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things that are really cool: me and earthquakes April 18, 2008

Posted by Abby T in : misc. adventures, technophilia , 1 comment

I woke up yesterday morning and said to myself, “Self,” I said. “You haven’t been parading around with enough dorky things on your belt lately.” So I dug out the little belt clip that came with my cell phone and stuck it on my belt next to the multitool and the maglite, and now, ladies and gentlemen, I could not be cooler.

In other news, the earth in Illinois quaked this morning, and I am super proud and excited to say that I FELT IT! I was lying awake in my bed and suddenly became aware that I was rocking back and forth a little. I was all, “naw, that couldn’t have been an earthquake, I’m just dumb,” but then I got up and Googled it and found lots of news results about it. And I was all, “BITCHIN’. My first earthquake.”

The epicenter was way far down in southern Illinois, apparently, so while it was around a 5 on the Richter scale down there, it was more of a NOTHING up here. I think what I felt was an aftershock, too.

But still, it was my first earthquake, and I’m kind of excited about it.

-@

you must read my every asinine thought April 11, 2008

Posted by Abby T in : technophilia, ten-second updates, the photo project , add a comment

And here they are, in no particular order:

  1. I’m really digging WordPress 2.5.
  2. I can’t wait for the weekend. (No, for me 5PM on Friday does not yet count as the weekend. I have to wait until 11:30. Why do I stage manage, again? Can somebody enlighten me?)

Here’s a photo!


Go Leafs! … no?

I wish I could repeat my entire photographic adolescence and development with the right equipment. I’d like this a lot better if I had.

-@

tweet tweet! April 7, 2008

Posted by Abby T in : technophilia, ten-second updates , 4 comments

(Notice my new sidebar widget of same name.)

I love Twitter. It’s like blogging, only easier, because I’m limited to 140 words. It’s so low-impact, and yet I’m so addicted. I downloaded a desktop client so I can periodically get other people’s tweets popping up in Growl. I walk down the street and think, “I’m totally tweeting this when I get home”. It’s kind of sad.

But I’m not ashamed.

-@

This is my most sincere wish. April 6, 2008

Posted by Abby T in : academic pursuits, technophilia, wish list, ye olde sporte , 1 comment

I want a pressure-sensitive keyboard.

I’m not sure they exist. The idea just came to me when I was in the kitchen making a sandwich - literally, sixty seconds ago. I haven’t even bothered to Google the concept yet. But this is what I’m looking for in a pressure-sensitive keyboard: the elimination of the shift key.

This imaginary keyboard of mine would just know when I wanted a capital letter. I don’t think it would take much of an adjustment to learn to hit the first letter of every sentence just a little bit harder. In fact, I’m trying to be conscious of my typing pressure as I write this and I think I do that anyway. Having to hit two buttons for a capital letter adds a rhythm to my sentences that involves a slightly emphasized pressing of the desired letter’s key.

Maybe that’s just me.

This keyboard that I’m envisioning, though, would sense the harder tap and capitalize the letter for me. Maybe it could even have some sort of toggle switch or selection of buttons, so that I could tell it that harder taps should be bold text, instead, or perhaps a little bigger in size.

I think it’d be super cool.

It may seem like I’ve been neglecting this blog lately, but I assure you that is not the case: I have simply been neglecting the entire internet. At one point my Google Reader Watcher was reading in the 500s. I blame rehearsal. I’m rehearsing 5 hours all night, plus another 4 on Saturdays, plus the work I have to do outside of rehearsal for this show. The Bacchae is adding up to about 35 hours a week: almost a full-time job. On top of that, I’m still a student! I’m loving three of the four classes I’m taking this quarter - the three English classes - but the fourth, Intro to Slavic Civ, is unimaginably dull so far, but I’ll survive.

In other news, the Red Sox are losing. Baseball is the only sport I really care about. Though I live in Illinois and until recently all four of my parents were in Manhattan, my Connecticut upbringing has shaped my baseball fan tendencies. I even sprang for the MLB.com Gameday Audio deal this season: I paid $15 to listen to a whole season of baseball games, which is handy since Sox games aren’t aired on TV around here. Moral of the story is, I’m bummed that the boys are 5 runs down and sitting on 4 errors. Rrrrr.

Oh, and lastly: I’m trying to fix the comments thing. By “the comments thing” I mean the fact that the link to leave a comment is at the top of the entry. The problem is that I’m CSS-tarded. I’ll get there eventually, I hope.

-@

list time! March 17, 2008

Posted by Abby T in : academic pursuits, technophilia, ten-second updates, the photo project , add a comment

Things I have done in the past two weeks or so:

  1. Teched, opened, closed, and struck a show.
  2. Started rehearsal for another show.
  3. Slept through an exam. (Oops.)
  4. Had my photographic ego stroked by one Director Shady.
  5. Written and turned in a really good paper.
  6. Spent the night in the design area of TI.
  7. Started the process of installing Leopard on my HP laptop.

It is mostly items 1, 2, and 5 that have kept me so radio silent. I have a paper due Wednesday and a final on Friday and then I will be free, free, free to do whatever I please. Hooray?


I kind of miss New York.

I sure wish it would get warm around here again.

-@

I think I finally get it. February 24, 2008

Posted by Abby T in : rants & raves, technophilia, the photo project, wish list , 1 comment

I never thought I’d find myself feeling the need, however legitimate, to get myself a DSLR camera. I’ve got a great SLR and a great little digital camera, both Canon, and they both have served me very well for their respective purposes. I took a few photography classes in high school, and they were the best way to get a class credit for a term I ever could have imagined. I learned a lot and had a great time and I have a portfolio I’m pretty proud of from those days. My digital camera works like a dream for my non-artistic photography endeavors - gatherings, concerts, snapshots, whatever.

It never occurred to me that a mix of the two would make my life better until I took them both out shooting yesterday. It was a beautiful Saturday evening and I went to the park near my apartment to play with the light. I shot SLR until I was out of film and then I switched to digital and felt the difference instantly. I missed being able to tweak my focus and my depth of field, but I was loving being able to see my photos immediately and switch instantly back and forth between B&W and color. The combination would be the best of both worlds!

Eventually I found myself taking digital photos and making a mental note to come back to the park at the same time of day once I’ve got more film and have gotten my SLR’s battery changed. I want to do up some of these shots for real-style. (more…)