stories from an ordinary life

newest stories

2007-09-06T00:49:00.000-07:00

newest stories

2007-07-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

Cross-posting, by Paloma Cruz

2005-07-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Shameless promotion of headlines in my other blogs:

Bilingual Life

undocumented immigrants being charged with criminal trespassing
16 years of Café Tacuba/ "La Vibra, the Houston Chronicle’s Spanish weekly entertainment supplement, has Café Tacuba as their cover story last week. The story is, of course, in Spanish, but it covers their career and talks about their next concert (last Saturday in Houston)."
a brief history of anti-immigration. "Metroblogging’s Paul Chavez walks us through the history of anti-immigration sentiments in this country in a post about the Minutemen coming to Houston."

Houston Life

City events

Library Life

A Texas Digital Library. "Four Texas university systems and Rice University will collaborate on a digital repository whose goal is to offer online resources, such as teaching aids, dissertations, and practical information, although not books."
Sunday hours added to Houston Libraries
returning library books on time. "LifeHacker recently published a post entitled How to finish library books on time which has a link to a tabbed system to… well, finish library books on time and (here’s the important part) return them on time as well."

Ordinary Life

I’m in a mood - welcome to retail therapy. "These posts will be things I want to buy, but can’t. It’ll be a virtual shopping bag, just shy of actually taking things to the checkout counter to pay for them."

Pasadena Life

watching Emily. "In case you haven’t been paying attention, Hurricane Emily is headed to Texas."
senior health workshop. "If you’d like help in understanding the new Medicare Prescription Drug Program taking effect in 2006, the Madison Jobe Senior Center is teaming up with the Pasadena District Social Security Office to host a free workshop, Tuesday, July 19th, 2 - 3 p.m., to explain the details to you."
great Pasadena photo. "Houston Photobloggers has a fabulous photo of Capitan Theatre, in Pasadena. As far as I can tell, it’s the only photo of Pasadena in their collection, but certainly worth a look."
the city of Pasadena has a budget… sort of. "At first glance, Pasadena’s 2006-10 budget forecast may look bleak. However, the document is intended to give the city a starting off point to plan for the future."

Public Relations life

work for Gizmodo. "Gawker Media is expanding its technology coverage, and is seeking to fill the following positions. All these roles are full-time, and paid accordingly, though we take a relaxed attitude towards external freelance."
do I own this brand? "The redesign of the Diva Marketing Blog has prompted a discussion centered on the question who owns a brand?"
are bloggers journalists? "This is a question that comes up frequently in my life, from both ends of the issue. If I’m covering a topic in one of my blogs and request information from a company or organization, should they treat me the same as they would a Houston Chronicle reporter? At the same time, if a photoblogger calls my office wanting to set up a shoot of one of my clients’ buildings, would I give him or her the same consideration as… say, a photographer from 002+ Magazine?"
the wonderful world of media relations. "John Wagner’s comments in Now It’s The Corporate PR Folks’ Turn To Be Slammed about his experience with the media has had me thinking about the adversarial quality of my daily dealings with the members of the press. And I’ve been thinking about the many things I do, every day, to make those dealings better."
PR blogging isn’t ego polishing…"…or so says John Wagner in his post PR Bloggers Not All In It For Self-Promotion. In it he responds to some recent criticism and attacks that public relations professionals have received, in particular PR bloggers."

teaching life

Operation Backpack. "It’s the city’s largest ever school supply drive."
more seniors are raising their grandchildren. "I come from a family of teachers, so I’ve pretty much heard every teaching story you can think of. I know, my sisters know, and all teachers know that more children are being raised by their grandparents these days than ever before."
back to school at Pasadena ISD. "The Pasadena ISD Web site has a Back to School Guide up to help parents get ready for the August return date. Here you will find everything from enrollment processes to meal prices and school holidays. Worth a visit."
a blog to save Fort Bend ISD. "A good example of how a community blog can generate conversation and interest in a grassroots initiative."

Web Junkie life

the value of a wiki. "The Chronicle: Wired Campus Blog has this wonderful post describing the true value of a wiki, Disaster Response, via Wikis."
how to be a more productive blogger
the 50 Coolest Websites of 2005
productivity tip: stop checking your email
now I’ve heard everything… Wayback Machine is being sued

news posts, on the new site - 7/11

2005-07-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

Here are the wonderful posts you've missed so far at the new home of stories from an ordinary life:

moving to Word Press

2005-07-01T23:52:00.000-07:00

(...reprint from Paloma Cruz...)

