tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-106901482012-01-07T12:12:17.410-08:00Observe. Write. Repeat.KVOXnoreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-79108512094052587142011-10-24T19:56:00.000-07:002011-10-24T19:56:19.649-07:00

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 voice across our

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-39266142107316720972011-10-09T13:37:00.000-07:002011-10-09T17:45:11.614-07:00

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

KVOXnoreply@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-89001478105330797442011-09-25T17:33:00.000-07:002011-09-25T17:33:27.148-07:00

Last 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

KVOXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-56386386075262494702011-05-22T13:43:00.000-07:002011-08-14T19:34:29.919-07:00

I 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 with

KVOXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-368853553316814362011-03-01T19:59:00.000-08:002011-03-01T19:59:25.746-08:00

I 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

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-49618157140679850222010-05-31T16:47:00.000-07:002010-05-31T16:49:19.510-07:00

Two 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

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-8718473455258892782010-05-22T16:22:00.000-07:002010-05-22T16:22:21.506-07:00

Based 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 also

KVOXnoreply@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-32320013301090811822010-05-16T06:24:00.000-07:002010-05-16T06:24:23.999-07:00

Like 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. And

KVOXnoreply@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-86809636213153189312009-11-26T13:45:00.000-08:002009-11-26T15:45:35.386-08:00

It 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

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA 94110, USA37.7485824 -122.418410837.71464889999999 -122.4767758 37.7825159 -122.36004580000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-14019817426957077042009-08-11T19:54:00.000-07:002009-08-11T19:54:04.444-07:00

Rather 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 in

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA 94110, USA37.7581148 -122.418410837.7241858 -122.4767758 37.7920438 -122.36004580000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-17708091016061131402009-05-04T15:52:00.001-07:002009-05-04T15:52:18.026-07:00

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.

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-66194088063595534102009-03-05T20:49:00.001-08:002009-03-05T20:49:08.369-08:00

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

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-72237479949129245712009-02-28T12:48:00.001-08:002009-02-28T12:48:50.914-08:00

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 to the

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-9728428060253921612008-01-01T11:56:00.000-08:002008-01-01T11:58:25.703-08:00

Here'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 photos

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-30262884357414700212007-12-31T19:35:00.000-08:002007-12-31T19:54:39.561-08:00

Picking 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

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-57469825295634793252007-10-15T20:24:00.000-07:002007-10-16T07:24:21.163-07:00

May 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

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-29828384012366318612007-09-08T19:18:00.000-07:002007-09-08T19:44:43.602-07:00

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

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-4247486550676230992007-09-03T18:49:00.000-07:002007-09-03T18:58:42.655-07:00

Is 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

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-43316120741724081012007-09-03T12:45:00.001-07:002007-09-03T12:50:58.011-07:00

Just 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

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-54634114283538216832007-08-26T17:50:00.000-07:002007-09-03T18:49:50.622-07:00

A 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 to

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-32415719620246374042007-08-11T08:34:00.000-07:002007-08-26T20:33:30.551-07:00

In Frost/Nixon on Broadway. Of course, he was helped by that stunning Peter Morgan script (which I can't yet find online - it's one you need to read to fully appreciate). I had such complicated feelings about F/N. I watched the 1977 program, I was a fan of Frost's from the earlier U.S. version of "TW3", but didn't know of his later somewhat-falling star, which the interviews obviated. Of course

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-25974085519699111402007-08-10T08:54:00.000-07:002007-08-11T08:33:39.854-07:00

Just spent four days at Ma's, which I'm committed to do at least every four weeks. It's getting harder now -- because of her pulmonary hypertension, her brain is increasingly affected by lack of oxygen, which mostly shows as extreme short-term forgetfulness. She can't remember which meal she's had, what time of day it is, and who's been to see her. There are long periods of quiet. Conversation

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-19792472881503439852007-07-23T19:33:00.001-07:002007-07-23T21:13:06.173-07:00

