sarah. word.

Thanks.

The outpouring of love I've received over the last few days here, on Twitter, Facebook, my inbox, and beyond is really incredible, and the loyalty that people have shown me is just amazing. I actually hate the word "amazing", but in this case it's actually the best choice. You're all amazing and I'm honored to have your support. I promise to keep you updated on my next move, whatever it may be.

For now, I'll be posting lots of stories, videos, pics, and links here, and I hope you'll stop by regularly.

Love,
Sarah

"Look Ma, I'm a Free Agent", A Short Story by Sarah Lane

As of today, I no longer work for Revision3. Something about the "economic downturn"? Have you heard anything about this? I've been looking it up all morning but Google searches are coming up empty. Hardy har.

Anyway, a few things:

1. I won't be co-hosting The Digg Reel this week after all. Too bad, because I was looking forward to it. My apologies to everyone who was set to tune in after I promoted it on TWiT yesterday.

2. popSiren has been canceled. I'm going to try not to get too sappy about it, although those who've watched me on TV over the years know that I have a history of crying. :) I do want to quickly thank some of the folks who made it one of the best experiences of my career: Heather Frank, Moujan Z: Twitter Hater, Mauricio Balvanera, Josh Villegas, Brett Putman and the studio crew, Jessica Corbin, Dr. Kiki Sanford, Neha Tiwari, Eden Soto, our fabulous interns (with extra special thanks to Kelly Sutton and Jeff Zimmerlin), the Revision3 production, web, tech, and sales teams, and anybody else that I ungraciously and inadvertently left out. I owe you all a drink - except Moujan, whose self-destructive latte habit I will no longer support. Also thanks to Martin Sargent and Jay Speiden for making the Cul De Sac a delightfully inappropriate place to occupy a cube.

3. Revision3 has been a wonderful experience. As always, life goes on. I'm not sure what I'm going to do next, but if you have any ideas, let me know (unless it involves anything topless or circus-related... been there done that).

Here's my LinkedIn profile, my Twitter feed, and I promise to be extra-active on my variety of other social networks (under FriendFeed Links down the right-hand column of this page).

And she lived happily ever after.

The End.

Sarah's Question #2: To Invisalign or Not to Invisalign?

Little dark this time! Welcome to my gloomy kitchen. Also I realize that I yapped for over three minutes again. SUE ME. Actually, don't. I won't have the money to pay you and that crackerjack lawyer of yours if I lose.

Also, I know that in the video I said that I'd add links to who else was talking about my previous Facebook question, but I did a crappy job of bookmarking them and sort of lost interest after my tenth glass of wine. Kidding! Sort of. Want to help?

A Lifelong Curse of Mistaken Identity

Ever since I signed myself up for a Gmail account in 2004, I've gotten bizarre, out-of-context emails intended for some other person named Sarah Lane. I realize that both 'Sarah' and 'Lane' are common names, but still. Seems like a lot. And I'm not talking spam or anything. You can tell that these are actual people who just somehow got that other Sarah Lane's addy wrong. For example, I received the following email earlier today (names have been omitted to protect the innocent):

(innocent):

THank you all for your interest in Spanish!

Our Monday class has filled up in the blink of an eye and I have organized a second class to happen on Thursday at the same time 3 till 4pm.
Would that be OK for your little ones? If not, we probaby ask for some of the Monday students to switch.
I have your names confirmed for a start on Thursday NOv 6th and if there is any problem , let me know.
Also if you have not send the form to me yet, please at least let me know which class they are in and if there are going to be picked up or stay at afterschool.

THank you!

(my response):

Hi, you have the wrong email address for Sarah Lane. Please check her address. Thx.

(innocent's response):

Apologies, I used what was on the form. Can you confirm Thursday is OK for Christopher?
Thanks.

This confused correspondence went on a little longer, but you get the gist. And since I'm out of ideas, I'll just go ahead and say YES, Thursday is ok for Christopher. Thursday is ALWAYS ok for Christopher. But I really do prefer that you check with his mother, Sarah Lane. The one who signed up for Gmail too late to get the cooler Sarah Lane-based email address. ZING! (yep, never going to grow up)

The world is full of good people.

I receive a lot of emails from strangers, the contents of which are sometimes awesome, sometimes mean, sometimes funny, and occasionally batshit crazy.

But every so often a stranger actually makes my day just by reaching out to me in the simplest of ways. It happened today. And now I'm forwarding the kind words of a stranger along to you. Have a good one.

