Optimist Under Siege

As you may already know from my last blog entry, I’m not really “here” right now. I’m actually on vacation canoeing the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. But I thought I’d take advantage of this opportunity, regardless, to restate my continuing obsession for (or enthusiastic interest in, yeah that sounds better!) yoga. I don’t understand it, but I just can’t seem to get enough. One of my new goals in life is to be able to do all sorts of funky poses including a headstand and a handstand. I’ve never really been able to do either.

As part of my new, um, enthusiastic interest in (obsession for) yoga- it’s been about four months now- I’m trying to do a little yoga on my own in the woods once we set up camp each night on our canoe trip. This is, of course, assuming that my arms aren’t ridiculously sore after days of paddling and that the bugs aren’t eating me alive. These may be lofty assumptions! In an ideal world, I may be out in the woods doing yoga right now…! See you in real time in another seven days!

I’m feeling very existential right now (and yes, I realize that may not be the perfect use of the word, but you know what I mean!). I’m feeling very existential because I’m not really here. Or, well, I won’t really be here when you see this blog entry because I’ll be (or rather, I am?) canoeing the boundary waters in Minnesota for vacation. So I’m here now, but I’m not actually here in your version of “now.” Trippy, huh?

As you read this, but not actually “now” as I write this (whoa!), I am probably in the front of a canoe being yelled at, lovingly, by my husband for not paddling hard enough (but I assure you, I am- or will be- paddling plenty hard!). It’s funny how I can predict this very well now as I write, before I’m actually doing it. I can almost guarantee this will be the way of things!

After the infamous tandem bike incident riding over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco where he was sure I wasn’t doing my share of the peddling, the near future is clear! Did you know that the guy who rented us the tandem bike called them “divorce makers?!” Now I get it! (Although it was kind of a fun, memorable experience, I probably won’t repeat it!)

So I’m paddling. Quite diligently, I’m paddling. Enjoy your comfy couches, internet, and hot showers over the next several days!

I just know I’m forgetting something. I know it and I can’t seem to do anything about it! I’m doing the final packing for our trip canoeing the Boundary Waters in Minnesota and I have this annoying feeling that we’re going to get a day or two into the trip, be firmly in the middle of nowhere, and desperately need item “X” (whatever it happens to be that I’m forgetting but that is obviously vitally important to our upcoming happiness and well-being). Argh!!!

Well, with or without said all-important item, we’re catching a plane to Minneapolis tomorrow morning, renting a car, trying to avoid the last day of the republican national convention, and driving five-ish hours to Ely, Minnesota where we’ll spend the night in a “bunkhouse.” As of Friday morning we’ll be in a canoe, just my husband and I, for 7 days of semi-solitary reflection and physical exertion.

And that is why going to the bookstore today and buying a stack of books is very high on the priority scale. Not that my husband and I won’t have what I’m sure will be some fascinating discussions, but some vampires, magic, fairies or science fiction couldn’t hurt! For now, wish us warm weather, very little rain, no bugs, and many cozy camp fires!

Well, I’m back to working on the cheese site again. I had a brief hiatus for various reasons, but it’s now time to get back to that chicken-egg SEO question: Do I spend time adding some cool new features and enhancing the site in order to make it better and thereby make it more attractive to visitors? Or do I work on SEO and networking to help visitors actually FIND the site in the first place, which then justifies spending time making the website better? Do features attract visitors (and links) for better SEO, or does better SEO attract visitors (and the site can be enhanced later)?

This week, or at least today, I’m working on a bunch of small site improvements, erring on the side of making a better site to help attract (and retain visitors). Right or wrong, that’s the plan of the moment.

I’m basically starting with making improvements to everything EXCEPT the home page. Now this may well seem counterintuitive, but there’s a method (or at least a justification?) for my madness. The home page really needs an overhaul and some serious TLC. I have some vague (and sometimes grandiose) notions of what I want to do with it, but it’s intimidating to me to actually sit down and concretely decide what to do. I guess it’s the problem that any “creator” has, how to take all of those pictures, words, concepts, innovations, and put them down on paper (so to speak). This is not, of course, to put me in too lofty of a category. I’m no web Davinci, but I muddle along okay most of the time.

For now I’m avoiding the home page since I’m SURE that will make it easier when the time comes that I really have to deal with it. Procrastination is awesome! (Hey, I’m self-deluded and happy about it. Don’t judge!)

If you work at home, and even if you don’t, it’s pretty safe to say that you have at one time or another been victim to (*dum dum dum*- scary music) Mental Tangents. You get some kind of idea in your head and you just can’t seem to drop it, even though the more rational part of you knows you should have given it up hours ago.

Case in point. Last night I came to the realization that this weekend is labor day weekend and hey, wouldn’t it be nice to go somewhere relaxing? So this morning I stumbled out of bed and headed straight to my computer (without passing Go, collecting $200, or brushing my teeth). I was determined to find a relaxing, low-key vacation house/hotel/motel/inn/whatever that didn’t cost too much, was easy to get to, and wasn’t already all booked up. At this point, I’m sure some of you are already rolling your eyes at me because of the outrageous criteria I set for myself (low cost and not booked already? yeah, right).

But remember, this is a mental tangent, and once you find yourself caught up in one, it’s not always easy to have a clear perspective and nearly impossible to tear yourself away.

So I spent, well, let’s just say a significant portion of what might have otherwise been a very productive morning surfing random spam-filled last minute vacation sites to find just what I was looking for.

Surprise news flash: I was unsuccessful! At some point I forced myself to get up, brush my teeth, pack up my laptop, and LEAVE THE HOUSE, thereby physically leaving my mental tangent behind me.

