my little white beast of burden (my aptly named iBook) continues to improve. Best news, I have now installed the drivers necessary to use my tablet so I am now fully operational to edit photos on both my beautiful wuxga screen silver bullet (factory named, rechristened d'ell in honour of el mariachi) and this little work horse. There are a few flaws with my mule of course, it doesn't have a burner so I'll be stuck using an external or I'll have to get another external harddrive.
but I will celebrate by using my pen to click on publish post.
bon nuit.
side note: I would not use my mule for heavy photo editing without an external monitor. It's so tiny and junky after the luxury of my other display. It really doesn't cut it, especially with my poor vision. Anyhow, I'm really going to bed this time. Go pen go.
but I will celebrate by using my pen to click on publish post.
bon nuit.
side note: I would not use my mule for heavy photo editing without an external monitor. It's so tiny and junky after the luxury of my other display. It really doesn't cut it, especially with my poor vision. Anyhow, I'm really going to bed this time. Go pen go.
It's no longer a question of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a sickness you like.
--
Jackie Mason
That quote seems to epitomize my life right now. I seem to be hit with whatever sickness is flying around. I thought this was the weekend of my convalescence... I felt rather chipper and was in rather good spirits after watching the new Harry Potter on Friday and going for a much needed photo excursion at the local landfill in the afternoon yesterday. But today I woke up and was acutely aware of my churning stomach acid. It's very nearly impossible to be glamorous and sick at the same time, unlike many Victorian era heroines who ultimately meet their maker after a long bout with consumption. And my lack of sickly glamour is not just because I don't have a drawing room with a chaise lounge where I can lie in the afternoon in order to entertain my guests. I suppose my situation isn't that much different though... I still have to spend my days in quiet solitude, but I've replaced embroidery with my laptop and wireless internet.
I think I'm going to try to sip some soup through a straw, otherwise I'm going to assemble a makeshift intravenous drip.
I arrived for work earlier than usual... and I was greeted with a sea of zebra cowboy hats and sparkly feather boas.
unbeknowst to me, it's funky friday.
and tonight we celebrate.
unbeknowst to me, it's funky friday.
and tonight we celebrate.
health update: no dislocated ribs... cough is decreasing...
I try to be out of the ordinary, but I think I'm failing miserably. It's probably what's left over from my cold, but I'm feeling a little bland and just the tiniest bit unspecial. Maybe I'd like just a little adoration to make me feel unique again. and not just from my flickr fans. show me the love family and friends.
I try to be out of the ordinary, but I think I'm failing miserably. It's probably what's left over from my cold, but I'm feeling a little bland and just the tiniest bit unspecial. Maybe I'd like just a little adoration to make me feel unique again. and not just from my flickr fans. show me the love family and friends.
I made the interestingness page on flickr. Me...
Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.
--
Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)
I went to the drugstore this morning to buy some cough suppressant... and as I walked down my driveway I couldn't help but think that I really do have to pull out my longjohns from storage. And that realization depressed me. I like the look of snow, but I greatly dislike the wind and general chilliness. Winter is certainly romantic with the promise of roaring fireplaces and warm and toasty toes in woolen socks, but I failed to see the romance with my cold symptom clouded brain. So, needless to say I'm still sick. I look it and I sound it. I wish I had someone to fill up my hot water bottle for me.
such generosity would turn my blonde hair black again.
I've been sick all weekend. It's been horrible, not because the worst of it coincided with my weekend, but because it's been one of those rancid sicknesses that has drained me of most of my energy and racked my abdomen with tuberculosis-like coughs that wake me from the deepest slumber. If I didn't have to worry about dislocating a rib or two I might be celebrating about the easy ab workout... but it's nothing to celebrate with the added "bonus" of lethargy and ratched up throat.
As always I've been adding photos to my flickr photostream. Here you will find a few photos from my Thursday evening dinner date. I probably should have stayed home and went to bed early, but I had no idea that my cold/flu/tuberculosis/black lung would get so bad this weekend.
In other news, winter is really here. It hasn't been too cold yet as I haven't had to pull out the thermal underwear, but I'm sure those days aren't too far away. For now I'm content to curl up in bed with my hot water bottle (to soothe my sore abdominal muscles from all this coughing) and listen to the wind howl outside.
bon nuit.
