< OCTOBER 24 > austin trip pictures came back today. photographic evidence of the evil trifecta can be seen here. don't mind the snide commentary about yours truly. it's just josh thinking he's funny.

so on a more serious note, a site called attack on the usa has picked up the digital ribbon, and is distributing it now. from my own logs, i can tell that it's been as far as japan and finland. it amazes me how well this project has been received. thanks to everyone who has helped and posted ribbons. it's just a little symbol, but it means a lot.

< OCTOBER 22 > oh man, what a couple of weeks it's been...

i've been all over the place. first to san fran for six days, where i discovered my true life calling in napa. grape farming: the wave of the future. seriously, though, i'm thinking that's where my next move might be. the bay area was beautiful, and joe showed me an awesome time. he presented quite a convincing propaganda case, right down to the sunset and the seals barking in santa cruz. perhaps after the holidays i'll start doing some job hunting out there.

after a quick stop home for about 6 hours, i jumped in my car and drove down to austin to meet up with the rest of the unholy trinity, that being josh and fuzzy. we partied like rock stars for four days, yet still had a bit of time to plot world domination. minimal damage, and no run-ins with the law, so the weekend can be considered a success.

and now, it's back to work and the daily grind. that's the worst part of vacation. *sigh*

< OCTOBER 8 > i went on a hardware tear, and i came dangerously close to buying a tibook. but then i remembered, i don't have $2500. that put a damper on the plans. so i bought a burner instead. laura got an ibook, and i'm mad jealous. so we decided that we need to have a network. i tried building one today, and failed. miserably, i might add. the peecee conspired against me. it was ugly. after trying to get the cover off the box for a half-hour, i installed the nic cards, and now it won't turn on. i'm going to have another go at it tomorrow, and hopefully, it will be nicer to me. today reminded me exactly why i love my macs. good thing i cleaned the office the other day.

< OCTOBER 6 > i've spent the last few days getting my life in order. after spending some cash at staples, i managed to outfit my whole "office" with a respectable filing system. i can see my desk again. very exciting stuff, i know.

so the wind is blowing just right today, and there's something strange in the air. there might be a large hardware purchase in my immediate future...

< OCTOBER 3 > i blinked and missed september. i suppose being glued to your teevee will have that effect. so i'm back from nyc. she's much the same as when i last left her, except for one major difference. it's hard to explain what's different. something in the atmosphere. you'll be walking around, and everything will seem normal, and then the wind will blow just right, and you'll get the smell. three things that struck me the most: being able to see the searchlights from the staten island ferry at night, the way the sun streamed through the hole in the skyline near the woolworth building and lit up city hall park, and the pictures of the towers all the vendors were selling alongside their charcoal drawings of tupac and brad pitt. it was like a celebrity had died, and this is how they were paying tribute to her. the whole experience was surreal and comforting at the same time.

the borders in the trade center that i went to three times a week when i worked at xceed is still standing.

< SEPTEMBER 27 > it's 8am, and that's entirely too early for me to be awake. but i'm off to nyc today, so i have to be awake at this ungodly hour. signing off for a couple of days...

< SEPTEMBER 25 > getting all my business in order before i go to nyc this weekend. i need to do some serious mental preparations. i need to go up there, but i'm not sure if i'm going to be prepared for what i see.

so i've had a couple of days off, waiting for feedback on some work i did. it's nice to not have to be in front of a computer all day. i've started reading sean stewart's "galveston" the other day. i need to get my fix between games. speaking of which, rumors are that the game sequal is in the works right now. very interesting, indeed...

< SEPTEMBER 17 > i've had a few conversations over the last few days about everything that has happened, and i think i'm completely saturated by the media coverage. i spent most of the day yesterday and all day today away from the teevee. i think the time has come for everyone to stop dwelling on it. yes, it was unspeakable, it was awful, we should bring whoever did it to justice. but this is where we can truly show what makes us strong. we had no control over what was done to us, but we have all the control now. we must move forward, using what we've learned. make things better. a lot of lives were lost, and a lot of property was destroyed. it's time to mourn, to rebuild, and to go on.

in an effort to get on with my own life, i've started making travel plans to reschedule trips that got interrupted by all of this. i'm a new yorker, dammit. nobody ruins my plans and gets away with it.

