tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-106901482024-03-17T22:42:09.729-07:00KVOXPaying attention on occasion. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-68501620516635432382014-01-01T15:01:00.005-08:002014-01-03T16:47:00.972-08:00Five years onThe advance of winter has always made me a bit melancholy. Besides being darker and colder, there's the relentless march of holiday enthusiasms, which can wear out even the hardiest. I wouldn't be surprised to learn I have a touch of seasonal affective disorder.
This is also the time of year when my mom Kay died. It happened, after a long slow decline, five years ago on December 13th. I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-29162797184063943642013-09-08T12:26:00.001-07:002013-09-08T12:27:06.251-07:00I'm not tweeting about losing weight. Six months ago, I enrolled in a Bay Area weight-loss program called JumpstartMD. Today, I've lost 33 lbs., and am on track to get to my goal of 40 down. Before I signed up, as I spent way too long contemplating how to "get serious" about dropping some avoirdupois, I had visions of using a combination of fitness apps and public encouragement. I admired the approach that Brian Stelter and Owen Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-46987246808106753352013-02-28T22:51:00.002-08:002013-02-28T22:51:50.856-08:00My TED bookstore picks It's always an honor to curate a selection of books for the TED Conference bookstore — the team asks 20 or so people to select a few books that are their current (or all-time) favorites, and say a bit about why. Here are my picks for this year.
Intro
From a very early age, letters on a page have drawn me in. I get nervous in a room with nothing to read. These days I have plenty of digital Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-82663288535762868512013-02-17T08:57:00.000-08:002013-02-18T08:20:15.059-08:00Mika Louise, 1999?-2013
The day I have long dreaded has come. My darling brindle pit girl, Mika, died this morning around 6 a.m. Over the past year or so, she had been living the reduced life old age brings: she couldn't walk very far or very fast anymore (let alone run, her specialty for years). She had much less energy, she slept more, ate less. But it was the last few weeks where I knew her advanced age (13 Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-9012877021803458802012-11-04T17:32:00.002-08:002012-11-04T17:32:43.375-08:00See & Be Seen
Thanks to the gentle nudge of my friend Liz Gebhardt over the past couple of months, I have just finished a little art project I've been mulling over for a while now. It's a Blurb e-book about some of the art I've collected over the years, with some attempts at explaining what these pieces mean to me. I found it much harder than I'd expected to verbalize the wonderfulness, the depth, the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-79108512094052587142011-10-24T19:56:00.000-07:002011-10-24T19:56:19.649-07:00The other shoe drops...@twitter
A couple of weeks I wrote an affectionate farewell to the Goog, where I hung my hat for a long time. Today, I've landed at my next new thing: Twitter. I'll be working closely with the marketing & comms teams (and probably a few others) in a new role: editorial director. As you might guess, it will involve a fair amount of wordsmithing as well as nurturing a consistent Twitter Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-39266142107316720972011-10-09T13:37:00.000-07:002011-10-09T17:45:11.614-07:00Wickre ankles* Google
After 9 years in the trenches, my last day at Google was Thursday. This long stint marks a personal best with one employer, handily beating my last record of 4 years (IDG). In my pre-Google life, I tended to get bored after a couple of years. Now, it's clear that when I'm talking about my career, there will be two phases: Before Google (BG), and all that follows. I say this because working at Unknownnoreply@blogger.com271518 Guerrero St, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA37.746799 -122.42269237.7452295 -122.42515949999999 37.748368500000005 -122.4202245tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-89001478105330797442011-09-25T17:33:00.000-07:002011-09-25T17:33:27.148-07:00The 3-Day Komen walk in SeattleLast weekend I went to Seattle to fulfill my 3-day Komen Walk with two friends, Harriet Baskas and Lisa Siegel. As I wrote earlier, we had a bunch of reasons for walking: to honor friends who had died, to