• I am almost at my goal with PayPerPost. My goal is $400 – that’s the iPod plus the iSkin case plus the A/C charger it turns out I didn’t need. I only need a couple more posts to make that goal! Hang in there folks (especially Kelly), we’re almost done. And then I will have a fully paid-for supah-cool iPod with no guilt about spending all that money. Blogging for cash is great, though I’ll be glad when I’ve met my goal and take a break!
• Speaking of the iSkin case, it arrived today. It took me a good 20 minutes to get it on the iPod and fitted perfectly and without dust or cat hair under any part of it. It looks awesome and I feel so much better knowing my iPod is protected.
• My fingertip is not protected, though. I accidentally ripped a whole lot of the nail off last night, then tonight I got the fingertip bandaid wet and didn’t bother to put on a new one. Oh well.
• tiny_elbow had wanted to know what podcasts I listen to, so here’s the list. Obviously all the video podcasts are new subscriptions.
  A Way with Words – Amateur Traveler (video) – Atheist Viewpoint (video) – BBC Ouch! – Faggregator (video) – GenderTalk – MouseTunes – NeoCast – The ADHD Podcaster – The DisabilityNation Podcast – This Week in Tech – Thrill Network: In the Loop – WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Tech Tuesday

I had no idea there were so many different pumps for mother’s milk that there would be a site called Breast Pump Reviews! But it seems like almost every female blogger I know has a brand new baby, so perhaps they will be interested in this site.

It is pretty widely known that breastfeeding is considered best for babies. I assume most mothers would prefer to breastfeed, but some aren’t able to for their own reasons, so they must use formula. There are probably some who are just “too busy” to give their babies the best, and postpartum depression probably makes some mothers want to avoid it, but I imagine the majority of formula-feeding mothers make the choice because they can’t get time off work to pump, etc. (The New York Times had an article about this called On the Job, Nursing Mothers Find a Two-Class System – that’s how I know some mothers aren’t able to pump at work.)

The breast pump review site has posts by users, so if you happen to be a breastfeeding mother and you have experience with one of the ones they describe, submit your comments!

• The 50 Greatest Commercials of the ’80s
  New Coke! Calvins! The McDLT! Paperboy! All brought to you by YouTube and GIANT magazine. I recognized several, mostly by their jingles.
  (tags: funny retro)
• All Geocachers with 200 or More Finds
  Rankings for geocachers with 200 or more finds. Also state-by-state rankings.
  (tags: geocaching)
• Monzy Performs at Stanford University
  Outdoor performance of Kill Dash Nine. See Monzy.com for the MP3 and lyrics.
  (tags: funny geeky)
• Craigsnumber
  Auto-expiring phone numbers for online safety, you can keep it up to one week. Area codes include San Francisco, DC, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, and New York. You tell them what number you want it forwarded to. [via momb]
  (tags: web2.0 onlineculture)
• Web 2.0 how-to design style guide
  In this tutorial, I describe various common graphic design elements in modern web (”2.0″) design style. Why they work (i.e. why they have become common), as well as how, when and where you might use each element in your designs. [via laze.net]
  (tags: web2.0 design)

We almost never go out during the week, but last night we went to see The Beaux’ Stratagem at the Lansburgh Theater. It was the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s annual non-Shakespeare play; this one was written by George Farquhar in the early 18th century. It was really quite funny, I had a great time – the actress playing Kate Sullen really stole the show with her delivery of the character’s many one-liners. Unfortunately the accents were all over the map; the play took place in Staffordshire and there were characters who were from London, but the actors were all using different accents that I don’t think were from anywhere in particular. The one fight scene was pretty wimpy, but it’s really supposed to be a comedy and I certainly did laugh the whole time. The tickets were only $12.50 including the service charge, so it was well worth it!

There’s a new search engine for health information: YourHealthSearch.com – Community Driven. In addition to providing general, condition, and insurance searches, they also offer search engines that are targeted to a specific condition or symptom. I gave the system a test run by searching the ADHD search engine for “diet” – sure enough, it came up with many suggestions for altering a person’s diet to affect their ADHD. I’ve never put too much faith in this method myself, though admittedly I don’t really know very much about it so I probably shouldn’t say it doesn’t work – I just don’t think it’s for me. Just for fun, I also tried putting “Michael Jackson” into the vitiligo search engine, but there wasn’t anything especially amusing there.

