Dex-ual Revolution

Another of my forays into the UX of User Generated Content can be found here. That's right, it's a wiki. If you have any interest in toy cameras, join! But, um, realize that at this point I've only started roughing out a content structure. It's sooo not in any state of done-ness...as if wikis are ever "done", but you know what I mean.

Toy Camera Love - The Wiki 'sperience Project

If you could do anything you want tomorrow, what would it be?
Submitted by Becca-Pink.

Buy the Kona Sutra sitting at my LBS, load it up, and start riding. No real "end" destination in mind. Just riding and living.

So, I have a Livejournal where mostly I post the mundane details of my workouts. Why? Because I need some pseudo-public accountability and someone who likes to see those details reads my LJ for them (though he's been reading for *years*, he's never bothered to join...though he did randomly comment once). And I have a professional blog of sorts. And even though I haven't updated it in months, there are still plenty of things sitting on the back burner waiting to go up.

Given the existence of those two, why am I considering resurrecting this? Mostly because I've reached a place on my LJ where I'm not all that interested in sharing personal stuff--too many former friends and whatnot still lurk around that place. And also because I've found that in order to do my job, I have to not only maintain a presence in various online communities, but I have to be actively exploring and playing with the tools. (If you have even an inkling of an idea of how many UGC/community/socially focused sites there are out there these days, then yes, this is absolutely as time-consumiing as it sounds.)

And now, I'm off to poke at the Ning community that I've ignored for months.

Yeah, I totally disappeared from this place. I don't think that was intentional, so much as situational.

So, what's happened since I stopped posting here? Well, I rode a bicycle from Seattle to Portland. I obtained another bicycle--an awesome chromed wonder of singlespeedy goodness. I quit my job. I've started doing my own thing.

And I recently started a new site with a professional slant. So, if you have any interest in my observations, ideas, and bitchy rants on user experience and design, you can find that stuff over at http://www.dexocraticrevolution.com

...even when it comes to transportation.  Actually, scratch that.  Given my oft-indulged shoe habit, especially when it comes to transportation.

I'm not sure I ever really had this as a specific thought until today.  I mean, I know exactly how picky I am about cars.  That is to say that I'm so picky that there are only a small handful of cars that I would ever spend money on, and even if money were no object, my favorite would always be the least expensive of the bunch.  And I already own two of those--specifically, the 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata--but only if it lacks power-steering.  A Miata with power-steering is a horrible thing.

Anyway, on Friday night while out with friends, our conversation turned to bikes.  Bicycles, that is.  Road bikes, specifically.  We were standing in front of a bar and looking at a fixie locked to a rack on the sidewalk.  I mentioned to one of them that I was thinking about getting another bike, because he has a friend who owns a bike shop.  And then I immediately had thoughts of the bicycle dutifully chained up on my porch.

She's a Schwinn Breeze from the early-70's in Campus Green.  Her name is Anabelle.  She needs a little clean-up, but I think she's gorgeous.

Today I was thinking about her again, and wishing the weather was a little less damp so I could take her out for a ride.  Also wishing that I didn't have tension knots in my shoulders and back that were triggering massive headaches.  So, instead of going for a ride, I consoled myself with snapping a few pictures...

I confess:  I am a fashion whore.  (There's a decent chance you've guessed that by now.)  But one aspect of fashion that I've always had a soft spot for is menswear.  Specifically: suiting.

I recently helped a friend realize that his suit wardrobe needed a bit of an update.  His suits, while very nice, weren't doing him many favors when it came to showing off his lithe body lines.  Simply put, he was wearing far too much fabric, and it was high time someone helped him see the light.  Enter, me.  Over the next few months, he went through his suits, taking some to the tailor for alterations and replacing others outright when tailoring wasn't going to help.  I can't say enough about how much his appearance has improved since opting for a more closely fitted suit...evidence enough should be in his newly proclaimed status as The Pied Piper of Pussy (as crass as that is).

I've been noticing more and more men (but still only a small handful) on the downtown streets of my city (certainly *not* a fashion capitol of the world) wearing closer fitted suits.  And I've been thrilled.

So imagine my excitement when I was browsing through my RSS feeds this morning and I came across this article extolling the virtues of the slim suit.  I was nearly giddy, I tell you.  The more narrowly cut shoulder, slightly raised wrist line (to see the gorgeous cufflinks you had very well better be sporting), the peek of sock (again, make them bold...think color, think pattern, think argyle!), the close lines skimming the surface of the body.  It's enough to make a girl's toes curl.

Show us your hairstyles over the years.
Submitted by Lena Katrin.

These are just looks that I've had over the past couple of years.  And actually, my current stylized mohawk isn't among them (only because I don't have ready access to a picture of it right now).  There have been so many more styles I've sported over the years...I don't even recall many of them.  But now I have a reason to go back through old pictures of myself.

Conversation, the first...
Me: You look nice.  I don't often see you in loose, flowy clothes.
Pregnant co-worker: Yeah, I haven't worn this before because it makes me look pregnant.
Me: Um, you are pregnant.

Conversation, the second...
Me: I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm starting to dig on the high belted look a little.
Friend: I can't wear things like that because they make me look fat.
Me: Um, you are fat.

And now, a quote:
"Just restructuring a problem does not fix the problem." -- David Allen