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Get To Know Average Jane

Tomorrow I leave for the BlogHer Conference in San Jose, where I will be meeting lots of people and handing out my blog business card right and left. With that in mind, I figured this would be a good time for a little "who am I?" rundown.

First my BlogHer history: I was at the very first BlogHer Conference in 2005. Also at the next six, if you need that bit of trivia. For various reasons I missed the last two years, but I'm back to see how they're going to celebrate the 10th anniversary.

I don't have a photo of myself from the first year because for some reason I confined most of my picture-taking to my tour of the Winchester Mystery House with Cagey. So here's what I looked like at the 2009 conference. That's Liz Rizzo on the left and me on the right, back when I had black hair with blue streaks in it.

In my professional life I do content marketing, which is a fancy way of saying I write for the web and run social media programs. So, pretty much the same as what I'm doing here except for the whole salary thing. You don't need to see a picture of that. It's just a plain old cubicle.

In my spare time, I sing in a rock band. This photo was taken last weekend, so if you're looking for me at the conference, that's what my hair looks like now. I'll probably leave the skull sweater at home, though. It hasn't made it out of my gig bag and into the laundry yet.

I also spend significant amounts of my free time playing geeky board games. Here's one of my main gaming group's favorites. We have a fancier Battlestar Galactica setup now, but this was from early on.

I aspire to get in better shape, although I'm pretty sure it's safe to say I'll never be a runner. Yoga is really more my speed, but I'm not too great about keeping up with classes. Look how optimistic I am before I start a 5k! Yes, I walked most of it. Incidentally, I live in the Central time zone, so if you also get up early and want to take a walk some morning during the conference, I'm in.

I have pets. Oh, yes I do. Would you like to meet them? Of course you would! Here there are in the order in which they came to live with us. First we have Xena, my husband's kitteh wife.

Velvet is our oldest cat and a big fan of sitting in my lap.

Trillian, the snapping tortie. Sweeter than she looks, when she wants to be. Otherwise, hands off!

Dr. Jones is my lazy tabby and our only male cat. He's really not as lazy as all that; he likes to play fetch with his favorite toy mousie.

What is this? Yes, a dog! We have one dog, Toby the Italian Greyhound. He's 11 years old (eight when we got him) and down to five teeth, which means his tongue hangs out a lot.

Last but not least is Kaylee, who lives in my husband's recording studio. Did I mention I have a husband? Who runs a recording studio? We'll get back to that.

So on to my husband. We'll be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary late this year. He's a drummer in addition to being a recording engineer. And he is sometimes very silly.

I'm sure there's more I could tell you, but then what would we talk about at the conference? I'm looking forward to meeting all the new people I've been hanging out with online lately. This is going to be fun!

July 23, 2014
Average Jane’s Happy Dog

Not long after Toby came to live with us, I took him for his first Italian Greyhound play date. It did not go very well. I took him to another one later on and he was equally meh about the whole thing.

In the interim, I had his bad tooth removed and put him on thyroid medication which trimmed him down and increased his energy levels. We kept getting invited to the play dates, but for various reasons I wasn't able to take him to one this year—until last weekend.

A couple from the Italian Greyhound community invited Toby to a play date in honor of one of their dog's birthdays. I had the day free, so I loaded him into his carrier in the car and off we went.

He had a BLAST! Finally my desire to get him to run around and play with his own kind had come to fruition. He wasn't as fast or playful as some of the younger dogs, but he ran around with a smile on his face the whole time.

He was even game to wear a party hat. I put it on him and he happily ran around with it on his head for a good 20 minutes or so. It eventually slid over one ear so he looked especially rakish, but he was unbothered.

Photo credit: Cassandra J. Cameron

He did draw the line at "bobbing for weenies" wherein pieces of hot dog were dropped into a kiddie pool for the dogs to retrieve. Toby loves food, but not if it means water is going to touch his body. He managed to score a piece of hot dog anyway, which he successfully gummed into submission before any of the other dogs could grab it away.

Photo credit: Kara Erikson

He had such a good time that now I feel bad about how boring his daily life must be. He sometimes tries to play with the cats, but they have yet to figure out each others' playing styles.

Last night he asked to be taken out in the yard, so we wandered around fruitlessly for a while until I finally took him back in. My theory is that he just wanted something else to look at.

