A list of Things
Quick post - well, as quick as it's possible for me to be! :-) - because I really, really, really don't want to fall out of the habit... When I'm not at my computer, I think of things that I want to post about, but when I'm here, it never seems to happen. I think it's because I feel like I have to write something significant. (And I generally am reluctant to do memes - as soon as the pressure's on, suddenly my mind goes blank and I can't think of anything to write!) So I'm going to force myself to attempt not to do that (wow, that was wishy-washy!), and just list some things...
1) I figured out how to get Pros eps onto my iPod. I now have First Night and Slush Fund on there, ready and waiting for the next time I have to make a plane trip, and I'll probably put at least one more (I have a nano, with only 8G, so I don't have room for too many at once). I already had vids on there, but episodes...this is just the coolest thing ever. Yeah it's a small screen, but it's so clear... I never pull out my laptop to watch eps on a plane, but I will watch them on my iPod! God this makes me happy!
2) I have finally finished the vidder-approved remaster of Land of Confusion, straight from the original master - phew! - and am working on putting together the CQ vid show DVD. I decided to learn DVDMaestro for this, rather than using TMPGEnc DVD Author, as I have always done in the past when authoring DVDs. I love learning new technology (though DVDMaestro isn't technically "new," it's new to me). It's a lot more work, and not necessarily worth it in all circumstances, but it's very cool, and I'm glad to know how to use it. Now I have to decide what to remaster next...
3) Took a fall off Bodie last week. This was actually the first time I've ever come off him, except once a few years ago when he fell down while cantering (he tripped and fell to his knees and then onto his face, and I went over his shoulder). This was a very easy fall, as they go - it was windy out to begin with, then a herd of deer spooked him, he spun (he should be a reining horse; he has a short, compact body and can spin on a dime), and the centrifugal force sent me right off the side (well, the engineer in me has to qualify that - there's no such thing as centrifugal force; it's the tendency of an object to go in a straight line... *g*). One minute on, the next off, in the blink of an eye - no moment of fear, no possible chance of staying on.
The ground was extremely soft, and it didn't hurt at all at the time, but the next day I had pretty bad whiplash; my neck was really sore. As for him...once he got over his initial fright he was fine, but did he stop and come back to me? No. He cantered off gently toward home (we were only about 100 yards out the gate!), leaped the fence to get back onto the barn property (rather than going through the gate, as he easily could have - he has jumping in his blood!), and generally failed completely to look, or act, contrite. I walked back, got on him, and made him work a little more - but I didn't go back out on trail. It wasn't a scary fall (and oddly, in some ways it was a relief - it had been a long time since I'd taken a fall, and you start to feel like you're due for one!!); the thing about it that is scary is that there is nothing I can think of that I could do to avoid coming off him if he did the same thing again.
4) Escapade is coming! I've barely thought about it. Before that Mr. JaC and I have our annual ski trip (usually the order is reversed, but this year Escapade is later), so it's a lot of travel all in a row. I haven't thought about whether I'm going to bring zines to sell...and it occurred to me a few days ago that I don't even have a roommate! I've never been to a con and not had a roommate before. I guess I ought to think about the con, hadn't I... It'll be my only slash con this year, other than con.txt, and that doesn't entirely count since I have to work so hard. And I really like Escapade.
5) I discovered in January that Yahoo had done something weird with my email, probably back in October or November, and from then until mid January then it appears that about a third of my legitimate emails were going into my spam box. I must have had a hundred "real" emails that I'd never seen (and I'm sure I missed some, as my spam box only went back to mid November, and I don't know when this began). This was very distressing. I've made an effort to respond to most of them, but if you emailed me and never heard from me, this might have been why. I've fiddled with my spam settings, and set my spam box up so that it's supposed to "learn," and since a few weeks ago I've had very few genuine emails misdirected, but I'm checking constantly anyway. And I've become very paranoid. (Is it paranoia if they really are out to get you? *g*)
6) Merlin is waking me up every single morning, standing next to my face and purring and nipping my nose. He's a doll, but it's driving me bananas.
7) How come, despite all my resolutions, I'm still so far behind where I want to be on all my projects? There are always so many things I want to do, and I feel like I never get any of them done! Or I get something done, but ten more things crop up to take its place on my list. And time just flies, all the time. I hate that feeling of never accomplishing anything, I really do.
8) Last of all, for the moment, lest I go on forever: I finally watched crimson_37's Pros vid, "Thirty Years of Sunshine." I downloaded it a long time ago but hadn't watched it. How lovely. It made me weepy - triggered all my strange, confused feelings about the passage of time. But it also captured that essential thing about fandom for me (or more accurately, about the fictional characters and worlds that form the basis of fandom, and with which I've always had the propensity to become obsessed): that these characters and worlds live on forever in my head and heart. (There's not really a "but" there, actually - it's all mixed together - and it's why I have such a problem with the conflation of the characters and the actors, as I wrote about here after seeing MS in A Man for All Seasons.) I don't think I can watch it too often, or even think about it too much - which is a tribute and testament to its power, and to the skill of the vidder - but...I won't forget it.