< SEPTEMBER 16 > three things today:

josh and i are sponsoring the digital ribbon campaign to give those in the online community a way of showing their support and unity with those affected by the tragedy. you can find out how to participate by going to rayven productions. download the images and join the campaign.

my friend will has been assisting as a medical worker since last tuesday. he has written some of his thoughts and experiences in his livejournal. this is some seriously amazing stuff. i'm very proud to call will my friend, and i commend his bravery and the bravery of the other thousands of rescue workers. thank you guys.

today is my dad's birthday. happy birthday, dad.

< SEPTEMBER 13 > there are no words to describe what our country has seen in the past few days. but i am ok, all of my friends are ok, and we will get through this if we don't let stupid things like prejudice and hate worsen an already horrible situation. america is proud, and new yorkers are the greatest, strongest people in the world. gov. pataki was on the news yesterday, telling a story about thanking an injured fireman for his bravery. the fireman replied, in a thick brooklyn accent, "whaja expect? i'm a new yorka." 'nuff said.

in the meantime, do your part. if you're type o, go give blood. if you're not, give money. if you can't afford to do that, just find your family and friends, and tell them you love them. i know i won't be able to start healing until i can go back to nyc and do just that.

< SEPTEMBER 6 > it's been like 8 years since i was last in toronto, and i had totally forgotten how much i liked it there. the trip was mad cool. the kids are crazy as always. i really need to record andrew doing the dr. evil voice and make mp3s of it. got to touch the stanley cup, which was like the highlight of my life (sad, isn't it?). and arie and i learned a valuable lesson about new jersey: patterson is scary, and you should never ever go there.

in other news, i'm trying to quit smoking. it's not fun at all. but to help me do this, i've started running again. i ate a pound of little carrots yesterday, because i had to constantly have something in my mouth, and i ran 2 miles without dying. it's a start, i suppose.

< AUGUST 30 > so i'm getting packed for nyc/toronto tonight, and i realize that i need to go to kroger for some stuff. as luck would have it, i leave my house at exactly the same time as the razorbacks football game ends. i managed to get myself stuck in traffic for almost 40 minutes trying to get 6 blocks from my house. *sigh* hogs football. there's nothing quite like it.

< AUGUST 28 > i had to take my car into the shop today. the "service engine soon" light kept coming on. what does that mean, exactly? "oh, you need your engine serviced." "when?" "soon..." really now.

so i'm stuck in the house with no ride. and i have no idea for how long. which is ok, i guess, because i'm nearing the end of the latest project i'm working on, so i spend all of my time in my chair anyway.

in other news, i got my tax relief check yesterday. i'm totally rich now.

< AUGUST 22 > this has got to be the funniest thing i have ever seen. and they say kids today have no culture...

< AUGUST 21 > memphis totally rocked. graceland had to be about the most bizarre place i've ever been to in my life. i don't know if it was the redneck element, or the fact that it was such a symbol of the 70s, or a combination of the two. but it really is an american institution, and everyone should make at least one pilgrimage there in their lifetime. it's something to see...

and as luck would have it, we managed to catch the sneak preview of "jay and slient bob strike back" while we were there. how's that for fate, and synchronicity, and making the most of a moment? there seemed to be a lot of that this weekend.

so i came back to find a truckload of things piled up for me to do. this is why i shouldn't take time off.

< AUGUST 13 > went to niagara falls this weekend, and spent some quality time with the family. it was cool. i haven't been there since i was like 5 years old, and it was a lot different than how i remembered it. i got some really cool digital pictures, and i'll put them up as soon as i can figure out how to get them off the camera.

now i have to work like mad this week so i can duck out and go to graceland this weekend.

< AUGUST 7 > haven't updated in awhile, but that's because i haven't really had anything interesting to say. same old, same old here. i was attacked by the biggest ugliest nastiest arkansas roach in the shower yesterday, and that's been the most eventful thing to happen to me in the past week. how sad is that?

