Some Stuff I've Been Meaning to Blog

1. Our Sorry Attempt at Gardening

Any of you who have lived near us will know that we like to grow our own food, but we're not very good at it. This is the next installment in our black thumbing exploits.

Back in April my brother Adrian and his wife, Jodie, visited us here in the great state of NYC. Despite us being fairly poor hosts, a few weeks after their departure we received this in the mail (thanks guys):We had really wanted to plant some herbs on our fire escape this year so it was a perfect gift. We opened it up, read the directions, planted, watered, left town for several days, came home to them all shriveled and dying, watered some more, stuck them outside, and discovered this afternoon that what was still alive (namely the basil) was eaten by some bird. So sad.So, here is the picture I took today. You will notice how similar it looks to the picture on the packaging. Luckily, we only planted half of the seeds so we have the whole rest of the summer to kill off another batch.

2. What I Offer New Employers

For those who don't know, I have started a new job at a company called UncommonGoods (please don't judge them by their website design) that will most likely (possibly by the end of this week) go permanent. It is a great place to work and my fellow employees are really cool. Also, it is a .com company so there is no dress code (meaning I get to wear shorts and a t-shirt).

This job has also brought out a skill that I didn't really know that I had. Whenever I start a new job, they always upgrade their computers and software after years of failure to do so. When I started at the PCC I got a new Mac Pro and we switched over to InDesign from (evil) Quark XPress. Here at UncommonGoods I went from using an old, slow and very fickle iMac to this new one.It is top of line with a 24" screen and lots of awesomeness. We are also upgrading from Adobe CS to CS3. So, if any of you are up for an upgrade at work it's too late. I've already been taken.

3. Talk About the Weather

It has been ridiculously hot the last few days and I officially think we could do with a bit less moisture in the air. That is all.

4. Obligatory Simon Update

Simon has started going crazy with developments this week. He is going to town with his signing, can stand up in the middle of the room and has taken his first independent steps. Also, he has made me really, really proud:



Adrian, I think I will need my climbing equipment back soon.