As always I've been adding photos to my flickr photostream. Here you will find a few photos from my Thursday evening dinner date. I probably should have stayed home and went to bed early, but I had no idea that my cold/flu/tuberculosis/black lung would get so bad this weekend.
In other news, winter is really here. It hasn't been too cold yet as I haven't had to pull out the thermal underwear, but I'm sure those days aren't too far away. For now I'm content to curl up in bed with my hot water bottle (to soothe my sore abdominal muscles from all this coughing) and listen to the wind howl outside.
bon nuit.
WUXGA
Short for Wide Ultra eXtended Graphics Array, WUXGA has a resolution of 1920 horizontal pixels by 1200 vertical pixels.
Short for Wide Ultra eXtended Graphics Array, WUXGA has a resolution of 1920 horizontal pixels by 1200 vertical pixels.
here are a few gems from this evening. a friend of a friend was visiting from a nearby city and we all went for dinner and then watched Finding Neverland while drinking delicious Red Mellow Bush (a roobois tea by Numi). Oh, and before I forget... W. I'm sorry, I think I forgot to bring my cup to the kitchen. Forgive me.
but back to the conversational gems... in between sips of tea we came up with a few alternate titles for J.M. Barrie's classic "Peter Pan"
working titles...
Peter Frying Pan and Peter Cast Iron Frying Pan
Peter Pot
Peter Slow Cooker (or Peter Crock Pot)
Perhaps my favourite of the night, the foreign touring title...
Peter Wok
and this one I've just come up with... a very topical reference. It's for the modern day staging of the play,
Peter Pandemic: in this version Tinkerbell is sticken with the avian flu and no amount of clapping can bring her back.
These titles may not seem as funny to you as they seemed to me this evening, but I don't care. This blog is as much for me as it is for the rest of the world.
bon nuit.
but back to the conversational gems... in between sips of tea we came up with a few alternate titles for J.M. Barrie's classic "Peter Pan"
working titles...
Perhaps my favourite of the night, the foreign touring title...
and this one I've just come up with... a very topical reference. It's for the modern day staging of the play,
These titles may not seem as funny to you as they seemed to me this evening, but I don't care. This blog is as much for me as it is for the rest of the world.
bon nuit.
rather productive night... which seems unusual for me.
I need to come up with an idea for a group project for this cultural resistance symposium for my course on communication and culture. This week we're discussing feminism in relation to the Dove Real Beauty Campaign and I'm thinking of doing something along those lines, but I still want it to be original and to integrate photography. I've come up with a couple ideas tonight... drawing from some of the photo excursions W. and I have gone on over the past year. I'm thinking of using some of the photos we've taken from the various gas bars and use that in our project.
I've got to find some way to make it seem like cultural resistance. I haven't quite figured that part out. Give me some time though... I won't disappoint.
I need to come up with an idea for a group project for this cultural resistance symposium for my course on communication and culture. This week we're discussing feminism in relation to the Dove Real Beauty Campaign and I'm thinking of doing something along those lines, but I still want it to be original and to integrate photography. I've come up with a couple ideas tonight... drawing from some of the photo excursions W. and I have gone on over the past year. I'm thinking of using some of the photos we've taken from the various gas bars and use that in our project.
I've got to find some way to make it seem like cultural resistance. I haven't quite figured that part out. Give me some time though... I won't disappoint.
Here's a little beatnik poetry that I did not perform at tonight's open mic at the local coffee house staffed by simple barristas. "Why did I not perform this poem?" you ask. Well I can assure you it was not because of stage fright as there was no stage. In fact I did not even attend this evening's open mic night at the local coffee house staffed by simple barristas. Instead I was off in a nearby village dazzling the locals with the flash from my 420EX Speedlite. I did not have plans to go to open mic, I only bring it up because I saw a sign promoting it while out for coffee earlier today. But back to the performance piece that was never performed.
That's my original piece of poetry for the evening. I hope you all liked it. I rarely indulge in the poetics, tonight was a special treat.
unwelcome
even in not my own home
tonight's the night I
uncrashed a party
exiting quickly
over the pile of ugly shoes
exhaling in relief as I'd be
unhappy to see myself stay.
That's my original piece of poetry for the evening. I hope you all liked it. I rarely indulge in the poetics, tonight was a special treat.
