The zenith of summer?
I just noticed something after hearing the County Fair announcements on the radio. It is that after the 4th, things really start happening—the art fair and Maxwell Street Days, and eventually, the Taste—the big fat finish.
I guess, because the days are now getting shorter (though not my much, yet) that summer has met its apex and should now be winding down. But maybe that comes from a long time ago when I really didn’t do anything in the summer, when I was young. So the fireworks, when I actually got to go see them, were like the only thing there really was until school started, except all the heat.
I guess also that I hate to see the says get shorter, because they really do around here. Then, fall is over and there is all that dark of winter. And every year, at least that I can remember since I moved ti this apartment, I tell myself that I will go and do things I want to do while there is still light, in the day, going wherever I need to go. But then winder comes and I never end up doing it like that.
Maybe I need to rethink this. I have learned (again?) to enjoy the things you can do in the summer. I think maybe some of this is that there is that global warming thing coming around, and we may not have such pleasant summers anymore. They could be getting really dangerous, in fact. But does that mean we will get mild winters? They might feel nice, they they are as not good as too hot summers..
And I am appreciating them more and more, “using” them. How maybe people in this building sit on their patios or balconies? I hear many air conditioners go on, but few people go out. Just the loud ones on the second floor, an the loud ones on the first floor, right under them. I guess there is some need for people to be inside more than outside. Or maybe some people—I used to be one of them—are afraid that other people who are also outside are just sitting around watching what the other people are doing, but they are not, I am almost sure. At least I am not, I usually take a book with me, unless tic’s only for a few minutes. I don’t really care what people do.
Filed under: ideas, journal, time | Leave a Comment
countdowns from the past
But listening to them now is different, from a distance of 30 years in the future, hearing what we listened to back then. it wasn’t so difficult to at least get quite a few right, but as I listen, there are songs that I don’t remember—and know exactly why. The others are songs we know still, but when you put a date onto them, it’s hard to believe they were so long ago, or perhaps they were newer that you thought.
I don’t know if I ever thought about this back then (because I was, like many others, I am sure, waiting for the ones I like to be where I like them), but I notice now how much diversity in groups and styles there are. Maybe that is because now I have more diverse taste. We tend to want to put tags on everything, and we forget, or want to , all the other things that went on in the same time period.
Sometimes, when they play other “classic” countdowns, as they call them, I can remember almost exactly some of what was on the show. I always liked the trivia and background information. I think I almost looked forward to that as much as for the tunes.
In a way, I kind of wish we still had a show like that still going, telling us what the hits are now. Maybe they do, I just don’t know where to get it if there is. I imagine it would be hard, though, considering how hard it probably is to track all the sales figures, not to mention things downloaded from the torrent sites, like last week people looking for Michael Jackson stuff and bringing down the internet.
* the Number 1 ended up being Exile’s “Kiss You All Over” —not sure what I thought about it beck then, but it’s a little disappointing now, maybe because I know now that they would not have any more hits after that.
Filed under: ideas, journal, time | Leave a Comment
It is pretty complex and may take me a while to get used to it. I decided to use this book I have been working on and off again for soooo long, because that is where most of my previously made documents and other such things are. I took the chapters that were in Word and put them in the “Chapter” areas in the program. (Liquid Story Builder XE— must remember that…) I also used the “notes” feature to make a note on an unclear chapter.
Then id did the characters, information was pretty sparse, so I had to put a lot if it in manually, if you can call it that. I pulled the file out, hoping there would be mare to go on, but I think it won’t to me much good— not every much there, just story stuff.
I did find a crude timeline, so at least when I pop that part up I have something to work with. I’m not sure how I am supposed ot work that part of the program, if there really is a set way to do it— what I want is to put each character under each other, with a rough date line, and show where they were in relation to the other, when they come in (or less likely, go out). In a way it will probably help me fill out the characters’ info a little more.
I think also the storyboard feature will help with things like that, or at least to put various elements I wand in, or may want in.
I haven’t checked the checklist part, but probably should or will. There is the planner part, which I need to look at a little more before I get into it.
I’m not sure about the graphics thing, but I might grab some of the stuff I made/found for that old mind map software. And there are a few things from the web. They will not be as nice, I don’t think, as the stuff that is in the sample book.
Filed under: cool tools, ideas, journal, writing | Leave a Comment
So first I will make a sort of setting, I guess, where most of the stuff will be done or is about. Then I will create at least a few characters that will be there for the whole (or at least most of) the story. I give them a sort of base of who they are, give them jobs, all that sort of thing.
So that is, for the most part, all there is that will stay (mostly) static. The rest is more or less free-form, going where it goes, not knowing that much about where it is going. It will just develop on its own. And I have no idea when and where it will end, but that is part of what it would be.
I don’t want to do it constantly. It would just be something I would work on when there isn’t anything there to so, or when something comes to me that I think would go well with where it was going, or I think I would be good where it is at that point.
And the other rule is that I can not stop where it is and work on another part, as I so with things now. It just has to go along, one big story.
Filed under: ideas, journal, writing | Leave a Comment
TV or not TV?
If I do have to lose a bunch of money, who needs cable TV anymore? That is kind of what I am looking into right now-well, I have been looking into it, but now more seriously. I read this article on my favorite site that said that Hulu has out a desktop program now, so you can watch their content. I went back a little deeper and discovered ted. Not TED, ted. Two different things.
So ted is kind of like a bit torrent thing, but you have a list you can pick from over on the left and when you choose it will put up info on the program. In the demo I watched, I saw that there were quite a few programs, and I don’t think they are all American programs, which is really cool, provided I learn what good programs there are in other places. Then you can download them, by episode, I know, and I think you can get a season pass like on TiVo. Since it is a torrent thing, I guess there would not be any commercials, and I think that is the big minus about Hulu.
