Month: February 2010

Accepting Pain to Lessen Anxiety

~ katiebonn ~ 7 Comments

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I’m feeling crappy today so this is an experiment in seeing if I can get a blog post out on a day when I am not feeling up to it, or doing anything for that matter.

I’m not sure why I’m feeling icky, sad, depressed, or whatever you call it, but I have a couple of ideas. One is that it’s so darn dreary today. It was warm and sunny the past few days so it’s surprising that one day like this can trigger such bad feelings, but it has happened before. Could just be that the crummy day is one ingredient in a cocktail of crappy mood. Continue reading →

Hey Google, We’re Not Whiners: Buzz and Privacy

~ katiebonn ~ 3 Comments

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*Image borrowed from SearchViews

A couple weeks ago I wrote about Google Buzz backlash from the context of an overload of information, potentially useless information. Since then I’ve been doing some reading and realize there is a more important issue. Privacy. I’m not referring to the “advertisers are trying to sell me things I’m interested in” kind of privacy issue, but rather the “Google just tricked me into giving my location to the man who is trying to hurt me” kind. Continue reading →

On Women Not Wanting Babies, Part I

~ katiebonn ~ 7 Comments

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It’s true. For years I did not want kids. Not all that surprising for someone in her twenties, I think. Your life on your own has just begun, you’ve moved out of your parents’ house, finished or are just finishing college, and beginning to build a career. If you are married, it has only been for a few years. You and your husband/wife are still trying to figure who should take out the garbage and how you can get to sleep at night when one of you is always in bed at ten while the other wants to read until midnight. Babies would just complicate things further.

But here’s the problem, once you’re married people ask about babies a lot. Continue reading →

Valentine’s Day the Indian Way

~ katiebonn ~ 1 Comment

Fire!

Who doesn’t love a good party that involves fire? Dave and I went to the Valentine’s Day party at the Indian Community Center (ICC) in Milpitas on Saturday night. Usually their events involve dancing, karaoke, an open bar and darn good food. This last one had a fire performance! A man and woman danced sensually across the floor holding props covered with fire that they occasionally put out in their mouths. All the doors were propped open to let out the smoke, but when I got home and blew my nose I found that a lot of the ash still went up in there. It’s ok, that’s what nose hairs are for.

One thing irked me about how these events are planned, though. Continue reading →

The Buzz about Google Buzz

~ katiebonn ~ 4 Comments

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*Image borrowed from Fast Company.

What is it about something as simple as Google Buzz that has shifted the way people think about online social networking? Years back many of my friends were on Livejournal and posting nearly every day. Then there was a shift to Facebook where we could keep up with one another in short, less intimate status updates. Right around the same time, many folks were signing up for Twitter, which got rid of the rest of the crap on Facebook and just left us with 140 character snippets to express parceled thoughts on a whim. Now we have Google buzz and the reaction is different.

Everyone seems vaguely interested, but slightly hostile towards it and definitely hesitant. Like a dog when you change its food and it approaches slowly from afar sniffing the air. The buzz I’ve been hearing about buzz consists of “how can I keep up with one more thing?” and “Alright, we gotta find a way to combine all this stuff”.

So what has changed folks? Have we just reached a tipping point? If so, why does that point seem to be the same for so many people? Did it just take one person to speak up for others to admit they felt the same way?

Lost in The Turn of the Screw

~ katiebonn ~ 3 Comments

Turn of the screw

**Caution: may contain Lost spoilers**

Is it possible that Lost is just a ghost story? I know I don’t normally write about TV, but this post is actually about fiction! It doesn’t take much for me to have an excuse to read and I love references. References that tie things together. My stomach jumps around all juicy-like when I read about a book in another book or see a character carrying around a particular book in a movie. I figure if I can see or hear the title of the book, it must bear some importance to the plot, theme or be symbolic.

In season two of Lost, the orientation video for the Swan station is located behind The Turn of the Screw, a novella by Henry James. Therefore, it must be significant! Continue reading →

Writing to Publish: Going Back to Basics

~ katiebonn ~ 4 Comments

Fake Hemingway Books at the hotel

One of the best things you can do for yourself is admit when you need help. Even an expert can use some kind of help at some point. I do not claim to be an expert writer, but it can be difficult to ask for help because it feels like denying an aspect of my personality. I have been labeled as many things and have explored many paths, but have most frequently been a writer. It is the underlying theme in everything I do. So it often gives my stomach a pinch when someone tries to lecture me on the basics, asks me if I am published, or questions whether I make money (as though these create some sort of legitimacy). I have to remember that progress does not come out of arrogance just as it does not come out of insecurity.

Someone once told me that sometimes you have to go backwards in order to move forward. It is true. I needed a refresher. I have what sometimes seems like an innate ability to write, but do I know how to tell a story that will keep a reader reading? Do I know how to use words to make a reader feel how I want him or her to feel? Continue reading →

Mind the Sign!

~ katiebonn ~ 6 Comments

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Often by the time I turn off the light and settle into sleep, it has already been quite a while since Dave dozed off. I have always been a night owl, although I am asleep by midnight fairly consistently these days. Not exactly early, I know, but a huge change from when I used to greet the sun before giving in to sleep.

Wednesday, Dave was out before I even had a chance to get into bed. As I slipped my feet under the covers he replied with, “nope”. I naturally asked what that was about. Continue reading →