After testing Word Press for several weeks, and comparing it to Blogger, I've decided to move my blog projects to the palomacruz.com domain and update using WP. What that means is that I'm going to begin reposting everything from the blogspot.com sites to palomacruz.com. It also means that all new posts are going on the new locations.

Reasons why I'm making the change

More control over posts. The ability to track statistics. Trackbacks. More control over commenting. Hundreds of themes.

I like it better.

I'm thinking about moving this update log from MovableType to WP as well.

I'm still thinking about it.

***

The new address for stories from an ordinary life is: ordinary.palomacruz.com.

Could you pass the U.S. Naturalization Test?

2005-06-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

(...reprint from stories from a Bilingual life...)

Today's InfoPlease has a great topic: Could you pass the U.S. Naturalization Test? In it they have a sample test, and you're invited to go through it to see if today you have enough knowledge to be a US citizen.

My sisters and I are wearing down my mother on this particular topic. We want to make sure that she takes the test, and becomes a US citizen, while she still can. After seeing what Congress, under the direction of our current president, are doing... well, let's just say that I think time is an issue.

miscellaneous topics

2005-06-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

PBS funding

As Josh Silver writes, in The Huffington Post, "Public broadcasting has been under siege." Here's some coverage:

From The Huffington Post, PBS Controversy: The Bottom Line.
From Matt Ashley in The Huffington Post, Public Broadcasting Wins $100M Battle ....
From Click2Houston.com, Supporters Of PBS Fight Budget Cuts.

Stuff about MoveOn

From Tom Hayden in The Huffington Post, Letter to MoveOn re: Iraq.
From Byron York in The Huffington Post, Wasn't Rove Right About MoveOn?
From Wonkette, The Big Burden of PBS.

More tools

Found via LifeHacker, Guide to household items’ shelf-life. "Real Simple’s got a helpful guide to the actual shelf-life of food, beauty and cleaning products. Did you know maraschino cherries last as long as it takes to get an undegraduate degree? And that your bottle of honey could outlive you? Bet you didn’t. Thanks, Steve!"
Another one found via LifeHacker, USB thumb drive projects. "Tech news site PC Stats has a great roundup of ways to use your USB thumb drive. Turn your pluggable keychain disk into a portable arcade, boot disk, web browser, email encrypter, network drive, media player or word processor. Especially helpful for people in IT lockdown offices who can’t install software on their computer (like Firefox, for example.)"

helpful info & things I found interesting

2005-06-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

(...reprint from stories from a Web Junkie life...)

From Bob Parsons, Your credit card info and identity will probably be stolen -- unless you understand a few simple rules. How to avoid the hassle of your life! "If you don’t know how to detect Phishing, your personal info will be stolen. You need to be aware of what Phishing is, and how to detect and protect yourself from it. It’s important that you read and make it a point to understand the rest of this article. If you don’t, you can be very sure that your credit card information (and quite possibly your identity) will be stolen."

According to Pew Internet, "Some 55% of adult internet users have looked for "how-to," "do-it-yourself" or repair information online and roughly 1 in 20 internet users – about 7 million people -- search for help on a typical day. The prevalence of this activity is yet another example of the many ways online Americans use the internet to gather practical information for their everyday lives." The report is available via PDF online.

Even the Army knows blogging is here to stay. Evidence? They now have policies on blogging, as shown in Arianna Huffington's recent post: Army's Rules for Blogging from the Battlezone.

Business Week reports that on June 27th bloggers might benefit from a Supreme Court ruling for journalists. "That's because Floyd Abrams, a lawyer for the reporters, has said in court and publicly that this reporter-source privilege should apply to bloggers as well."

Found via LifeHacker, a link to 50 smart money moves. "CNN’s Money magazine lists 50 personal finance tips ranging from real estate to retirement to career networking to home gadgets that save you cash."

Found via Blogger Buzz, Fifty (50!) Tools which can help you in Writing. "Roy Peter Clark from Poynter Institute has posted up 50 tools that can help you when you do any kinds of writing. This is a extensive list of writing tools, but by no mean you need to apply all of them when you do any writing."

and Bush says...