Here's a scene from my Friday evening out...
a pair of very mod friends (boy and girl, mod in the stylish dress sort of way not so much the riding of motor scooters) are out for dinner at a rather trashy diner. The waitress approaches the two with her order pad and pen poised to take their order.
"Have you decided?" the waitress asks sweetly.
"We'll make this easy for you..." says the boy pausing dramatically and turning his gaze expectantly to his friend across the table, as if to pass along the conch of conversation.
Looking up the girl says, "I'll have the Count of Monte Cristo sandwich please." The waitress looks puzzled and thoroughly confused as she truly doesn't follow the rather weak literary reference.
"Pardon me?" the waitress queries leaning a little closer to the girl as if she misheard the order, because clearly the Count of Monte Cristo sandwich is not on the menu. But seeing that the metaphorical ship of understanding has long left port, the girl shakes her head and then repeats her order sticking to the ordinary menu name.
"It was a very bad joke," the girl mumbles as she turns to look out the window to see a swarm of ugly teenagers storm the entrance of the movie theatre as it is Friday night and they can stomach such bad movies as Saw II. But the scene outside is no more exciting than the scene inside the restaurant so the girl turns back to the waitress to add fries to her order.
I'm feeling like I'm stretching myself in too many directions right now. It's a bit frustrating because there are so many things that I have on the go right now, but at the same time I feel like I'm not paying enough attention to any of the things I'm involved in. On top of all that I'm feeling a lot like I did when my aenemia was really affecting me... energetic intellectually with only short bouts of energy. I know that I have to pace myself and not try to overwhelm myself with tight deadlines which is a very bad habit of mine. Sometimes I just wish that I could skip all the steps in between. Today during dinner my family and I were joking around and we came up with the term, "the noworkaholic." I've decided that's what I am. I was designed to be a project manager, good at coming up with ideas, overseeing a project and wrapping up a project... but when it comes to the middle section... well, I don't think I need to explain that one.
I've been spending a lot of time recently wallowing in the realm of technology and education, dabbling in bits of research here and there, trying to find out more for the project I have on the go for work. The topic really fascinates me, mostly because I've always been in love with education... the act of learning that is, for I'm usually at odds with the business end of things - you know, tuition and such, the things that make the world go round. I'm trying to limit my entry here and not delve too deeply into this subject that I find simply captivating. I'll end up being too general, but tonight this entry is really just the dumping ground for the excess thoughts that are swirling around in my head. Over the next few days I'm going to finish reading this online book entitled digital education that I came across when I googled portable learning (the title of the class blog I created tonight, it's a pun on the fact that the classroom where I work was/is a portable). I've scanned a few sections already, it seems to have a lot of thought provoking material in it.
In other news, regarding my indoctrination. Tonight I came across this rather informative site, The Tao of Mac. Helpful little site, although I did really get to experience the out-of-the-box-freshness that some people have been able to experience when they experienced the switch. I have to admit I'm a little wary of all the talk of switching and conversion. I write of indoctrination with tongue-in-cheek of course. The cult factor does frightens me a bit... and by distancing myself just a little I think I am attempting to maintain my consumer savvy, acknowledging the brilliance of apple's marketing schemes. I know that I run the risk of excommunication with my seemingly fence-sittingly behaviour. But like many other things in my life, this is an issue that I've thought too much of. I've got this beautiful speech that I give to people about not letting our tools shape us but rather retaining our controls to shape our tools. So, in that way no matter what computer I use, the end result is more or less the same. Maybe this is all just leftover from owning (and still having to use) a PC laptop, but for me the differences in usage with either computer is really minimal. My blog posts are no more eloquent when I use dashblog (which by the way, has stopped working for me), or if I were to write them out by hand and then transcribe them using speech recognition software. The content is always created by me... emerging from somewhere in that large head of mine. Some may disagree, but I prefer my brain to any other operating system.
and the geek stands triumphant.
bon nuit.
