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I don’t usually go in for pop culture and celebrity news, but I was reading the little story about how Nicole Richie is pregnant by her boy friend Joel Madden (does Good Charlotte even matter anymore?). Of course, this is just what we all need in our lives: another unwed quasi-talented starlet having a baby. Isn’t she a swell role model?

Anyway, the picture of the two of them being interviewed by Diane Sawyer struck me as funny. Madden is so massive and Richie so tiny, that if I did not know better I would just say I was looking a modern version of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Richie looks exactly like a ventriloquist’s dummy sitting on Madden’s lap.

The things you find when you are moving will sometimes amaze you. I found three massive boxes in the garage full of brand new Tupperware pie and cake keepers. I have no idea where I got them. I’m sure I knew at one time, though, since the boxes were labeled in my own handwriting!

I found a crate filled to the brim with my ex husband’s parent’s files and copies of new payroll software from the dry cleaning business they used to run. It closed 7 years ago, so I’m not quite sure why those things are still around or why WE had them.

I found six (count ‘em — SIX) digital thermometers at different places through out the house. The last time my daughter was sick, I could not even find one and in the middle of the night I was estimating her temperature by feeling her forehead.

I could go on and on, but I know that this topic is amusing for me and only questionably so for my readers.

To lock or not to lock — that is the question.

When I lived in a townhouse, we had banks of locked mailboxes and I rather liked it, but that may have been because our box was located in a clump right beside out townhouse and it was just like a single-family home when you pull into your drive and check the mail on your way in .

Then we moved back to a neighborhood where there were individual, unlocked Mailboxes out on the curb. I like the convenience, but we had heard about kids going about at night taking things from the boxes. It always makes you worry when things like bills and those pesky credit card offers are just sitting in a totally unprotected box where anyone could potentially get to it.

Now, I am still in a community of large single family homes, but we have mail kiosks. Ours is NOT close. I often forget to check the mail and put it off for days on end. It has had me irritated, but I then I come right back to the realization that I LIKE how safe my mail is when it is sitting in a locked box. Yes, there is still the possibility of mail fraud as it travels to get to me, but at least it is safe as it languishes in the mailbox waiting for me to pick it up.

This leads me to my move. The movers are going to be here in about 6 hours. The mailbox at the new place is cute and functional, but absolutely not locked. I think the first thing I am going to do is inquire into one of those spiffy security models.

This post serves mostly as a venting session for me. The real estate market is so amazingly frustrating. I know we bought this house at the absolute tip top of the market high. It could not be helped. We were transferred here when we were transferred. And, my ex would not consider renting for a bit. So, here we are in a situation where we will not even be able to ASK close to what we paid for this monster. It’s beyond irritating. It is disheartening. I resent all the factors that gave that whole false inflation in the real estate market. We all knew what was happening, but we let the powers that be push it until it was at an almost mythical crescendo. Insane.

Sometimes I sit back and realize that I don’t have to run out and have the newest innovations in technology. Sometimes I see that what I already have is just fine for now.

I have an older model Olympus digital camera that I bought in 2000 and I LOVE it. I want a digital SLR one day, but in the meantime I will be sticking with my Olympus. My friends laugh at me. Compared to most digital cameras today, mine is massively heavy. The battery latch comes loose and the zoom is stuck so that it either zooms all the way in or all the way out, nothing in between. But, the thing takes phenomenal pictures. This might be in part because I am so intimately familiar with all of the settings that I know just how to use the camera for the best results.

I can be out with friends and we are all taking photos. I have my little 2.1 megapixel mammoth camera and they all have feather-weight, state-of-the-art cameras with so many megapixels I’ve lost count and when we all e-mail each other copies of our shots, mine are always the best, the sharpest, the best lit. It just goes to show that it is not always having the newest technology as much as it is knowing how to Use the technology you already have.

That said, I just realized tonight I am down to just one SD card for my camera. I need to order some more as soon as I have a spare minute.

I think a lot of us assume that things made lately are superior in quality to thing made years ago. That is certainly true for computers, which keep getting faster and more powerful. It is true for most technology. But, I’m not so sure it’s true for the simple things in life.

One could absolutely argue that houses are not built with the solid construction of 50 or even 30 years past. Houses might go up quicker now, but they are like paper houses compared to the sturdy homes assembled in the 1960s.