celebrate those, including Lisa, who are surviving, and thriving—and to support further breast cancer research. A huge amount of progress has been made even in my lifetime, and the more support Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-56386386075262494702011-05-22T13:43:00.000-07:002011-08-14T19:34:29.919-07:00Walking for breast cancer researchI recently signed up for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day 60-mile walk in Seattle September 16-18. While I'm usually not a joiner however much I support a cause, these walks are designed to raise awareness as well as money, and they offer great community spirit across the country. Eleven years ago my friend Ellen and I walked for our college friend Lucy, who died at 49 after 11 years of dealing withUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-368853553316814362011-03-01T19:59:00.000-08:002011-03-01T19:59:25.746-08:00My TED list of favoritesI was happy when the TED folks invited me to be one of 20 curators of book picks for the bookstore at this year's conference in Long Beach. One of life's simple pleasures as far as I'm concerned is organizing information into a list and annotating it! So the same thing I sent to TED, which is now on display at the bookstore (though this is the full list; they didn't stock all of these). Just for Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-49618157140679850222010-05-31T16:47:00.000-07:002010-05-31T16:49:19.510-07:00May 31: Photo a day updateTwo weeks in, and I can see some patterns emerging. I really like framing close-ups (a cheat code for forcing a better image?) and I am really paying attention to patterns I spot. No real time for rumination today, but I have managed to upload a selection to Flickr as part of the 365 set.
And here's one pick with gratitude for the fabulous weather this and last weekend - the sort of days that Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-8718473455258892782010-05-22T16:22:00.000-07:002010-05-22T16:22:21.506-07:00First week of Project 365Based on my grand plan that began a week ago, I've heard a few grumblings that faithful readers expected me to post a new photo a day. Which as you'll see here, I have not done. I warned ya then that the idea was to *take* photos each day, but not necessarily to post daily. Reason being that it's rather a pain to download/upload, caption, tag and most of all edit down a selection.
I've Unknownnoreply@blogger.com21518 Guerrero St, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA37.746799 -122.42269237.742557000000005 -122.4299875 37.751041 -122.4153965tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-32320013301090811822010-05-16T06:24:00.000-07:002010-05-16T06:24:23.999-07:00A photo a day: my 365 projectLike many people I have creative fantasties. But also like many I get bogged down in a daily routine, and tend to believe that only weekends or vacations are available to break out of it. Of course, during those allotted times, when I'm self-consciously trying to stay unscheduled I inevitably end up, as they say, 'vegging out.' Nothing to show for it, and the weekends start blurring together. AndUnknownnoreply@blogger.com01518 Guerrero St, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA37.746799 -122.42269237.742557000000005 -122.4299875 37.751041 -122.4153965tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-86809636213153189312009-11-26T13:45:00.000-08:002009-11-26T15:45:35.386-08:00I'm feeling thankfulIt seems that lots of people are now in the habit going online to enumerate their feelings of gratitude on Thanksgiving. It's a good habit to get in, and not just once a year. I'm often aware of feeling grateful for so many small things - regular things - the stuff of daily life. But in the spirit of enumerating, here's a list about this year in particular, but not reflecting a fixed order of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA 94110, USA37.7485824 -122.418410837.714648899999993 -122.4767758 37.7825159 -122.36004580000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-14019817426957077042009-08-11T19:54:00.000-07:002009-08-11T19:54:04.444-07:00Me and my meniscusRather than re-regale everyone with my entire current health saga, suffice it to say:
1) On July 25, while walking around London, I wrenched my left knee.
2) The ongoing limping, pain and worry that I was screwing it up further caused me to cut my vacation short so I could come home and have it looked at.
