peaces

I keep meaning to update in here but I get so caught up in the world of video that by the time I have a free moment, I’m writing another sketch comedy or collaborating with other YouTubers.  Time is also spent watching The Shaycarl Party on BlogTV.  Or hopping into an EmptyIsAwesome chat on stickam.  I’m not there as often as I was when I first started but still, if someone sends me a link and says, “Hey, come say hi to us,” it’s easy to just click and go.  Last night it took me away from editing and converting video.

This collaborative project we’re working on this weekend is becoming a little more involved than I anticipated. Some of the video files were created on a Mac. Nothing wrong with Mac files, unless you’re like me and editing on Windows software. That’s where research and time come into play. Blah.  I still haven’t found the one conversion software that will do the job accurately.  It’s choppy and laggy.

Anyway, that’s what’s going on.

Not to mention I spent all day yesterday either in bed or the bathroom.  I couldn’t keep anything in my body.  It was frustrating and uncomfortable.  I’m feeling a little better today but still not 100% strong.

I did an online yoga class the other night. It was great - except my screen saver kept popping up and I had to keep stopping the video to get the full yoga experience. The instructor flew through the poses. I think it was a 90 minute class condensed into 45 minutes.  But effective enough to give me a charlie horse through my entire left leg two days later. Big ouch.

My work hours have slowed down, partially my own fault. I was banking on more hours with one client when I let go of another client. But it sorta didn’t happen.  I had to let go of the other client. I was sitting there, doing nothing for hours at a time. I felt brain dead. Now I wish I just continued to be brain dead. I was getting paid for it. Still, not exactly ethical to charge them for sitting around.

I did get a call from another person who needs my help in the near future. He’s just putting his stuff together, figuring out exactly what he needs. He said “I’m not looking at anyone else. I hope it’s ok that I call you in a couple of weeks.”  Nice guy.

So I’m not panicking (yet).  I’m working enough hours with my two clients to at least float.

What else?  Oh yeah, this one’s kinda big and scary.  I joined a few actors resources websites.  I can read breakdowns and submit my headshot and resume for roles I think suit me.  I’ve always wanted to be a television/film actress.  I gave it up a long time ago.  I’m back around to feeling like I passed up on my number one love.  So I have to try.  And I have to admit I want it.  Meaning, I have to be willing to fail or succeed.  Anything else is just in-between…which is kinda where I’ve been for 16 years.

I guess that’s it for now. Hope you are well. What am I missing in the blogosphere? Feel free to link-drop in the comments. I know I’ve been MIA in your blogs. I read through my feeder but I know it’s not the same.

I’m wondering how many of you view my blog in Internet Explorer. I rarely use IE so I didn’t notice that the right sidebar is hanging out at the bottom of the page - in no man’s person’s land.

I use Firefox, religiously. So that’s where I’ve done all of my testing. But one of my clients is all about Microsoft so when I visited my site from his office, that’s when I noticed the viewing catastrophe.

I also have a test blog that uses the exact same coding as this blog (for testing purposes) and it views just fine in IE and Firefox. I’m rarely on a Mac so I haven’t viewed any of my sites on Opera, Safari or other Mac-friendly browsers. Guess I should change my practices and test on as many as possible.

I’m not sure why this is happening in IE. But if anyone has any suggestions, I’m up for the challenge.

I just tweeted an offering of a free mp3 to the first person who’s able to tell me why the sidebar is at the bottom. I don’t expect to hear much. I may have 60 followers but only about 3 actually follow me.

To me, there looks like plenty of room for the sidebar to fit - on any browser. But that’s because I’m a wysiwyg kinda gal.

Suggestions anyone?

UPDATE:  It appears I owe myself a free mp3!  By removing a single link from the LEFT sidebar, the right sidebar reappeared in the appropriate position.  Don’t ask me how.  I just went widget by widget.  It’s all trial and error over here.

Email me to let me know if you have trouble viewing this page and what browser you’re using.  Thanks.

Ahhhh … What a great weekend.  No reason.  Just was.

I struggled yesterday, trying to get my thoughts together for a simple video blog.  I recorded about four different segments.  Just trying to “check in” because it had been a couple of weeks and some friends from the YouTube community were wondering where I’ve been.

It’s just not as easy to record, upload and edit video as it is to post a quick blog entry.  Especially with my older computer and free editing software.  I’m grateful for what I have.  I just can’t do exactly what I want it to do.  Perfectionist.

So I just kept giving up hope of posting a video this weekend.

Then PBX and I hooked up the webcam to send PBX-Jr. a video message and it inspired me to record a quick vlog.  I’ve been inspired to be “quick” before but this was truly a quick vlog.  No editing, no makeup, no notes, very low quality. Total old skool vlogging.  I uploaded it to YouTube and headed out the door to join the Piper-play.  When we came in, it was loaded and live.  Easy-peasy.  The way vlogging, true vlogging, should be.

