Two great tweets from Kathy Sierra this morning:

Easy to believe we lack the opportunity, time, money, talent, mentors, luck, DNA, etc. when what we really lack, sometimes, is the desire. Kathy Sierra

The template: PersonA: “I’d give ANYTHING to be able to do [X] like you.” PersonB: “Bulls***. What did you do last week in your spare time?” Kathy Sierra

Also, I really recommend a blog post from Giuliano Valentino the other day on how action is more important than “awareness”.

It’s been over a year since we dropped our DirecTV subscription. At the risk of sounding like a pretentious hipster, my life is so much richer since I “killed my television”. Oh sure, we still follow a few shows: The Simpsons, The Big Bang Theory, and Doctor Who mostly. And, we’re re-watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and catching up on classic Doctor Who episodes, Red Dwarf, and The Prisoner. But we’re doing it on our own schedule, when time permits the two of us to be cuddled up on the couch with nothing else to do, and largely dependent on when those big red envelopes arrive from Netflix. In fact, most of our Doctor Who viewing happens at Chronicles of Who meetings, where we get out and watch new & old episodes with other fans, then go out for a hearty meal and conversation. Usually, believe it or not, we talk about things other than our favorite Time Lord.

Being free of the “boob tube” has freed me of some constraints. Most importantly, there’s $100 more in our checking account at the end of the month. And, if nothing’s catching my eye on Hulu, Amazon, or iTunes, then I don’t sit there flipping channels, I get up and do things! That’s really the best part: I’m more involved with the things that matter to me, and I don’t have to worry that all those channels I’m paying for are going to waste. Believe me, it’s more exciting to hack on my WordPress plugins or take an extra shift at the cat shelter. I’m not saying it’s wrong for anyone else to plop down in front of the TV after a long day at work, but I certainly feel better being more productive.

I was asked to stop by the shelter tonight to feed the cats and do a little cleaning in case nobody else showed up. Nobody else showed up. Well, Maureen stopped by to give the cats their meds and pitched in a little bit. She rocks.

A grey longhair upstairs left a huge hairball in his cage. Seriously, I thought this was a toy at first. So, I had to take time out & brush him. Then, I left a few notes and sent a status update from my Blackberry.

About 8:00pm, just as I was about to pack up & go, I heard a sound the could only be described as a cross between our electronic doorbell and a cat being jabbed with a cattle prod. I guess that’s the noise it makes when you barely press the button after leaving a tabby at the door and before running to your car before someone sees you.

After calling one of our reps and getting the new cat settled into a cage, I finally had a chance to go to Jewel and do my grocery shopping. Since the shelter was down to a half bag of litter, I picked up five 20lb bags. The woman in front of me saw my haul and asked if I would like a kitten.

I bought a rose for Amy, just in case I was in the doghouse for being at the shelter so late.

I think it’s time to soak in the whirlpool tub, read my book, and have a vodka martini.

Got a lot of stuff done this weekend. I even found time for a nap.

• Installed Snow Leopard on both of my Mac Minis. I’m afraid to put it on my laptop just yet because I rely on it for work.
• Updated Dave’s WordPress Live Search to display thumbnail images and excerpts. I should be releasing v1.7 in the next few days
• Cleaned the cat shelter with Amy
• Took a four hour nap with all three cats
• Drove out to my folks’ place and upgraded Dad’s computer from 256MB of RAM to 2GB.
• Replaced the dimmer switch in our basement. Got a spiffy digital dimmer that works a hell of a lot better than the old dimmer, with the bonus that it doesn’t make a loud electrical crackle when you turn down the lights
• Put two Keynote presentations together for this week’s PHP & Web Development Meetup
• Watched four episodes of Star Trek: the Next Generation Season 1, the first six episodes of Doctor Who’s “Key to Time” story arc, and the first four episodes of The Young Ones 2nd season with Amy
• Learned that Porky the Pig was originally supposed to be teamed up with a chicken named Beans