geeks, cats, & decor.

I MIGHT BE BECOMING A GOOGLE GEEK, AND I DON'T HATE IT.
If you didn't know, Blogger.com is owned by Google. I recently purchased a domain (because alyssainnashville.com looks cooler than alyssainnashville.blogspot.com). It's $10 for A YEAR. That's like $0.027 per day … a small price to pay for looking awesome. Plus purchasing my domain gives me Google Apps, which means I could have collaborators and addresses ending in @alyssainnashville.com … but don't e-mail me there because I haven't figured out how to check it yet. :)

I can use Google Picasa to share my photos, Google Mail to manage communications, Google Docs to share ideas … the options are endless. Literally. Well, almost literally: Clicky. And as a new homeowner, Google has been very helpful. I've got a lot to learn, but I'm just a girl in Nashville with a dream and something to say, and Google is helping make it happen.

CATS & CONTENT
My blog has been blocked by the network at work. One of our writer's theorizes they've discovered my plot to "take over the joint." (His words, not mine.) Or it's possibly because of my racy content (ahem ... totally kidding). All I know is I will probably now be spending my lunch break socializing instead of updating my blog. :)

I'm sure I've mentioned before that Miles can drive me crazy sometimes. Mostly it's his apparent boredom at all hours of the night/early morning. Or his constant meowing when he is already sufficiently fed, watered, and provided with a clean litter box ... at which time I discover he just wants picked up. So I've got this book called The Cat Owner's Manual one of my friends gave me a few years ago. It says that two cats are often more easy to care for than one because instead of pestering the owner, the cats will play with each other.

I believe it. Last summer I lived with Simba and Nala and they were a sweet brother/sister pair. It's just that I'm kind of trying to avoid the single-girl-with-lots-of-cats thing. I've had this strategy that the cats in the house just shouldn't outnumber the humans. So unless I get a permanent roommate or get married, I'm not sure I can do two cats. But give me a few more sleepless nights and I might just change my mind.

RAIN AND FRAME
It's raining and I don't think there is a person in this city who is enjoying it. We had the afternoon off from work and I went up to Madison. I hadn't been up there in months, but I needed to make a return at JCP and stopped by Old Time Pottery for picture frames. The drive took forever because of heavy rain and a wreck on I-65 S. The police have closed a couple of roads north of town because of standing water. Just taking precautions.

A couple weeks ago we had a meeting in the "cool room" on 2DCT. I was inspired in there and am going to be putting up black and white photos across the long wall in my front room. Here's the pattern. Click it for a larger view:

I've got a few friends who are photographers (and one of them is moving here in June!) so hopefully I will be able to get some black and whites of places in Nashville. I couldn't find any square frames, but I'm hoping to maybe find some canvas squares that kind of pop out from the wall, printed with a photo or even paint if I feel real ambitious. I am not very good with this home decorating stuff. It looks sweet on paper, but it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Imagine, ideate, implement,