metrocake http://www.metrocake.com/ en Copyright 2008 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:58:16 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss please update your feeds
  • Atom feed here
  • RSS feed here
    • I will not be updating at this feed any longer, so please choose one of the two feeds linked. Thanks!]]>     http://www.metrocake.com/2008/06/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/06/ Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:58:16 -0500     switchee Unless something goes hugely, catastrophically wrong, I plan to move metrocake over to WordPress in the next week or so. I've been using Movable Type for a good long time -- since version 2.something, for at least five years -- and I was extremely happy with it, right up to version 4. Version 4 has a beautiful interface, and obviously a lot of thought and care went into it. For an enterprise user, or someone with more skills and time than I've got, it's great. But 4.0 also took what had been a very easy templating system and hacked it into pieces. In order to change a piece of code, I had to look in four separate spots to find it. It also took my archives and chewed them up. Because I had done a custom template in a previous install, my archives didn't fit well into the new version. To this day, they're still not how I want them to be. It's an archive mapping issue that requires hacking around in the database...something I'm not completely comfortable with (see "skills and time," above). There's been a very recent release of Moveable Type 4.2, which may help a lot of folks. They have taken the template modules and gotten them all in one screen (good); they've also made the default template easier (very good). Those are crucial changes! That's not quite enough to keep me from exploring other systems, though... I was rooting around in their support forums earlier, and found another post from the past few days about archive mappings -- so I'm thinking my archive issue is still out there. MT is still a good system, and I'd still recommend it...but I'm not so sure it's "casual-user" friendly anymore. So, on to WordPress. Mind, I haven't started messing with WP templates yet...I might give it a shot, and go running back to MT like a little girly-man. :D Or, I might try it, love it, and stay on WP for the next five years. I don't know..we'll see. http://www.metrocake.com/2008/06/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/06/ geeeeeeek Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:53:03 -0500 more wed stuff
  • Rob and I went to a friend's barbecue yesterday. He was wearing a green shirt, and I was wearing a bright blue shirt...which means we went DRESSED IN OUR WEDDING COLORS. Which was then pointed out to us by our friends. SO. EMBARRASSING.

