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SubscriptionsSites I Read
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| blogspotFYI, I've switched to blogspot. The new blog is here:
http://ohtoberich.blogspot.com/
though the updates are still infrequent. As always, my photo stream is more timely. In case you haven't checked it recently, here are a few shots. The first is an infrared shot taken by my condo, and the second was for Ken and Cori's engagement.
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| xanga switchXanga is once again offering lifetime subscription for something like $100, which is about four years of their normal service. Presumably, the company hopes to gain subscribers. In my case, they may lose one.
The effect of a subscription deal is to cause me to think about subscribing. Grievances are brought to mind as I contemplate the overall value of xanga to me.
I'm no longer convinced of the benefits of xanga. On the plus side, the ads are more bearable now as (google ad?) banners. They've got tags and many of my friends are on it.
The negatives are many. There is the cost; the free version has ads and formatting restrictions. Not all of my friends use xanga anymore; some have migrated to blogspot (free) or wordpress (flexible). (Though there is another free option used by certain friends, I've likely bleated enough about the eyesore that is myspace.)
I don't know how others read blogs, but I use google reader as an rss aggregator. Xanga rss feeds are not readily apparent, but they are at http://xanga.com/rss.aspx?user=
I'm currently leaning towards blogger, but I will maintain my xanga account for commenting purposes even if I switch...
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| budgeting for theaterA few weeks ago, I joined an organization called the Chicago Saints. It is a non-profit organization that coordinates ushers for the Chicagoland theaters. It's not religious at all; rather, it was named after the St. Nicholas theater volunteers where it started.
My first show was "The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow." It was an interesting play about a tech-savvy child's search for her biological mother. The other usher had arrived earlier and was playing Sudoku when I arrived. We talked while waiting for the house manager. During our conversation, she remarked that my company must not have been paying me enough if I had to usher to see a show.
It was true that I had lived in Chicago (suburbs) for a number of years, and I had yet to attend a show that wasn't a concert. The $20 admission was not unreasonable, but I had preferred to spend it elsewhere. It's always a question of how to budget. With twenty dollars, I could dance to a live jazz band, or play video games at Gameworks for a few hours, or buy about a pound of prime-grade ribeye beef from Whole Foods, or buy 18 items from the dollar menu at McDonalds. I just haven't chosen theater in the past, but the future seems brighter.
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| desperation12:26 AM : my phone beeps, informing me of a missed call. The area code is 209, which I later look up to be from just east of San Francisco. I figure it was a wrong number so I don't call back, and I return to my computer to continue reading about electric guitar pedals.
1:10 AM : my photo editing is interrupted by a phone call. Same area code. I'm curious.
me: hello
male voice: uh, hi. Is Sabrina there?
me: um, no. You have the wrong number.
male voice: oh.
me: bye.
1:23 AM : text message from 209765xxxx.
Sabrina u re really cute....its Tim (the guy with the porsche)..lets hang out sometime soon
I sense desperation. And compensating.
1:24 AM : text message from 209765xxxx.
We met at fatmans bar tonight
I hope I don't rack up a large cell phone bill, but this is amusing.
I'm no expert on the female mind, and it's been awhile since I've been part of the bar scene, but don't text messages at 1 AM seem... stalker-ish? I wonder if so-called-Sabrina gave the wrong number. Why not use something like 508-556-3549?
Since this fellow already had my attention, I thought about him. Hmm, Silicon Valley male who drives a Porsche. At first, I had assumed he was drunk; maybe he was just a stereotypically desparate nerd.
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