I am putting the clothes I do not want to go into storage into some of my suitcases. I have some lovely bags, but they are all soft-sided and upon inspecting them I see little cuts and rips that are a result of typical wear and tear from traveling on airlines. It made me think of the old Samsonite luggage commercial with the gorilla beating up a suitcase and how sturdy the old hard-sided suitcases were. I looked in the garage and found my old suitcase from when I was a teen and as scuffed as it was, the hard sided case is in tip top shape.

I was also sorting through old bins of toys from my childhood and getting them re-packed for storage. So many of my baby toys are made of wood and metal. And while they may not be as safe for babies as today’s plastic parts, the gears and casings are almost all still working, while the toys I’ve bought my own daughter seem to break and wear out within a year.

The antique furniture I have in the house is absolutely more solid and well-joined than anything I have bought in my adult years. The craftsmanship of days gone by has been replaced by assembly line manufacturing and less expensive materials.

Perhaps I am just feeling nostalgic, but I almost wish I could take my technology with me and then step back into time.

I rather enjoyed my old job as the art director for a manufacturing company. I had a lot of freedom. I developed every last process we used in the department and dictated the policies surrounding using our services. I had a lot of artistic control and all in all, we were a very well respected department within the company.

As someone with a little bit of computer savvy under my belt, I was often called in to consult with other departments on choosing and integrating new software to be used in various processes throughout the company. Sometimes that was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the analytical nature of the tasks. I remember one particular project where we spent six months previewing and testing different budgeting software products and I don’t think I could have been any ore bored if I had been tied to a chair and forced to watch back-to back episodes of Deal or No Deal. It was a daily yawn fest for me.

My point is though I had a lot of freedom as to how my particular department was run; I had no control as to how the company wished to use my time. If they said I was needed to sit in on testing financial software, then I needed to show and do my job. There was no way it was worth risking my job just to get out of a task I did not enjoy. And, I think a lot of us who work or have worked in the corporate world will agree that you take the good with the bad in order to stay afloat.

I suppose this is why the dream of working for yourself is so compelling for people. I do intent to teach next ear, but if you were to look deep into my soul, you would see that at the end of the day I really just want to be my own boss.

I want to represent another aspect of real estate in Florida and how it is doing as an investment. Florida is an incredible vacation destination. I happen to live near Tampa, but not close enough to the water to consider using our home as a vacation rental.

I have a couple of friends, though, who live in the Orlando area. They work at Disney, in fact. They obviously live in a location where people from all over the world are looking for a typical Florida rental vacation home with a pool and the luxury of staying in a place that doesn’t feel like a hotel. They have been able to pick up a couple of homes in the past couple of years in the pre-building stage and have turned them into very successful vacation properties. They can demand high fees, because they are near the parks and cater mostly to Europeans who book lengthy stays. So, not all aspects of the market are dead in the water.

The news about putting our house on the market is not looking good. The housing market is not doing well anywhere, but the luxury home market is suffering even more and this house is definitely in that category. When we bought the house, I thought we were going to live here long enough that appreciation would be a simple truth. But, with the divorce we have to sell. The plan was for me to stay here this past year while I was back in school. We though the market might correct enough in that time that we would be able to get what we needed out of the house. But, here it is a year later and things are absolutely not any better.

So, a broker is coming through to look at things tomorrow and I really want to try and put this all out of my mind and let me ex deal with it. I know it isn’t the best idea to allow myself to call this whole thing a loss, but with all the struggles I have been through in the past year and half, I just want my worries to go away. I know we will end up taking a loss. I also know that the longer this house is on the market is just more time I am still financially connected to my ex. And, that is just not comfortable.

The fantasy that all real estate is a good investment is just so utterly false. We did great on our past two homes, because we hit the market at just the right times. It enabled us to buy this huge house in this amazing neighborhood. But, the need to sell now is going to put both of us financially back where we were before we ever bought our first home together.

Where has the joy gone? I started my first blog back in 1999, I think. It was at Diaryland and I wrote for the simple pleasure of writing. I wrote to express myself and to share my life with my friends. And, to make new friends as I networked carefree on the other Diaryland blogs.