  • I'll post pictures from Mexico eventually...I swear. :)
  • Another piece of wedding lore... Rob lost his ring the day after the wedding -- we weren't even married for 24 hours. :D He was wrestling with my niece and nephew. I managed to find it in the grass. He will be busted on for this for pretty much...oh, forever.
    • ]]>     http://www.metrocake.com/2008/06/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/06/ bridezilla wedding Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:44:03 -0500     "Avatar" movie sadness M Night Shyamalan is making the movie of "Avatar: the last Airbender."     I am soooo not happy about this. He admits that it's different from everything he's done before, which is good...but I can't envision his rather dark style working well with this series. :( Wonder what cameo he'll do?]]> http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ geeeeeeek Fri, 23 May 2008 15:54:58 -0500 Like, SHUT UP! So this is what was behind me on my bus ride this morning: "And um, like, then we went to the deli and got like cold cuts and then, like, made sandwiches and, like, ate them... Well, then the cable was off and then, like, we had to find something else to do so, like, we did and, like, it was fun, and, like..." Two girls, I'm guessing in their 20s. Penetrating, nasal voices. You just couldn't get away from them. I literally started counting the number of "likes" per minute, and seriously contemplated telling them what my total count was, until I went with the "non-crazy lady" option of putting on my iPod. But for the record? Please -- if you must use "like" in the manner above, no more than once per sentence...and the same goes for "you know what I mean?" Because chances are, I know what you mean. :) I'm with ya! http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ New York, New York new york city transit Thu, 22 May 2008 10:14:20 -0500 random, from wedding
  • "Spirit fingers!"
  • "Can't we do the Sharks vs. the Jets dance down the aisle? No? Awwww..."
  • Wendy's chili...at 2:30 a.m....in Riverhead...after leaving the hotel bar...after the wedding. So. Good.
  • Waking up, hours later, to the Ant Invasion. Eeks!
  • Staying up all night printing our wedding programs. "I'm faux-chipper. I went to bed at 6:00 am."
  • Puerto Vallarta airport: Showing our undies to all and sundry after realizing that you can't carry tequila in carryons. It's a liquid, duh, it needs to go in your checked luggage. We had to crack open our big suitcases right there, in the middle of the airport, and adjust everything we'd already packed. Aieeee!
  • "Oh, CRAP, we had the sangria bar!" "Yup, how'd you forget?" "I don't know! So we had great food that we never ate...and booze that we never drank. OK, someone ELSE needs to get married so we can experience THEIR stuff!"
    • ]]>     http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ bridezilla grrrl geeeenius the family you keep true life Thu, 15 May 2008 16:41:48 -0500     40th trip around the sun Tomorrow marks my 40th birthday, as well as our return home from our honeymoon. :) We'll be spending most of our day in one airport or another -- Mexico to Houston to Newark -- so I thought I'd give myself a shoutout now, while R is still sleeping. I'm not sure I've quite settled in to the notion of turning 40 yet, but I'm doing it in the best way possible...newly-married, just coming back from our honeymoon to our apartment. Part of me doesn't want to come home and resume real life anytime soon -- we both hate our jobs, and now that the wedding's over, need to get back to finding new ones. But part of me is ready to get back -- I'm done with the sun, I want to see tall buildings and get Thai food, I miss our friends. I'm turning 40 less gracefully than I turned 30, I think. Turning 30 was great -- I had the best time, I really loved my 30s. :) Turning 40...I'm expected to be a little older, a little wiser, and there's a little more experience than I'd necessarily prefer. I'm on my second (and hopefully LAST) marriage, I've had many in my family pass away, and there's just been so many family issues. Hopefully, things will smooth out and settle down, now. And yes, we're trying for kids. :) Let's see if that happens, too. I need to go check on R, and the lobby's actually a little noisy -- which is good,as typically it's deserted and very like "The Shining." Still playing surreal music, tho'. 'later! http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ 40s Sun, 11 May 2008 11:06:41 -0500 lessee.....
  • Going out into town, in the middle of the day, on top of a bad sunburn is just...bad. Remind us not to do it again. R wound up taking refuge in a Starbucks. :(
  • Our hotel lobby is like the Mexican version of "The Shining." It's ALWAYS deserted, and the music gets more surreal every time we come in.
  • Tried to do my MexiGnome impression. R thinks I'm even more nuts than usual.
  • We're doing a "canopy tour" tomorrow, where you explore the jungle on a series of ziplines. You're 90 ft up. We're both TERRIFIED of heights. Why are we doing this again? Ah, yes, stupidity.
    • ]]>     http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ Fri, 09 May 2008 00:05:49 -0500     mexi-
  • Mexi-Celt (I seriously want to drink with those guys)
  • Mexi-Ska
  • Mexi-Doors
  • Mexi-Enya...
  • And our personal fave: Mexi-POLKA!
    • Caliente! XD ]]>     http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/05/ bridezilla Tue, 06 May 2008 16:58:19 -0500     the hard, inescapable truth that level of grief. And, uh, wedding's coming up soon. I need to deal with this, and I don't know how. I'd like to have some mention of those who aren't here in our ceremony. The challenge, of course, is that 1. I don't want to make this a memorial service -- it's a wedding, after all, and 2. I really, really don't want to cry at this level during the wedding. "''Scuse me, the bride needs a bawl break, she'll be right back. Tissues are in the gazebo, honey!" I've read some other things, such as leaving an empty chair at the ceremony with roses on it and displaying pictures with flowers in front of them...again, a little too "memorial service" for me. One nice suggestion was to carry Dad's picture in my bouquet somehow, that might work. We were also planning to do a digital frame or two with pictures of me and R, both together and separate, with our families. Shots of my dad and grandparents could certainly go in there. :) And I plan to mention my dad and grandparents somewhere in our program. None of this helps with the fact that he's not going to be there. And I know that some would gently tell me, "He'll be there in spirit," but I'm not so sure that's the case. I think, after he died, Dad's spirit hung around for a while, but I also think he's since moved on. I haven't felt him around in quite some time. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I can't hold out much hope. Honoring him is the best I can do. ]]> http://www.metrocake.com/2008/04/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/04/ bridezilla the family you keep dad Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:14:30 -0500 the name remains the same I'm surprised. Doesn't everyone do this? Wednesday was also fun, if a little draining. We'd decided to get our marriage license, which involved leaving work early, since the Marriage Bureau closes at 3:45 and is all the way downtown. Everything was fine, until I woke up Wednesday morning and realized that I needed to decide what my name would be...a question I'd been avoiding for months.

    there are some who call me...Tim!