3) I have now had 4 medical visits, 3 X-rays, and 1 MRI in relation to said knee, all inUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA 94110, USA37.7581148 -122.418410837.7241858 -122.4767758 37.7920438 -122.36004580000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-17708091016061131402009-05-04T15:52:00.001-07:002009-05-04T15:52:18.026-07:00I'm SO a dog person Dogs are like cartoon characters - oblivious to normal constraints and wise beyond their species. And that incredibly endless array of sizes, looks, and breeds -- ! What can I say? They speak to me. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-66194088063595534102009-03-05T20:49:00.001-08:002009-03-05T20:49:08.369-08:00Even more than words, some phrases are irritating...The words that rub me the wrong way when I hear or read them are often fine on their own, but when overused, or used badly in context, I shudder. jug has a vulgar connotation plus a jug-ugly sound snack sounds too cute by half, as if it were made up by a Mad Man impacting, impactful NOT REAL WORDS! use "affect" and variations thereof Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-72237479949129245712009-02-28T12:48:00.001-08:002009-02-28T12:48:50.914-08:00What's in a care package for a traveling friend? What might I send a homesick friend who's gone on a long trip? Bits of home that could be disposed of, but almost as easily packed up, along for the ride. MAD MagazineThere's nothing like American humor. MAD was an early purveyor of knowing, slightly juvenile, culturally-aware laugh lines. (More recently, The Onion would work too.)ear budsAssuming my friend has a digital device that goes Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-9728428060253921612008-01-01T11:56:00.000-08:002008-01-01T11:58:25.703-08:00A year in (some) picturesHere's my take on last year in an extremely edited collection of photos. I got much more interested in casual photography during the year, and want to get further into it.KW's 2007 in photosUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-30262884357414700212007-12-31T19:35:00.000-08:002007-12-31T19:54:39.561-08:00Taking stockPicking up the reins again, as usual hoping to be more frequent in the days ahead.- Today was Marjorie's birthday; she would have been 54. My thoughts continue to be about her as I try to make sense of a missing friend. She disliked birthday fuss and especially disliked the fact that it coincided with Dec. 31, so it's not as if the day is fraught with celebratory memories. But all the same, I am Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-57469825295634793252007-10-15T20:24:00.000-07:002007-10-16T07:24:21.163-07:00Goddamn it, MEBMay 2007 photo by William Rodarmor. An old and dear friend -- someone I always admired and was sometimes a bit scared of -- has died, I learned today. Marjorie Ellen Baer. She was 53, and she suffered from brain cancer. All day long my own brain has been flooded with images and thoughts of her, someone I met 31 years ago in Washington. Someone I lived with in Adams-Morgan as we both muddled Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-29828384012366318612007-09-08T19:18:00.000-07:002007-09-08T19:44:43.602-07:00"Strangely addictive"Two weeks in to Facebook and I agree with my friend Dan: "it's strangely addictive." There are two great appeals to people like me, who spend a lot of time online (or in my case, also believe the Internet is most closely akin to tribal drums out in the wild -- they're always beating; you just don't always hear them). The sense of "small pieces loosely joined" fits the world of FB: you're sort of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-4247486550676230992007-09-03T18:49:00.000-07:002007-09-03T18:58:42.655-07:00Mad at iTunes UIIs it just me, or is the iTunes Store interface irritatingly bad? Why can't I see a list of albums/cuts/artists? Why do I have to face an unalphabetized selection of thumbnail images of cover art? Why can't I save interesting possibilities when I'm browsing (hello, tags) instead of having to reconstruct my searches? And -- why can't I easily organize the playlists on my iPod any longer? I can't Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-43316120741724081012007-09-03T12:45:00.001-07:002007-09-03T12:50:58.011-07:00Big-boned gals in the mediaJust back from tending to Ma for a few days. When I'm there, the TV is often on, so as the news blares incessantly, I've noticed something heartening. Most of the blow-dried anchors are forgettable even-featured types - there is of course a preponderance of young blonde women - but two of the major D.C. political correspondents are big-boned gals. And guess what? They have something to say. They Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-54634114283538216832007-08-26T17:50:00.000-07:002007-09-03T18:49:50.622-07:00Speak, memoryA couple of weeks ago I got an email from someone named Jackie Sanders. She's working on a film about Arlene Francis, and wondered if I was the same Karen Wickre whose name she found on a cassette tape in Francis' things which her son, Peter Gabel, had lent Jackie for research. The strangest part is that she, ahem, Googled me and found me at, well, Google. She nailed my email address (I forgot toUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0