The Virtual Office

Sometimes, I get bored working from home. Writing is a solitary pursuit but I do more than just write - I also run VillageQ with Deborah and Polly and work with a great group of writers over there. Deborah and I do a lot of brainstorming about content and we have Big Ideas that we would love to make happen. But, we are also parents and our time is limited. We can't spend every waking moment with our Big Ideas so, when we have one, we say, "Whiteboard that!" We never whiteboard anything because she lives in New Jersey and I live in Minnesota. This is the modern world of work where many people work from home and have co-workers all over the country. It's incredible and also a little lonely at times.

My workspace is in my bedroom but I bought a small whiteboard to hang on the bookshelf next to my desk. My plan was to whiteboard all those Big Ideas that we have so that I could remember them but also feel like there was a tiny thread binding my real and virtual work spaces together. I excitedly told Deborah about it and then I waited for the ideas and then my whiteboard fell down before I ever wrote a single thing on it. Stupid, cheap whiteboard! It was too small for our Big Ideas anyway.

So, today, I was wondering if I could use dry erase markers on the window by my desk and then I googled "DIY whiteboards" and - let me tell you - there are a million cool ideas for repurposing things for whiteboards. But then, I found the ultimate solution - dry erase paint!

Now, I want an entire wall for a whiteboard!

More than anything, though, I want a whiteboard wall in a cozy little office with all the people with whom I work online. We'd have our giant whiteboard and a pool table (per Deborah's request) and coffee and tea and a comfy couch and snacks. I just know we'd have the best snacks.

Insomnia Monkey Links

I couldn't sleep Sunday night. I don't even know why I couldn't sleep which made it all the more frustrating. Last week, I had trouble sleeping and I knew why - our power had gone out and I was worried about our city outgrowing its infrastructure which is a fancy way of saying that I was worried about the apocalypse. But Sunday night, I just couldn't sleep which meant that by 5 p.m. yesterday, I was exhausted. In an attempt to address this issue, I made myself a double espresso which meant that I was still awake at 2 a.m. this morning. This is a horrible cycle and one that I have fallen victim to in the past. Yes, I am an innocent victim!

Also, my kids were home again today and I didn't have espresso this afternoon which means that I am tired.

I plan to go to bed as soon as I finish typing this. In fact, I may already be asleep. Yeah. Let's go with that so that I don't have to be accountable for this jumble of words.

When I was up last night, I did write a post for VillageQ about some of the crazy stuff my kids did when they were younger which should not be confused with the crazy stuff they did this month.

From Urban myths of parenting at VQ:

Of course, I also thought my kids wouldn’t do those dumb things you hear about, those things that seem like urban myths of parenting.I had to learn the hard way that, sometimes, urban myths begin in truth.

Good for a laugh and there are a couple of good stories in the comments over there.

And with that, I say goodnight.

*This post was edited by a sleep-deprived monkey wearing a blindfold. All typos and grammar errors should be attributed to the monkey. Address concerns and complaints to Geoffrey the Monkey c/o vikki@uppoppedafox.com

**The picture accompanying this post is a gratuitous cute kid pic that would have been a great photo for the VillageQ post because of Zeca's mischievous four-year-old smirk. However, Geoffrey was not thorough when searching the archives last night. Dammit Geoffrey.

All the Candy Opinions

I have a lot of opinions about candy. Strong opinions. This probably isn't that surprising since there is an entire category on this blog dedicated to my reverence for The Peep. Today, I planned to write about candy canes and I was looking for images of candy canes to accompany the post and then found that Spangler, a brand of candy canes, also makes circus peanuts and it completely derailed my train of thought.

Circus peanuts are the worst candy ever. I think about circus peanuts often because I wonder who eats them.

This prompted the following conversation with my lovely friend, Anthony, who spent 21 minutes with me chatting about candies from our youth.

I'm sharing it here with permission:

Vikki: Spangler candy canes make circus peanuts! I have a vendetta against circus peanuts so this is shocking news.