< AUGUST 1 > back from nyc, and it was good fun as always. saw some old friends and some new friends, and fought a deadly battle with the world's largest oyster in chinatown. (no joke. it took two of us to eat it. it was scary...) there's photos from a party i went to monday night here. look at them, and try and explain to me why my eyes glow that evil red in all of them.

< JULY 27 > the site i've been working on went live today. it's for the delta rivers nature center and you can see it here. i'm taking today off, so i can do some errands, and see the outside for the first time in a week.

< JULY 26 > twa totally did me right and offered a cheap flight to nyc this weekend. i was really starting to miss my friends. and i have some covert operations to run while i'm there. world domination-type stuff. i could tell you, but then i'd have to kill you. but what i'm most excited about is being able to get my hair cut while i'm in the city. hey, a girl's got to have her priorities, right?

< JULY 22 > i had to put a new photo up in the game database, because i was informed tonight that i had fallen out of the top five most frequently viewed profiles. go look at it, and boost my stats.

all of this madness is over on tuesday. it kind of makes me sad. i'll miss the #evanchan crackheads.

< JULY 19 > so i'm home, writing code tonight at like 7:30, and there's a knock at my door. it was the dsl fairy. i'm the happiest girl in the world :) now, to build my firewall, and i'll be in business...

< JULY 16 > i should be coming to you tonight from a blazing fast dsl pipe. but for some unexplained reason, southwestern bell was of the impression that i only needed the install cd, and not the actual dsl modem. hopefully the hardware will come in the mail tomorrow. with the dsl and the 256mb of ram i ordered today, i'll have so much speed i won't know what to do with myself.

< JULY 15 > another weekend over and done. it was colorful, to say the least. i bought a ticket today for my upcoming family vacation. we're going to niagra falls. should be fun, but i don't really understand the premise of calling it a family vacation, since my dad's not going.

my friend joe is having surgery tomorrow. he needs to get better quick because the playoffs are coming, and a good goalie is hard to find.

< JULY 12 > i just got an email from my crazy british friend simon, who was wondering if i haven't written because i don't like him anymore. this is so not the case. i've just been really bad with answering my email. so i want to publicly apologize to everyone i've been neglecting lately. the southern mentality and slow pace are creeping in, i guess.

< JULY 11 > so i've started going to yoga three times a week, and it does't really feel like you're doing much during the actual class, but, man, do you feel it the next day. my shoulders and back are killing me.

i'm back at work these days. freelancing from the house. i picked up a couple of contracts, so i officially went off the dole on sunday. < and there was much rejoicing >

< JULY 8 > i spent today out at lake sylvia. it's so nice to live somewhere where you can get in the car and drive 45 minutes, and be in nature like that. all the girls loaded up the cars and just hung out, lying in the sun and swimming. it was such a great day. and now i'm so tan all of you would never recognize me. ok, maybe i'm exaggerating a bit, but you get the point...

< JULY 7 > my friend has entrusted laura and me with the care of her 8-month-old baby today. babies eat some wrong food. "vegetable beef dinner." looks like orange mush, and doesn't smell so tasty. hopefully, the kid will get some better taste in food when she grows up.

< JULY 5 > i had to archive part of the scrolly thing, because it was getting too big. if you're looking for it, you can read it here now.

hope you had a good fourth. mine was cool. hanging out, grilling, and drinking beer. what more can you ask for?

< JULY 2 > so today i made my third trip to the revenue office to register my vehicle. this time, i failed because i forgot my wallet. so i have to go back *again* tomorrow. this is turning into some sort of ridiulous joke.

dj extrordinaire petbugs on #evanchan has set up a kick-ass streaming radio station. check it out.

< JULY 1 > 6 states and 1250 miles later, i'm back in little rock. the trip was great. long, but good fun. i won't go into it too much, because now that i've been reunited with my worldly possessions (read: my scanner) i'm going to do a whole section on it. as soon as i unpack. what else is new... saw a.i. on thursday night, and i'm not sure what i thought of it. the game is definately better than the movie was. much more scandal and intrigue, and you know how i love scandal. i got back to lr and found that my modem died, so i had to go out and drop $100 on a new one while i'm waiting for the dsl to be installed. not cool. but what is cool is that i found out i might have a couple of new projects coming my way. wish me luck. off to unpack...

