Uh huh

This morning I picked out new glasses! Those of you who don’t wear glasses can’t really appreciate the scale of this task. I wear mine all the time so it can literally change how I look completely. I chose a plastics tortoise shell frame, which I liked. The thing about picking glasses, and those who wear glasses may have experienced this, is while trying on different frames you can’t see yourself in them. I had to get 5 inches in front of the mirror to get an idea of how I looked or attempt to look through my existing glasses while wearing the new frame, but that doesn’t work all too well either. I recommend wearing your contacts, if you have them, when you go to pick out new frames. I even got glare resistance lenses. I’ve made some videos in the past on my computer and my lenses always had this horrid glare. That won’t be a problem any longer.

Afterwards I went and got something done that I hate with a passion. Getting the oil changed in my car. I’m the type of person who waits a little too long and always seems to get yelled at by whoever’s working. The conversation usually goes like this:

(I remove the sticker from my window shield so they don’t know exactly how far over I am before I pull in)

Rude oil changing man: Yeah, your oil didn’t even register on the dipstick
Me: Uh huh
Rude oil changing man: That’s not good. Do you know how to check your oil?
Me: Uh huh
Rude oil changing man: You need to start doing that. Do you know how bad it is for your car? Let me tell you what happens when you’re low on oil…(I fall asleep)…is that clear?
Me: Uh huh
Rude oil changing man: You might be leaking oil. You should…( I fall asleep)…is that clear?
Me: Uh huh
Rude oil changing man: Do you want a car wash?
Me Uh huh

Needless to say it was a traumatic experience for me. I will be sending someone to get my oil changed in the future or else keep a better eye on my mileage.

The Key Note Speech is up for Apple. They just introduced the iPad. It looks pretty cool and seems to run all the apps that I use most frequently. It’s only .5’’ thick and 1.5lbs with a 10-hour battery life. It’s not available yet, but it will be mine soon enough.

Steve Jobs introduces the new iPad

Tradition!

I’m been digging around in my video archive and finally found the production of Fiddler on the Roof I was a part of in 2004 and You’re a Good Man Charlie from 2003, good grief! When I watched them I had to cover my eyes every time I walked onto the stage. I think everyone’s super critical of videos of themselves though. Luckily I’ve improved since then, but it’s always fun to look back on earlier productions. I think I may even try to locate my high school production I was in of Li’l Abner, good times.

Just Say No to Cookies :-P

Do we have any road flares?

Success! I was able to move my math class to a much more appealing time on Monday and Wednesdays instead of having to stay on campus until 7pm. This is a major relief to me as I could foresee myself skipping that class with greater frequency as the semester progressed.

On a very sad note, my best friends grandmother passed away last night. He called this morning with the news. She was an extremely nice lady with a very gentle soul. My favorite memory of her would have to have been the trip we all took to Kelly’s island for an entire week of camping. Naturally it rained almost everyday and I was determined to get the fire started by any means necessary; I was a 2nd year Weeblo after all. Whatever I did I could not keep the fire lit. I resorted to using an entire bottle of lighter fluid, among other things. Jared’s grandmother could be heard in the background repeating, “Oh dear, oh dear.” After my failed attempts she made me promise to leave the fire alone; she was convinced I was going to burn down half the campground and myself in the process. I found the whole situation rather amusing at the time and looking back I still do. I’m glad all of my memories of her are positive and that ever since I’ve know her she has been happy and healthy. RIP Mema.

Back to the Grindstone

First day back to classes was a success. I’m still trying to move some times around, but so far the classes are bearable. I do have to take a math class this semester, which I vowed I would never do, but I need it for my major. Math and I do not get a long very well. My current schedule consists of an 8am class, a 12:20 class and a 5 o’clock class. I am less than amused by the gaping holes in my schedule. Today I actually accomplished some homework and e-mailed it to the professor early. Could this be a new trend? I also went to the heaven sent Chipotle. I love it there and those of you who don’t should really look at what your life has become. A movie was watched somewhere in there too. It’s not my fault Tinsletown is in walking distance of campus. I saw The Book of Eli, it was one of the better ones I’ve seen lately.

I’m currently fighting the urge to sleep and wearing a long sleeve t-shirt and hoodie because I’ve been freezing all day. I’m thinking that some of that tuition I pay should provide me with adequate heat!