Anthony: Circus peanuts are horrendous. Bleah! I hated those little fuckers even when I was a kid. Awful!

Vikki: Who still eats them??

Anthony: I have no idea. I haven't seen them in a long time so I assumed they were extinct. I guess not.

Vikki: Nope. They are still around. I thought when my grandma died, circus peanuts would too.

Anthony: "10 Candies That Should Go Extinct: Sweets That Suck My Ass"

Vikki: I have STRONG opinions on this topic. Boston peanuts, circus peanuts, classic xmas ribbon candies...

Anthony: Lavender flavored anything....green apple gum....watermelon gum...Nekko wafers...

Vikki: I am SO angry that Skittles replaced the lime Skittle with green apple. SO WRONG. But Nekko wafers make great roofing tiles or stepping stones for gingerbread houses.

Anthony: Yes, but they are evil and awful tasting.

Vikki: Yes. And what is that weird powdery substance on them? Anthrax?

Anthony: HAHAHAHA.....yes, i believe so. Anthrax laced Nekko wafers. Beware, and save the children.

Vikki: About a year ago, I bought that retro gold rush gum that comes in little yellow nuggets in a burlap bag. Remember that? I was trying to revisit my youth and, turns out, I had really shitty taste in gum in my youth.

Anthony: I used to chew spearmint Bubble Yum with wild abandon. I think i used to have a wad of 2-3 pieces in my mouth all the time. And what's the gum that used to shoot the goo in your mouth?

Vikki:I had a thing for watermelon Bubble Yum and would chew two at a time and my mother hated it SO MUCH. The smell used to get to her.

Anthony: I'm with Mama Juan on that one. Watermelon gum smells like puke.

Vikki: OH! What about those awful wax bottles full of juice. Those were terrible.

Anthony: Hahaha...yes....those were bad news. Pop Rocks with a Coke chaser. I felt like my head would explode, and I think that I probably developed Type 2 Diabetes on the spot.

Vikki: You know what candies I feel were misunderstood? Razzles and Bottle Caps.

Anthony: Bottle Caps made me sick. I don't know why, but I didn't like them. Don't remember Razzles.

Vikki: Razzles were like Bottle Caps but fruit flavored and they turned to gum! They were like the Transformers of candy!

Anthony: Oh, what were those candies with the candy stick that you dipped in the powder? Lik Em Stix or something like that?

Vikki: Fun Dip! They still have Fun Dip and my kids get it at the skating rink with their 3764 skeeball tickets that cost me $45. Fun Dip stands the test of time.

Anthony: Fun Dip. Yes. Awful, but I remember loving that as a kid. The worst were those huge lollipops that were multicolored. They were enormous. About the size of my face. I always wanted one when we went to a carnival, and then I would lick it, lick it, lick it....with no progress. I think my parents eventually forbade me to have more when I put the lollipop on the table and it got stuck there.

Vikki: We never let our kids have those but then, once, Aunt Patti got them for the kids and they LOVED them but also realized that they are a lot of work.

Anthony: Ohhhh yes. Now I remember Razzles.




They are a shit ton of work! You can never finish one.

Vikki: Now I want Razzles. Though, I fear it would be like the Gold Rush gum. You really can't go home again.


Anthony: I loved those little butterscotch disks from Brach's. Yummy.

Vikki: THOSE were (and are) gross! That's old lady candy, Anthony! My grandma had those in a bowl near her circus peanuts.

Anthony: *gasp* Bite your tongue. The butterscotch disks were yummy. Buttery and smooth. Like your ass.

Vikki: No. They are terrible candies. However, I will take the ass comments as compliments.

Anthony: Did you ever get a Life Savers book for Christmas? I would have killed for one of those.

Vikki: 
I got one every year and hated it! You know why? BUTTERSCOTCH LIFESAVERS.

Anthony: You are a misanthrope.

Do you have strong candy feelings?

Photo Credit: Walt Stoneburner via photopin cc

*Note: I chose this picture because it is of Runts candy and I once got a lime runt stuck in my nose during a high school English class. High school.