    When I married for the first time, M felt pretty strongly about my taking his name, in whole or in part. Since I liked my name, and wanted to keep it, I compromised and did a hyphenate. It was a looooong hyphenate, but it worked for me. Since my divorce, I've been wondering if I did the wrong thing. I felt very, very strongly about keeping my name -- did that mean that I wasn't as committed to the marriage as I thought, even before I walked down the aisle? In keeping my identity, did I somehow keep a part of M out? Was I setting boundaries without realizing it? I've been going back and forth for months about my last name. R's last name is too long to hyphenate nicely with mine. so that was one option out. Another option New York State offers is to combine portions of both your last names into one new one. R wasn't much up for that (plus, hello, "Hemculli?!"), nor was he up for taking my last name as his second middle name. (Which, as it happens, you can't do in New York State anyway -- the license only covers surnames.) So it was really down to my last name or his, with R saying that he was totally fine with either choice. I sat in my office Wednesday morning, writing his last name with my first in various combinations. It didn't look right -- plus, since we both share the same first initial, it really looked more like his name than mine. I went into his office and said, "Are you completely and utterly sure you're okay with my keeping my name? Are you sure you're not going to regret not having a 'Mrs. H.' down the line?" I also told him about my conflicts, about how I was worried about what it would mean for me not to take his name...did it mean we weren't a family? I went back and forth about it for most of the morning, until something that I read finally helped me make my decision:
    "I do have a good name, if I have to say so myself. I think it has syllabic rhythm. And ethnic identity. And I share it with a very cool Southern, Catholic writer. So, that’s part of why I kept it. I think it’s like a little hint, “I am THIS kind of person.” The kind of person who will get your joke about catechism class and drink too much Guinness. If I had taken my husband’s name, it would have been like pretending to be somebody else with a whole other personal history and a whole other set of in-jokes and favorite foods."
    That helped. That helped a LOT. See, I'm mostly a mutt, but my last name is Italian. My last name, as my buddies well know, means "white ass" in Italian. How on earth could I give that up?! XD So, I kept my white ass. :)

    do I need the eye test with that marriage license?

    The Manhattan Marriage Bureau issued 70,000 marriage licenses last year. For something so romantic, you'd think it would be prettier...but it's not. It's more like going to the DMV. The Bureau is supposed to be getting a makeover -- it's not coming too soon! We also ordered our wedding bands on Wednesday -- putting the WED in Wednesday -- so we were able to cross some more items off the list. Both of our rings look awesome. :) We've been getting so much done, but truth? I'm to the point where I'm so psyched for this to be over..and for our butts to be parked on a beach! The only thing I'll need to plan is what cocktail to try next. Soon...soon... :) ]]>     http://www.metrocake.com/2008/03/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/03/ bridezilla girl meets boy Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:25:01 -0500     the cake is not a lie I just sat for five minutes figuring out how to write this post. "Do I tell them about the Chinese lanterns? About trying to decide on a cake? About how sparkly my engagement ring is? The singing bus driver? Scratching my eye this morning? How fun it is to see RSVP's back in the mail? How bone-frickin'-tired I am? New boss starting in two weeks? R crunching snacks in bed last night? What do I tell them about?" Never mind, I think I just did. :) http://www.metrocake.com/2008/03/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/03/ bridezilla girl meets boy the family you keep Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:29:24 -0500 beh oui! day like this, and soon. :)]]> http://www.metrocake.com/2008/03/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/03/ grrrl geeeenius Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:24:05 -0500 ring it on WE FOUND A RING!!!!!! Details later -- at restaurant now, celebrating! http://www.metrocake.com/2008/03/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/03/ bridezilla Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:52:43 -0500 dress you up in my love On my way to my first bridal gown fitting. My dress seems bigger than the Hindenburg. The HindenDress? Man, I hope not! http://www.metrocake.com/2008/03/ http://www.metrocake.com/2008/03/ bridezilla Sat, 01 Mar 2008 10:30:40 -0500