Remember this? (Unless you’ve been reading me since March 2002, you won’t remember it.) Well, now I’m up to this. My first 10k took three years and three months, and my second 10k took four years and nine months. I’m surprised it was that close at all, given that I haven’t edited as much in the past few years as I did in the first few – I even won “Laziest Editor” in fall 2005 – although it’s now easier to do random little edits here and there because I’m a higher-level editor. (I joined in November 1998, became an editall in December 2001, a catmv in May 2002, and a meta in March 2004.)

Geeking ensues, then some philosophical stuff.

I want to spend money! I think I am going to get the wireless headphones via Amazon. Unfortunately they come from a seller who charges almost $12 for shipping, but it’s still better than finding it slightly cheaper on eBay and having to pay out-of-pocket. As long as I can apply my $75 Amazon GC to them, it’s neither here nor there.

But there’s a bunch of other stuff I want – stuff from my wishlist that I had put in my cart for later because I was going to buy it used. And yet I have to refrain from putting it all in my cart, because Xmas is right around the corner. But I want the headphones NOW! I am trying to refrain from ordering anything until after Xmas; even though I know nobody’s getting me wireless headphones, they might have gotten me the very same used items from my wishlist. Augh! I did buy an A/C adapter for my new iPod, but I got that off eBay – no point spending $20 on the official Apple one when I can buy a non-OEM version for $6 shipped. I do have the official Apple A/C adapter for Firewire…but the 5G iPods don’t charge via Firewire, only USB.

Can you tell I’m a little hyper today? I am. I didn’t take my meds today, because I forgot to fill my medbox last night and so I had none left when I was leaving this morning. The really weird thing is that I think I was a better interpreter at a meeting this morning. I’ve known since starting this career that interpreting was a good fit for someone with ADHD – very little paperwork, you don’t have to retain information for long, etc. – but I didn’t think that having ADHD could make my output better. Very strange.

Oh, and I hate everybody who brings in junk food for the holidays. Today I successfully resisted the assorted truffles that were in the office kitchen, and fortunately they were gone after a couple of hours. I even resisted the mini PB cups that were in the candy bowl when I stopped by there for a Starlite mint. Yay for me. I’m hungry though! Is it time to go home yet?

• LesbianFamily.org
  Blogs from all kinds of lesbian families. Those trying to conceive, those expecting, those with babies, those with teens, interracial families, non-biological parents, etc. [via lesbiandad]
  (tags: queer)
• Rubber-Stamped Money
  Not the Where’s George kind – the kind people use to spread political ideas.
  (tags: random)
• Personal Blimp
  They built their own airship! [via allah_sulu]
  (tags: random)
• Face Research
  Psychology experiments about preferences for faces and voices. Participate in experiments, answer questionnaires.
  (tags: random)

Well thanks to redwaterlily I now have another $25 to spend at Amazon! She was logged into Blingo when she made a winning search, so we both got a gift certificate! I have actually won a few hundred dollars through Blingo, with a total of 15 prizes since I joined in April 2005. If you haven’t already signed up, you can do so here – make sure you’re logged in when you search! You’ll get the trustworthy Google results you’re used to, but with a chance at winning prizes and cash too…why not give it a try!

Now I’m off to analyze my choices for iPod accessories again, and I’m going to browse over my wishlist too, and try to figure out what to get…

Well here is a paid post I am all too happy to make! Instead of being paid for by some corporate monster, it’s from fellow blogger Eve, who is in my feed reader for her regular site, and who writes in her blog “Home Biz Blogger” about working from home. I’d much rather write about Eve than the other opp that caught my eye – who can write 300 words about conference tables, really?

Eve’s home business blog is refreshingly clean and easy to read, no surprise because she dabbles in site design herself. Most of her posts at Home Biz Blogger are about various options for working at home, of course – ideas for parents, phone jobs, etc. – but also various tidbits for those already working at home, including how to advertise your self-run business. This is a new blog for Eve, who started it in October, but there’s so much to know about working from home that I’m sure she’ll have lots to write about for a long time to come!