It’s been two days and already I’ve changed the look of my Cranky Pals site. This is because I am fickle, which rhymes with tickle, which rhymes with pickle. I’ve been calling my kid Ellison Pickle lately, just for that reason. Er.

The Cranky Pals site is much prettier now, and has the added bonus of its own URL (http://www.crankypals.com). So official! So pretty! I am feeling the love for Shopify, and Shopify? It is feeling the love for me. Aaaaw yeeeeah.

People have been responding to my posts and I have been woefully remiss in my replies. It is not because I don’t love you. (See? More love!) I’ve just been a bit distracted. The kid? He is distracting. Well, currently he is napping, but usually he’s distracting. Distracting, but incredibly cute and fun and fascinating. He makes the most entertaining noises. I can’t wait until he starts talking, but I’m so going to miss his little Ellison-babbles.

I’ve been all Zazzle-crazy the last few days. There are some fun new products in my gallery, and I’m working on figuring out how to bend the API to my will. This is difficult, since I don’t actually know how to use API stuff. That’s never stopped me before, though. Remind me sometime to tell you the story of how I convinced an employer I could create advanced spreadsheets back in 1997 when I’d never used Excel. Good fun.

Someday I’m going to sleep through the whole night. I mean it. And then, like Nately’s whore, I will wake up full of love and optimism. And perhaps chasing Yossarian with a knife. You will see.

technorati tags:shopify, cranky pals, zazzle

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Guess where I’m posting? The office! We finally have internet access. You probably thought we had ironed that whole thing out a couple of months ago, and to that I can only say: so did we. Turns out, a roof mounted antenna? Doesn’t work so well when the building owners decide to redo the roof. But everything’s working gorgeously now, and I am a happy, happy girl. Our ISP, Stephouse Networks, has been just amazingly proactive and helpful during this whole process. I kind of want to bake them something. If you need DSL and you’re in the Portland area, that’s who I’d tell you to call.

Today was a fun, fun, exciting trip to the optometrist to make sure my contacts are working right (they are), followed by an impulse side-trip to Nordstrom to see if any of the bras that fit me were on sale (they weren’t). Wearing an enormous bra is not nearly as much fun as one might think. The styles available in a 38D can be described as “utilitarian” at best. Plus, almost all of them involve underwire. I used to wear underwire with no problem, but that was back when I was a B cup and could sashay into any lingerie section and choose my brassiere based on things like how cute it was and whether it gave me cleavage. Now, the massive weight of my breasts makes underwire press uncomfortably into my ribcage. Ah, lactating. How I do love it.

After that fortifying experience, Happy Fun Baby and I traipsed over to the office, where I spent the better part of two hours updating software. Now that everything is all current, I get the novel experience of being able to actually work. From work! It’s crazy, I know, but it just might catch on.

The next step in the evolution of the office: acquire seating, preferably of the “mod futon” variety. Right now Happy Fun Baby is crashed out on my lap, drooling gently onto my shirt. I’d like to be able to set him down every now and again. Just for kicks. You know.

Our office kind of rocks, even if there’s not really anything in it except a desk and a bunch of books. What more do you need, really?

technorati tags:bra, 38d, isp, stephouse, dsl, baby, office

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At 11 months (well, almost), Happy Fun Baby’s vocabulary is at a whopping four words: “ghee” for “kitty,” “luh” for “love,” “ba” for “ball” and “da” for “yeah.” “Do you want to go downstairs?” I ask. “Da,” says the baby. It’s like living with a little Russian diplomat.

I’m pretty sure yesterday (and today)’s crying jags are tooth-related. A couple of times today the baby has, apropos of nothing, put his hands to his mouth and wailed. I feel so bad for him, but I don’t know what I can do aside from offering snuggles and the occasional dose of Tylenol, which he sucks down like a little addict. Do you remember when medicine tasted bad? This cherry-flavored baby crack is not exactly off-putting. On the other hand, do I want to wrestle with my child before he will take his painkillers? No I do not.

The Code Fairy (aka my inimitable husband, who loves it when I call him a fairy) performed some sort of magic on my Buzzverb site and now it works gorgeously. I’ve posted the second of my 30 Days of Writing Links: if you’re doing NaNoWriMo (or even if you’re not) you should check it out. I’m not collecting all these links for my health, people.

I’m not doing NaNoWriMo this year (seriously, where would I find the time?) but I am all enamoured of a new manuscripting application. I downloaded the Scrivener beta yesterday, and it is, in fact, all that and a bag of chips. If you write novels, you know that Word is somewhat lacking in its outlining capabilities; I’ve always needed to either print out my notes and ideas so that I can refer to them while writing or have lots of windows open, neither of which is an optimal solution. And changing the order of chapters? Not exactly painless. Scrivener addresses these concerns and more. I’m digging the hell out of it. I may even do some work on the novel I started a couple of years ago and then abandoned in favor of sleep deprivation and mood swings. Er, I mean, parenthood. Stranger things have happened, you know.

technorati tags:scrivener, manuscript, writing, buzzverb, teething, tylenol, baby, nanowrimo, code fairy

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The baby woke up at 8am and spent the morning in a series of meltdowns. He’s begun stomping his feet when he’s angry or frustrated. It’s incredibly cute and incredibly endearing and doesn’t he need to be a little older before temper tantrums come into play?