And I definitely think that's enough for the moment! :-)
1) I figured out how to get Pros eps onto my iPod. I now have First Night and Slush Fund on there, ready and waiting for the next time I have to make a plane trip, and I'll probably put at least one more (I have a nano, with only 8G, so I don't have room for too many at once). I already had vids on there, but episodes...this is just the coolest thing ever. Yeah it's a small screen, but it's so clear... I never pull out my laptop to watch eps on a plane, but I will watch them on my iPod! God this makes me happy!
2) I have finally finished the vidder-approved remaster of Land of Confusion, straight from the original master - phew! - and am working on putting together the CQ vid show DVD. I decided to learn DVDMaestro for this, rather than using TMPGEnc DVD Author, as I have always done in the past when authoring DVDs. I love learning new technology (though DVDMaestro isn't technically "new," it's new to me). It's a lot more work, and not necessarily worth it in all circumstances, but it's very cool, and I'm glad to know how to use it. Now I have to decide what to remaster next...
3) Took a fall off Bodie last week. This was actually the first time I've ever come off him, except once a few years ago when he fell down while cantering (he tripped and fell to his knees and then onto his face, and I went over his shoulder). This was a very easy fall, as they go - it was windy out to begin with, then a herd of deer spooked him, he spun (he should be a reining horse; he has a short, compact body and can spin on a dime), and the centrifugal force sent me right off the side (well, the engineer in me has to qualify that - there's no such thing as centrifugal force; it's the tendency of an object to go in a straight line... *g*). One minute on, the next off, in the blink of an eye - no moment of fear, no possible chance of staying on.
The ground was extremely soft, and it didn't hurt at all at the time, but the next day I had pretty bad whiplash; my neck was really sore. As for him...once he got over his initial fright he was fine, but did he stop and come back to me? No. He cantered off gently toward home (we were only about 100 yards out the gate!), leaped the fence to get back onto the barn property (rather than going through the gate, as he easily could have - he has jumping in his blood!), and generally failed completely to look, or act, contrite. I walked back, got on him, and made him work a little more - but I didn't go back out on trail. It wasn't a scary fall (and oddly, in some ways it was a relief - it had been a long time since I'd taken a fall, and you start to feel like you're due for one!!); the thing about it that is scary is that there is nothing I can think of that I could do to avoid coming off him if he did the same thing again.
4) Escapade is coming! I've barely thought about it. Before that Mr. JaC and I have our annual ski trip (usually the order is reversed, but this year Escapade is later), so it's a lot of travel all in a row. I haven't thought about whether I'm going to bring zines to sell...and it occurred to me a few days ago that I don't even have a roommate! I've never been to a con and not had a roommate before. I guess I ought to think about the con, hadn't I... It'll be my only slash con this year, other than con.txt, and that doesn't entirely count since I have to work so hard. And I really like Escapade.
5) I discovered in January that Yahoo had done something weird with my email, probably back in October or November, and from then until mid January then it appears that about a third of my legitimate emails were going into my spam box. I must have had a hundred "real" emails that I'd never seen (and I'm sure I missed some, as my spam box only went back to mid November, and I don't know when this began). This was very distressing. I've made an effort to respond to most of them, but if you emailed me and never heard from me, this might have been why. I've fiddled with my spam settings, and set my spam box up so that it's supposed to "learn," and since a few weeks ago I've had very few genuine emails misdirected, but I'm checking constantly anyway. And I've become very paranoid. (Is it paranoia if they really are out to get you? *g*)
6) Merlin is waking me up every single morning, standing next to my face and purring and nipping my nose. He's a doll, but it's driving me bananas.
7) How come, despite all my resolutions, I'm still so far behind where I want to be on all my projects? There are always so many things I want to do, and I feel like I never get any of them done! Or I get something done, but ten more things crop up to take its place on my list. And time just flies, all the time. I hate that feeling of never accomplishing anything, I really do.
8) Last of all, for the moment, lest I go on forever: I finally watched crimson_37's Pros vid, "Thirty Years of Sunshine." I downloaded it a long time ago but hadn't watched it. How lovely. It made me weepy - triggered all my strange, confused feelings about the passage of time. But it also captured that essential thing about fandom for me (or more accurately, about the fictional characters and worlds that form the basis of fandom, and with which I've always had the propensity to become obsessed): that these characters and worlds live on forever in my head and heart. (There's not really a "but" there, actually - it's all mixed together - and it's why I have such a problem with the conflation of the characters and the actors, as I wrote about here after seeing MS in A Man for All Seasons.) I don't think I can watch it too often, or even think about it too much - which is a tribute and testament to its power, and to the skill of the vidder - but...I won't forget it.
And I definitely think that's enough for the moment! :-)