Monday, August 06, 2012
Friday, January 08, 2010
How much is too much?
Well, it's been months and months since I've posted here. I look at the link on my iGoogle home page every day, and think to myself, "The last post talks about spring arriving, and here it is the dead of winter. I really should write something. But what?"
Something that's been percolating in the back of my brain has to do with all the connectivity we have in this modern age. Take me, for example. I have six email addresses and three telephone numbers, one of which is, of course, a cell phone with text messaging. I'm on Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn, Twitter. I have a blog, (actually two), a Bloglines account to manage my RSS feeds, and a web page. I'm sure if I thought about it, I'd have other things I could list, too.
But how much of that do I actually USE? Well, email, for sure. And I use all six of those accounts for various things - one is for my friends & family, one is my "accounts" address - when you have to use an email address to sign up for things (like Facebook) which I check less frequently (though I DO check it) - one is my work address, one is for my youth theatre group, and the other is sort of part work-related/part personal.
As for the rest - I get on Facebook infrequently, because it's blocked at work (yeah, I know I have a filter override password, but I don't like using it for something like that) and it loads really slowly at home for some reason. Takes forever sometimes! I have almost never used LinkedIn, and I follow some folks on Twitter (Sockington the cat is my personal favorite), though I seldom tweet myself.
I do tend to use Ning a lot; we use it for theatre-related things. It's a great way to set up a communication network for the kids in our show casts (thank you, Stephen Miller, for that wonderful idea!). We can post schedules, pictures, videos, exchange ideas, send messages. Works great!
The RSS feeds are useful; I do check my Bloglines, but once again, I need to pare that down. There are some feeds on there that seemed like a good idea at one time, but I don't look at them.
Some days, though, I simply feel overwhelmed by all the technology and, paradoxically, guilty that I don't use it more efficiently and effectively. Perhaps that's why I was so intrigued to hear about the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine when I was listening to NPR on the way to work yesterday. Apparently I'm not the only one feeling overcome by the thought of being caught in the Web!
Something that's been percolating in the back of my brain has to do with all the connectivity we have in this modern age. Take me, for example. I have six email addresses and three telephone numbers, one of which is, of course, a cell phone with text messaging. I'm on Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn, Twitter. I have a blog, (actually two), a Bloglines account to manage my RSS feeds, and a web page. I'm sure if I thought about it, I'd have other things I could list, too.
But how much of that do I actually USE? Well, email, for sure. And I use all six of those accounts for various things - one is for my friends & family, one is my "accounts" address - when you have to use an email address to sign up for things (like Facebook) which I check less frequently (though I DO check it) - one is my work address, one is for my youth theatre group, and the other is sort of part work-related/part personal.
As for the rest - I get on Facebook infrequently, because it's blocked at work (yeah, I know I have a filter override password, but I don't like using it for something like that) and it loads really slowly at home for some reason. Takes forever sometimes! I have almost never used LinkedIn, and I follow some folks on Twitter (Sockington the cat is my personal favorite), though I seldom tweet myself.
I do tend to use Ning a lot; we use it for theatre-related things. It's a great way to set up a communication network for the kids in our show casts (thank you, Stephen Miller, for that wonderful idea!). We can post schedules, pictures, videos, exchange ideas, send messages. Works great!
The RSS feeds are useful; I do check my Bloglines, but once again, I need to pare that down. There are some feeds on there that seemed like a good idea at one time, but I don't look at them.
Some days, though, I simply feel overwhelmed by all the technology and, paradoxically, guilty that I don't use it more efficiently and effectively. Perhaps that's why I was so intrigued to hear about the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine when I was listening to NPR on the way to work yesterday. Apparently I'm not the only one feeling overcome by the thought of being caught in the Web!
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Spring arriving
Well, it's supposed to be spring, so why do we keep getting cold weather and forecasts of snow showers? Mother Nature must've forgotten to set her alarm!
The robins don't seem to mind too much - they are still hopping around the yard, and I hear all kinds of birdsong in the morning. It SOUNDS like spring, and if you looked outside right now, it LOOKS like spring, because the sun is shining and there's some green. It just doesn't FEEL like spring.
Well, this too shall pass, I suspect.
In panda news, Mei Xiang at the National Zoo went into estrus WAY early, like in January. They artificially inseminated her, but still no news - if she should deliver a cub, though, it would likely be the first one born this year. How cool is that?
(Oh, and if you like the bunny - I got it here: Free Animations
Get your free animations, 3D animated gifs and Web design tools at http://www.free-animations.co.uk)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
How Did That Happen?
How on earth did it get to be February already? Two-thirds of the way through, at that, and I haven't posted anything since New Year's Eve. Yikes!
