Me Want

I'm not generally someone who's at the forefront of cutting edge technology. It usually takes me a while to adopt the latest and greatest whatever gizmo that's out there. For example, I still haven't bought an iPod (I'm borrowing an earlier model from my sister, though a new one for me is right down the road), I don't upgrade my cell phone every nine to 12 months, and I haven't bought new stereo equipment in probably 15 years. I'll admit: I'm totally unhip that way.

That said, though, I went to the Apple Store last night with a friend who is looking to buy a new laptop and while she and her husband were talking to the Mac-o-phile sales dude, I was playing with the new Apple iPhone.

All I can say is, I want one of these! It is so much cooler in real time than I ever thought possible!

So, I think I might table my future purchase of an iPod, wait for the next release of the iPhone--give 'em time to work out the bugs on this first generation model, up the gigs, lower the call plan price--and go from there! It's one sweet piece o' technology!

Photo copyright: Apple Inc.

I Heart My MacBook

This is my new friend:



My new friend has software called Photo Booth. Photo Booth lets me do this:


See Janet's hair get big. Big hair, Janet, big hair.

And this:


No! Janet, no!

If my face was absolutely symmetrical, this is what I would look like:


Time to go to the gym, Janet! Run, Janet, run!

But, this is what I really look like. On a good day, anyway.

Day 15 (Part 2): Doin' the Shuffle

I saw this on another blog somewhere the other day. The deal: Take your iPod, MP3, Zune, whatever and set it to shuffle/random, then write down the first ten songs it plays. Here are my ten:

1. The First Noel, Richard Hillert (Away in the Manger)
2. Rainy Days & Mondays, The Carpenters
3. The Flowers of Guatemala, R.E.M.
4. Moonlight Serenade, Glenn Miller Orchestra
5. The Long Way Home, Norah Jones
6. Summertime, Soy Hero
7. A House with No Curtains, Alan Jackson
8. Luck Be a Lady, Frank Sinatra
9. Love is Everything, k.d. lang
10. Ruby Adeline, Minnie Driver

Day 4: Widgets

Widgets are a wonderful thing. Especially when they're whimsical. (And they make for a great filler topic when you can't come up with anything more enlightening and serious.)

These are my widgets.



From left to right, starting at the top...

Ski Report
I'm not a huge fan of snow or winter, but I grew up in Utah and I thought it would be fun to track snow fall in Park City.

Gas Report
This tells me where I can find cheap gas in my neighborhood.

Weather Bug
This tells me the temperature and weather conditions for my area.

Sudoku
Love this game.

In the middle...

Old Time Radio
Let's me listen to streaming audio from some station/network in Antioch, Illinois. They play old radio shows and mystery theater like Gunsmoke and Dragnet and the NBC Family Hour. It's fun and reminds me of listening to CBS Radio Mystery Theater on KSL in Salt Lake when I was a kid.

Calendar
Self-explanatory.

Clock
Also self-explanatory. Please note, mine is still set an hour ahead. Even though it says 2:44, it's really 1:44.

Dashboard Counter
Mimics the application icon for Dashboard, home of the widgets. It's a counter that tells me know how many times I've clicked on Dashboard and launched my widgets. In this case, 219.

iTunes
Let's me control iTunes without actually launching iTunes separately.

Bottom...

DashFlix
Let's me see my Netflix cue without opening my browser and launching Netflix's site. Quite handy.

San Francisco Webcams
Let's me see a variety of shots of my favorite city. The picture you see is from a webcam in Sausalito that looks across the bay to San Francisco. This is the skyline at night, one of the prettiest in the world, I think.

Countdown to Christmas
Counts down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until Christmas. I took this screen shot three days ago, so that's three less days until the happiest day on earth.

Skype
Just added this one. Have yet to use it. Nifty, though.

And, the piece de resistance...

The Christmas lights framing it all. They twinkle. And I love them. This is my most favoritest widget of all!

This 'n That

Last week's meeting of the Great Women's Dinner Group was a fabulous success. Dr. Maureen brought her 4 month old, Maggie, and she was the star of the evening. I discovered that nine people will fit comfortably around my new dining room table. Everyone loved the house and thought it was a wise purchase.

We didn't get in a lot of discussion about To Kill a Mockingbird, which was unfortunate. The food was good, though. I chose to fry chicken and discovered that my new stove doesn't get hot enough to heat the oil to a temperature that will give the chicken the proper scald it needs. I may have to look into getting a gas unit for things like frying.

Next meeting's book is The Professor and the Madman, by Simon Winchester. I think we're going to be out at Dr. Maureen's on the Eastern Shore in Maryland. Stay tuned...

...

Found out yesterday that my cousin's father-in-law died in a motorcycle accident just west of the Caldecott Tunnel (Oakland, California) last week. He was only 57. Michael's wife, Aimee, is a delightful woman. I mourn tonight for her, her four brothers, and their mother as they mourn their loss. Though I only met him two or three times, Ron Claverie was a kind, gentle man.

...

Even though I only hear in one ear--which means I don't hear in stereo--and I'm about three years behind the trend, I've discovered the beauty of Apple's iPod technology. (My thanks to my sister, Janeen, for lending me her iPod for a "test drive".) This puppy makes Sony's original Walkman seem like archaic technology, and it was merely 20 years ago that everyone had one of those.

What astonishes me most is the sound quality that comes out of those rinky-dink little ear buds. And the amount of data you can store on your 'Pod is something else. The iPod I'm borrowing has 10 GB and I've only used up 4.27 GB and counting ( = 1,139 songs, 3.7 days worth of music listening pleasure.)

...

It's an odd thing about job searches. I have days--or, more like moments--where I get really, really psyched about finding a new job. I get online and search Monster and Indeed and CraigsList. I find all kinds of work I know I'm more than qualified for.

Then I sit down to personalize the ol' resume and write a cover letter and I get stalled.

I hadn't realized what a bummer it can be to job search, particularly when you weren't in job search mode and you've been laid off under--how shall I say it?--less than just circumstances. More than that, though, I'm gun shy about working in D.C. again.

Maybe it's a sign I'm supposed to look elsewhere...

Maybe I need to hire a headhunter...

Maybe I just need to freelance for a while and totally avoid coupling work with office politics...

...

I haven't been keeping up on the news lately. That is to say, I don't watch t.v. as much as I used to. And I can't say I miss it that much. The house has cable, but I seem not to watch as frequently as I have in the past.

Could it be because it's summer and summer programming stinks? Or could it be because there's simply nothing on worth channel surfing for?

See, that's the part about t.v. that makes me avoid it. There are some good shows on, but I waste more time channel surfing and less time watching semi-worthwhile t.v. than it's really worth.

Now, I just Netflix everything.

...

So, there you have it. Some random thoughts on Sunday afternoon as I edit tobacoo research and load up my loaner iPod.

Oh, and by the way, happy birthday to my long-lost friend and former pen pal, Gillian Firth Steedman. One of these days I'll get off my sorry ass and look you up again.