Digi-Scene

Hi, I'm Kim and I'm a...

2010-08-11T02:21:00.000-07:00

CRACKBERRY addict.

(You thought I was going to say Mormon, didn't you?)

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Day 2 of no phone. Going cold turkey without my BlackBerry is not the way I wanted to handle my addiction. I wanted some coddling, some "Here's a little methadone (aka old fashioned flip phone) to get you through the worst of it." I'm isolated, lonely, and dangerously desperate for a fix. Why else do you think I'm blogging at 2:26 am when normal and sane people are sleeping? Besides the fact that Twitter is too confining when you're anxious and wired?

Arggh, sleep. I need sleep!

Time for a Vacation

2010-08-07T21:18:00.001-07:00

Today's Quote

2010-08-05T16:22:00.001-07:00

"Don't use semicolons. They stand for absolutely nothing. They are transvestite hermaphrodites. They are just a way of showing off. To show that you have been to college." - Kurt Vonnegut, in a speech to Albion College students entitled "How to Get a Job Like Mine"

It's a good thing he didn't take aim at commas, ellipses, and parentheses (all of which are my personal favorite punctuations)....

Quote of the Day

2009-09-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

The German poet Ranier Maria Rilke once wrote that it's important for people to be solitary because "the seemingly uneventful and motionless moment when our future steps into us is so much closer to life than that other loud and accidental point of time when it happens to us as if from outside. The quieter we are, the more patient and open we are, the more deeply and serenely the new presence can enter us, and the more we can make it our own, the more it becomes our fate." (via MetroDad)

Where's the Funeral Potatoes Recipe?

2009-07-16T00:29:00.000-07:00

Well it happened sooner than I would have hoped. A ward member has passed away and I need to put together a luncheon for 100 people next Saturday. Obviously I'm too new at this job if I don't even know where we keep the damn tablecloths...

Simpsons Quote of the Day

2009-06-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Marge: You'll never get a husband if you keep being so sarcastic.

Lisa: All right. No husband.

No More 3 for $3.33

2009-06-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

As a sign of the reality of the new economy, the local Weinerschnitzel has finally removed their infamous 3 for $3.33 promotion (a chili cheese dog, chili cheese burger and chili cheese fries). Now it's 2 for $3. Is nothing sacred anymore?

(I've been forced to update my shout outs to reflect this unfortunate turn of events. Sorry Steve.)

Zotz Anyone?

2009-06-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

I've been in a bit of a mood lately to reminisce on things from my childhood and suddenly I remembered all of the cool candy that we had as kids that don't seem to be around anymore. Candy cigarette, anyone? What candy do you miss that you can't find anymore?

That's Madame President to You

2009-06-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, it's happened. The Apocalypse. The End of Days. The earth will at any moment reverse it's orbit around the sun.

I've been called to be the Relief Society President of my ward. Gah! It only took nearly 2 months from the time our old RS President moved away for the Bishop to finally get me put in place. I don't know what the h*** I'm doing. I'm making it up as I go along.

Lots of sleepless nights already and wondering how I'm going to be up to the challenge of being in ward with 84 active families and 500 inactive ones. Dad has given me some great advice already but the two I'm clinging to are: 1) Delegate - EVERYTHING you possibly can, and 2) Be sure to make time for yourself on a regular basis.

Remind me again of the perks of being President?

New Addition(s)

2009-05-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to welcome Corbin Keith Schumann and Chloe Jade Schumann to the family! Corbin was born on April Fool's Day and weighed 7 lbs 1 oz, 19 inches long. Chloe was born this morning and coincidentally weighed the same as her cousin, but she was 20 inches long. Can't wait to see more pictures of the beautiful babies!

Congratulations to both Scott & Tiffany and Derek & Ashely...

Travel

2009-05-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

I used to really enjoy traveling for business, but now...well now I endure it.

I'm in San Jose for 3 days for a conference and while I have been enjoying it and learning interesting things, all I can think about is all the things I need to also be doing that I can't do because I'm here. I remember the days when I was younger and I loved going to new places and sleeping in hotels and eating out all the time.