I've been spending a lot of time recently wallowing in the realm of technology and education, dabbling in bits of research here and there, trying to find out more for the project I have on the go for work. The topic really fascinates me, mostly because I've always been in love with education... the act of learning that is, for I'm usually at odds with the business end of things - you know, tuition and such, the things that make the world go round. I'm trying to limit my entry here and not delve too deeply into this subject that I find simply captivating. I'll end up being too general, but tonight this entry is really just the dumping ground for the excess thoughts that are swirling around in my head. Over the next few days I'm going to finish reading this online book entitled digital education that I came across when I googled portable learning (the title of the class blog I created tonight, it's a pun on the fact that the classroom where I work was/is a portable). I've scanned a few sections already, it seems to have a lot of thought provoking material in it.
In other news, regarding my indoctrination. Tonight I came across this rather informative site, The Tao of Mac. Helpful little site, although I did really get to experience the out-of-the-box-freshness that some people have been able to experience when they experienced the switch. I have to admit I'm a little wary of all the talk of switching and conversion. I write of indoctrination with tongue-in-cheek of course. The cult factor does frightens me a bit... and by distancing myself just a little I think I am attempting to maintain my consumer savvy, acknowledging the brilliance of apple's marketing schemes. I know that I run the risk of excommunication with my seemingly fence-sittingly behaviour. But like many other things in my life, this is an issue that I've thought too much of. I've got this beautiful speech that I give to people about not letting our tools shape us but rather retaining our controls to shape our tools. So, in that way no matter what computer I use, the end result is more or less the same. Maybe this is all just leftover from owning (and still having to use) a PC laptop, but for me the differences in usage with either computer is really minimal. My blog posts are no more eloquent when I use dashblog (which by the way, has stopped working for me), or if I were to write them out by hand and then transcribe them using speech recognition software. The content is always created by me... emerging from somewhere in that large head of mine. Some may disagree, but I prefer my brain to any other operating system.
and the geek stands triumphant.
bon nuit.
While setting up a blog for the class I work in, I came across these cool links. Check them out, they are both interesting visual treats.
Their Circular Life
The Thought Project
Their Circular Life
The Thought Project
You scored as Elizabeth Bennet.
As one of Austen's most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable...something to admire
As one of Austen's most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable...something to admire
Which Jane Austen Character are You? created with QuizFarm.com |
some might scoff... but being on the computer when you're feeling a little tired (or feeling like total junk like I was this afternoon and so far this evening) is no different than watching a little tv. And since I have no tv to watch and I did not have enough energy to concentrate on a book... my computer was really the best and only choice besides sleep.
I might try to sleep soon, but I really had my heart set on some oh so delicious custard that my mother makes so well, but there is none to be found in the cupboards and I can only hope that my brothers come through for me and pick some up on their way back from the swimming pool.
Unrelated... I am at odds with the phrase, "you missed your calling." I find that people often say it to compliment something you're good at, but at the same time it's also insulting because it infers that you've been making a series of bad choices that have kept you from becoming what you were meant to be. It's just like the "compliment" I received this summer from one of my classmates. She told me I looked great having lost so much weight. In fact, she told me I was half the size. Kind of an odd thing to say, because if I were to double the weight I am now (a number that I could only guess because I haven't been on a scale in at least a year) I would have been quite the chunker. But to get back to my first point about being at odds with missing my calling. I don't have a set career path (right now I'm just content with making a little money so I can save a little money) but I really like my current job. In the short period of time I've been working I've already seen improvements in the literacy skills of some of the kids I've been working with. However, although I like the education field even though I'm not in an education program that doesn't mean I've missed my calling. I don't think I like that phrase. It brings you up and cuts you down all in one fell swoop. I think there are more effective ways of encouraging and supporting someone.
I might try to sleep soon, but I really had my heart set on some oh so delicious custard that my mother makes so well, but there is none to be found in the cupboards and I can only hope that my brothers come through for me and pick some up on their way back from the swimming pool.
Unrelated... I am at odds with the phrase, "you missed your calling." I find that people often say it to compliment something you're good at, but at the same time it's also insulting because it infers that you've been making a series of bad choices that have kept you from becoming what you were meant to be. It's just like the "compliment" I received this summer from one of my classmates. She told me I looked great having lost so much weight. In fact, she told me I was half the size. Kind of an odd thing to say, because if I were to double the weight I am now (a number that I could only guess because I haven't been on a scale in at least a year) I would have been quite the chunker. But to get back to my first point about being at odds with missing my calling. I don't have a set career path (right now I'm just content with making a little money so I can save a little money) but I really like my current job. In the short period of time I've been working I've already seen improvements in the literacy skills of some of the kids I've been working with. However, although I like the education field even though I'm not in an education program that doesn't mean I've missed my calling. I don't think I like that phrase. It brings you up and cuts you down all in one fell swoop. I think there are more effective ways of encouraging and supporting someone.