Then I walked out the front door on my way to get dinner and he bolted past me and ran up the street! I had to chase him almost a block because he was on some kind of dog mission. Dog owner guilt caused me to take him for a walk up the street after dinner even though it was ridiculously hot and humid. That seemed to satisfy him.

Since he's clearly up for dog activities now, that changes quite a bit about my plans with and for him. For starters, I'm going to start identifying the local dog parks that have enclosed yards for small dogs (he can't run free because, as a sighthound, he's liable to run off). I'm also going to try to get to the Italian Greyhound play dates more often.

Then there's next year's BlogPaws Conference in Nashville. Yes, he's going with me. There may need to be a mild tranquilizer involved for the car trip each way, but I'm finally going to get to take him along. I can't wait!

July 22, 2014
Average Jane’s Warranty Runs Out

Warning: This post contains lots and lots of whining.

My birthday was Monday, July 7th and I was perfectly cool with yet another year ticking over on my personal odometer. That is, until this Monday. That was the day when I noticed my lower back strongly protesting as I routinely gathered the trash and cleaned the litter boxes. My back hurt enough that I actually asked my husband to take the trash out for me, but he was already shoeless and ready for bed, so I did it myself.

That day at work I spent a lot of time in my super uncomfortable office chair working on a project that required significant concentration. My back was not happy about it, but I used my foam roller when I got home and I thought it was all good.

The next day I got out of bed and thought I was still okay. That is, until I got to work and realized that my back was not feeling cooperative about the whole "getting out of the car" thing. It all went rapidly downhill from there. I fidgeted uncomfortably through my morning meetings and found that I couldn't quite straighten all the way when I got up from sitting. Toward the end of the day, I could barely walk at all and I spent the last meeting of the day standing while everyone else sat.

My massage therapist couldn't get me in until next week, but she gave me some advice on trigger points to work on. I think that's what got me out the door and back to my own house.

I applied a variety of treatments when I got home: Biofreeze, ice pack, bourbon and cola. They all helped dull the pain, but the stiffness remained. I couldn't take the massage therapist's advice on further foam rolling because I could no longer get to the floor.

Sleeping wasn't bad as long as I lay flat on my back and didn't try to move. When the dog needed to go out at 2:00 a.m., I called my husband and had him come down and take him. Unfortunately my husband didn't respond at 4:30 a.m. when it was dog feeding time, so I had to execute an elaborate plié to get the food from the measuring cup into the bowl on the floor.

This morning I was trying to be optimistic about my ability to get to work despite the fact that I cannot bend at the waist at all. My inability to dress myself ultimately decided the whole thing and I emailed my boss to tell her that I'm going to spend the morning trying to schedule some kind of therapeutic care that I hope will allow me to get to the office later on.

I am really rather angry at my own body right now. I have stuff to do and I don't have time for this. I'm performing with my band on Saturday night, for one thing. And I'm heading to BlogHer next week. Not being able to sit is a rather signficant impediment to air travel.

Apparently this is a test of my patience and resilience. So far I'm getting a failing grade.

Update: I managed to suck it up and do the recommended foam roller work, which made me functional enough to put on pants and get to the office. Even better, I now have a deep tissue massage appointment at 4:30 p.m. today, so let's hope this is all behind me soon.

July 16, 2014
Average Jane Enjoys the Summer

I don't want to jinx myself, but I am having a thoroughly delightful summer so far.

As I mentioned, I started with a nice trip to Virginia late last month.

My band has been playing out pretty regularly, including a performance at Fort Leavenworth on Independence Day. There I am to the right, in all my red, white and blue glory.

I've gotten the chance to float in a lake with my sister and her family and their boat. Yes, I got a sunburn because apparently I'd forgotten that sunscreen must be reapplied periodically, but it was fun and relaxing.

In past week, I have had two long board gaming sessions that included friends visiting from out of town. Oh, and I brought cupcakes from a new shop in my neighborhood to this weekend's game, and cupcakes make everything better.

Today is my birthday, which I've been celebrating for a week or so already. My husband got me an iPad Mini. My sister and aunt took me out to lunch yesterday and stuffed me full of fried plantains, guacamole, black bean tacos and margaritas.