About an hour ago he stopped crying long enough to nurse and then fell fast asleep. It’s no wonder he’s tired; he was up all last night doing the back-arch crying routine. I’d guess what was bothering him (teeth? sinuses? dreams?) but at this point it seems almost silly, like when I talk for my cat. “I hate it when you talk for me,” says Nick. See?

If I were clever I’d take this scream-free moment to do some housework, but I am not clever. I am also not fed. My fortifying lunch of chips and salsa did not completely fortify me. I know, I’m shocked too.

Apparently Last.fm introduced a bunch of new features today, not that I’d know from the lack of announcement. You’d think that announcing things would be important, wouldn’t you? There’s a space for events now, which I guess is exciting, but the thing that made me squee was the Taste-o-meter, which measures your “musical compatibility” with your friends. Kitschy? Yes. But so widget-tastic!

I checked my MySpace account today (yes, I know, I don’t know why either) and found the most unexpected message ever in my inbox:

I went to high school with you, and I always thought you were a great girl. Sorry if I didn’t say that to you back then. You have a gorgeous family, and I hope you are as happy as you look in your pictures!

Wow. She was one of the popular kids, too. Neat!

Speaking of neat: my pet project, Buzzverb, launched today. There was about as much fanfare as you’d expect for something no one’s heard of. Excitingly, once the site went live I discovered a fun little quirk wherein the first entry on the front page is posted with the formatting stripped. Which…doesn’t so much work for me, seeing as formatting is sort of important. There is a place to tell the theme not to do that, but it is feeling peevish and refuses to play. I went to the theme’s forums to see if I could find help, but – wouldn’t you know it? – the forums are down today. So, bah. But hey, if you or anyone you know needs a copywriter, check out Buzzverb. And pretend it works.

technorati tags:buzzverb, last.fm, myspace, sleep, baby, high school

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My creative muscle (which I think is located just below the base of my skull, if the headache is any indicator) has been stretched to the limit this weekend. Not only did I have the beginnings of a final project that kicked my ass all up and down the block, but we’re getting ready to launch both the official couldbe studios site and my pet project (one of them, anyway) copywriting service. And I’m almostalmost done with the site we’re designing for my first client. So: busy! But not too busy to update in list form. I’m never too busy to make lists. Other things I never am include well-rested, conservative, and frugal.

* I finally managed to take my kid to storytime at the library. The verdict? The kid had a grand time, and I really need to work on my social skills. Show of hands: who is surprised by this? Also, there are more hip parents in St. Johns than I would have thought. This is a good thing.

Note: my Cranky Mama flickr account is out of space for this month, so all these pics are from our other account. In case you were confused. Which, I would be.

* I take lots of pictures of my kid. It’s only because he’s so much cuter than anyone else in the world. Except maybe his dad. The two of them together? Cute overload.

* We figured out how to set the shutter speed on the camera. Yes, I know, but who has time to read the manual? I still need to figure out the whole f-stop thing. My photo-geek high-school self is mocking me right now.

* My head has hurt for almost two weeks now. Stupid sinuses.

* Happy Fun Baby figured out how to clap and wave this weekend. His favorite part is getting us to mimic him. Who can resist a baby clapping his chubby little hands together and then looking expectantly at you? The grin he gets when we do his bidding? Totally worth it.

* I have no other bullet points.

Right now the kid and the cat are snuggled up together on the couch, napping. I could take a picture, but I’m not going to. This one I want to keep for myself.

technorati tags:camera, f-stop, pictures, baby, business, couldbe studios, buzzverb, snuggling, clapping, waving

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Our shirts from GoodStorm finally came! We’re using them for shirts for the business, and we’re really pleased with how everything turned out. Behold:

Check out the CouldBe Studios storefront if you want one yourself. Which you totally do.

I also have shirts and whatnot that you can get through Zazzle. Click the Swag link at the top of the page if you want to check those out.

/gratuitous pimping

technorati tags:couldbe, shirts, goodstorm, zazzle

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Baby is crying. I “wasted” his naptime doing dishes and scrubbing the stove (which still isn’t completely clean, but it’s better), so now I’m trying to make lunch while he wails. Also, my shoulder hurts. Does anyone have any clever home remedies for a pulled muscle/pinched nerve? Yes, heat, I know, but I’m out of heat packs and it huuuuuuurts.

In other news, we’re meeting with an agent today to get business insurance. I’ve never done anything remotely like this before. I feel so grown-up. The whole “starting a business” thing is kind of foreign to me…I’ve always been a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of girl, and all of this official stuff is somewhat daunting. I am using a lot of modifiers. Does that mean I’m nervous?

We got the design site up, finally, so at least people have a place to see our portfolio while we’re getting the main couldbe studios site up and running. And there’s a desk in the office. Yay!

In other, other news, my grilled cheese is burning. So much for that grown-up thing, huh?

technorati tags:couldbe studios

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