Today's theme? Being incredibly busy and trying balance work life with the home life. Jeremy Zadowny touches on a great aspect of that - in a world dominated by instant information and real-time communication, how do you determine what to ignore and not respond to? This is especially the case when one receives hundreds of e-mail items a day (or hundreds of RSS feeds... we're averaging about 500). That leads directly to Ars Technica's note on those who use Blackberrys for remote e-mail seem always attached to the office. I guess that explains why I was watching the blinking green light go red around midnight last night in anticipation...

In other notes, if Apple really does offer a subnotebook, after years of rumors, maybe I really want one. We'll see...

AppleInsider: Apple to Re-Enter the Sub-Notebook Market
Ars Technica: Survey: Blackberry Owners Chained to Work
Engadget: Cisco Delays Apple iPhone Lawsuit, Again
Jeremy Zadowny: The Hardest Thing I Have to Do Every Day
MicroPersuasion: Majority of Americans Feel Bloggers Play a Valuable Role
MSFTextrememakeover: I'll Gladly Pay You Tuesday for A Hamburger Today
TechCrunch: Microsoft Hires Michael Gartenberg as New Evangelist

To see what I'm finding interesting, bookmark or subscribe to my link blog.

It's been a full year since I bought my last suit - and that suit, while it still fits fine, has seen its fair share of church services, business meetings, weddings and funerals. It's still great, and looks good, but even my wife is tired of it. Even more concerning, on the eve of another business trip to the East Coast, I would run the risk of seeing the same people I saw last year wearing the same outfit. So, this evening, we fixed that situation in a big way.

After leaving the office and ensuring our 17-year-old beagle was fed, I made a beeline for the nearby Men's Wearhouse, with the intent of getting one or two new suits - depending on cost and quality.

For me, clothes shopping tends to be pretty easy - pick the size and style, make sure the price and brand aren't bad, and go. Today, we had some good news. Measurements showed I was the same as last year - somewhat of a surprise given my current all-time high peak weight. But that made the decision process that much more simple. Though I had intended to only get a potential pair of suits, I ended up leaving the store with three suits, two new pairs of shoes and three belts. There was a little sticker shock at the end, but we should be set for the year, and as always, the Men's Wearhouse service was exemplary.

Now, we just have to hope all is ready by the time the plane leaves Monday.

It's never really too early in the year to start fantasizing about A's baseball. After our first full year as A's season ticket holders in 2006, Kristine and I are set to become two-time Spring Training attendees next month, as we plan to travel down to Phoenix and Papago Park to see the A's casually take on four teams in four days.

We first partook of the Spring Training experience last year, inconviently arriving in Arizona the same week as rain hit the area for the first time in months. In fact, the much-anticipated Giants/A's matchup was rained out. But we still had fun, catching a pair of games, and relaxing.

We recorded the experience on the blog here and on AN:

Athletics Nation: Gave Away All the ANtics to the A's Players

Though it's still February, we can't wait to take a few days off and welcome the Spring in the right way - with baseball. We will be arriving in Phoenix to see games from March 16th through March 19th, and hopefully will find time to bump into our friends from Athletics Nation.

On Saturday, I noted IDG's successful transition from offline revenue to online revenue in The Big Debate: Online vs. Offline, and Web Influence. Today, both Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine and Steve Rubel of MicroPersuasion chime in with their own takes on how the world of media is changing in light of increasing competition from the Internet.

In addition to those comments, you see that Apple continues to make waves in music and movies. What else is new?

AmericaBlog: FBI laptops with highly sensitive data missing
ApplePeels: Steve Jobs Embraces What is "Best" for Consumers
AppleRecon: Apple, Inc - Record Label?
BuzzMachine: The Light at the End of the Press
Jason Calicanis: Game Over for PayPal?
MicroPersuasion: As Traditional Media Erodes, Magazines Thrive

To see what I'm finding interesting, bookmark or subscribe to my link blog.