Help Drag Grandma Into the Digital Age

 Just Life, Your Two Cents  8 Responses »
Oct 182010
 

I am a decade older than most of my blogging pals.  I rarely notice the difference, especially since most are also relative newlyweds and/or the parents of young children.  But compared to 20-somethings who grew up with computers, sometimes I feel like Grandma when it comes to the finer points of technology.

It’s not like I can’t figure out how to turn on my laptop.  But I have no understanding of html, much less css.  My video game skills topped out at Intelivision.  I distinctly remember the first time someone asked me for my email address.  In college I owned a record player but not a computer.  I have operated a mimeograph machine.

Which is all a long way of saying: I have run into technological challenges, and I need your help.  Do you, my computer-savvy friends, have advice on the following?

Feed Readers:

I use Bloglines, and Bloglines is going away.  Google Reader’s looks displease me, but I don’t love Safari Reader’s drop-down menu.  Do you have tips on either one?  Do you use a third option?

Twitter:

I have a Twitter account, but I still don’t “get” Twitter.  I can never follow what anyone is saying.  I’ve heard the cocktail party analogy, and it helped a little, but it’s a party where I keep running into the same five acquaintances and all they do is make oblique references to conversations they had before I arrived.

If you love Twitter, what do you love about it?  Is there a way to follow conversation threads, or do you just drop by, take a scan, and shrug off whatever you can’t understand?  Is there a way to separate out the people I really want to read from the ones I only want to check once in a blue moon?

Smartphones:

I got a Droid last month, and so far I just use it for navigation, pressing research (“didn’t Huey Luis have another song that sounded just like this one?”), and Mah-Johng Solitaire marathons. Am I missing anything important?  How do you use your smartphone?

Thanks for your help, young’uns.  Now turn down that music and get off my lawn.

 Posted by Tara at 4:04 am

Your 2 Cents: TV Boyfriends / TV Girlfriends

 Television, Your Two Cents  4 Responses »
Feb 122009
 

Because it’s so much fun to hear from you, I hope to make “Your 2 Cents” a (more or less) weekly feature.  Unfortunately, until the worst of the baby distractions are over, this may be just a sad reminder of how little I’m managing to post.  Oh well.

Anyway, today’s topic:  Who’s your TV Boyfriend or TV Girlfriend?

Mine tends to change every few months —  name a show that I watch, and at some point it provided at least a fling.  These days, I’m leaning toward Peter from Fringe.  Which is a bit funny, because I never watched Dawson’s Creek and was initially quite skeptical of the decision to cast Joshua Jackson.

But in the past year, I’ve also covered pretty much every male character on Lost (except Sawyer, ew), Sylar on Heroes (though, sure, the serial killer thing is a bit of a drawback), even tiny Gio on Ugly Betty (something in the way he looked at Betty, sigh).

Mr T, on the other hand, is more of a one-woman boy:

(Though not entirely, given that this week’s topic is partly inspired by tomorrow’s premiere of Dollhouse. And I know he flirted with Eliza Dushku in her Buffy days….)

Other burning questions:  Are you loyal, or a TV slut like me?  Does your real-life love know about your crush?  Does the character’s personality affect your choice, or is it just looks?  And do you ever (as I do) feel guilty if the person is happily coupled on the show and/or in real life? Please do dish below!

(Image source one, two)
 Posted by Tara at 11:40 am

Your 2 Cents: Baby Names

 Pregnancy, Your Two Cents  23 Responses »
Feb 052009
 

Mr T and I realize that, sooner or later, we will have to call our daughter something other than “Wallaby.” But we’re having a terrible time actually choosing a name.

(Wallabies are cute!! Image source)

It’s just so much pressure.  What about all those studies that seem to equate name with life outcome? Why, according to this website, your baby’s name “is the single most important influence on your child’s personality and destiny.”  How can we tackle that alone — perhaps we should just throw in the towel and hire a baby name consultant??

Here’s What We’re Sure Of:

Mr T has one main criterion for naming a girl:  The name must sound terrible when used to introduce a stripper.  If she decides to go that route, she’ll just have to come up with a stage name.

I have a few others:  (1) Nothing that will draw comments from every third person she meets.  So, nothing too creative, and no names of famous people.  (Though Auntie Dubbs swears “Vera Wang” is OK!)

(2) Nothing that will require constant correction of spelling or pronunciation.

(3) No “prank call” names: When your last name is “Wang,” you just can’t use names like “Anita” or “Ivana.”  Even my beloved grandmother’s name, “Frieda,” sounds wrong.  (Shortie knows what I’m talking about….)

(Indexed, via the Freakonomics Blog)

But then there are so many grey areas.  Would you use….

- The name of a friend’s child?  Or even just someone in social proximity?  (There’s only one other baby in our building, and she has a name we considered at one point.  But wouldn’t it be weird to use it?)

- The name of a friend or acquaintance?  Assuming you’re not “naming the child after” the person….

- The name of a friend’s DOG?  We hang out at a dog park all the time, what about the names of dogs we see regularly at the park?

- A name that calls to mind a particular famous person?  (“Keira” is a lovely name, but aren’t you basically naming your child after Keira Knightley?)

- A popular name?  We’d like to avoid anything in the Top 10 (no one wants to be the 3rd “Jennifer” in class), but what about, say, 11-25?  And different states have different Top 10s, so do you follow the local or the national trend?

- What about a name that’s especially popular in your culture or cultural subgroup?  (I thought we were doing well, but had a few shocks from 10 Ways to Avoid Hipster Baby Names….)

Bonus Question: Did you pick a “someday baby name” in your youth?  If so, do you think you’ll use it?

Interested in baby names?  I recommend these sites:

NameVoyager (oddly mesmerizing graphs of a name’s popularity over decades)

Nameberry (name descriptions can be a bit flippant, but the lists are fun)

Baby’s Named a Bad, Bad Thing (“A Primer on Parent Cruelty”)

The Renamer (choose a name based on personality traits)

And P.S. …. Feel free to suggest any fantastic girl names for little Wallaby!!
 Posted by Tara at 9:47 pm
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