I guess I will just have to download it and try it out. Maybe I can get caught up on Lost, since my TiVo erased last season’s finale and I couldn’t catch up. It is also good, I would guess, for getting into shows that I either forgot to watch or lose track of-or maybe even finding shows that have ended and gone away forever.
Filed under: rant, time, tv | Leave a Comment
Fire— and today is Monday?
Today— I will not say what time it was— I was jerked away from my sleep by the sound of the fire alarm. So I get up and jammed myself into some clothes and went down to the lobby, like you’re supposed to. Then people started drifting down there as well, until the lobby was nearly full. Some drifted around, talked to each other, stuff like that.
So I am standing there thinking that because since it is Monday there should be no problem, that the manager would be in the office. as I stood there thinking about this, I went through the things I remembered doing yesterday, and the things I unneeded to do that day. As the fog of sleep lifted, I realized that it was Sunday, not Monday. I was glad I never said anything.
So a half an hour later we got to go back in. It seems that there wasn’t any fire, or at least that’s the impression that I got.
So I tried to go back to sleep, but that took me a while, so my whole day is a little off. It’s just a weird say.
It made me think that I have to get myself together a little better in some situations. There was another time when the alarms went off, and that time there was actually a little fire— someone left a pan on the stove. That was also in winter. It would be better if they happened in the summer, so that we wouldn’t have to put all those clothes on.
Filed under: environment, journal, strangeness, time | Leave a Comment
Sites of the week 16.2-22.2 2009
Filed under: environment, ideas, links, sites of the week | Leave a Comment
sites of the week 9.2-2.15 2009
-
Universal Chargers to Finally Become a Reality It’s about time.
-
Did You Know Shift Happens A short video that you have got to see. Lots of facts that go by quick— so don’t blink.
-
Take Shoes Off for Healthier Home I have heard ti both ways, leave them on or take them off. So I compromised and now I wear specific shoes inside that I don’t often wear outside. I am also not the type to go walking around in mud and puddles, and if I do, I hake my shoes off, of course.
-
Save The Words Wards that speak to you— literally. Just roll your mouse over them and hear them beg for your attention.
-
Font Picker – finding the right font for the job Finds all your fonts (on your computer) so you can see which works best for your needs.
-
20 Ways To Increase Laptop’s Battery Life Some are more obvious, some are less so.
Filed under: cool tools, environment, links, lists, productivity, sites of the week | Leave a Comment
How relevant is this?
This thing was supposed to take place today, right? Well, if I am not wrong, this was supposed to take place a while ago. Now, yet again. It is once more delayed. The timing is not the only thing that has confused people, from the viewer to the broadcaster.
But just how relevant is It anymore? I don’t have any statistics with me right now, but I think most people have cable or satellite. (Perhaps I say this from the point of a cable subscriber— digital, with the HBO set of premium channels.) but that’s not where I am going with this.
With services like julu (love the ads, funny, yes), Mior, Windows Media Center, and even YouTube and others, including bit torrent, there is no you can’t see your favorite shows. And, of course, you can rent them through Netflix or your local video store.
It seems that with all of this, you can get around the TV itself. If you really think about all the options, just how long will “TV” last? It has it’s disadvantages in that is has to be were it is, more or less. This means that you can’t take it with you, especially now that your little antenna is worthless after that transition.
If I many get sentimental for a second, back around 1080 or so, we used to have one of those portable TVs. I remember my father it as well as our living roomTV, to watch two football games at once. And sometimes I would even get to have it in my room, but not for long. then I had a little WatchMan, with its one inch black and white screen.
But you can take your computer everywhere these days. No antenna to worry about, and if you just download something, no connection. You don’t even need to plug anything in, at least for a while.
It’x becoming a time of easy access media, any time, anywhere. the boundaries and barriers are breaking down, and we have to think about our media in new ways, because it and times are changing. It just proves you can have yourTV, and you can take it with you.
Filed under: ideas, journal, tv | Leave a Comment
Sorry, I guess I SA spaced out or lost track of time, or some other bed excuse for not presenting you with sites of the week last week. So I will give you a little extra this week. Who doesn’t love extra?
-
The BLDGBLOG Book as a Series of Word-Frequency Clouds Another Wordle cloud, from different points of view.
-
The Extreme Presentation(tm) Method Choosing a good chart Making presentations easier, or something like that.
-
Do You Make These 7 Mistakes When Trying to Keep Your New Year’s Resolution Good advice. Even though you seem to hear a lot about people who break their resolutions, there are those who do not. Keep it up, maybe you’ll be one of them.
-
Leaked First Office 14 screenshots I’m still all right with 2007, but it’s nice to see what the future holds in store.
And something from the lighter side, something we all need these days.
-
FAIL Blog Pictures and Videos of Owned, Pwnd and Fail Moments I found this site a while back, but I didn’t bookmark it, I guess, but found it again thanks to that PC Magazine entry from last time. I guess I failed…
-
Indexed There really does seem to be a chart for everything. Do we love charts as much as we love lists?
-
Criggo A little crude, but still funny. I think they used to do something like that in the back of publishers Weekly, but more clever and less crude. It’s amazing how many typos get out there.
And a little sci-fi— for the future?
-
Dvice A bit more science than fiction, with a little gadgetry and fun mixed in.
- Locus Online More along the lines of the news of the genre.
Filed under: ideas, links, lists, productivity, sites of the week | Leave a Comment