I have the day off today because the company where I work gives an extra day in relation to all the summer holidays. I spent the morning finishing up a presentation I'm giving at a conference on Thursday and now I have the rest of the day to relax, read, snuggle with our pets and possibly take a nap later on if it seems like a good idea.

Next on the red-letter summer agenda (aside from another band gig the weekend after next) is my trip to BlogHer in San Jose. I am very excited about that!

Clearly this is just a check-in post, but I do want to remember how contented I am right now. The year did not get off to a good start at all, but everything feels as sunny as the summer sky at this juncture and I am endlessly appreciative of that.

July 7, 2014
Average Jane Writes for BlogHer: The Blog Remains the Same

Today I have a post up at BlogHer.com called The Blog Remains the Same: Things We're Still Concerned With 10 Years Later.

I'm using that as an excuse to post a photo of Robert Plant from "The Song Remains the Same," as an homage to the fact that I tried and failed to make some connection between the post title and Led Zeppelin in early drafts of the post.

July 1, 2014
Average Jane’s Yoga Breathing Comes in Handy

Today I had an MRI for the first time. It wasn't for anything scary (I hope) – just a peek at the elbow I injured last year. It's considerably less painful than it was at first, but recently it's developed some swelling and a lump near my bicep, so I figured it was time to seek a professional opinion.

Because it's me, I somehow failed to write down the name of the imaging center on the calendar entry for this morning. Fortunately, I had managed to register in my brain that it was within a couple blocks of my office, so I figured out which one it was (on the first try!) and made it there almost on time.

After filling out a smattering of paperwork and taking off my rings and necklace, I went back and put on a gown that covered my upper body. Then it was time to get propped into the MRI machine. The tech taped something that looked like a pair of Vitamin E capsules over the area of my arm where the little lump is. Then she had me lie on the table so she could tether me into the ideal position for the scan.

She told me that the whole process would take about 45 minutes, during which I was not to fidget, cough or clear my throat. The machine is loud, so she put headphones over my ears and then began to slide the table into the machine.

I don't think of myself as being claustrophobic, but there was something very oppressive about being inside the MRI. It was the open-sided kind, so at least I wasn't completely enclosed, but I quickly realized that keeping my eyes shut was going to be a good idea to keep my anxiety down.

Lying still for 45 minutes is no easy task, but I concentrated on my breathing and let the MRI noises form themselves into little songs in my head. I think I nodded off from time to time, but luckily I didn't twitch too much when I woke up. It seemed to take a long time, but the tech spoke to me from the next room from time to time and gave me updates about how long each imaging session was going to take and how many were left.

At the end, I was relieved when the table slid back out of the machine and I could finally move freely. My sore elbow was stiff from being restrained, but it shook out pretty quickly. I left the center with a CD of the scans, which of course I looked at immediately. It was full of pictures of…cross sections of my arm. Yeah, I don't know what I'm looking at there. That's my doctor's job.

So that was my adventure today. Have you had an MRI? What did you think of the experience?

June 23, 2014
Average Jane Goes Visiting

Last weekend I took Friday off from work and flew to Washington, DC to meet up with my friend, A Librarian, who moved to Virginia a few months ago. It should have been a quick flight and indeed we were ahead of schedule until we got into the DC area, then an isolated thunderstorm closed down Reagan National and Baltimore airports at the exact time my plane got there.

They had us circle around for a bit, then land at Dulles and sit on the tarmac for a good while. Some people decided to get off there, but because I'd checked my suitcase, it wasn't a viable option for me. Instead, I just texted A Librarian and read the book on my Kindle app (I was making my way through The Casual Vacancy at the time).

Once I finally got to the airport and retrieved my bag, the fun began. We took the Metro into the National Mall area and walked around looking at monuments I hadn't seen since my last touristy trip to DC in high school.

It was still rather grey and rainy and I wasn't wearing the world's best walking shoes, so we didn't get too gung-ho about trying to see lots of things. We did walk up next to the Washington Memorial and down to the end of the reflecting pool to get a good look at the Lincoln Memorial from a distance.

Then we met up with some other local librarians for dinner at a lovely Argentinean restaurant. After dinner we walked back to the Metro station by way of a drug store, where I was able to purchase a package of underwear to make up for the fact that I'd forgotten to pack any. I'm a cheapskate about that kind of thing anyway, so what I ended up with was no different than most of what I have at home.

