Amber & Multitasking

How do I do it, you ask?

Work full time for Mother Goose Inc. (and pretty darn well if my department's contribution to the bottom line is any evidence)?

Stay in touch with both my friends and pop culture (my BFF)?

Maintain compelling web content meant to maximize audience engagement on this blog, a go-to source for serious journalism on topics as broad reaching as Hat Hair, Kitties, and Television?

And, all the while, manage to kick the behind of my own Sudoku score?

I have an amazing muse, darling reader.

Muses, even.

Amber & Parting Gifts

CRD is changing jobs and sent me some wonderful parting gifts, including this one.

Me and my black family thank him.

Amber & Geometric Sets

My sudoku score is approaching ZERO.

That's another 24 seconds off my time!  Sizzle!

At least my newfound insomnia is good for something.

Amber & Ha Cha Cha!

Check me out!

I shaved a whole 12 seconds off best my sudoku time.  All while Nick is on the phone with UPS trying to track down his luggage for his Spain trip (not going so well, unless it's in Utah) and I am having severe side pain.

I sudoku well under pressure.

Amber & Sunday Well Spent

In addition to celebrating Woodra Pooja yesterday, and performing all of the honored rituals including seriously seven rounds of sink hands, I also beat my high Sudoku score.

Of course, it's the Easy version, so rather than being on fire I was really just luke warm.  But it's still pretty fast compared to my average time.  Although that seems to suggest it was just a fluke.

You know what wasn't a fluke?  These cutie little decorator pillows I made yesterday!

I finally used some of this fabric I love to make two 12" pillows.  Why are the so small?  Have you seen how small my couch is?  A bonus is that the gray in them matches well with Ginger's fur.

And the ecru color matches nicely with the sheet I have to drape over my couch to protect it from excessive fur build up.  See? Even though I have to protect all of my things from cats, I can still have pretty things.  Very small pretty things.  And cats.

P.S. A shirt is in the works out of the same fabric.  I can't wait to wear it and blend in like camouflage on the couch!

Amber & Appreciation

Thanks to Nick both for noticing that there was a certain... shall we say... magic to the time stamps in my kitty birthday posts yesterday.  That magic was sure not lost on Nick.

Also, Nick introduced me to the magic that is Manhattan Special.  Yum.

It's soda, not coffee, right?

Amber & Imaginary Numbers

Please allow me to get my Math Geek on today?  The square root of -1 is all over the news today.  No, seriously: i has not one but two of the most-emailed pieces from the New York Times today.

There's first this article about...

“complex dynamics,” a vibrant blend of chaos theory, complex analysis and fractal geometry

...wherein computer models of complex equations with multiple solutions result in fractals.

And then, if that's not enough to make your math brain cells spin for one day, there's also this article about how everyone's favorite fantasy novel Alice in Wonderland is, among other things, parodying the early world of algebra.

Guess what I'll be reading next instead of going to see the new filmic adaptation in 3D?  (Sorry, Johnny, I'll have to love you in 2D after my three-day Avatar migraine.)

And now it makes so much more sense that Alice is my baby/laptop name.

Amber & Forks

When you think about it (which I do alot these days), ambivalence is really an expression of the complexity of the human mind.  It's not a bad thing to be able to appreciate a choice isn't either right or wrong, but that there are different consequences and results for each.  Looking on the bright silver lining side, it's actually evidence of thoughtfulness and intelligence to be able to feel two ways about one thing at the same time, or alternately.

The way I see it, with my glasses where the supposedly protective coating is flaking off the left lens or with my contacts where the right eye is an older prescription, decisions are just like math.  You need to add up all of the pros and cons and hope they don't just balance out to zero like a redox equation (to mix my math and science).  The trick, though, is assigning values to the components.  Some factors are more valuable than others.  For example, a bunch of things may all be prickly, but maybe only one of them is also a hedgie.

So, where does that leave us?  Doing alot of math in our heads.

But, while we do math, time makes decisions for us.  While I am adding up the benefits of short hair vs. my Plan, I am cruising along the path to puffs.

For example.

Amber & News Flash: Sets

I've been to the near-future.  David shared one of his Google Wave invitations with me, and so he and I and Amy have been in the year 2013 learning about what online communication will be like.

In the future, people play a game involving the mathematical principle of sets called "sodoku."  The object is to complete each row and each 3 x 3 square within the grid with the unique members of the numerical set from 1 to 9.  Having been to the future, I can tell you this game is going to be very addictive.  I stayed up past my bedtime last night (but last night in the future) dealing with a grid with just not enough 3's or 8's.  I predict (and we know how I am on the cutting edge of things) that people will play these games on paper or their iPhones on the train, in doctor's offices, and online.

Better than those games where you shoot at stuff, right?  And maybe even good for your brain?

Amber & After Xmas Sales

¡Qué ganga!

News flash! The moment we have all been waiting for has finally arrived! This gorgeous hat has been marked down from its original price of $1,625 to just $999!

Thank goodness for the economic crisis.

Amber & Anniversaries

How is it that I missed the one year anniversary of my christening as a blogger? Luckily, my epic two-day meeting ending 50 minutes early so I could come out and catch up on CRD's commemoration over at Internals Plural.

7,694 visits from 2,861 visitors shows me some people think my content is compelling enough that they come back for more! We're not nearly as international as CRD's audience though, with only 84 countries represented. The top ten were:

1. United States

2. United Kingdom

3. Canada

4. Australia

5. Germany

6. Italy

7. India

8. Colombia

9. France

10. Turkey

Hee hee! Turkey sent 22 visitors from 11 cities-- most of whom were sorely disappointed when they realized I was not the Amber whose photos they were looking for.

Direct referrals made up 22% of my overall traffic (that's you, fan who bookmarked me!). Googling puff coats brough 99 people here over the last year. This one's for you, puff coat fans!

Since you've stuck with me for a year, it's time I revealed my true identity. I'm this guy.

I iz in yur Intnets blogging up yur day.

Amber & Burgers & Tags

Hello, it's me, CRD. I'm guest-blogging for Amber today on account of how she is unavailable. She's busy now lighting the paper lanterns and making 1000 paper cranes for the New York Gardening Society's Annual Godzilla Festival.

One thing I know Amber is that she sure loves burgers. Once, we went to the outlet malls and the highlight, after doing Fast Math at the Talbot's Purse Collection store, was the McDonald's Cheeseburgers. Or, was this a robot doppelganger, Liz Lemon, up to her eyeballs with the possibilities of the white-hot thrill of the burger?

God Bless, Amber. Blog again soon!