So far I am very happy with the purchase. I don’t know why I waited this long to upgrade.

Reason #2 came from: Top Ten Signs You’re a BlackBerry Addict.

As seen from Union Bay … (It looked better in person, but this was about the best shot I could manage with my little point-and-shoot.)

I’ve lived in the same spot for 9 years now, and I don’t ever remember being able to see the Lake Union fireworks as well as this year. (Thanks, CHASE!) If nothing else, it made me really happy I didn’t venture out into the madness of the Gasworks crowd … as I’d surely still be battling traffic to get home as I write this.

CHASE Family 4th on Lake Union:
Formerly known as the WaMu Family 4th … and the only surviving Seattle fireworks display.

Dear Lolë,

Much love,
Thelawgoddess

NOTE: A skort is basically a pair of thin shorts with a skirt over it – so it essentially feels like shorts … but looks like a skirt. And if someone who’s wearing one bends over a little too far, the world is going to get a glimpse of nothing but an innocent pair of shorts.

For more information, visit the Lolë website or REI.com.

I bought this tiny monkey light for the child of a very special friend. I did not know the child, and I knew very little about him apart from the fact that he liked lights. My search for a suitable gift nearly ended unsuccessfully … until I came upon this item at one of my favorite stores, the Fireworks Gallery.

I am not a big fan of sock monkeys, but it made me smile when I shook it and turned on the light. And I figured if it made my inner child happy for at least a moment, there was hope for how it would go over well with a real one.

Sock Monkey Shimmer Light description found online:
“… from the Sock Monkey Collection at Seasons of Cannon Falls. There are four different mini sock monkey lights to choose from; there is green, red, orange and blue. The lights change colors, it changes from yellow, green, blue, purple, red to white and starts the cycle over. The shimmers gently float around in the monkey’s tummy. … measures 1.5 x 1.5 x 3 inches tall.”

After writing a short notice about the First Nations @ UW Spring Pow Wow (April 10-12, 2009), I decided to make a point to go. In a show of “indigenous solidarity” (this year’s theme), Native Americans from across the country and Canada gathered at this pow wow.

I (along with a few friends) showed up in time to watch the Grand Entry on Saturday night … and it was every bit of grand. The enormity of the procession was impressive, and spoke strongly of the size and close-knit ties of the Native American community at large. The dress ranged widely, and included feathers, beads, furs and a host of other materials. The time and effort that must have gone into some of the creations was unfathomable, and it was a delight to see such amazing handiwork.

The Grand Entry began with a presentation of the colors. Honored flag-bearers proceeded in a clockwise fashion around the Pavilion floor, followed by hundreds of tribal representatives. Men, women, and children walked and danced to the beat of drums … until the space filled to near-capacity. It was a beautiful and powerful event.

See the First Nations @ the University of Washington for more information.

In March I shared an article on Facebook by Brie Rydberg (a fellow Seattle travel Examiner). Sweet spots for cupcakes in Seattle got me excited about trying these cupcakes … and also got a few excited comments from my Facebook friends.

At a group dinner on March 31st, one of those friends surprised me with a Trophy Cupcake – the chocolate Guinness Stout cupcake with Bailey’s buttercream frosting. I savored it the next morning. It was so good that I referred to it as “a superb mound of rich unbelievable goodness” … and the cupcake gesture earned my special friend some serious points in my eyes.

Trophy Cupcakes
Currently located only at 1815 N 45th St, Seattle, WA 98103.
But coming soon (Spring 2009) to University Village!

Two days ago I added [yet] another email account to my seemingly never-ending collection. And like a majority of my email accounts, I set it up to forward to my “main” Gmail address, where I make heavy use of sorting and labeling. And where I also change my options so I can “send mail as” the forwarded address through it.

One can imagine the organizational nightmare that begins to occur when you have – say – nine or ten email accounts’ worth of mail ending up in just one place. Not to mention the fact that any email sent using the “send mail as” function in Gmail shows where it’s actually being sent from (i.e., that one “main” address). In Gmail’s defense, replies always come back to the right place, but it doesn’t look very “smooth” or in some cases professional. So I began a frantic search for a solution.

At least a few of you are probably wondering why I don’t just use Outlook or some other such program, and my simple answer is that I want to be able to access my mail from more than one location. And I don’t just mean access in the simplest form of the word – I mean control. Apart from paying $7-$10/month for a hosted Exchange server or attempting to set up my own server on my webhost, there aren’t a whole lot of viable options.

Then I found Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition. It doesn’t exactly provide me with “anywhere” access like a webmail product could. But it does offer me something that might be a workable compromise. It offers me the ability to install a version of the Thunderbird application on a USB drive. (And in hindsight will also offer me the ability to work with my mail offline – something nearly impossible to do strictly through webmail.

I currently have The Thunderbird portable app set up to access a few of my smaller email accounts. Aside from some minor adjustments and tweaking, it appears to be working surprisingly smoothly. If all goes well over the next several days, I will probably migrate more accounts in that direction … and get a bigger flash drive.