I'm not going to run the risk of losing another blog post from dashblog, at least not tonight anyhow, so I've returned to the basics (the basics that is just blogger, even barer bones as I'm using Safari and not Firefox). I have no real purpose for this post, I just felt like writing something before bed. I read something interesting today on this site about the projects on the construction of identity and flickr.
(I had to switch to firefox here... I was too lazy to remember the proper coding for blockquotes... and now that I'm editing in post I realize that I was right so I didn't need to switch ) This passage here provides (in my mind) and excellent description of my concept of the audience, as well as my justification for posting to flickr and posting to my blog. I could write out some of my thoughts in my journal, but I find that I reserve that only when I am feeling the most dejected and sorry for myself. And thankfully, it's been a while. This is not to say that everything in my life has been marvelful and wonderlous lately, but I haven't had any moments of despair beyond repair.
So here are my thoughts tonight that I am not writing in my journal, but rather for my vague audience to read.
A flickr-user deals with the rather abstract audience of the world wide web, which could either be millions or none at all. Nobody would really let millions read their diaries and it is doubtful if there is any "reader" at all. But at least there could be. It is exactly this very vague potential of an audience that makes flickr so successful. The idea of an audience is vague and remote enough not to be threatening but only so vague as to still provide reason for the described practice itself. It justifies the effort itself as well as applying "cosmetic corrections", it makes it possible to reorder the meaning of events in retrospect without lying to oneself. As one user puts it: "...So the site gives me a reason to do things that I enjoy doing, a reason to record things, a reason to take photos because I will publish them"
(I had to switch to firefox here... I was too lazy to remember the proper coding for blockquotes... and now that I'm editing in post I realize that I was right so I didn't need to switch ) This passage here provides (in my mind) and excellent description of my concept of the audience, as well as my justification for posting to flickr and posting to my blog. I could write out some of my thoughts in my journal, but I find that I reserve that only when I am feeling the most dejected and sorry for myself. And thankfully, it's been a while. This is not to say that everything in my life has been marvelful and wonderlous lately, but I haven't had any moments of despair beyond repair.
So here are my thoughts tonight that I am not writing in my journal, but rather for my vague audience to read.
- I am not the person that people invite to dinner on their own accord. My dinner invites come almost always through another party where I am a third wheel (albeit a very amusing and entertaining one, I can hold my own once I get through the door). Still,I am an afterthought.
- My opinions only have merit when backed by someone else. I need to be less free in offering my ideas to people who don't want to hear things from me.
- I have serious energy issues, I should really eat more green vegetables.
- I should not walk to work wearing high heeled boots. My legs and feet have cursed me today because of my foolishness on Monday.
hmm...
not good. I just lost a lovely blog entry that I just spent the last twenty minutes typing up using dashblog widget from my dashboard. Now I'm not pointing fingers or anything like that, I know that these things happen from time to time, not everything is perfect... but it's still very annoying because it was a lovely blog post where I talked about the virtues of my job, why I liked it so much, so on and so forth, I made several references to cogs, sabots, being an apple neophyte, my ibook being part of an indoctrination kit, and even a nice little paragraph about how much I appreciate the dictionary/thesaurus widget, and then topped it all off to the question of how/when/where/why did I become a computer geek...
where did it go? can anyone tell me? I hate that it is lost forever and I have no way to retrieve it.
not good. I just lost a lovely blog entry that I just spent the last twenty minutes typing up using dashblog widget from my dashboard. Now I'm not pointing fingers or anything like that, I know that these things happen from time to time, not everything is perfect... but it's still very annoying because it was a lovely blog post where I talked about the virtues of my job, why I liked it so much, so on and so forth, I made several references to cogs, sabots, being an apple neophyte, my ibook being part of an indoctrination kit, and even a nice little paragraph about how much I appreciate the dictionary/thesaurus widget, and then topped it all off to the question of how/when/where/why did I become a computer geek...
where did it go? can anyone tell me? I hate that it is lost forever and I have no way to retrieve it.
