tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-206714992011-07-29T04:05:28.875-04:00The corner for Kindred Spirits, written in the spirit of Anne ShirleyRobinnoreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-5840441433412979782009-09-09T21:23:00.003-04:002009-09-09T21:32:40.967-04:00

"Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy."-- Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireOften in life, we have choices.We take the clear and efficient way forward - the straight line through the grass along the curving sidewalk.We substitute the less permanent material because it's cheap to replace.We release products

Robinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-21424204671472715112009-07-26T19:38:00.003-04:002009-07-26T20:12:24.170-04:00

I just finished seeing the new Harry Potter movie, and I'll be upfront about this:SPOILERS AHEADI thought, all in all, that the movie was a decent retelling of the story, embellished in some places while lacking in others. The beginning and end felt disjointed to me, but the middle two hours of the movie held my attention and generally moved easily through the year at Hogwarts.Let's start at the

Robinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-34784614097013295882009-05-10T17:27:00.001-04:002009-05-10T17:38:10.899-04:00

Hey, Did you all know that Picasa will make a movie for you? Check this out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCILcxeGjk0Unfortunately, I wasn't smart enough to make it post to my blog.

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-82816451458738452009-04-09T21:43:00.005-04:002009-04-09T22:16:04.659-04:00

I got an e-mail today, congratulating me on using Hotmail for 10 years.This week also marks a decade since I came to work at the Biotechnology Center. I was 26 and nearly through the five-year plan paying for my first car, a blue-green Saturn SL1.Titanic (and I remember Good Will Hunting) broke a bunch of box office records, and people were stocking up for Y2K.As a reporter, I was on my third

Robinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-55720953520410334312009-04-06T22:41:00.003-04:002009-04-06T22:48:37.885-04:00

On Good Friday in 2007, my mom, aunt and I were painting when the flurry of phone calls started.Painting had been a mundane task to occupy us. We were all worried about my cousin, who had made it into her 24th week of pregnancy by staying on bed rest in the hospital with her feet above her head.Worry turned to panic as the phone kept ringing.The fluid is leaking. Vitals are crashing. The baby is

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-53535751708530914362009-04-05T23:35:00.004-04:002009-04-05T23:50:32.272-04:00

If I worked at Zappos, someone would be visiting my cube right now to make me wear a silly hat.I just gave LinkedIn my Gmail password. I carefully selected a few names to invite to join my network.The next thing I know, I have sent 97 invitations. Fortunately, 70+ had trouble with the addresses.I withdrew about 65 invitations, thinking that it would prevent the e-mail from going out. Wrong. Now

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-6815044506888266252009-04-01T22:46:00.006-04:002009-04-05T23:34:43.427-04:00

Last week on Hell's Kitchen, one of the teams failed miserably at dinner service. Gordon Ramsey picked the person whose mistakes were probably the least and sent her home.She's a workhorse, he said (I'm paraphrasing). But she didn't show leadership qualities. Therefore she's going home.I've thought about this for a week now.I can remember when this chef didn't make a tough call on which other

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-65170048700791123652009-01-18T21:16:00.001-05:002009-01-18T21:16:20.854-05:00

Trying out ping.fm. And biting my nails during steeler game.

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-81310377964686230962008-12-13T13:46:00.002-05:002008-12-31T10:26:21.350-05:00

For those of you who don't want to wait for the snail mail version, here it is:I’m still at the Biotechnology Center, and this year my group expanded. I got a new boss and was promoted to director, corporate communications. I have had the honor and challenge of leading my full group for the past four months while my new boss was on sabbatical. The projects and tasks to promote North Carolina as

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-30106172530650699132008-12-13T11:42:00.002-05:002008-12-13T11:53:47.320-05:00

I have done well with my Christmas shopping this year, helped by the fact that everyone is cutting back. Nonetheless, I had a few gifts left to give. In order to get this chore done and get on with my day, I got up and got to the shopping center not long after 8. My plan was to hit all the stores and end up with a cup of coffee and gingerbread from Caribou.When I arrived, however, the parking lot

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-16478070096638521392008-12-08T16:47:00.003-05:002008-12-08T16:58:35.187-05:00

Tomorrow is my nephew's first birthday. Christmas is also approaching. So when my brother said he needs age-appropriate toys, it was like Christmas for me.Or so I thought.Stores online have many ways to help you pick out good toys. You can sort by age, gender, skill to learn, brand, color and probably ability to irritate parents as well. But looking at a picture of a toy or a lame video of a

Robinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-55661631841838246192008-11-30T13:30:00.004-05:002008-11-30T13:58:41.129-05:00

It's an annual tradition in my family to make cookies to give away for the holidays. This has grown from a few kinds made over a few days when I was growing up to a cookie a night as I started working, to a weekend blowout when my mom and I moved closer together.This year we decided on eight kinds, and my mom, aunt and I picked the Saturday after Thanksgiving.Mom and I had the Cherry Bon Bons

Robinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-65234354131604942582008-11-20T19:18:00.000-05:002008-11-20T19:20:48.738-05:00

I've been wanting to resume blogging again, but really wanted to wait until after the election to do so. The divisiveness in politics is so hard to resist.So I'm back again, and this will probably lack the flowery speech of an Anne Shirley missive. What you will find, I hope, is her same sense of idealism and wonder toward the world.

