Geni.com Family Tree

View more of Lacy's tree | Get your own family tree at Geni.com

I just started playing with the family tree tool at Geni.com and it's addictive and kind of fun! I think it would be so neat if a lot of us started contributing to it, uploading photos, adding events to the timeline, etc., to create a living picture of what's going on with our family.

I think I sent out invitations via the website for people to join me, but if you didn't get one don't be offended! It was something of a squirrely process! Just send me an email if you want to join or leave a comment here and I'll be sure you get on.

I'll start adding photos once I have access to them from home!

A Guide to Lacy on the Web

So, I'm on the web a lot. A LOT, a lot. More than I probably should be. But there are a lot of places to keep up with my various interests and what I'm doing, and I thought I should create a handy-dandy list for anyone who is interested.

First and foremost, this blog is best for you, my family and friends, who want to keep up with me. This is where I post personal stuff about my life, my travels, my work, my photos, etc. If you fall into the category of family and or friends, never fear! You are in the right place. This blog's for you!

If, however, you are interested in what else I'm doing, here's where to look:

• Swurl – The Web According to Lacy – OK, so this is the mac daddy of them all. This nifty little service aggregates (almost) everything I do online. Not only will you be able to see blog posts, photos and links to interesting stuff, like you can here, you will also see what movies I'm watching from Netflix, what stuff I've added to my Amazon wish list, and all my mini updates from Twitter and Facebook. The only thing NOT aggregated on this page is my livejournal, because it's not supported yet. But as soon as it is, I'll add it. If you want a quick overview look at what else I'm doing online, this is the place for you!


• The Spiral Notebook – This is what I like to think of as my "professional" blog. I write here about my trials and travails with writing and review books that I've read. When I become a rich and famous author, this will be my website. Unless I make a better one. ;)


• Lux Aeterna – This is my livejournal and as such, is mostly about fannish things — TV shows and movies I watch, books I read, etc. It's mostly a good way for me to keep in touch with my online friends. Anyone is welcome to read, just beware the rabid fangirls.


• The Me Makeover – This blog started about a year ago as just a place for me to record my progress on my resolutions and goals, and it continues as such.


• Photos on Flickr – This is my flickr page. All my flickr photos rotate in that cute little box on the right hand side of this page, and you can get there by clicking on any of them. But if you'd like to bookmark the main page, this is it.


• Twitter – Twitter is a "micro-blogging" service, through which you can only make posts of 140 characters or fewer. Allison told me to get on Twitter, so I blame her for this, exclusively.

And that's it! OK, so it's a lot. And yes, I might have a problem. But I also have fun.

See you on the web!

Dr. Horrible!

What happens when Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly) gets bored during the writers strike? Why Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, of course!

Neil Patrick Harris plays a mildly inept super villain named Dr. Horrible.

The first bit is funny, but as soon as Nathan Fillion showed up, I CRACKED THE HELL UP.

Oh Joss. You so crazy.

:D :D :D

Counting to Four

I love it when musicians go on Sesame Street to do versions of their songs! YAY!

What Am I Up To on the Web

So, I'm trying a new service called swurl which aggregates my online activity into one place. If you click the link, you can see the blogs I've posted, photos I've uploaded to flicker, things I've added to my Amazon wishlist, and more.

It's kind of a nifty little thingy, and I especially like the calendar function! You can see what I was doing every day for several years back (because I've been keeping this blog for a LONG time!).

So check it out, bookmark it, and start up a conversation with me, if you're so inclined. :)

monday, monday

If you're feeling a little down in the dumps today, you're not alone. Researchers in England have declared today Blue Monday: the unhappiest day of the year.

Dr Cliff Arnall, a Cardiff University psychologist, devised the formula that shows today is the most depressing.

His equation takes into account six factors: weather, debt, time since Christmas, time since failing our new year's resolutions, low motivational levels and the feeling of a need to take action.

Taken together they pinpoint today as 'Blue Monday'.