I should mention that A Librarian did a very bold thing when she moved: she sold almost everything she owned. Her parents have a load of furniture items and kitchen stuff that they'll be bringing to her eventually, but right now her house is largely empty except for a few odds and ends she's purchased since she closed on her new place. It's quite echo-y when her cats meow.

Thus, there was not a lot of incentive to stick around the house while we were awake, so we planned a full day of activities out and about for Saturday, starting with a lovely brunch on a patio in Richmond, Virginia.

We followed that up with a bit of shopping at a cute boutique next door that was having a sale, and A Librarian scored a very cool framed mirror.

Then she showed me around one of the very impressive libraries in the system where she works before driving us to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, where we planned to spend the afternoon.

And WOW, what beautiful gardens! I took way more photos than I can possibly show here, but these are a few highlights.

We spent quite a long time exploring all the gardens and took a refreshment break about halfway through for wine on a deck overlooking the gardens. We finished up at the butterfly garden, which was absolutely lovely despite the 100°F temperature in the exhibit. I took lots of photos of the butterflies as well.

After I got a little light-headed after bending down to photograph a butterfly, I decided I'd sweated in there long enough and retreated to rehydrate.

We finished the evening with dinner at a fantastic Chinese restaurant and then went out and saw the most recent X-Men movie.

The next day my flight didn't leave until mid-afternoon, which gave us ample time to plan some more sightseeing in DC. We fueled up for the 90 minute drive with coffee and scones, then parked at Reagan National Airport and took the Metro back to the National Mall. This time our goal was to visit various Smithsonian museums.

I'm a big fan of the Natural History Museum, so we started there. I must say that I prefer to see the fascinating variety of the animal kingdom alive, but they do have a comprehensive and educationally-presented collection.

Also an insect zoo, so at least some of the exhibits were alive. Actually, they had a butterfly exhibit as well, but because it cost extra and we were butterflied up from the previous day, we passed it by.

Once we were finished there, we moved on to the National Museum of the American Indian. I'm not going to lie—that choice was guided heavily by the food options in their cafeteria, but we explored the museum after lunch and I was very impressed by the exhibits. I particularly liked the blending of contemporary Native American art with historic and prehistoric examples.

Then it was time to go back to the airport, get my luggage and head back home. We stopped for a quick drink at the airport bar after I checked my bag—perhaps not quick enough considering that they were paging me by name by the time I got to the gate area. It all worked out, though, and I had a quick flight back and got home in plenty of time to go out to dinner and watch the Game of Thrones season finale.

June 21, 2014
Average Jane Comes Back

Is there a prize for neglecting your blog for the longest amount of time while still considering it "active"? It's true that Typepad had a couple of lengthy service outages during that period, but I probably wasn't really going to write a post during one of them anyway.

Here are some of the things that have happened since I checked in last.

I attended Go Blog Social. It was strange to go to a blogging conference in my own town where I didn't know anyone. As you can see from the photo, this was a young and stylish crowd. Many of the bloggers had gotten their start in school, so I didn't have much in common with them. Still, it's always interesting to see where blogging is headed.

The following weekend I went on a trip to Hermann, Missouri with a big group of friends. We learned the maximum number of wineries a group of adults can visit in a day before needing a nap (answer: 3). It was lots of fun, though.

Because I'm such an early riser, I took advantage of the mini vacation and took morning walks each day. This is me heading back across the Missouri River toward Hermann.

When I got back in town, I started a new job. As you can see, they've been very nice from the start. I've now been there for about five weeks. I disposed of the welcome balloon when someone newer joined our department (and I no longer needed it to find my way back to my desk).

I finally got the opportunity to see my husband play with the band he joined a few months ago. They're called The Sexy Accident.

I spent an entire weekend cleaning my house. (Notice the smeary mirror. I have learned my lesson and since purchased the good kind of glass cleaner.) Uncompensated plug: I highly recommend Invisible Glass in the spray can. They sell it in the automotive department, but it's perfectly good for inside the house.

5K season began. This was actually my second organized race of the year; I did Earth Walk the weekend before. Neither was timed, but I did a pretty decent amount of running during Race 4 Domestic Violence Prevention, so it was probably my best pace of the year so far. I did another 5K walk/run with the dog after I got home that morning.