It might be time to rethink my lifelong dream of being a truck driver...

Encouraging Creativity

2009-04-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking alot about creativity lately. For whatever reason, I've always associated creativity with pursuits that are more artistic in nature, but have come to realize that creativity should really be something that everyone tries to nurture in every aspect of life. Creativity is something that brings vitality and life to work that can tend to become monotonous and boring. Creativity can be the result when we indulge our curiosity and ask the crazy questions. I've become an "adult" though and unfortunately I have turned off the natural and wide ranging interests I had when I was a child.

I like to watch the talks from TED that have been archived on the internet, because they expose me to ideas and people that I wouldn't necessarily have heard of. One that sticks out to me was a talk by Elizabeth Gilbert on the nature of creativity and genius. She talked about how genius used to be considered a magical divine entity, not part of the person themself. I know it's not logically sound, but that idea resonates with me because people that have a gift of genius seem to somehow be touched by something mystical and special outside of themselves.

I'm planning to look into this further to see what I can do to encourage creativity in myself, not just on special projects, but as a way of life. If anyone has books or other resources please recommend them in the comments.

Into Every Life a Little Rain Must Fall

2009-04-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

What a week this past week has been and boy am I glad it's over.

First, preparing for a major presentation to our executive team. Second, putting together recommendations for a new client to (hopefully) expand their business with us. Last, but not least, a reorganization at my company. I'm exhausted.

But...

I have Boni. And he brings light to my world in the darkest of times. And just like a shaft of sunlight through rain shows itself as a beautiful rainbow, that's what it feels like when Boni holds me and tells me how wonderful I am. I can't believe how lucky I am even in this torrential downpour of uncertainty and stress. That little bit of sunlight makes all the difference.

Can you spell L-A-M-E?

2009-04-01T00:45:00.000-07:00

OK, that last post was completely lame. In my own defense though, I was merely trying out some new technology that I came across called Plinky. It's supposed to be a place for you to get blog post ideas and since I obviously don't think about anything for months at a time, I thought I'd get some help. I didn't realize that Plinky is really a wannabe Twitter (Plitter? Twinky?)

From now on I'll be in stealth mode, meaning I'll sign on to Plinky to get a new blog post idea and not answer it there so I don't have to annoy my many fans with that L-A-M-E icon appearing uninvited in my blog post. It sooo ruins the aesthetic of my new blog design.

Do I need to feel guilty about this? WWJD?

I could eat nothing but breakfast food for a year

2009-03-31T12:52:00.001-07:00

I love breakfast food of any type. Omelets, cereal, breakfast burritos, waffles, pancakes, toast, orange juice, mmmm, it's all good. Oh, and you can't forget about bacon. Bacon ROCKS!

San Francisco

2008-12-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

I love San Francisco. Honestly, I can't pinpoint exactly why I feel such an affinity for that city, but I feel very much at home there. I loved the little boutique hotel we stayed at near Union Square and all of the holiday decorations. It helped me to at least start feeling the holiday spirit. San Diego makes it hard to feel "Christmasy".

I just got back from a trip there to participate in a pitch to another data storage company. It went incredibly well and I hope we get the business. However, it's an interesting fact that I actually had to ask to be able to participate in this presentation. Our VP of Strategy and the sales guy needed to include my functional area in the presentation, but some reason they initially wanted to present my stuff remotely via WebEx, while both the SEO and Creative team would be presenting in person. I wrote a pointed email to the sales guy to ask him why I was being excluded from the in-person presentation. He didn't have a good explanation and actually apologized for excluding me. I don't think there was anything deliberate in his exclusion of me, but I'm glad I spoke up to nip this kind of thing in the bud.

More travel to San Jose next week. I'm certainly looking forward to the holidays and going back to Utah to see my family.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T13:42:00.000-08:00

It seems like lately whenever I speak with Boni on the phone, the first thing out of his mouth is "Congratulations!" and when I ask him why he's saying that he says "Well, you always have so many good things happening for you lately, that I thought I would congratulate you first and THEN ask what I should be congratulating you for." He's so right.