Now, interestingly, I feel more free.

I can work on my sketch comedy spoofs (I wrote a great one Friday night) and music videos without pressure.  And I can post a new Freeepeace Features — featuring 3 channels I think deserve attention.  So far it’s been a hit with my subscribers.  Because I haven’t posted in a while, they’ve been asking about new features. Slacker.

I really like the pockets of communities I’ve crossed into.  I don’t solely identify with just one YouTube community which is great for the weekly features.  I’m meeting some really interesting people of all ages and videoing styles.  I like that we share our experiences and bounce ideas off each other.  I love love LOVE the collaborative effort.  Some of my future videos will include other YouTubers. Kinda cool.

I’ve also spent a lot of time learning a few cover songs.  Having fun experimenting with styles, tempo and such.  Nothing fancy. Nothing extravagant. Everything creative. Life’s blood.

Went to the beach today with PBX and the dogs.  She biked.  I skated.  The dogs were pulled in a baby trailer behind her bike.  Piper went psycho, wanting to be out running.  Sounded like a seagull … or, a tortured, suffering, dying, screaming child.  We did capture a bit on video but O.M.G. people were scared.  PBX kept telling folks we captured a seagull.  No joke about the similarities in sound.

It cut our bikepath stroll in half.  Hunny did okay in the trailer, for her first time.  She wasn’t happy with it, but she suffers silently, unlike drama queen PiperBoy!  oy.

I haven’t checked the video so I don’t know what was actually captured.  We shall see.

Still it was nice to be out in shorts and a tank top for the first time this year.  Talk about pasty white skin. Ugh.  Can anyone recommend a GOOD no-sun tanning creme?  I’m not a dog walker anymore.  It shows, in more ways than one.

Whoa. Much longer blog post than anticipated.  This is probably why I should update daily.

I’ve been a long time user of Bloglines as my RSS feed reader. I’ve relied on Bloglines to keep track of my favorite blogs and their new posts. It’s a great service that helps me organize my daily or weekly reads. But because it’s so easy to add a subscription (RSS feed) I’ve begun to use it as somewhat of a catch-all storage bin. When I see a blog or an individual post that I think I might want to reference later, I click subscribe and move on.

So you can imagine the piles of subscriptions just sitting there, in this bin. I’ve lost track of so many bloggers over the years. One of the things I’ve been trying to do this year is be a better friend and check blogs on a more regular basis. Now with other social sites like Facebook, Twitter and my recent dive into YouTube, it’s even more challenging to stay connected to those who aren’t making use of these great sites.

So…

Some of you might have noticed that I recently subscribed to your blog via email alerts. Thank you, first of all, for offering email subscriptions. I am way more likely to click an email link and read/comment on a post than I am to open my feed reader and click through piles of blogs for more than ten minutes. If I get a single email with your post, it’s not as overwhelming as feeling the pressure to sort through piles of backed-up entries on an external site.

I just can’t be trusted to remember to look in my feed reader. I’m that scatterbrained - sometimes. A whole day can go by and I might even have had moments of boredom. Still, the end of the day will arrive and I’ll be like, dammit, I didn’t read blogs today! But thanks to Twitter, I know what Charles Trippy had for dinner. No offense to Trippy but there’s a serious imbalance there.

So if you have a blog please let me know how I can subscribe to the email alert. Some of you don’t have that option on your sidebar - maybe because you haven’t set it up. No worries. But if you’d like to email your post to me, as it’s posted, please do that. Better yet, let’s follow each other on Twitter and you can tweet the link to your new post each time. Otherwise, be patient and go easy on me. I have you in my feed reader. I just may forget to open the storage bin.

Peace & Love All

Donna from Along The Way left this great comment in a recent Peaces entry abut Best Survivor Season EVER:

We should go on Survivor and form an alliance. I’ll learn how to start a fire BEFORE we go and you can learn to catch fish with your bare hands. When we get back we will have some kick a$$ blog entries. Bet I’ll have readers then! Even if I was voted off first, lol!

I love it!  Makes me wonder why folks don’t learn how to start fire and catch fish before they get to the island!  Especially these “die hard” fans and folks who submit applications every single season.

I think there should be a new season of Survivor filled with contestants who HAVE NEVER SEEN THE SHOW.  They’d have to go by what they’ve heard or not heard.  I mean, come on, how fun would that be???  Like the first Survivor all over again — but with some knowledge of the whole idea of reality tv.  Even if it’s unconscious knowledge.  It’s out there.  (Fuck. I’m brilliant!)