And here I am at Starbucks trying to make up for lost time. Like Aesop’s fables, let this be a lesson to you. Be wary of those mental tangents! They’re always out there just waiting to suck your time away!

I’m finally getting around to doing the preliminary set up of my new “holly and eric” site. As I’ve previously mentioned, the purpose of the site is to create an organized social hub in the Boston area that allows people to get together to do fun things and meet new people (but especially us!).

It’s basically supposed to be a cure for the post-college, post-grad-school, no kids, young professional problem of not being able to keep meeting new people and making new friends. I, of course, love all my old friends, but it’s fun and interesting to incorporate new people as well.

But where are you supposed to make new friends outside of a school context and with no kids? In a bar? At the supermarket? Now I know that a lot of people enjoy hanging out with their coworkers, but what if you end up in an office where everyone else is 20 years older or younger than you? And hey, let us not forget those of us who WORK AT HOME!! What are we supposed to do?

So I’m making a website. I should have something minimally functional by the end of the day (and will link to it once I do). I’m trying something a bit different (and potentially disastrous) on the website design for it. My plan is basically that of trial and error. I’m going to keep moving elements around and adjusting borders and colors and things until I like it. It probably won’t win any design awards this way, but we’ll see. I’m sure everyone will be waiting with bated breath (I don’t know why, but I just love that expression!) to see how it turns out. Stay tuned!

I’m excited, but also a little bit apprehensive about our upcoming Boundary Waters canoe trip (coming in early September). The Boundary Waters, for those who don’t know, are a series of lakes in northern Minnesota (and into Canada) where you can go and canoe/portage your way as far as you’d like. My husband and I are taking a 7 night canoe trip.

Now, the trip itself is fairly easy on the planning side. The canoe outfitter we booked with provides nearly everything we need: canoe, paddles, life jackets, food, tents, even toilet paper (I think…I hope!). So that’s not the intimidating part.

What’s a little bit scary is the idea of being out in the woods for seven days with no phone/internet contact (oh come on, I live on the computer…it’s like eating and breathing!), no other people besides the two of us (hey…romance is nice and all, but once romance wilts, next comes domestic violence!), although there may be plenty of bears and snakes to keep us company (oh goody!). Then, there’s the 7 days of built up sunscreen, perhaps bug spray, and sweat with no shower (ewww). And, at the risk of sounding like a stuck up member of the tv/internet/video games/constant electronic entertainment generation, I’m a little afraid we may get bored at some point.

I like going backpacking, but I’ve only ever gone on 2-3 day trips with a nice hot shower at the end.

That being said, I AM excited about it. I AM glad we’re going. And I DO think we will ultimately have a fabulous time. Doubts, I cast you out! (This post makes me seem way more girly and high maintenance than I really am…No, really!)

As a Friday at the end of a long week where I was doing some freelance work all week (and therefore didn’t have much time to work on my own stuff!), it seemed only fitting to take this opportunity to reorient and compose a semi-longterm To-Do List to get back on track and remember my priorities. So here’s my first attempt.

• Add more interesting and user friendly features to the cheese site.
• Make the cheese site generally more user-friendly.
• Eventually redesign the cheese site (as my web design skills get better and better over time).
• Continue to learn and be inspired by all the great other blogs out there I’ve found to follow. Cheers to you all!
• Learn to do all sorts of crazy, wacky yoga poses (tying my body in knots, balancing on one finger…you know what I mean!).
• Continue smiling through my mom’s repeated requests for grandchildren!
• Work on publicizing my super awesome maid of honor site (I wish I had found something like it when I was a maid of honor and bridesmaid!).
• Take a cooking class to help me learn to be a better cook (not a gourmet cook, but at least an adequate cook!).
• Develop my web design skills because designing websites is something I really enjoy doing (more than other things).
• Make an effort to plan more social events (for both myself and my husband). It’s all about connecting with people, right?
• Develop and grow my new “Holly and Eric” social connection website (which I’m still not going to link to because it’s not worth visiting yet!). Ultimately become a social hub in Boston.
• Develop and expand my husband’s tolerance for or (hopefully) love of watching movies (I mean, seriously…who doesn’t like watching movies?!).
• Work hard during the day and still try to cook dinner regularly.
• Stay up with SEO as it changes and improves upon itself.

Well, there are quite a few more, but here’s a start anyway. I really mean it about that yoga thing. Just wait…one of these days I’ll be the queen of yoga. Oh yeah!

This week I’m doing some freelance work outside of the house and it’s making me realize just how much work I have to do inside the house! Suddenly I’m scrabbling to the find the time to write new entries for my cheese blog, and my new Holly and Eric site (a site, in the long run, meant to help unite potential friends in the Boston area) is sitting neglected on the internet, forlorn and half-coded. (Notice that I didn’t link to the H&E site…that’s because it’s not worth going there yet!) And please, don’t get me started on the cleanliness level of the apartment. I’m so not going there! My new mop isn’t getting any love.
Well, after another day or so of WORK (outside), I should finally be able to get back to WORK (at home)! Funny that.

This past Saturday night I once again proved to myself that I am in fact not getting old and boring! Not that anyone would ever have suspected that, of course! I’m wild; I’m crazy!

On Saturday night, I got dressed up in a sexy dress, went out dancing late into the evening, late enough and furiously enough that I even indulged in a late night slice of pizza at a local place that stays open for just that purpose (and OH, was it amazingly delicious under the circumstances!). I slept in nice and late and even had a mild hangover to show for it all (which normally I wouldn’t consider a good thing, but it was evidence!). I completed this lovely sequence of events with a fabulous carbohydrate-packed breakfast of french toast and strawberries at a local restaurant.

That’s right, world, look out, I’m still around and I am awesome! Oh yeah! Old, married, and boring…NO WAY!