A few of the many things that I have to be grateful for lately are:

1) I received a promotion at work along with a substantial pay raise.
2) It was my 2 year anniversary at work and I received an incredibly thoughtful note from the CEO along with an iPod Shuffle.
3) The last time I went to the casino, I walked away $5,000 richer!
4) I have family and friends who love and care about me.
5) I have a calling at Church that I love, being the Gospel Doctrine teacher.
6) I have Boni in my life.

I hope I always cultivate this "attitude of gratitude" in my life. I've been richly blessed.

Cringe and Photobombing

2008-05-09T17:04:00.001-07:00

I always enjoy learning a new turn of phrase that isn't in popular usage, but when you describe what it is, people understand immediately what you're talking about.

Now cringe isn't a word that people are unfamiliar with. Everyone has probably had a cringe inducing moment that they wish would end. However Cringe (with a capital C) as an event is something different. Cringe is an open-mic night that occurs in a Brooklyn bar once a month where people get up on stage and read their most embarassing entries from their teenage diaries, journals, poetry and the like. Have you recently re-read things that you wrote as a young teenager? I have, and the overwrought emotions and excrutiating hyperbole was truly blush enducing. So why would anyone subject themselves to that kind of remembered humilation? Because it's funny. Damn funny. And to hear someone else say exactly what you were thinking as a 14-year-old is somehow liberating too. I recommend checking out the new book by Sarah Brown (the creator of Cringe) when it's published this summer.

Now on to photobombing. Photobombing is the fine art of ruining other people's photographs. You've seen them. You're on vacation at Disneyland trying to get a nice family group shot in front of It's A Small World and sure enough when you get the prints back, there's some anonymous teenage boy directly behind your mother giving the peace sign. THAT is photobombing. You see it pretty much constantly in any live crowd shot from a sporting event, but that's not nearly as fun as being somewhere somewhat less obvious and seeing a creative use of photobombing. Here's one of my favorites:

The New York Times (Oh, yeah baby)

2008-05-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday there was a conference session given by a couple of guys from the New York Times. The session had something to do with multi-channel data integration or some such thing and it had some really good ideas.

Here's the important thing, though. The presenter was movie-star handsome.

I don't mean cute, cuddly teen-girl crush handsome. I'm talking for an adult woman, drop-dead, drop your panties handsome. Patrick-Dempsey-with-a-sprinkle-of-gray-in-the hair-and-beard, handsome

After the presentation, I joined the crush of female groupies, er attendees, pushing and shoving their way to give the man their business card. Only in a setting like this can a woman remotely get away with a "here's my number, we need to talk again SOON", and not look like a total slut.

In actuality what I wanted was a copy of the man's presentation so can I sound as smart as he is. When it was my turn to introduce myself, I swear to you this actually occured.

Me: "Hi there, my name is Kim Howard and I'm with Geary Interactive, an interactive advertising agency in San Diego and I'd love to get a copy of your presentation. Here's my business card."

GHONYTML (Gorgeous Hunk of New York Times Man Love), looking deeply into my eyes as he takes the card: "You look really familiar. Have we met before?"

Me (in my head): "You don't remember? The hot, steamy summer on the Cape? The cool, crisp autumn days in New York? I'm crushed you don't remember me!"

Me (out loud): "Um, no I'm sure I would remember if we had met before. I just have one of those faces that looks like your roommates best friend from college. You know what I mean?"

GHONYTML (laughing gently): "Yes, I know what you mean, but I feel like we've met before. I think the presentations from the entire conference will be made available online afterwards, but I'll be sure to send you a copy."

Me: "Thank you, I'd really appreciate it."

------------------------------------------

As I drift off to sleep last night, I'm rewriting that conversation a million different ways in my head. Too bad I don't think as quickly on my feet as I do on the verge of sleep. Cie la vie.

I Left My Heart...

2008-05-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in San Francisco on business and I must say that I absolutely adore being back in this city again. I'm so glad that past memories of being here no longer haunt me and instead I can focus on why I loved being here so much in the first place.

However, my heart is no longer here. It is at home in San Diego with Boni. I miss him and can't wait to see him...

Mom and Dad Are Coming For a Visit....