I love this song***

*********

I haven’t really blogged in quite awhile and think it’s as good a time as any to start again. Although I haven’t had much luck in keeping a journal in the past I’m hoping this attempt will be much more successful.

Today at rehearsal for Annie, a production I’m currently in at Carnation City Players, we choreographed “Easy Street.” I really like the choreography for the song and believe that once I can actually put it together with me singing it will be dynamite. It’s a really good workout too. Many know me as the “Master of Dance” so I’m fairly confident it will come together. I am, however, hoping we don’t have to perform it for tomorrow’s rehearsal because that may end in disaster!

This evening I also attended a play reading committee meeting and while all topics discussed there are top secret we did make a little headway. I have a few favorites that I’ll be pushing for so we’ll see what hap(Into the Woods)pens. I’m so sneaky. Did you all catch what I did there?

Batteries Not Included

As we charge full speed ahead into the 21^st century wireless technology is becoming increasingly popular and convenient. The days of cumbersome cords are falling by the wayside and a new dawn approaches. Cell phones, headphones, laptops (with wireless networking, of course), GPS units, garage door openers, computer mice, keyboards, and ipods are among the gadgets that many of us visualize when we hear a term like “wireless technology.” All of the aforementioned are common in our technologically growing society. Despite the advances in wireless capabilities there are countless items found around the home or office that rely on a cord. In most cases this cord provides the power or electricity to the object. When you think about it, everything needs plugged into some type of power supply or requires a battery change to continue functioning. This is where the “new dawn” of wireless technology enters, stage right, in the form of wireless electricity. Wireless electricity is real and will change the world. Just imagine the possibilities of wireless electricity. No more worrying about charging your cell phones, ipods, laptops or even bothering or needing to plug in your refrigerator, all within a wireless energy zone. This wireless energy zone can be located at work, home, school and, needless to say, your closest Starbucks. “Laptop batteries are always burning out and always need a charge. What we did was build a coil into a standard laptop computer and it gets its source from behind a wall in your office,” said Eric Giler, president and CEO of WiTricity. “You could move them around the room and the laptop will continue to charge.” Another amazing breakthrough is the concept of WiTricity, which could power an entire house completely free of electrical lines. The ramifications of this new technology seem endless and will certainly change the way the world views wireless technology.  

iLife ’09

Apple has added some fantastic features in the new iphoto upgrade. Most notably faces and places. These new categories will show up right below events and photos in your iphoto library. Faces uses state of the art facial recognition software to sift through your photos, identifying everyone. This feature is perfect if you’re looking for specific pictures of one particular person. Initially, iphoto will ask you to identify everyone in your library and as iphoto recognizes identified people in other photos it will ask you to confirm their identity. The more photos confirmed, the more accurate the software. It’s a pretty nifty feature. Opening faces reveals everyone neatly categorized on a virtual bulletin board. Swipe your mouse across their face and it will skim through every picture of them in your iphoto library.

Another great new feature is places. This new software allows you to add a location to all of your photos. Perhaps you and the family went on vacation to Paris, France. This set of photos will be tagged as taken in Paris and a push pin will appear, in Paris, on a virtual map. Preexisting photos will have to be tagged individually unless taken on the iphone. All pictures taken on the iphone will automatically be tagged with their exact location, using GPS, when uploaded to iphoto, an extremely impressive feature for iphone users.

Memorization

Have you ever struggled to remember a phone number or any other important number  you didn’t have time to write down? Most of us believe that if we repeat it enough times we’ll be fine. Unfortunately, the number is only stored in our short-term memory and will fade within a few minutes. The trick is placing these important numbers in our long-term memory bank. Here’s the trick. Suppose your phone number is 216.555.9531. Committing this number to your long-term memory entails creating a quick story. For example: “I woke up from my nap at 2’oclock, 16 minutes late. I noticed the three beehives (3-5’s) outside my window at once. It’s a sign (9)! I was ready in 5 minutes and was disappointed when I went looking for my favorite coffee cup only to find it was the dirty one (31).” Creating a quick story like this one will help you remember any set of important numbers for a long period of time. Hence you’re storing it in your long-term memory. The more outrageous and silly the story appears the easier it will be to remember. I also recommend adding movement to the scenes throughout your story. This technique will help to further cement the number into your mind.