Well, it HAS been busy. "Prelude to a Kiss" took up a lot of my time. But that's been over for two weeks now (I think), so I shouldn't have any excuses, should I?
I'm going to take a page out of Gail's book and set this up to do my Facebook notes. Consolidation is a wonderful thing! And further, I'm finally going to do the "25 Random Things About Me" thing that my co-workers have been doing. I might be late to the party, but that doesn't mean I can't have a good time, right?
Okay, here goes:
1. I have always loved to read. Even before I actually learned to read, I would see my parents reading, especially my mother and I wanted to do it, too. My mom told me that I would learn when I went to school, and I looked forward to that day so fervently - when I came home after the first day of first grade (I didn't go to Kindergarten) I was crushed because we hadn't learned to read that first day!
2. In spite of the fact that I don't have any issues in telling people facts about myself, I am really a pretty private person. There are only a very few people in my life to whom I have ever really opened up and shared my deepest, most private thoughts and feelings.
3. My mom has been dead for almost 15 years and I still miss her every day. She was one of those to whom I referred in #2...
4. Most people think of me as a cat person, and I DO love my cats, but I grew up with dogs and really didn't like cats all that well as a kid. That was mostly because a) my dad hated cats and b) my great-aunt Mary had a cat that was old and cranky and scratched me once because I was trying to pet her. (The cat, not my Aunt.) It wasn't until I had graduated from college and moved in with my friend Terri and her cats that I discovered that I really did love cats! But if I were home more, I'd have dogs, too. I'm glad that John shares his dogs with me!
5. My obsession with giant pandas is actually a fairly recent phenomenon...within the past 4 years or so, and it grew out of my love for cats. I had been watching a litter of cheetah cubs at the National Zoo on their webcam and discovered the Pandacam by accident; they were watching Mei Xiang for a possible pregnancy at the time. A few months later Tai Shan was born...and I was hooked!
6. I love computer and video games. Once I start, I have a hard time stopping!
7. I have two entire shelves of a bookcase devoted to books by and about J.R.R. Tolkien.
8. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer. My best friend was a very talented artist and we teamed up - I wrote, she illustrated. Somewhere I still have some of those stories - could be scary!
9. In addition to wanting to be a writer, in 6th grade I knew I wanted to be a teacher. But it wasn't till jr. year in high school that I decided for sure I wanted to teach music. Up to that point I couldn't decide whether I wanted to teach biology or music.
10. I learned how to play chess in the 7th grade to impress a boy. (Don't laugh; he's probably a nuclear physicist or something like that now!) That didn't last very long, but I still remember how to play chess...
11. When I was in college, my friends and I had Canasta tournaments on Saturday nights. (Yes, I was just a wild party animal.) Hmmm...I DON'T remember how to play Canasta.
12. I am easily startled, but not easily frightened.
13. I have never lived alone, but I know I wouldn't mind it at all. I actually rather enjoy being alone.
14.I started drinking coffee on a regular basis when I was about 12. It was a bonding thing with my mom.
15. I have three sisters and no brothers, but I have always wanted a brother. When I was little I usedto ask Santa for an older brother every year until I figured out the logistics of that...then I decided that a little one was better than nothing. Never got one, though, even though I offered several times to trade one of my younger sisters with a good friend for one of her brothers.
16. When I was in 4th grade my best friend went home sick from school with what we thought was a cold. That was on a Monday, I think...by Wednesday she was in the hospital; Thursday evening my mom went to visit her for me (kids weren't allowed); Friday morning my mother told me over breakfast that Claire had died. I remember that it was Friday the 13th of October and she apparently had some rare disease that no one had ever heard of before.
17. I don't walk properly. I walk toe-to-heel instead of heel-to-toe unless I'm really thinking about it.
18. My first "real" job was as a clerk-typist in an insurance company. I have also worked playing background music in a men's club (listen, it was the club my dad went to, so there was nothing shady about it), as a waitress, as a cashier/sales person in women's clothing and children's shoes, as a music teacher, as a computer lab manager, as an instructional support person. That's pretty much it...but interestingly enough, all my jobs have required working with some sort of keyboard. Too bad I never took typing!
19. The first show I was ever in was "Oklahoma!" when I was in 10th grade. Up till that point I was much too shy to audition for anything, and only did it because my best friend talked me into it. (If she'd only know what she was starting...)
20. Although I got my driver's license when I was 16, I never really drove much till I was 21. ( Of course, I didn't pass the driver's test the first time, but that's a whole story in itself.) I just didn't really have any need to drive till I moved away from home, and I didn't really like it all that well. In fact, I never really felt comfortable driving till I was about 30 - when I had to drive back and forth from Albany while I was working on my Master's degree.
