: Day 1.5
So here I am on my first visit ever to Paris. It’s kind of sad that it’s taken me this long to get here, but better late than never…
Am slowly getting used to things. Am reasonably confident to at least make a mangled attempt at speaking French (and it’s largely “restarant French”), although as soon as things go off script, I revert to a very Canadian...
3 tags
London: Day 4
If yesterday was a day of surprise and delight, today was a day to slow down and pay careful attention…
Once again got off to a slow start (do you see a trend here?) and didn’t get out of the micro-room until after 11am. Since my lunch reservation was at 1pm, I had a small bit of time to fill.
I decided to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum after all, reasoning that even though...
3 tags
London: Day 3
A good day overall, populated with small episodes of surprise and delight - the sort of thing that makes the whole exercise of going away and doing something different worthwhile.
The sun was also shining today for the first time since I arrived. It makes such a difference.
Highlights:
1) Lunch at the Rex Whistler Restaurant at the Tate Britain.
This time, I had the sense to (a) book a...
3 tags
London: Day 2 - The Lost and Clueless Edition
Note to self: Venturing forth in a strange city when undercaffeinated is not too bad. Venturing forth in a strange city without a clear plan is not too bad. Venturing forth in a strange city when undercaffeinated and without a clear plan is bad…
Got off to a slow start and missed my breakfast plans. Made alternate breakfast plans, but left the micro-room without writing down the address...
2 tags
London: Day 1
Not a hugely active day, which is be expected…
Have realized that the place where I’m staying is in a heavily touristed area - all those banks upon banks of stately white Georgian homes seem to contain boutique hotels. Which has its advantages and disadvatages.
After wandering incoherently up Queensway this morning in search of food and coffee, I wound up in a Patisserie Valerie....
2 tags
jetlagged and undercaffeinated
note to self: order room service on your first morning in a new time zone - locating breakfast in a strange place when jetlagged and undercaffeinated is less than ideal
Bayswater, 8.45 am
It’s a grey and rainy Monday morning in London, and I’m trying to get my bearings. Am staying in a small “boutique” hotel, not far from Paddington station, and the room, while not uncomfortable, is tiny. Reminds me of the Hudson Hotel in New York - lots of dark wood, high gloss fixtures, and not a square inch to spare.
Have embarked on this trip sans laptop, relying...
2 tags
Coming up for air...
So, I managed to stay away from Twitter for an entire month. Rather more accurately, I managed to stay away from tweeting for an entire month, as I’ve still been following what other people are doing.
I’ve found that the urge both for posting to Twitter and for trying to keep up with other people’s tweets does go down over time. This is probably a good thing.
Anyway, I...
July 2010
2 posts
2 tags
Apparently, I Write Like Chuck Palahniuk
So I took this quiz that determines which famous writer you write like (hey, all the kids are going it), and was a bit surprised - not unpleasantly so - to learn that my writing style mostly closely resembles Chuck Palahniuk’s.
The only book of Palahniuk’s that I’ve read is Fight Club, which I really enjoyed, but I wouldn’t have said that he’s influenced my writing. ...
3 tags
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"
Finding myself once again having reached the end of a major task and dealing with the shift change that comes afterward. Inevitably, some self-reflection is in order.
Again, checking in on some of my stated goals for the year:
Write More - Well, this has just kind of blown chunks. I have easily a half-dozen unfinished blog posts sitting as drafts in various places, not to mention a few more...
May 2010
2 posts
4 tags
3 tags
Writing About Not Writing
So, I’ve Twittered about the fact that I keep meaning to post something online, and yet I never do. This is disappointing. One of the reasons why I started up this particular Tumblr account (as opposed to a couple other blogs that I’ve also started) was to have a no-pressure site where I could move beyond simple 140-character ciphers and get back into the habit of publishing longer snippets of...
January 2010
3 posts
2 tags
No. Non. Nyet. Nein.
Day 2 of my vacation, and I’ve decided that I’m not going to do anything work-related. Which seems like a no-brainer, but even though I’m not at the office doing my job, extricating myself from work isn’t quite so simple. So, I’ve decided:
No reading work-related books.
No attending work-related events.
No work-related Twittering, or following my work...
3 tags
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in...
There’s a sense of unreal suspension that always happens after you’ve pushed through a major task of some kind. The weight falls away, and you’re left wondering, “what do I do now?”
So, checking in on some of my goals for the year:
“Write more” - there’ve been a few more notebook entries, but blogging has all but vanished; started to draft one...
3 tags
Things I Want to Do, Moving Forward
I know it’s a bit cliché to come out with resolutions at the start of a new calendar year, but since I’ve had a bit of lull time, and therefore time to think, some self-reflection is inevitable…
So, anyway, here’s a partial list of things that I want to do, not just this year, but every year after:
Write more: I fell out of the habit of keeping a notebook for several...
December 2009
1 post
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And so it begins...
I used to blog. A lot. Now, I mostly Twitter. A lot. I probably need another online account like I need another hole in the head. But every once in a while, I want to write something that won’t fit neatly into 140 characters. Hence, this space. We’ll see how it goes…