< JUNE 27 > in a couple of hours, i'll be back in nyc to attempt to clean up all the bits i left behind there. i have a day and a half, and then my brother and i will be setting out on the open road. should be good fun. i'm hoping to con him into bringing his laptop so i can update from exciting places like kentucky and tennessee. why do i continue to think that flights before 7am are a good idea? *sigh*

< JUNE 26 > i have a ton of stuff to do today and no motivation to do it. but i don't really have a choice, since i leave for nyc tomorrow at the crack of dawn. i need an oil change, but that's pretty complicated since it involves gift certificates and the jiffy lube on rodney parham road. my new business cards still aren't in, and that's not making me very happy. i also need to finish bronwen's site. bleh. it's hot here.

< JUNE 20 > so check it: i am the proud owner of a blue 1989 chevy cavalier! it's the first car i've ever owned outright. i'm so excited! it's got a sunroof :) photos will be coming as soon as i get my scanner back.

big thanks to tim for checking it out and making sure i didn't get totally hosed on that deal.

< JUNE 19 > i looked at a car tonight, and i may be in business. by this time tomorrow, i could have an auto to call my own. it was quiet the sight. i got horrendously lost trying to find the place where the car is, so i drove around the backroads of bryant, arkansas aimlessly for a good half hour. scary part was that i got dangerously close to a town called bauxite, where it's rumored aliens have visited. i managed to pull through without getting abducted.

< JUNE 18 > another week begins. the weekend was nice. good conversation over coffee at 5am on sunday in the ihop. haven't done that since high school. nothing beats a good talk, really. face to face, or in the form of a long, involved, philosophical email communication. it's all about the exchange of ideas and points of view.

so i didn't get a chance to post this yesterday, but happy father's day, dad. i'm staying out of trouble, and i haven't broken anything.

i have no idea what this means, but it's funny as hell.

< JUNE 13 > i did some serious driving yesterday (no, not in my own car. my lovely and talented roommate lent me hers.) and i remembered that i really *do* like to drive. all the years of living in nyc convinced me that i didn't, but it all started coming back to me. especially highway driving, since i used to be the master of the high-speed lane change.

in other news, i got my ticket yesterday for the sneak preview screening of a.i. i'm psyched, since i'll be back in new york for it, and will get to see the movie, and all the irc kids.

i'm sitting here, designing bronwen's site with a cat in my lap. i feel like dr. evil.

< JUNE 7 > i'm trying to buy a car, going through the classified ads and such. i came across a listing for a 1988 plymouth horizon. unfortunately the seller is in fayetteville, and that's like 4 hours away. but i am tempted to call anyway and ask what color it is. if it's light blue, i may have to make the trip. purely for nostalgia reasons, as my first (and only, actually) car was a light blue 1988 plymouth horizon. how funny would that be?

laura just asked me an algebra question, and i realized just how stupid i've gotten since high school. not a good feeling.

< JUNE 6 > greetings from the beautiful south! phase one of the move is complete. so far so good. i'm going out tonight to work on getting a job and some potential web work. now for the hard part with the actual moving stuff and the truck...

so last night, a bunch of my friends came out for an awesome going-away party. they gave me the best send-off and i felt so loved :) it really made me sad to leave, knowing just how good the people i'm leaving in nyc really are. but like i told all of them last night, if they're ever in little rock and need a place to stay, my couch is theirs. thanks again, guys.

< JUNE 2 > man, there is *nothing* going on tonight. so quiet, it's downright eerie...

< JUNE 1 > i just came from the 'we closed the office' party for the folks i used to work with at disney. it was like going to a funeral and a high school reunion all at the same time. lots of people i haven't seen in a long time, and it made me feel really old, for some reason. i mean, it's only been a year since i quit there, but it seems like it was so much longer than that. those were some good times, though. i worked with some great people there. r.i.p. family.com (1996-2001)

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