Category: progress

Sigh

Another one bites the dust.

After nearly 40 years, Rolling Stone magazine is whittling down its trademark size. It will now look like every other magazine on the stands.

Ugh.

When I was 15, I had a subscription to Rolling Stone (thanks to the kindness of my mom, thanks mom!). I read it cover to cover every month, drinking in the journalism, the hot, hot interviews and the hip quality of it all.

I stopped subscribing when they went from newspaper print style to glossy pages. It wasn’t the paper, it was the quality of the product. Rotten.

So to be fair I haven’t read Rolling Stone in a good long while. But now, this nail in the coffin.

The magazine that was so subversive, so out there, so of-the-now is, at its heart, just another corporate owned mass-produced media product.

*sigh*

We’ve come a long way since RS 1:

Photo source.

Really? No, can’t be. But it is.

Labor Day. A nice three-day weekend. A day off that signifies the end of summer.

WHY GOD WHY!?!?!?!?!?

I know I can’t regulate the passage of time, (cuz if I could I’d have a lot fewer birthdays I’ll tell you that much…) but COME ON! How did the summer slip away so fast?

Here we are again. September.

Heck, the frappin’ New Mexico State Fair (Oh, excuse me, Expo New Mexico) is just around the corner…like…starting on Friday.

The days are noticeably shortening.

Before you know it, Halloween will arrive with the chill it brings in the evening breeze. (the stores already have Halloween candy on the shelves!)

Pretty soon it will be five freaking thirty in the evening and pitch black outside…while I toil away at work.

Then the time changes.

Gah!

The Good Man spent some time last night explaining to me, again, how September and October are the *best* months in the Bay Area and I should be happy for Indian Summer. I am not.

I need sunlight! I’m a wilting flower in the hazy, cloudy skies!

(she says, whimperingly, while it’s planned to be 90 degrees here today…)

*sigh*

Seasons change. People change.

Basically, if I could go back to the week of my honeymoon in the heart of summer, sitting under an umbrella by the beach, happy hour at sunset…THAT would be great.

Instead I stare mournfully out my window…at work.

Maybe this is less about the seasons on the calendar and more about the seasons of my life, eh?

So disappointing

I’m just going to say it. The Olympics. MASSIVE disappointment.

Ok, not the games themselves. No. The coverage. NBC should be shot……and their little dog Bob Costas too.

I have twice now…just twice, sat down to watch coverage during “prime time” hours.

Once was Thursday. As soon as it came on, The Good Man said, “Is Bob Costas sick or something? He looks pale.”

No. Not sick. Just over made up, I think.

We tried to watch it but it was hard. The commercials. The interstitials. The “back story”. The over focus on one athlete to the detriment of the others. The cutting away from beach volleyball just when it was finally getting GOOD. Ugh.

We did get to see Phelps and “the touch” that launched another gold medal.

And we saw a Swiss volleyballer throw a hissy fit.

And some track and field ladies who kick butt.

But it was SO hard to watch.

Second try was last night. As soon as I turned it on The Good Man said, “Is Bob Costas sick or something? He looks pale.”

No. Still not sick. Just bad coverage.

Best line comes from Jim Baca on his blog Only in New Mexico:

“We watched the Olympics last night, or should I say the commercials on NBC which were interrupted by competition once in a while.”

I tried to watch. I really did. But ended up switching over to MythBusters instead.

I remember watching the Olympics when I was a kid. It was all about the athletes. About the competition. About this amazing every four year event showcasing the best of the best.

Now it’s Chinese government coverups, overblown corporate sponsorships, and focus on the most “media ready” athletes.

Depressing.

All Hail The Crafty Chica!

Big celebrations and fiestas abound as the unstoppable Kathy Cano-Murillo is releasing her new Crafty Chica product line into Michael’s stores beginning tomorrow.

I admitted my crush on The Crafty Chica here and it just continues growing.

I got a sneak peek at some of the products at the local Maker Faire back in May and have been dancing like a caffeinated chihuahua ever since waiting to get my hands on the stuff.

For me, the highlight of the product line is her custom-mixed glitter. I look at the glitter in your average craft store and while it does well in basic colors, when you want that extra oomph, it’s just not there. Kathy is bringing the oomph. Like this one for example, Bollywood Blue. Delicious.

Kathy detailed in her blog about the process she took to hand mix colors to get the depth. Love it! Someone who actually cares about quality!

I got to meet Kathy back in May and was geeked out by her generosity. I get to “stalk” her again next month when she makes an in-store appearance in San Jose. W00t!

BTW, if you were to, say, visit her blog and scroll down a bit, you might find a photo of yours truly and some of my own Crafty Chica inspired creations….(I look SO exhausted in that photo….)

Here’s a photo of one of the first stores to get her stuff on the shelves. I’ve been manically visiting my local stores but they seem to be waiting for the “official” release date of August 1.

I. Can’t. Take. It. Anymore!

Don’t let the door hitcha on the way out

So Friday May 29, 2009 is the end of another era in the history of The Tonight Show.

Jay Leno breathes his last as host.

And to that I have to say…it’s about damn time.

I’ve not ever really been a fan of Leno and really wasn’t into it when he took over the show. But against my own negative opinion, he’s done his schtick and done it successfully for the past sixteen years.

But in my mind, he’ll never be the king of late night that Carson was.

And I wonder if his departure will be anywhere near as classy?

Remember Bette Midler’s appearance on the second to last Carson show? Memorable. She made Carson cry…I was watching that night.

In case you don’t remember or are too young, YouTube is there to pick us up.

Unsure that Conan will do much to fill the shoes of Carson, or even Leno.

Hard to watch. So I won’t.

Ah well, watching that vid brought back some happy memories. Ah the magic of YouTube.

If you are a GenX’er and REALLY want to sashay down memory lane, try out this one…link love to NewMexiKen for this voyage in the wayback machine.