2005-06-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

From the Houston Chronicle, Lawmakers who oppose his plan for Social Security should put theirs on table, he says. Excerpt:

Between appearances to raise money for his party, President Bush continued his ampaign to restructure the Social Security system Tuesday, challenging congressional Democrats and others opposed to his plan to "put your ideas on the table."
***
Bush says his plan offers a relatively painless way to address Social Security's long-term funding problems, while allowing more Americans to become investors.

"Relatively painless." I have a problem with that statement. While I agree that some reform will need to be made to Social Security, I have concerns about letting someone who has shown a very loose relationship with the truth make the decisions that will affect millions of people... of which he will not be one.

I didn't vote for him. That's all I'm saying today.

* Houston Chronicle links expire after a couple of days. Articles are archived after a few days. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.

links on cancer

2005-06-22T21:48:00.000-07:00

I've begun to compile links to info sites on Cancer, mostly due to the recent significance that word has in my life. Here's my first try:

WebMD's Cancer Health Center
In addition, WebMD has an enewsletter with more info
Houston's MD Anderson Cancer Center has a really good Web site, which offers information about support programs
do your part, support The Rose: "Houston area's preeminent 501(c)(3) non-profit breast health care center providing cancer screening, diagnosis and support to all women regardless of their ability to pay."
Houston's CanCare, "is an interfaith cancer support network that offers free, one-on-one, long-term emotional support to cancer patients and their families. "

That's all for today...

finding my voice

2005-06-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

I don't feel like blogging today. I have lots of links and clips and stuff to share and no energy to write.

I've updated PasadenaBlvd.com, like a dedicated editor should, but that's about all I can do today.

I have found, however, that my daily blogging has made it possible to get in touch with my voice once again. My writing voice, that is. One of the things that's challenged me the most in the past few months, professionally, is that my writing is stale. I've had writer's block.

Slowly, flexing my writing muscles on a daily basis, sometimes with insight sometimes without, has helped my writing at work. And that, alone, makes the time invested worth it.

Of course, the occasional feedback comment feeds my ego, and that's good too.

Today, however, I am all written out. I promise to try and be witty tomorrow.

things that happened this week

2005-06-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

Among the things that happened this week which may or may not affect the topics I pick in the future:

a colleague was diagnosed with breast cancer - her sister just recovered from cancer, my aunt died from cancer this year, my grandfather died from cancer several years ago, my grandmother's two sisters are both fighting cancer, one of my mother's cousins is fighting cancer... the word is significant in my life right now
I have itchy feet, and it's getting worse -- I don't normally stay very long in a job, mostly because I get bored... I've been here for 2 1/2 years, which is the longest I've ever been somewhere, and I'm starting to want to look elsewhere
my father is getting worse - Parkinson's is a fate worse than death, I sometimes think... on days like today, when we take him out of the nursing home, I know with absolute certainty that I fear this disease
my savings account continues to dwindle - I need to do a better job of saving money, or become more fiscally intelligent
I promised to teach my 9-year-old niece how to design a Web site and have no idea how I'm going to achieve that

And that's just the high points...

News Clippings & Other Things

2005-06-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

Headlines and excerpts from news stories and other things...

From KTRK ABC CHANNEL 13, Certain smell makes men think women are younger than they are:

A study of smells shows that the scent of grapefruit on women make them seem younger to men -- about six years younger.

From the Houston Chronicle, It's about time to recognize ranks of stay-at-home dads:

...the number of full-time fathers taking care of children under age 6 is at a record level, according to the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which analyzed Census Bureau data.
Dads have more options today, and they're taking advantage of them, said John A. Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm.
In 2003, there were 299,000 households in which only the wife was working and the father was at home with at least one child under 6.
That's a 29 percent increase from a decade earlier when 231,000 households fit that description.

3 articles I found on Arianna Huffington's blog site

2005-06-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

$100M Cut From Corporation For Public Broadcasting Budget - excerpt:

Public television stations and National Public Radio would lose 25 percent of their funding next year under a bill cleared by a House committee Thursday night, although some of their funding for future years would be restored.
The moves came as the House Appropriations panel approved a tightly drawn spending bill for labor, health and education programs. For the first time since the early days of GOP control of Congress 10 years ago, the measure, taken as a whole, makes actual cuts to the programs funded by the bill.

I'm A Drunk - excerpt:

Lawmakers in New York State are considering special license plates for repeat DWI offenders. The specific letters or numbers on the plates haven't been decided.
The bill's sponsors said the DWI plates would help police and would allow them to stop the car without further cause.