Most of the blogs I read these days are hard core efforts that talk endlessly about Page Rank, making money, and getting links. It is exciting to be able to learn these things from other bloggers, but I often get a little anxious as I read some of the blogs. They are intense bits of blogging. There is a certain desperation behind the style and the language. Adrenaline is surging and the stakes are so amazingly high. Money money money. It’s a mad dash to make a million while you sleep until noon and order in pizza. And while I will never condemn that aspiration, I do get a tad weary of the pace those bloggers keep.

I like reading the power blogs. Don’t get me wrong. I’m just a little nostalgic for the days of blogging for the sake of blogging. Or, as we used to call it – keeping an online journal.

As far as Suncoast Scribe goes, I have not decided what route I will go in monetizing it. I’ve not added any advertising networks yet and am not sure if I will. I take very few paid blogging assignments here, as I post less often on this blog and do not want to interrupt the balance. Besides, I still have not found my footing, or my niche, so to speak.

In any case, I certainly hope I keep the tone of this blog a little more leisurely than most of what you might find online. Please, let me know if my tone ever stresses you out! That’s not my goal here.

I’m a lot of things and one of those things is a mom. So, I find myself singularly suited to dispense advice (or at least opinions) about babies, parenting and the world of children. Giving birth makes a person an instant expert on so many things, and I say that quite humbly. It’s a life-changing experience.

I’ve joined a new venture with the G2 Media Network (helmed by Jane over at Daily Web Ideas). I’ve signed on to author the baby and parenting blog in their network, FriendlyBabies.com. It’s not been formally launched and I will not be up to full blogging speed until after my move at the end of this month, but it’s shaping up nicely and I wanted to invite all of you to take a gander. It’s swell.

You may ask how I intend to keep up with yet another blog? I think the answer is simple in that my other blogs are not as tightly defined as the Friendly Babies blog. I’m boxed into a particular niche in this new blog and that opens up new avenues of brainstorming and mental organization for me. I feel focused and defined. I like that. It inspired me to work more at refocusing the Suncoast Scribe.

So, come one, come all.

You know those nifty little icons that show beside the URL of a site in the address bar of your browser or next to the site name in your favorites list? They are called Favicons and my site has been showing the icon for my web host, HostMonster. I decided I wanted to have my own, unique Favicon.

You can download a 16×16 pre-made icon for free on many icon sites. Or, you can make your own. So, here is how I did it.

1. I use Photoshop, so I downloaded a little plugin, because you need to be able to export into the Windows Icon (.ico) file format. It needs to be added to the FileFormats subfolder of the Plugins folder in Photoshop.

2. I used a graphic I had designed for a t-shirt and I rather like. I resized it down to 16×16 pixels and found that my image did not bode well at that size.

  

3. My next step was to work in a 64×64 pixel workspace and design something simpler from scratch. That worked much better.

 

4. Name the 16×16 pixel file favicon.ico by choosing Windows Icon (ICO) from the file format menu.

5. Now the file just needs to be uploaded into the same directory as your index page and that’s that. Easier than I had initially thought.

I have been tagged multiple times for this 8 Things About Me viral post. I usually opt out of such things, but thought that multiple tags on the same project from very different bloggers is a sign I am supposed to share some personal info with my readers.

Plus, its lovely filler for this lean time where I am barely posting while I take my final exams and get my household moved.

So, many thanks to Amanda, Roberta, Xilly, Michelle, Elizabeth, Matthew and E-Babe (both actually tagged me over at my Plus1 blog), for whispering eight little-known facts about themselves and inviting me to do so as well. Of course, I can not promise my eight items will be as interesting as theirs.

1. I used to be an active spelunker.
If you don’t recognize that word, it might sound a little naughty. Let me enjoy your blush before I explain…

A spelunker is someone who enjoys cave exploration. I love to go into caves and climb inclines, wiggle on my belly through low parts, jump over black holes and hold a flashlight in my mouth when I don’t have one of those cool headlight hats to use. I love that caves are a constant temperature all year round. I love how quiet it is deep inside. I love that if you turn out all your lights you cannot even see your own hand in front of your face.

2. I make the BEST egg rolls.
I love egg rolls, but now that I have absolutely perfected my recipe, I can hardly stand to eat them in restaurants. Well, there is one little Cantonese carryout up in Port Richey I think does an amazing hand-rolled little number, but I really just prefer my own. I can make a meal of my egg rolls and now that I am sitting here writing about it, I am beginning to crave them.