21. Pet peeves: people taking up two parking spaces, leaving cabinet doors open, rude and inconsiderate behavior in general. Want to send me over the edge? Mis-shelve books...
22. I love shoes and hats, but I seldom wear hats and I only wear about three different pairs of shoes most of the time.
23. I don't mind bugs, snakes, or most rodents. Mice don't bother me, though I don't particularly care for them in the house, but there's something about rats that creep me out. I think it's the tails...I don't like possums, either, and they have the same kind of tails.
24. Up until I was about 40, I had an unreasonable fear of bridges. I couldn't drive over one without a racing heart and sweaty knuckles; I was practically paralyzed walking over one (and I had to walk over one to get to school); I had nightmares about them. I'm not sure why the fear went away, but it did...now I barely even notice if I'm going over one.
25. When I was in college I studied harp. Wish I still played...though I don't really know where I'd put one if I did!
So there you have it. Happy New Year, a month or so late, and happy February!
Well, it HAS been busy. "Prelude to a Kiss" took up a lot of my time. But that's been over for two weeks now (I think), so I shouldn't have any excuses, should I?
I'm going to take a page out of Gail's book and set this up to do my Facebook notes. Consolidation is a wonderful thing! And further, I'm finally going to do the "25 Random Things About Me" thing that my co-workers have been doing. I might be late to the party, but that doesn't mean I can't have a good time, right?
Okay, here goes:
1. I have always loved to read. Even before I actually learned to read, I would see my parents reading, especially my mother and I wanted to do it, too. My mom told me that I would learn when I went to school, and I looked forward to that day so fervently - when I came home after the first day of first grade (I didn't go to Kindergarten) I was crushed because we hadn't learned to read that first day!
2. In spite of the fact that I don't have any issues in telling people facts about myself, I am really a pretty private person. There are only a very few people in my life to whom I have ever really opened up and shared my deepest, most private thoughts and feelings.
3. My mom has been dead for almost 15 years and I still miss her every day. She was one of those to whom I referred in #2...
4. Most people think of me as a cat person, and I DO love my cats, but I grew up with dogs and really didn't like cats all that well as a kid. That was mostly because a) my dad hated cats and b) my great-aunt Mary had a cat that was old and cranky and scratched me once because I was trying to pet her. (The cat, not my Aunt.) It wasn't until I had graduated from college and moved in with my friend Terri and her cats that I discovered that I really did love cats! But if I were home more, I'd have dogs, too. I'm glad that John shares his dogs with me!
5. My obsession with giant pandas is actually a fairly recent phenomenon...within the past 4 years or so, and it grew out of my love for cats. I had been watching a litter of cheetah cubs at the National Zoo on their webcam and discovered the Pandacam by accident; they were watching Mei Xiang for a possible pregnancy at the time. A few months later Tai Shan was born...and I was hooked!
6. I love computer and video games. Once I start, I have a hard time stopping!
7. I have two entire shelves of a bookcase devoted to books by and about J.R.R. Tolkien.
8. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer. My best friend was a very talented artist and we teamed up - I wrote, she illustrated. Somewhere I still have some of those stories - could be scary!
9. In addition to wanting to be a writer, in 6th grade I knew I wanted to be a teacher. But it wasn't till jr. year in high school that I decided for sure I wanted to teach music. Up to that point I couldn't decide whether I wanted to teach biology or music.
10. I learned how to play chess in the 7th grade to impress a boy. (Don't laugh; he's probably a nuclear physicist or something like that now!) That didn't last very long, but I still remember how to play chess...
11. When I was in college, my friends and I had Canasta tournaments on Saturday nights. (Yes, I was just a wild party animal.) Hmmm...I DON'T remember how to play Canasta.
12. I am easily startled, but not easily frightened.
13. I have never lived alone, but I know I wouldn't mind it at all. I actually rather enjoy being alone.
14.I started drinking coffee on a regular basis when I was about 12. It was a bonding thing with my mom.
15. I have three sisters and no brothers, but I have always wanted a brother. When I was little I usedto ask Santa for an older brother every year until I figured out the logistics of that...then I decided that a little one was better than nothing. Never got one, though, even though I offered several times to trade one of my younger sisters with a good friend for one of her brothers.
16. When I was in 4th grade my best friend went home sick from school with what we thought was a cold. That was on a Monday, I think...by Wednesday she was in the hospital; Thursday evening my mom went to visit her for me (kids weren't allowed); Friday morning my mother told me over breakfast that Claire had died. I remember that it was Friday the 13th of October and she apparently had some rare disease that no one had ever heard of before.