Fatherhood and the Boss, by Paul Reiser.

Just something I thought clearly indicated the celebrity status of the posters at HuffingtonPost.com -- is this really a blog?

posted by Paloma Cruz

2005-06-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

OK, a mix of posts and crossposts for your entertainment tonight:

fitness tracker

2005-06-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

Found via LifeHacker, FitDay food and activity journal.

FitDay is a free, web-based food and exercise journal for those of us setting out to slim down.
The key to many popular weight loss programs (like Weight Watchers) is to keep a log of everything you eat and any kind of exercise you do, and FitDay is just that. FitDay has various reports which compare your nutritional intake to the recommended daily allowances, how many caloires you eat vs burn, and your weight loss progress. Store foods you usually eat for quick insertion into a day’s log or search the extensive database of food item information. One thing to know: to use FitLog, be prepared to become a lot more aware of portion sizes (in ounces, cups, etc) and to take note of wrapped and canned food’s nutritional values. FitDay also offers $30 Windows software (which I have not tested.) A web site account is free.

HPD begins campaign against domestic abuse

2005-06-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

(...reprint from stories from a Houston life...)

The Houston Police Department has begun a public service campaign to fight domestic abuse. The bilingual campaign will target men, in an attempt to stop violent behavior.

From the KHOU CBS Channel 11 story:

The campaign is also focusing on young men in high school and college. Book covers are being printed and will be delivered to campuses in Houston.

Billboards have already gone up. I hope that the campaign is going to be more than jut billboard, that it's going to be an honest commitment to take these cases seriously.

I hope.

become a millionaire

2005-06-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

I found this via LIFEHACKER: Serial entrepreneur Marshall Brain knows how you can make your first million: start a business.

Writer and founder of his own publishing company and web site How Stuff Works, Brain publishes a great presentation on why you should start your own company. Titles like “how to make a million dollars” make me suspicious off the bat (obviously there’s no silver bullet magic formula, or else you and I wouldn’t be sitting at our desks staring at a computer screen right now) but Brain’s matter-of-fact acknowledgement of the risks and “practice makes perfect” attitude is down-to-earth and inspiring.

Hmmm.... how to make your first million. I like the title. I also enjoyed the write-up, though I agree that it did seem a bit simplistic. If it were that simple, everyone would do it.

the art of affluence

2005-06-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

I came across this article through MSN, when logging off my Hotmail account. (Don't ask why I have a Hotmail account, that will take us into a whole sentimental streak that won't do any good.)

9 ways to look rich but live cheap has some very good suggestions on how to "Rise above your measly income and worn-out shoes. You can live the Simply Fabulous lifestyle and enjoy cushy perks even without being adopted by the Rockefellers."

On a related note, if you haven't already, pick up a copy of Suze Orman's "Young, Fabulous & Broke" for practical, common sense tips on how to improve your credit score and get a handle on your finances. I'm working my way through it and have had several moments of "OH!" in the first few chapters alone.

a sure sign that I'm getting old - memory lapses

2005-06-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

One of my points of vanity is that I have a great memory on the job. I can remember details from projects from months ago, conversations, emails, threads of inspiration. Things that help me be good at what I do on a daily basis.

Don't ask me about account numbers, phone numbers, what so-and-so was wearing, or how someone takes her coffee; those are details that escape me. I can, however, tell you what I told a reporter about a story 8 months ago, what we agreed to do for printed promotion for a service (from a brainstorming meeting 6 weeks ago) and what was discussed at last month's administrative meeting.

At least I used to be able to do that. My memory is slipping.

I'm forgetting important details. Critical timelines are being overlooked (or almost overlooked). And I'm forgetting if I've responded to emails or phone calls.

I know that I've been overworked and put it down to that. And then I read this article, Cobwebs in your mind? Distraction, not age, makes us forget things, experts say, by the Houston Chronicle which supported that theory.

Many people worry if memory lapses — such as forgetting the name of someone they just met or where they left their keys — signal impending dementia.
The answer is no, experts say.
"Distraction is not dementia," says Donna LaVoie, associate professor of psychology at St. Louis University. The problem is people are losing their ability to pay attention.
"Good memory requires attention on the information you want to remember," says Mark McDaniel, associate professor of psychology at Washington University and co-author of Memory Fitness: A Guide for Successful Aging (Yale University Press, $17).
In today's world, people allow their attention to be compromised by multitasking brought on by technology, by emotional turmoil and sometimes by fatigue, he says.