3. I dig time travel.
I don’t actually believe that time travel exists, but I love the notion. I follow several of the online communities who have stories of people who have claimed to travel through time. I also have a massive collection of time travel fiction. I do not read time travel romance. That’s another genre, and I avoid it like I do any other romance novel. But, I love science fiction based on the premise of time travel. Lately, two books I have found particularly enjoyable have been Connie Wills’ To Say Nothing of the Dog and the Doomsday Book.

4. I’m an author groupie.
Well, not really a groupie. I can meet an actor or singer, though and not feel even a blip of nervousness. Introduce me to a successful author, though, and I go all weak in the knees. I barely made it through the little wine and cheese reception I went to so that I could meet Pinckney Benedict. My friend Greg had to remind me that he looked as uncomfortable as anyone else in the room. I’m sure I didn’t make it any easier for him as I galumphed over and wheezingly gushed on and on about how much I loved his work.

5. I have a 100% inability to memorize the words to songs.
I cannot remember more than the first line and a smattering of other words to any song ever written. I cannot even memorize all the words to a Ramones song (my fave group) and that is pretty pathetic given that they use frequent repetition and disarmingly simple lyrics. My four-year-old has a whole library of songs memorized. It’s pathetic, I know.

6. I have lived and worked in West Virginia…
and would move back, given the opportunity. I went to college in WV, moved back to my hometown (DC burbs) and then went back to WV later on for a publishing job. It’s a stunning state full of clean air and clean water and people who will meet your eye and say hello to you when you pass on the street. The closest thing I have experienced to WV while living in FL has been my time in Gainesville. I suppose that is why I love Gainesville so much and want to move back there one day.

7. I once produced a telethon.
A C130 went down during a training exercise, years ago and the FOX affiliate where I worked quickly put together a telethon to raise money for a college fund for the children of those killed. I got to produce the show along with another person. It was a meaningful experience and a lot of work.

8. I adore Coach bags…
but I only own two because the things just never wear out! They are worth the high price; because in the 10 years I have had one of them it still looks new and is in a timeless style they still make. If I had spent $30 on a series of cheap bags over the ten years, I would have actually put out more money than I did for the Coach bag.

I’m not actually going to tag anyone else, but I did end up enjoying this little list. So, thanks again to all of those who tagged me.

That’s my tagline. I have been thinking about that life in Florida as my main theme and noticing that lately I have not pulled to the task. It was pointed out yet again for me in a site review from Cash for Comments. As an aside, you can get paid a free review for posting five comments. Check his blog site if that sounds like something you are interested in.

Anyway, one of the points in the review was that the focus of my blog was too wide. And, I agree, but I have a hard time narrowing down the scope when I am blogging about “life”.

In fact, I am considering changing my tagline to “blogging about life, from Florida’s West Coast”

Any thoughts on that?

I know that even as non-niche as my blog posts have been lately, this is even off-topic. But, I have to admit here and now that I have a vague obsession with Corey Haim. And, I’m not talking about the smooth-faced, charmingly vacant druggie who appeared in License to Drive and The Lost Boys. I was actually more into fat Corey, the guy he became after recently kicking drugs. I think I was drawn to the realism of his vulnerability and desperation.

Anyway, he took off the weight and subsequently he and his pal Cory Feldman realized their bizarre dream to work together again. The Two Coreys debuts July 29 at 10 pm on A&E. Apparently, it is a semi-reality show with some scripted elements and a lot of boy buddy improv. Haim moved in with Feldman and his wife and the zaniness ensues.

I’ll watch. I will. These guys are a curiosity that cropped up during my late teens. It’s fascinating to see them with leaner jaw lines and wrinkles around their eyes. Feldman still shows telltale signs of that odd period he went through where he was dressing like Michael Jackson. It’s kind of sad to say that his fashion sense is just as awkward today.

Haim, on the other hand, still wears cool shoes and culturally timely jewelry. He looks much harder than he used to, but there is still a cute-ness about him. It does appear that his body and mind were damaged by his past drug usage. He’s still with us, but I think he is worse for the wear. I’d still invite him into my home, though.

Can you believe it has been more than 20 years since The Lost Boys opened in theaters!? I remember seeing that with my old boyfriend. It was what made me beg him to grow his hair out long.