Busy week last week, and in the midst of everything I was too overwrought about the whole Rupert-Dow Jones saga to actually write anything. But the NY Times had a terrific piece on the 19th about the internal reaction (the editorial reaction, I should say; supposedly the ad sales crowd feels rather differently about things, sez AdAge). Among other things the offices featured this WSJ-style

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-11440738913723785172007-07-15T14:56:00.001-07:002007-07-15T15:18:20.804-07:00

A sunny, glorious Sunday, but cool and featuring clouds aplenty. This follows my foray yesterday into a blazing hot sojourn to Forestville/Guerneville (note to self: you are not ready to buy a house in the country). But the drive and visit reminded me of falling in love with Oregon in 1974 -- how the sun released the fragrance of fir trees.And today I had a distinctly San Francisco pleasure:

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-69339066192591798532007-07-13T18:37:00.000-07:002007-07-15T18:21:36.431-07:00

Today was ultra-satisfying for my media-consuming (inhaling?) self. First there was a fabulous David Carr writeup on his late-night encounter with Eric Schmidt at Herb Allen's Sun Valley confab. This line in particular made me swoon:"He [Eric] walked out onto the patio and surveyed all the corporate might arrayed before him — and then chose to plop down with a group of workaday reporters and

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-9746264931661581942007-01-13T19:23:00.001-08:002007-01-13T19:23:31.605-08:00

I longed to write this week, but life intervened in a big way. A friendly acquaintance at work was canned on Monday. (No one, including him, could say he didn't see it coming, but I always get that "a comrade has fallen" feeling regardless.) My mom took a heart-stopping turn for the worse (Deena the hospice nurse on Tuesday: "I think she's shutting down" -- and she didn't mean emotionally),

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-17683336771138676052007-01-04T19:53:00.000-08:002007-01-04T19:54:16.824-08:00

So an acquaintance asked me if he could read my 1996 review of Bill Gates' unmemorable 1996 tome, The Road Ahead. Sure, I said, I'll send it to you. But no. Not only was it not on my Mac hard drive (probably hard drive #6 in the last 10 years) -- but I can't find it online. Anywhere. I think I wrote it for Computer Currents, now defunct, which morphed into the forgettable Computer User. And its

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-15479952220039592662007-01-03T18:23:00.000-08:002007-01-03T18:35:49.728-08:00

My old friend Denise Caruso is now stumping for her new book, Intervention, which tackles the heretofore unknown challenges of biotech adventurism (and also the unknown outcomes!). She's featured in a helpful Q&A on Alternet today. here's a good snippet: "...industry people today who do research are often doing discovery research, not risk research. They want to create a product. They want to

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-18714133117521594542007-01-03T08:33:00.000-08:002007-01-03T08:08:38.319-08:00

As Elisa notes, there was a lot of moaning and groaning about our Year-End Zeitgeist. Clearly, there's no pleasing everyone. We attempted to explain something that's essentially a complicated and interesting problem: what queries capture the essence of the year? This turns out to be very different than "what are the top searches every year?" No matter who's compiling them, the constant top

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-61683209760485614662007-01-01T16:44:00.000-08:002007-01-01T17:36:53.163-08:00

Today the city was sharp and glorious with sunlight, and just wintry enough for New Year's Day. While shooting some pix for a friend who wants to rent her place in the Presidio, I snapped this view to the north and west. And then on the way home I stopped by a favorite storefront -- an old clock repair shop on Sanchez Street, Dorian Clair, proprietor. I'm glad it's there, even if I never have

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-22574305281991986992006-12-31T17:43:00.000-08:002006-12-31T20:14:22.647-08:00

I've hunkered down in the film dept. recently. Here's what I've seen since Dec. 22:The Queen - Helen Mirren in brogues at Balmoral with a cranky Prince Philip (James Cromwell) and the Queen Mum, pitted against a nation. Divine.The Good Shepherd - Despite a good cast, it left me unsatisfied re plot points and character development (and I got whiplash from the past/present swapouts). Finally,