2008-03-03T20:02:00.000-08:00

...might be time to think about taking down the Christmas tree.

News Flash

2008-03-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

NPR broke the news this morning that Kraft Foods actually ceased production of the hot grain beverage Postum last fall because of low demand. I wonder what Inez is going to do when the supply dwindles to the point that the only way to get some is to bid $100 for a jar on eBay? Maybe Pero will become the new drink of choice. Didn't Grandpa have a jar of this hidden in the back of his cupboard? I think he tried to pass it off to Uncle Sherman as instant coffee once. As if roasted grain tastes anything like roasted coffee!

I'm sad that something that is part of my cultural past doesn't exist anymore, but I have to admit that I would never drink it. To my way of thinking if you want something that is coffee-like, just have coffee. I would.

Confession Is Good For The Soul

2008-02-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

I have a few things that I want to get off of my mind -

1) I LOVE the smell of coffee and it's the one thing that as a card-carrying Mormon I struggle with staying away from (especially since the office started stocking Dunkin' Donuts coffee instead of just plain ol' Folgers). For some reason alcohol is no temptation at all, but coffee...mmmmmmm, coffee...

2) I bought a gift card to Starbucks for a friend for Christmas, but didn't give it to them. I'm now using it to buy myself blueberry muffins every morning for breakfast! Me bad?

3) I usually don't prepare my Sunday School lessons until Saturday, yet everyone thinks I spend tons of time on them. Do I need to set them straight?

4) My Christmas tree is still up and decorated. I find it odd that none of my friends mention this rather obvious fact to me.

5) I secretly hope that the new condos on the corner don't sell just because they're ugly and I hope the developer who tore down the lovely little bungalow that used to be there takes a financial beating as a result.

6) I used the coin toss method in deciding how to vote for the ballot initiatives during the primary election here.

7) I use caller id to screen my calls (yes, I'm avoiding you).

Not exactly a scandalous list is it?

My First Decade*

2007-09-25T12:58:00.000-07:00

Age 1: Threw my bottle of milk from the crib, refusing to drink milk in that way anymore. I preferred a shot glass.

Age 2: My sister is born. Thus begins a decade of matching outfits and haircuts (I'm the one in the photos who is never wearing pink).

Age 3: Had my tonsils removed. Learned that complaining loudly that my throat hurt would get me Grandpa's sympathy and lots of ice cream.

Age 4: I still believe in Santa Claus even though I recognize my Mom's handwriting on the note "he" left with the new handmade Barbie clothes. I didn't consider that being gullible, I considered it being pragmatic.

Age 5: Thanks to Mom this is the last time I had long hair until I was in my 40's. Hint: Mia Farrow may have looked really sophisticated in that pixie haircut, but I had lost my front teeth and I had freckles. I didn't look sophisticated, I looked like a little boy.

Age 6: For my birthday, I received a purple bicycle with long handlebars and a banana seat. My parents didn't see me for years after that. Freedom!

Age 7: Fito gave me a ring and became my boyfriend. I broke the ring when I used it to play hopscotch. We broke up after recess.

Age 8: Got baptized. Having never seen a baptism, I was concerned that I would drown as I thought that Dad would say the prayer while I was under water and I knew how long my Dad's prayers could be.

Age 9: Didn't learn a damn thing in school during this year. Wait, I did learn that teachers can be extremely crappy at their job and nobody believes little kids when they tell you that.

Age 10: I wrote an essay for Mrs. Taggert that forever changed my perception of myself. Thank you Mrs. Taggert for recognizing that little girl and her feelings.

*The idea for this post came from Maggie Mason's blog.

The iPod Challenge

2007-09-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

I bought a brand new iPod a few weeks ago (a sweet 80GB iPod classic) and I'm having a devil of time figuring out how to get all of my music from the iTunes on my two computers onto the iPod. Long story short, whenever I sync with my work computer's iTunes, it wipes out the songs from my home computer. I want to MERGE the two, not overwrite them. Why isn't merge an option? I'm sure this is something simple but I can't seem to figure it out.

This is probably my karmaic come-uppance for laughing at Boni and his cell phone issues...