Making a test post to try out a new client.

Just testing a new desktop blogging client to see if I like it better than simply using the built-in movabletype inteface. I grabbed it because it can check spelling and because it should integrate seamlessly with FeedDemon, my new fave toy.

Just a head’s up for regular visitors. I’m totally swamped at work, this is my busiest time of year. Hence the lack of updates. Things will clear up work-wise in a few weeks, after which I should be back on a more regular posting schedule.

Though it is generally positive. Basically my blood sugars are entirely under control at this point, I got a 4.9 on my latest A1c, the previous one from 3 months ago was 5.1 and that was already good enough. Three cheers for careful, healthy eating and regular exercise.

On the downside the cholesterol situation got a little worse, meaning back to medications to deal. The doctor has concluded that there’s nothing more I can do on the diet or exercise end of things to address the elevated cholesterol, we have to use medication to treat it.

Fortunately we’re starting with over the counter Niacin at high doses instead of going back to lipitor or one of the other statins. I had such huge pain issues with those that he knows I desperately want to stay off of them. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Niacin causes flushing/hot flashes as a side effect, so I spent the weekend doing my best impersonation of a women entering menopause. It wasn’t pleasant, I flushed as red as a lobster from the shoulders up and in big blotches over most of my body as well. It felt like instant sunburn and caused prickly itching sensations as well. The symptoms only last about an hour or so after I take the pill, but damn did they suck. There’s hope as time passes that the side effects will reduce as my system acclimates to mass dosages of Niacin, and already it does feel like they’re getting less severe. Let’s hope that remains true and that they bring the cholesterol down. I’ll know more in the middle of September when I go back in for tests. The one other possible downside is that Niacin in increased dosages can cause liver problem, which is the other reason I have to go back in in September. Sigh. Still, all in all I’m pleased with the latest results. I’m something of a star at the docs office too, he’s brought me around to show off to the staff the last two times I’ve been in and this time he was trying to encourage me to keep an accurate journal with an eye towards possible publication. I was a little surprised by that but I am thinking it over. I might add a section to this site specifically to cover the health issues instead of interspersing it in here as a way to meet him in the middle

This will have to pass for my cool link of the day, I caught this off of metafilter. Check out these awesome topo maps of the entire U.S., free for the scoping and taking.

…sort of. Check out the poot at her best during playtime with my sister. You might recall a few weeks ago she became deathly ill. She’s still not entirely out of the woods I guess, and she’s still suffering aftereffects of the whole ordeal, but it seems like her spirits are back to where they were before all this started. Keep keeping those fingers crossed that she makes a full recovery 😉

To protect the delicate sensibilities of my reading public, I’ll refrain from actually stating what’s at this link, but if you’re a guy you A) want to rush over and read it and B) go get busy!

😉

I think I’ve posted this one before, but there are new images to be had on the hubble image gallery page. Great great shots of the far reaches of space taken from the Hubble Telescope. My only wish is that they would post them at higher resolution so I could use them as desktop backdrops. Still, cool stuff.

Fantastic news on the work front. We just got a ~$100k grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to extend work on the zen gardens site that I’ve put so much time into over the last several years. It has a new look since the last time I’ve mentioned this site, which is largely due to my friend Kevin and a recent redesign that site went through, (which is a large contributor to our succesful grant application – major kudos to kevin on that one) but my fingerprints are also all over that site. I’m extremely proud.

To give you a sense of how prestigious this is, the NEA very very rarely works with institutions like ours, generally they are focused on big famous institutions like the Metropolitan Museum in NY. The fact that they agreed to fund us is just absolutely fantastic. And the 100k they granted us means with matching funds and the NEA name we should be able to push the total grants for continued work up north of $250k. It also means new staff, at least three positions, for at least 12-18 months. And of course it means very interesting new features for the Zen Gardens site. Next focus is on interactivity – allowing the user to come in and build their own gardens and then have them assessed on some level. Thing legos for zen gardens, but ‘organic’ legos that morph over time – bushes that grow, ground cover plants that slowly creep across the landscape, that sort of thing. Stay tuned 😉

In case anyone should be interested, I’ve got some new auctions up on ebay. If you’re looking for some cool games for your playstation 2 or xbox, I’m your man, get bidding! 😉