As for the last part of her comment about having some readers of her blog - it really blows my mind how some blogs are at the top of the hits-list and how others are like silent goldmines.  I’ve known Donna as a blogger for almost five years.  We’d lost touch as many of us switched from the small pond of AOL Journals to the vast oceans of the world wide blogosphere.  Many got swallowed up and it’s not been the same.

But when Donna found me again, I was thrilled (thanks Donna).  Her new(ish) blog is personal, honest, inviting and funny.  I wish every mother would take note of Donna’s love for her grown kids.  And OMG the dogs! You’ve got to see the video of her Yorkie trying to walk by her bigger dog (golden retriever maybe?) — The big dog couldn’t care any less about the little guy who is talking up a storm.  So funny and cute!  Such a Yorkie thing.

Ok, enough. I’ll let you see for yourself.  Give her a visit and let her know we’re reading.  I would hate to see her give up just because she thinks no one’s around.  It’s not our fault she can’t read her blog stats!  (love you Donna)

Along The Way - Donna’s Blog

$4.29 = the price of a gallon of regular unleaded at a Los Angeles 76 station.

$4.07 = the price of a gallon of regular unleaded at a Los Angeles Mobil station.

$3.70 = the price of a grande caramel macchiato.

Finally, Starbucks is cheaper than gas.

Some of you have seen the little box in my sidebar that answers the question: What Am I Doing?  Many of you know what that is.  Some of you don’t.  Hell, I didn’t know what it was for the longest time.

Twitter is basically a microblogging site that allows you to post updates in 140 characters or less.  That’s it.

When I was first introduced to Twitter, I went blindly and created an account as instructed.  I posted my first tweet (that’s what they’re called, probably because it sounds a lot better than twit.)  Then I just kind of sat there, waiting for something to happen.  Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

Then I searched for other tweeters in my email address book.  I found two and followed one.  Then I saw a fellow blogger’s update on her sidebar. I followed her.  For a while, there were just a few of us.

Suddenly - and I mean suddenly, as if it was the very next day, there were loads of third-party applications that helped me make sense of Twitter.

Then just last week I found an interesting social media guru and clicked to follow him.  A moment later I received an email saying he was following me.  And a moment after that, I received another email congratulating me on being his 1,000th follower and that he had recently promised to feature his 1,000th in his blog.  He did - along with all 999 others -  the guy goes crazy with linkage! It’s awesome.

And now, there’s no going back. I’m addicted.

I’ve made use of the third-party sites to help streamline some things (and of course, I’m still learning).  Like, making tiny url’s to announce a new blog post or interesting online article, and tweeting photo links from my phone.  Yes, I can tweet from the road.  I can tweet a picture of traffic, an accident, a beautiful rose garden or a picture of the actual suit worn by Robert Downey Jr. in the movie IRONMAN.

The other great thing is I can reply to others and vice versa.  Once that starts, there’s potentially no end.

Thanks to Twitter and those I follow, I’m keeping up with news, politics, learning more about social media and finding new music to enjoy. And seriously, that’s just today - and it’s all right there, in one place.

So come join the fun. Or at least check it out.  After you create an account, be sure to go to settings and allow all replies — that way if someone you’re not already following replies to one of your tweets, you’ll get to see it and have the option to follow and/or reply back.  Yay for community.

Useful Info

Replies in Twitter begin with the @ symbol.  So if you were to send something to me from your account on twitter.com, you would put this before your text: @freeepeace

You can tweet from the twitter.com site, IM, phone or any of the 3rd party applications like a browser toolbar or desktop tool. Whichever works best for you.

There are many options for website/blog widgets (like the one in my sidebar). Choose and customize yours.

There’s (of course) a facebook application too.

Helpful Links

Follow me on Twitter 

Create Tiny URLs from Firefox

Upload pictures using twitpic 

Follow any Twitter conversation with Quotably

Awesome video: Twitter In Plain Language 

I’ll post more useful info / helpful links as time goes on.

If you have a favorite link or application, or just want to share twitter stories, leave them in the comments. I’d love for this post to be an ongoing Twitter resource.

Whaddya say?  Do you twitter?

I was suddenly struck down by some bronchial thing Wednesday night. Well, more like Thursday morning.  It was about 12:45 AM.  We were watching Will & Grace and mid-laugh, I burst into a spastic coughing fit that sent me gagging over the toilet. I know. Nice huh?

My chest and lungs were convulsing.  I just couldn’t pull myself together.  No warning. No idea what caused it.  I had to take some heavy-duty cough syrup that knocked me out cold.  I barely sat up on Thursday morning and the whole scenario started again from the beginning.

Because of this I missed a whole day of work.  Dammit.

I didn’t start to breathe normally till Friday night.  I still have an intermittent cough so I’m not out of the woods yet.