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-34698813346199209232007-07-24T21:09:00.001-04:002007-07-24T21:11:48.566-04:00

The following are some notes I kept when reading the Deathly Hallows. The posts are backward, so you can read them chronologically.The page counts, by the way, are off by25 pages. My book had 759 pages.

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-73748256542113286792007-07-24T21:07:00.000-04:002007-07-24T21:09:14.240-04:00

Well, it took two hours total in two different lines, but staring back at me is Harry Potter Book 7.It's the near the size of The Order of the Phoenix. It feels weightier.I'm going to read a few chapters before I go to sleep. It's a mixed emotion, wanting to know how it ends, but not wanting it to be over.

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-77891672109533361642007-07-24T21:03:00.000-04:002007-07-24T21:06:44.895-04:00

It's like an action film. It started fast and didn't slow down. All around is a sense of danger and impending doom.The first has fallen.You read and want to re-read before going on, to make sure you get the facts right, to make sure you pick up on the little clues. But you have an equal push to move on. Get through the danger around the corner.Plot thoughts: Snape - what the ?? Scar - Harry the "

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-74613122910861155992007-07-24T21:01:00.000-04:002007-07-24T21:03:48.668-04:00

I nodded off shortly before 3 a.m. Intentionally, thinking I had reached a good stopping place. Is it possible this gets more complicated before it is resolved? I guess so. Many possibilities occur to me at this point. Is Mrs. Weasley under the Imperious Curse? Is one of the Order going to become an Inferi?Let's find out.

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-14463113555207375482007-07-24T20:57:00.000-04:002007-07-24T21:01:25.796-04:00

Well it certainly gets WORSE. The victories are small, the repercussions large. The luck is sometimes not understandable. The teenagers are fumbling. Voldemort is in search of knowledge for what is setting up to be the final battle. Evil is closing in.Why did they take a month at Grimmauld Place? Why is Kreacher so helpful? How are they getting away with storming the minstry? It will be hard to

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-33553678987326239112007-07-24T20:52:00.000-04:002007-07-24T22:54:16.851-04:00

A brief break for the bathroom and lunch (yes, it really is that hard to tear myself away.)Were I not afraid of overhearing, I would probably read da few chapters ata time. The adventures are a lot to take in. They go nowhere, for a few chapters even, and all of a sudden, everything happens in a couple of pages.I wonder that the threehave not had any additional help, though they just got some.

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-37898530039272779782007-07-24T20:50:00.000-04:002007-07-24T20:52:44.608-04:00

Phew. What a great story. It is hard to believe JKR crafted this in a four-hour train trip, even if it wasn't the whole plot.I am constantly on the edge - tense. My jaw even hurts from clamping it shut, anticipating. I wonder, with the return to Hogwarts, if Snape isn't the key to it all.Again, the final battle is more than certain. I will relish re-reading this later. The pieces are all there,

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-44169185745295758902007-07-24T20:47:00.000-04:002007-07-24T20:49:56.776-04:00

I took a long break for dinner and visiting with my neighbor. I read a couple of chapters after returning home. This, however, was because i had started feeling sick. So I am going to re-read those chapters.I remember the end though. Voldemort is coming and Harry is at Hogwarts. Voldemort's schills are onto Harry and I envisioned a scene in the headmaster's office with the lot of them. All night

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-47936804269087848922007-07-24T20:45:00.000-04:002007-07-24T20:46:57.474-04:00

Oh, the complexities of the human spirit. Even those graced with magic.This is a brief break before the push to the end.

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-75831989379316471592007-07-24T20:43:00.000-04:002007-07-24T20:45:40.902-04:00

After a story like that, the objects littering my den floor seem a little ordinary. The spell this series of books has cast, the world that it brought to life was so much fun to explore.Perhaps an ordinary task - shower and lunch - are in order.Finite Incantatum.