Speaking of the dog, Toby is as derpy as ever.

Last weekend I went to a drag show where they read through the entire script of Romy & Michele's High School Reunion. It was just as silly and fun as it sounds.

We celebrated Velvet's 7th Gotcha Day last week. I didn't post about it after her first illness, but Velvet relapsed and spent four days at the veterinary hospital in February. It turned out she had a severe liver infection and at first it seemed as though she wouldn't pull through. I visited her every day and she managed to rally after several days of fluids and antibiotics. Once she started eating again, they sent her home and she's been back to her old self.

So that's the Cliff's Notes version. I've been staying busy, but not too busy. I'm happy and reasonably productive. My exercise and diet are getting back on track after a rather poor start at the beginning of the year. My band lost its keyboard player but the rest of us are carrying on as a four-piece and we have a gig the Saturday after next.

Best of all, I have my plane tickets to BlogHer '14, so I'll be San Jose bound with Cagey this July and we'll be reliving our BlogHer '05 experience with an extra decade of experience to leaven things (not to mention several thousand extra attendees compared to the first conference).

So yes, I'm back. And I missed you!

May 23, 2014
Average Jane Decompresses

I have this whole week open because I am between jobs. That's not a euphemism—I left one job last Thursday and I'll start a new one on Monday.

As it happens, this is the perfect week for a break like that. The weather's getting nice enough for long walks with the dog, I'm in spring cleaning mode, and I had a good bunch of errands I'd been putting off. This also gives me the opportunity to spruce up my wardrobe a bit so I'll look more professional at the new gig.

Yesterday I started the morning at my favorite coffee shop, reading a book on my Kindle app and breaking my fast with a blueberry scone and two big cups of coffee. After that I got a much-needed manicure and pedicure, then joined a friend for lunch. Once my husband woke up, I accompanied him to his favorite drum shop, then we had dinner (well, breakfast for him), and made a quick run to Target.

Today my plan is to get in some solid house cleaning and laundry. The only thing on my calendar during the day is a lunch; tonight I have a board meeting and a dinner party with friends.

Tomorrow my sister has agreed to help me shop for work clothes and we'll undoubtedly have lunch together while we're out. Then I'm getting a haircut and rejoining my sister in the evening for a seminar about women and money.

On Friday morning I'm taking the train to Hermann, Missouri to help a friend celebrate her fortieth birthday. We're bringing lots of games and snacks, and the eight of us are taking over an entire building at a bed and breakfast inn. We'll spend the weekend visiting wineries and shopping and I think there was mention of a karaoke bar. I'm really looking forward to the trip.

The first few months of this year have been kind of a stress-filled blur, but this week marks the turning point. Onward and upward!

Now excuse me, but I need to empty the vacuum cleaner and get started on the floors downstairs…

April 9, 2014
Average Jane Goes to Sweden: Caffeination Edition

One of the things I was excited about as I read up in preparation for my trip to Sweden last fall was the coffee. More than one American blogger had referred to it as “black crack” and I quickly learned that was pretty darned accurate.

Coffee figures heavily into the pace of the Swedish day. I noticed that most of the coffee shops weren’t open particularly early, which leads me to presume that Swedes make their own coffee before work.

I bypassed the instant Nescafe at our apartment in favor of brewing the Gevalia coffee in a French press. It was black as night no matter how much extra hot water I added, but it tasted wonderful. Despite the fact that it is labled as “medium roast” (mellanrost), it rivaled any espresso roast I have ever seen for darkness. When it comes to coffee in Sweden, “medium” is relative.

The coffee break or fika is enshrined in Swedish culture and we were only too happy to take part as often as possible. When you’re traveling with an elderly person, coffee breaks are a great excuse to sit down for a while and get recharged. Fika generally involves a pastry or other snack, and I’ll never turn that down.

I found myself creating quite the coffee photo gallery during the trip. Mouse over any photo to see its description.

Once I got used to the strong coffee, which didn’t take long, I was happy to drink it as often as I could throughout the trip.

The downside was that all American coffee tasted thin and weak to me when I got back. It took a couple of weeks for that impression to subside so I could once again enjoy the available coffee options back in the United States.

It took a bit longer and a few extra pounds for me to disassociate coffee and pastries. I do care a great deal for those cinnamon cardamom rolls.

March 1, 2014