Today, it was blazing hot again.  Strange actually.  We had record-breaking hot temps two weekends ago.  I’m not talking about a degree or two.  We broke records by ten and twelve degrees in some areas.  It was brutal.  But last weekend it was in the 60s (if that) all weekend.  Kinda cold for this time of year.  Well, here we are at 90+ degree weather for another weekend.  Is this going to be an every-other-weekend deal?

I heard some areas got more snow yesterday.  Seriously, that’s craziness.

We’re looking at air conditioners.  Anyone know of an A/C that will fit into a lateral sliding window?  It’d be great to find one that’s tall and thin.  Just asking.

There’s a small film crew in our house again.  Pick-us from the same film we worked on a month ago.  Just getting shots we didn’t get.  Still, it’s turning into an all-night shoot again.  Geez guys, come one already.  Piper can only do so many takes of the same shot.

No worries.  It’s the nature of the beast.  I’m excited to see what they come up with.
Anyone know anything about Squidoo.com?  Just curious.

I discovered Noggin today, a Facebook application that I could get addicted to.  It’s similar to Boggle. I’m a huge Boggle lover. Huge.  I usually go out of my way to find games similar to Boggle but this one just jumped out at me.  You play againt other Facebook members. So fun, frustrating and addicting.

Other online Boggle-like games I totally love: 

Babble -It’s a 5×5 grid with letters.  You have 24 hours to get every single possible word in the grid.  Very fun.  There’s a chat and people will give you hints if you get stuck.  You can play for free for 14 days and get all the clues you’d get if you paid.  After 14 days you’re encouraged to pay 15 bucks for a lifetime membership.  It basically keeps the site running.  We love it.  It’s a relaxed way to play a word puzzle game.

WordSplay - the successor to WEBoggle - Another great boggle-type of word game.  Options of 4×4 or 5×5 grid.  You can play as an individual or team.  3 minutes to type all the words you can possibly find.  If you get stuck and slow down, click on the grid to spin the tray to get another view - a great feature!

I guess I’ve covered a lot (too much) in one entry.

Perfect timing:  THAT’S A WRAP!  The film crew is packing up.

It’s the week of tags I guess.  I was tagged on YouTube and here in the blogosphere.  In this game I was tagged by Heather. Yay.  I know it can get old but I love things that promote interaction with the community and bringing people together.  Or just having one-way conversations with myself.  Same thing sometimes.

Okay, here we go…

Here are the rules

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here are my 7 random and/or weird things:

7. Since taking my nosering out for a film shoot I have not - and probably will not - put it back in.

6. Before becoming a dog walker I was afraid of dogs.

5. I’m deathly afraid of balloons.

4. When my hand is held flat, my pinkie finger doesn’t touch my ring finger.

3. I’ve grown one inch taller and one whole shoe size in the last three years.

2. I’m more afraid of mosquitoes than black widow spiders.

1. I’m a big-time consumer at heart - like, if I had a lot of money I’d buy the best of the best electronics (camcorder, didi-cam, pda/cell phone, computer, game consoles, flat screen tv, etc.)

And the 7 people I tag:

Robbie   -  Gigi  -  Becky  -  Lori  -  Amy  -  Ginger  -  Donna   -  PBX

I can hardly believe it’s been almost a week since my last post.  The week is flying!

We filmed at the house over the weekend - Saturday and Sunday nights … till three o’clock in the morning.  I’m not convinced they are finished.  They kept adding shots and that took way more time than expected.  It needs to be finished by May so I should know more soon.

I’ve been working (for that guy) in his office the last few days.  Then I have another job to finish from the doggie daycare place.  Then I have an interview on Monday.  All these freelance opportunities are exciting.  I want to take a web design class (specifically Dreamweaver CS3) or a seminar or something.

I’ve been tagged by Heather. I know I’m very late.  But I’ll get to it!  The toughest part will be tagging others.  Sort of like a recent video I posted. I was tagged on YouTube too.  When I watched the video playback, I realized I hadn’t tagged anyone.  So I had to edit it in (it was obviously much later in the day so I didn’t pretend it was recorded in sequence).  I also called someone by the wrong name in my tagging video. Nice huh?  What a tired dumbass.  I hope he’ll forgive me.  I do say he’s tagged because I love him.  Maybe that’ll soften the blow.

::sigh::

Sleep much?

Not really.

We’re scheduled to see a screening tomorrow night.  Not sure what it is.  I just go.

I have a gig coming up. I mentioned it briefly once before, but I’ll be mentioning it more now that it’s THIS MONTH.  If you’re in the LA area, come hang out at The Cat Club, Tuesday April 22 at 8pm.  Download and print this flyer for discount admission.

Oh yeah, I changed the layout and colors in here.  What do you think?  I’m loving it so far.  Still playing around…when I have time.

Seriously, sleep at all?

A little.

G’nite!