    From:     [kind stranger]
    Subject:     Best cat I ever had -
    Date:     October 22, 2008 11:15:30 AM PDT
    To:     [email protected]

Hi Sarah,

Just thought I'd try to put a smile on your face with a picture of Shadow.  He was a domestic longhair with possibly some Maine Coon in him.  He was 16 years old when he passed away (kidney failure).  Don't be sad because he had a great life with me in Pennsylvania and later in Virginia.  He would come when I called him, played fetch with a rolled up paper ball, and would jump up on the sofa or bed on command.  When I got him he was only 6 or 7 weeks old and weighed only a little over half a pound.  Had to feed him out of a bottle for the first two weeks.  He was so cute.

Anyway, I know you can't respond to all of the e-mails you get but I was a fan of yours when The Screen Savers was on (not "I am your number one fan" like weird people).  You were always very professional, knew your material, and presented yourself very well on a live show (not easy to do).  Just thought it would be nice to hear.

Rob

P.S. Happy (Belated) Birthday

Birthday Blues: Discontinued

Thanks so much for all the kind words, everyone! You're all totally right... I'm not going to let my birthday be anything but awesome. All this gloomy talk is for the birds. I'm lucky, dammit! 32 feels great!

Birthday Blues

I don't know what my problem is, but I have a hard time with birthdays. Especially now that I'm over 30. Yesterday my bikini waxer told me I should just start lying and tell everyone I'm 20 years old, forever. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I have a Wikipedia page, so I just smiled and nodded. Then she gave me a new pair of underwear she procured from a mysterious box under the table, winked at me, and the subject was dropped.

Birthdays are a time of great reflection for me, always have been. What did I accomplish this year? What didn't I accomplish? Do I have regrets? What's next? It's a healthy exercise for anyone... but I'm hard on myself, and I think I just let it get to me.

Do you do this?

"Places I've Lived Before", A Bird's-Eye Challenge by Sarah Lane

I've lived in a lot of different places in my short, short 32 years on this great planet. Here they are in Google satellite view, which isn't always 100% accurate, so I gussied them up using Skitch. All photos come complete with fascinating anecdotes if you click through to the original Flickr set. Oh, and my current apartment is not included in this collection. Sorry, but I just don't have enough chips and salsa for all of you to drop by. You know how it is. Can you beat my 17 former places of residence? You may only include those you lived for at least six months. Go ahead....I CHALLENGE YOU!

Project Straighten

Earlier this week I tweeted that I had pulled the trigger and signed up for Invisalign. In a nutshell, it's a clear-tray-teeth-straightening system for vain people like myself who don't want traditional braces. Although in my defense I do feel the need to point out that I've already had braces TWICE. Initially they were the basic silver kind and came complete with an ultra-sexy headgear piece, and the next time around, the time I almost strangled my orthodontist right in front of God and everyone, they were those "clear" brackets that turned bright yellow every time I ate mustard, which was every single day at lunch. Some really beautiful photos of me were taken over those four years, as you can imagine. No, you may not view them. I did my time, dammit.

What I didn't do was wear my retainers once the braces came off my then-perfectly straight teeth in 8th grade. My teeth have been gradually crowding in ever since, and worse, screwing up my bite. Everyone I talk to says something to the effect of "You're psycho, your teeth are totally straight. Get a grip, you psychopath." Then I punch them and laugh. The thing is, if I don't straighten my teeth now, I'll be in worse shape down the road and end up having to spend more money in the end. Kinda like debt.

Want to see how they're going to fix me? These are actual 3D models they made of my mouth in its current state - the animation shows how my teeth will move over an estimated 5.5 months. I love technology.

Oh, and if you live in San Francisco and are looking for the most amazing dental experience of your life, go see Dr. Patel. I swear my visits are practically spa-like. But shoppers be warned... her office is right above Tiffany's.

DSLR Advice, Por Favor!

I recently acquired a roommate, which added a new cat to my household and cut my monthly rent check in half. SCORE ON BOTH! Now I can finally afford a few things I've been lusting after for the past year, like maybe a vacation and some new shoes. But seriously... since my birthday is right around the corner, I think I'm finally going to treat myself to a digital SLR. Since 2004 I've survived on a Nikon Coolpix 5200 (as in 5.2 humiliating megapixels), and even though the little guy's always been good to me, my reputation demands an upgrade... especially since the battery door hinge fell apart in Cambodia and I was forced to wrap half the camera in duct tape. Hot. And sticky.

So I ask all of my informed, photographically inclined readers: What's the best mid-range DSLR out there?

I'm already eyeing the Nikon D90 for a couple of reasons: I've already got a decent lens from a Nikon SLR that I can swap in, and the HD video function is a huge plus. I'm also one of those lifelong Nikon enthusiasts and it would feel good to stay loyal, even though some of my friends SWEAR that Canons are better cameras overall.

All feedback is appreciated. This is obviously going to be an expensive purchase, and I want to be sure I'm doing the right thing before I pull the shutter. HEE HAW! Thanks in advance.