I'm not sure I believe that there can be a single day of the year that is more prone to cause depression than any other, but if you're feeling a little down in the dumps take steps to make yourself feel better.

Thrifty

Due to our lack of incoming funds (but never fear! there are job prospects on the horizon!), I have taken up frugality.

I've never been terribly good at being frugal, but certain aspects of it have always appealed to me. Like coupons. I love me some coupons. Speaks to my OCD, I think.

In any case, some time ago, I discovered the Coupon Mom website. Obviously, people who aren't moms can also use and benefit from it, because what it does is compare the weekly circulars from your local grocery stores with the coupons that have come out in the Sunday paper and then combines them for you so you can get the best deals. It's really kind of awesome. The idea is, if you buy things only when they are on sale and stock up, you will never have to pay full price for an item, which sounds good to me!

Today, we went and did some major shopping in preparation for yet another impending snow storm this weekend.

I spent $65.30 at Walgreens, but I saved $49.63 with a combination of sales and coupons. That means I got almost $115 worth of groceries (at full price) for $63.

Not too shabby.

For instance? I bought five boxes of cereal. Cereal normally costs about $4 a box. I paid $0.50 each for the five boxes. And now? I won't have to buy cereal for MONTHS. Cereal doesn't go bad, and we have room to store it. Where's the bad?

Not everyone likes clipping coupons. I happen to enjoy it. But the best part about the Coupon Mom system is that you don't clip the coupons! You save the entire circular, and then, when something goes on sale, you go back and clip out just the coupon you need. The online list tells you which circular it's in (by date and brand) and even reminds you when certain coupons are about to expire. It even tells you the percentage you're saving on any given deal, so you can decide for yourself if it's worth buying those five boxes of cereal.

Also? The web site is free, unlike some other grocery game websites. And we love free, precious. Yes we do.

Books

What Should I Read Next? is a web site that will recommend books for you based on what you read last or what you're reading now.

Seems like a pretty cool service, although it didn't recognize some books I put in -- like "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" or "Peace Like a River." But when I did get it to recognize a book ("The Thief Lord"), the list of recommendations seemed pretty cool.

The same site is also betaing a a film and music recommendation site.

before there was blogging

One of the first things I loved to do on the internet was find cool sites and share them with friends and family. In college, I ran a tiny little weekly "newsletter" -- mostly to friends and family, but a few perfect strangers! -- that listed cool, useful, and interesting sites I came across on the net. My "freshman thesis" as they called it back then, was an ENORMOUS web site I called "The College Student's Guide to the Internet" which listed dozens of useful sites for college students.

Well, the love of sharing interesting and useful websites has never quite faded. As some of you know, I now have an account with del.icio.us that lets me (and you!) access an organized list of websites I've bookmarked. You can always visit there to see what I'm looking at lately, but here are a few of my latest finds and faves:

Lifehacker is my new daily (if not more-than-once-daily) destination for all things awesome. "Lifehacker recommends the software downloads and web sites that actually save time." I've already bookmarked about half a dozen articles that I'm going to want to come back to in the near future.

Apartment Therapy is a blog based on the book of the same name all about living with thoughtful design. I'm big into design lately.

Achieve IT! is a blog about goals -- another kind of lifehack, I think. I've just started reading it, but so far it seems interesting.

Speaking of goals, Joe's Goals is a nifty little free, online application for tracking your progress toward achieving your goals. Elegantly simple and uncluttered, like the life we all strive for.

And speaking of nifty free apps, my mom clued me into 37 Signals for fantastic free web-based software to help you get organized. I've started using Backpack every single day as a sort of landing page to make lists, notes, and record thoughts.

Thrifty Planet is "The largest free directory for thrift stores, antiques, recycled merchandise, earth friendly items and more."

And I just found this one today, CHOW magazine has now gone entirely online, including a cool food media blog called The Grinder.

TTFN! Ta-ta for now!