Domestic Geek

*sigh* Once again, no playoffs and no Superbowl for Denver this year. The Broncos had to win the game against San Francisco to get a playoff spot, but we lost by 3 points in OT. I guess we'll have to wait for next year.

I love pin backed buttons. I used to have quite the collection of them when I was in high school. Back then, it was in to cover a denim jacket with buttons. I've mentioned it before, but in case you didn't know, I own a Button Maker. It's pretty cool. Marcus and I have used it for many things in the past. A friend of ours had us make buttons for his 2020 presidential campaign. I've made buttons for a dance instructor to give to her students that completed her class. I plan on designing a button to send to people who pledge their support for my next blogathon effort coming up in July 2007.

I've decided I'm going to get serious about putting the button machine to good use. I'm envisioning a line of t-shirts with matching buttons. Now I just need to get busy and design the things. One of the things that has held me back from actually making money with my machine in the past is the circle cutter that came with it. It's really lame and hard to line up. I'm going to invest in a punch cutter. That should make the process a whole lot easier. I also need to invest in machines to do other sizes. Mine currently does the 2.25" buttons, but there have been instances where I wished I could make bigger ones. Those little 1" buttons are really cute, too.

So, help a girl out here — what would you want on a button?

While surfing around this morning, I came across an article that a former Zoom actor, Jared Nathan, had died. I used to watch the original Zoom from the 70s all the time. This particular actor did one season when they revived the show in the late 90s. He was only only 21 and a student at Juliard in New York. How sad. When I went to his site to read a little about him, he mentioned the Ubbi Dubbi Translator. I loved the Ubbi Dubbi segments, but I could never speak it.

Yay, it's New Year's Eve. The last day of the 2nd worst year of my life. I can't wait to kick this one out the door and welcome 2007 in with wide open arms. I have big plans for the upcoming year. I'll share as they come closer to fruition, but as I wrote before, the only resolution proper this year is dealing with my weight issues. When I do my look back at 2007, I will be doing it at least 75 lbs lighter. That's my goal and I expect everyone reading this to hold me accountable! I'm in the process of designing my weight loss blog and I'll post a link just as soon as it's ready for primetime.

There's been a lot of stuff going on in the world lately. I usually try to make some mention of them on this blog, but I've totally let some major ones slip lately:

• "The Godfather of Soul" James Brown passed away on Christmas Day.
• The iPod is Not Dead: a lot of people were speculating that the Zune was going to topple Apple. Not so. I got an iPod for Christmas and so did at least 3 other people that work my shift in the prepress department at work. I gave and received iTunes gift certificates and there were so many people trying to access the iTunes Music Store on Christmas Day that the servers couldn't handle it.
• Former President Gerald R. Ford passed away 12/26 at 93. I was still in grade school when he became president, so I don't really remember a lot about his presidency. I do remember voting for him in a mock election at school when Carter ran against him. Just goes to show you how poor our hisotry education in this country is: I had no idea he wasn't elected Vice President, either.
• Saddam Hussein was hanged for his crimes on 12/29.
• FDA to OK cloned animal meat to get into the food supply: We humans are really dumb. It's bad enough that we've destroyed our bodies with chemicals and altered foods, let start eating cloned meat. What makes me angry is that it doesn't have to be labeled as such. I don't want to eat clones and I'm not the only one. I can't wait for the big "whoops" in the future when they realize this is a bad thing.

Sorry this is way late this week. Between the snow storms, the holidays and the dog, I don't know what day of the week it is anymore. I decided that this week it's time for a little reflection on the year I had in 2006. Definitely not one of my better years by a long shot. Hopefully I'll remember that tough life lessons I had this year and won't repeat them. I also learned some good things, too.

Thirteen Lessons I Learned This Year

1. Don't Work with "Friends" — Don't accept a job with people you know previously, especially if the "boss" is someone you considered a friend.
2. The Graphic Design Industry Sucks— There is an oversupply of designers and therefore the pay has fallen off dramatically. There is also an overabundance of bad designers willing to work for those low wages.
3. Don't Be Honest With Your Employer — Don't turn down a raise because you hate your job and are up front that you are looking to work elsewhere. This will bite you in the butt.
4. Soda is Bad — I gave up drinking Coke/Pepsi this year. The detrimental effect is has on a person astounds me. I don't get heartburn hardly at all anymore.
5. Being a Freelancer Sucks — It was something I always thought I could fall back on and I was wrong. I don't have the temperament to deal with stupid clients.
6. Envy gets You Nowhere— I've spent a good portion of this year focusing on what others have and becoming bitter in the process.
7. I Don't Need So Much Stuff — I've been slowly purging myself of "stuff" and I'm finding I really haven't missed anything I've tossed. There is still much to get through, but one box at a time.
8. I've Been Living in the Past — Being unemployed for so long did give me time to really delve into my own thoughts. A lot of the revelations I have had have really surprised me. I was still berating myself and taking action based on things that happened over 20 years ago. I have really been stunted in my emotional growth. Now that I've learned what I was doing, 2007 will be the year I change that.
9. Doing Something for Charity Feels Good — I really enjoyed doing the Blogathon this year and was overwhelmed by the feeling I got from it. I will definitely be looking for ways to be more charitable in the near future.
10. I Can Really Count on Marcus — It's amazing that he has stuck with me through this really low point in my life. I know he truly loves me and I am thankful.
11. You Can Have Really Good Online Friends — This is the first time I've reached out to the people on the Internet and I've found some really wonderful, caring people out there.
12. Dreams Aren't Enough — I have lots of good intentions and wishful thinking is a bad habit. I have been always thinking I'll do this someday or I wish I could do that. Good things can't happen to you if you don't help. The only thing that gets results is action.
13. I'm a Good and Worthy Person — As strange as that sounds, I had a hard time believing it. I've always been the first to bash myself. "I'm not attractive" or "I'm such a loser" or "I'm not (whatever) enough." The truth is I'm not perfect, but I'm talented and I have a lot to offer. It's a lesson I'm striving to reinforce a lot in the coming year.

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