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-60351246890251104532007-06-30T09:57:00.001-04:002007-06-30T10:39:53.588-04:00

Several years ago, I moved from a communications job - creating stories about things - to information systems - creating systems to do things. It was a neat opportunity to fix some things that were broken and really enable my organization to move forward. I knew I would miss writing and especially the Web, where reinforcement/gratification of your efforts is immediate.I worked on a number of

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-14451137764008894462007-06-15T11:10:00.000-04:002007-06-15T11:29:31.800-04:00

So I'm not claiming this is an eloquent, prosaic post. But today, it's what I'm feeling. You may want to skip this one.I spent yesterday afternoon at a skin care clinic. I'll spare the gory details except to say that my skin was burned and I was nearly suffocated by alcohol. They call this "completely safe procedure" a chemical peel. The burning will go away, a few layers of skin will peel, and

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-55350245502889436692007-05-09T19:59:00.000-04:002007-05-09T20:40:09.285-04:00

A few years ago a co-worker gave me an aloe plant. It was living, but not thriving in its north-facing window. I accepted the purple plastic pot, set it in my south-facing window, and watered it every once in a while.I moved upstairs about a year later, ostensibly to be closer to my teammates. Most of my stuff packed neatly onto a single cart, but this aloe plant had to make a special trip. It

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-21470445845637360042007-05-07T19:34:00.000-04:002007-05-07T20:01:09.894-04:00

It was clean up day today at work. What a luxury to be able to take an entire day and just clean out drawers, bookcases and files and keep only the stuff that you need. You know, reduce the clutter.Today I sifted through old project notes, team meeting minutes, draft reports for major improvements, needs assessment surveys, etc. etc. etc. What fun it was to revisit all the times a group was

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-13642853053672308322007-02-27T11:15:00.000-05:002007-02-27T11:39:42.378-05:00

I've never really believed that there was such a thing as having something hanging over your head. But today, when that thing was cleared up, I sure did breathe a sigh of relief.The sigh of relief that you exhale when you didn't even know you were holding your breath is a strange one. Suddenly the world is a little more bright (or the sun just started coming in the window), the birds are singing

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-72447403424492325492007-02-22T20:40:00.000-05:002007-02-22T21:42:30.129-05:00

"All grown up. And you don't care. Anymore.And you hate all the people that you used to adore..."- Elvis CostelloFunny thing, getting older, which eventually becomes growing up.It's funny that the most basic things about you - your uniqueness, outspoken-ness (if this is a word), your eclectic energy - become the things that most irritate you about other people. You know that what you contribute

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-56185979844223961172007-02-14T21:10:00.000-05:002007-02-14T21:54:24.113-05:00

It's February 14th, the day that I typically spend complaining that a day celebrating love shouldn't be reduced to a candy and frills, and a lot of men spending a lot of money they don't need to spend. Not to mention the OVERT reminder that no one loves me. That way.This year, though, I find myself eating a lot of chocolate and thinking about Annie. (Not Anne, for you regular readers.) Annie was

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-60055714726865077072007-02-12T20:58:00.000-05:002007-02-12T21:04:46.846-05:00

it's definitely cliche, but true for me. i've had a lot of help these last few years from my friends. work has been too overwhelming and frustrating. i've been acerbic, rude, disgruntled. i've taken more than i've given. i hope that'll change soon. and i hope that i can pay them all back. here's to operation chocolate-A.

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-38484665049592066392007-02-09T22:49:00.000-05:002007-02-08T08:41:17.650-05:00

Tonight we have the story of Vicky. She's a young girl who found herself in the midst of maybe some cuter, maybe some younger, certainly some more outgoing dogs. While she wasn't effervescent enough to endear herself to a potential owner/confidant, she did catch the eye of a real dog person. She's in foster care through independent animal rescue and, as they say, looking for her forever home.They

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-84763562576889277552007-02-06T21:03:00.000-05:002007-02-06T21:57:57.214-05:00

Since my creativity and writing skills aren't back up to snuff yet, here's the following, unconnected random thoughts:- What if a new housing development, in a high-tech area, had an acronym theme. The MCN - Microsoft Certified Neighborhood. SQL Way and ODBC Drive could wind through RDBMS Cove. Certification Walk could have MCSE, A+, CCNA, .NET and CIW Runs. All addresses would begin with a

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-26148671859307904192007-02-03T19:49:00.000-05:002007-02-08T08:34:46.474-05:00

Anne would love the scenery, the romance, the emotional s-curves that Cold Mountain throws at its audience. Me, not so much.What bothered me about this movie - and it keeps bothering me - was that it ended on a down note. The trials were met valiantly. The characters kept their end goal in mind; They didn't get consumed by the obstacles. They should have been rewarded. Instead, they were handed

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-1138658774860066372006-01-30T16:49:00.000-05:002007-02-03T20:30:46.258-05:00

Witness the last two days the volume and depth of news reports pegged to the injury of the ABC news anchor and cameraman. One would think that some 2,000 U.S. servicemen and thousands of Iraqi citizens were somewhat less in stature than a journalist.But look a little beyond the surface here. Journalists, the fourth estate, the final check on government, have a Constitutional responsibility to let

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20671499.post-1136678106203915132006-01-07T18:49:00.000-05:002006-01-08T12:33:51.060-05:00

This is the first weekend of the NFL playoffs, with what I consider perfect playoff weather in North Carolina. Sunny, temperatures in the 40s and 50s, enough of a breeze to chill the skin and make hot chocoate taste good.There are, unfortunately, no football games in North Carolina, and I have to content myself with listening to the television while trying to straighten out my finances in the new

Robinnoreply@blogger.com0