17. I don't walk properly. I walk toe-to-heel instead of heel-to-toe unless I'm really thinking about it.
18. My first "real" job was as a clerk-typist in an insurance company. I have also worked playing background music in a men's club (listen, it was the club my dad went to, so there was nothing shady about it), as a waitress, as a cashier/sales person in women's clothing and children's shoes, as a music teacher, as a computer lab manager, as an instructional support person. That's pretty much it...but interestingly enough, all my jobs have required working with some sort of keyboard. Too bad I never took typing!
19. The first show I was ever in was "Oklahoma!" when I was in 10th grade. Up till that point I was much too shy to audition for anything, and only did it because my best friend talked me into it. (If she'd only know what she was starting...)
20. Although I got my driver's license when I was 16, I never really drove much till I was 21. ( Of course, I didn't pass the driver's test the first time, but that's a whole story in itself.) I just didn't really have any need to drive till I moved away from home, and I didn't really like it all that well. In fact, I never really felt comfortable driving till I was about 30 - when I had to drive back and forth from Albany while I was working on my Master's degree.
21. Pet peeves: people taking up two parking spaces, leaving cabinet doors open, rude and inconsiderate behavior in general. Want to send me over the edge? Mis-shelve books...
22. I love shoes and hats, but I seldom wear hats and I only wear about three different pairs of shoes most of the time.
23. I don't mind bugs, snakes, or most rodents. Mice don't bother me, though I don't particularly care for them in the house, but there's something about rats that creep me out. I think it's the tails...I don't like possums, either, and they have the same kind of tails.
24. Up until I was about 40, I had an unreasonable fear of bridges. I couldn't drive over one without a racing heart and sweaty knuckles; I was practically paralyzed walking over one (and I had to walk over one to get to school); I had nightmares about them. I'm not sure why the fear went away, but it did...now I barely even notice if I'm going over one.
25. When I was in college I studied harp. Wish I still played...though I don't really know where I'd put one if I did!
So there you have it. Happy New Year, a month or so late, and happy February!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
This & That
So I haven't been posting lately for a couple of reasons:
1) My life has been entirely consumed by the current theatre production ("Evita")
2) I've been spending time writing on Facebook instead
As to the former, there's one more show to go. Two weekends, as usual - and this time it's with a twist, as we had two different actresses playing Eva Peron. The woman who was originally cast ended up with a conflict so that we had the understudy do it the second weekend.
What's so interesting about all that is that when we did the auditions and the casting, John, the director, was very divided about which of the two he was going to cast. One of them (last weekend) was more operatic and actually kind of resembled Eva Peron (but not with blond hair). The other was much more of a Broadway type and looked more like Patti LuPone playing Eva Peron. He agonized and said, "But I want them both!" - and apparently someone in the Universe was listening and granted his wish.
So. Having said all that - we've had five good productions, and I have expanded my technology repertoire to include a semi-mastery of a very cool product called Sinfonia®. It's a system that allows you to have a full orchestra at your fingertips even when you don't have the room for the entire group! Check it out here. I had a great time using it!
Now, as for Facebook - well, let's just say that I'm up to 31 friends and I think it's very fun! I've talked to folks I haven't seen in years. And it's all because some of my colleagues created accounts there and I submitted to peer pressure and logged on, too.
:-)
In panda news...there's a new little guy at the Atlanta Zoo! Mei Lan has a little brother, and Lun Lun is just as wonderful a mother this time around.
1) My life has been entirely consumed by the current theatre production ("Evita")
2) I've been spending time writing on Facebook instead
As to the former, there's one more show to go. Two weekends, as usual - and this time it's with a twist, as we had two different actresses playing Eva Peron. The woman who was originally cast ended up with a conflict so that we had the understudy do it the second weekend.
What's so interesting about all that is that when we did the auditions and the casting, John, the director, was very divided about which of the two he was going to cast. One of them (last weekend) was more operatic and actually kind of resembled Eva Peron (but not with blond hair). The other was much more of a Broadway type and looked more like Patti LuPone playing Eva Peron. He agonized and said, "But I want them both!" - and apparently someone in the Universe was listening and granted his wish.
So. Having said all that - we've had five good productions, and I have expanded my technology repertoire to include a semi-mastery of a very cool product called Sinfonia®. It's a system that allows you to have a full orchestra at your fingertips even when you don't have the room for the entire group! Check it out here. I had a great time using it!
Now, as for Facebook - well, let's just say that I'm up to 31 friends and I think it's very fun! I've talked to folks I haven't seen in years. And it's all because some of my colleagues created accounts there and I submitted to peer pressure and logged on, too.
:-)
In panda news...there's a new little guy at the Atlanta Zoo! Mei Lan has a little brother, and Lun Lun is just as wonderful a mother this time around.
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