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-33378910215698779862006-12-30T18:59:00.000-08:002006-12-30T19:20:47.644-08:00

OK, OK already. I won't defend or explain 21 missing months. Let's just say the rest of life overtook any attempt at writing. Besides, I write all day (and many evenings) for work. But hey, tomorrow is practically a new year, and I'm hoping to keep to the keyboard again for my own self.As for today, I discovered a fantastic impromptu art spot near Albany, off 80 right by Golden Gate Meadows -

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-1109946493618598762005-03-14T19:30:00.000-08:002005-03-14T19:24:50.320-08:00

It's late, yes. But just yesterday I read a NYT wedding story that mentioned the new bride and groom celebrated on the last day The Gates were up. That made me think of them today on the shuttle home - a night of tender spring light, and I could imagine seeing the saffron (ok, orange - take a look) curtains adding their exclamation to the sunset.Anyway, the pilgrimage was worth it. What I really

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-1110857023275547282005-03-14T19:23:00.000-08:002005-03-14T19:23:43.276-08:00

See? Really, really orange.Posted by Hello

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-1108527400789177472005-02-15T20:05:00.000-08:002005-02-15T20:16:40.790-08:00

On Thursday I'm heading east to see The Gates. I've been captivated by them since the first time I saw pix of the initial drawings - 15 years ago? 20? Even then, I had become a fan of Christo's (today, the name is Christo-and-Jeanne-Claude), because in 1976 I stumbled upon Running Fence, which was also sensational. The idea of something being developed and constructed in such painstaking detail

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-1108351593977911212005-02-13T19:15:00.000-08:002005-02-13T19:26:33.976-08:00

Speaking of great theatre, today I caught Sarah Jones in her newest (Broadway-bound) show, Bridge and Tunnel at Berkeley Rep. Fantastic - engaging - humane - tender and illuminating, hoo boy. She is the new Anna Deveare Smith, or perhaps an incarnation of Lily Tomlin in her memorable solo performance era. Clearly a wise woman who is touched by people she meets - and through them, touches us. What

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-1108255075007981302005-02-12T16:07:00.000-08:002005-02-13T19:15:22.293-08:00

Arthur Miller, that is. I cried last night when I heard the news the he is dead at 89. He was truly a hero to me: Not only did he act on a well-defined social and political consciousness throughout his life, but he managed to write sublime material - prose, drama, memoirs.As many have pointed out, if he only wrote Death of a Salesman that would be enough to put him squarely in the pantheon. I'll

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-1108078466636684492005-02-10T15:30:00.000-08:002005-02-10T15:34:26.636-08:00

Can't wait to delve further into the saga of Carly and her not unexpected, but rather unceremonious, departure. Tempted as I am to say she, like Martha, got harsher treatment as a woman, the fact is she chose to ignore all warning signs and took the imperiously high road. More later...

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-1108052900919158782005-02-10T08:22:00.000-08:002005-02-10T08:28:20.920-08:00

So my mom's last remaining sibling Gladys died yesterday, at age 95. She had a good end, but I have to wonder about what my mom (89 this year) feels, having outlived all TEN of her brothers and sisters. Your own continued existence is one more thing to make sense of in a long life. Ma has survived plenty, but it's poignant to think of her being the last of that generation of Hayneses.

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-1108052539836678362005-02-10T08:18:00.000-08:002005-02-10T08:22:19.836-08:00

Camilla and Charles finally make it legal. Maybe she can, er, embed some sense into Harry.

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10690148.post-1108012389294073092005-02-09T21:03:00.000-08:002005-02-09T21:13:09.293-08:00

Butter wouldn't melt in Lynne's mouth (and I mean that in the sense of being well-behaved, not innocent). Terry Gross pressed her quite a few times about same-sex marriage and the fact that she and Dick disagree with Dubya re the amendment. She didn't flinch, stuck to her message ("Terry, I've already said I don't agree with a constitutional amendment, and that's all I'm going to say") answering

KVOXnoreply@blogger.com0