The article made me feel much better. I'm just distracted.

... wait a minute... "just"? The reasons for my distraction aren't changing any time soon, so I will need to either learn to handle it better or... well, learn to handle it better.

And hope that my memory lapses don't get me into trouble.

* By the way, Chronicle links expire after a couple of days. Articles are archived after a few days. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.

a moment of sadness... and politics

2005-06-10T23:50:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure that I wanted to address this in any way. At least not in this semi-public forum. So what I'm going to do is put the info out there and decide later what, if anything, I'm going to comment about it.

Parental consent: Perry signs abortion bill at Fort Worth church, reported by CBS KHOU CHANNEL 11.

In a ceremony filled with religious references, Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill at a church school gymnasium Sunday that imposes more limits on late-term abortions and requires minor girls to get written parental consent for abortions.
***
The bill also restricts doctors from performing abortions on women who have carried a child for more than 26 weeks unless having the baby would jeopardize the woman's life or the baby has serious brain damage.

Please feel free to think, comment and worry.

tropical storm may turn into a hurricane

2005-06-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

(...reprint from stories from a Houston life...)

Tropical Storm Arlene , which wasn't supposed to be a major concern, is now expected to turn into a weak hurricane before it makes landfall on Sunday.

Arlene could be hurricane by landfall, KHOU CBS CHANNEL 11.
Arlene may grow into weak hurricane, HOUSTON CHRONICLE.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Grand Isle, La. to St. Marks, Fla. including Lake Pontchartrain. A hurricane watch has been issued from the mouth of the Pearl River to Panama City, Fla.

Well, my amateur storm watch has given me one possible hurricane, which isn't coming to Texas. Let's see if our luck holds all season.

Weather watch, tropical storm

2005-06-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

(...reprint from stories from a Houston life...)

So hurricane season has begun, and a few days in we have our first weather watch. Season's first tropical storm kicks up in Caribbean, reported by HOUSTON CHRONICLE, describes the first tropical disturbance headed to the Gulf of Mexico. That was quick. Excerpt:

Tropical Storm Arlene developed today in the northwest Caribbean Sea, edging closer to western Cuba as the Atlantic hurricane season's first named storm. Gulf Coast residents, including those in storm-battered Florida, were warned to beware.

The Houston hasn't been hit by a hurrican in more than 20 years. Gamblers would say that we are way past overdue. I saw a news report last year where they said that the longest Houston had ever gone without being hit by a hurricane, even a mild one, was between 10-20 years.

I wonder what that means?

It doesn't look like this will be a threat to the area, but I am going to be sure I keep a close watch on the weather this hurricane season. I need to be sure that I have my contingencies in place.

Where should the disorganized flake start?

I'll let you know.

Women own the future

2005-06-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

(...reprinted from stories from a Bilingual life...)

Every once in a while, I'll come across a headline that just grabs my attention. If the Future Belongs To the Educated – Women Will Own It, found at HISPANICAD, grabbed it in a flash.

In the 87 metropolitan markets surveyed in 2004 by The Media Audit there are 24.3 million adults under the age of 45 with a college degree: 12.3 million are women and 11.9 million are men.

Wow! Impressive numbers across the board, I thought. That has to be good news, right? I thought so, until I read further.

In the same metro markets there are 21.3 million Hispanic adults and 20.9 percent or 4.5 million have graduated from college. That number is split almost down the middle: 2,234,393 men compared to 2,218,328 million women.

OK... that seems more realistic to me. Amongst my friends, my colleagues, my family, there are more men with degrees than women. It's a trend that continues no matter how liberated we get, how necessary our incomes are, or how much we try to make it different.

And, no, this has nothing to do with any of the "ist" or "ism" words I might use to describe myself. It has to do with the fact that, as a Hispanic woman, my particular situation is never the same as for the "mainstream."

It just means that I have to work a little harder. Which I do. So I can be much better. Which I am.

Have I mentioned that I'm humble too?

miscellaneous reads, links and other things

2005-06-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

Have a Low-Tech (or No-Tech) Day, found via LIFEHACKER.
Visit Weddings 101, from INFOPLEASE, for "Thinking about getting hitched, tying the knot, or jumping the broom? The mores guiding marriage have changed significantly, but many traditions remain the same. Read on for the history and contemporary realities of marriage."