peaces

Okay, let’s try this again. Last week I announced that I was going to be live on BlogTV.  I posted that announcement everywhere - my blog, my aol journal, twitter, youtube.  I even tacked a few flyers on lampposts by my house.

I took a quick dip in the pool and dried off, relaxed and ready to go live when BlogTV decided to punk out.  I got emails and IMs about “I can’t get in!!” and “It won’t load.”

I know.  Same happened for me.  It just wasn’t in the cards.  We bagged it and went to stickam instead. It was fun but I’m still determined to make my BlogTV show work.

So I’m taking the plunge again and I’ve scheduled another LIVE SHOW - THURSDAY at 8PM PDT (11PM EDT).

I’d love to see you there!  You don’t have to be a member and you won’t have to get on camera.  You have the option to chat via text.  But you wouldn’t even have to do that.  You can be a creeper-lurker like many who’ve come before.

If you’re interested in knowing about spur-of-the-moment, and other scheduled shows, you can click this link to go to my page now, create a user-name and click SUBSCRIBE.

You can also get alerts if you FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.

QUESTION: If you are interested in seeing a show, what’s the best day and time for you? Please remember to be specific about your time zone.  (I may turn this question into a poll in the near future.)

Thanks all. Hope to see you live in BlogTV!

Ahhh Friday night and I’m ready for a nice relaxing evening. It’s been a good week filled with lots of work - the paying kind. Yay.

I’ve been trying to get the bloopers video up all week but Windows Movie Maker has had it with me. I think we’re going to part soon. I’m looking into other consumer-level editing software - Like Adobe Premiere Elements 4. I figure, I have been using Adobe Photoshop Elements for many years and I love it. They supposedly converse with each other and they’re in the price range I can handle looking at. I could get both if I choose to upgrade my ancient version of APE. We’ll see.

I am also looking into that PDA I mentioned. One of my clients has a great service at a reasonable price. Plus it has GPS capabilities. I wouldn’t need to get that GPS for the car. Just a thought.

As you know, I’ve been big into learning about social networking. I found some great websites/blogs during the week. I’m so behind the times, it’s killer. Every moment I sit here, there’s more information flying way over my head at the speed of light. That’s why I rely on consumer reviews.

So what do you think? Have you used Adobe Premiere Elements? How does it compare to Windows Movie Maker?

What’s your favorite PDA and why?

And lastly, are you using online social media/networking like Facebook or MySpace? How about micro-blogging like Twitter or another site? What’s your favorite and why?

I know, lots of questions. See, this is my life. These are the questions I ask every day.

On a non-question note, we’re going to a YouTube gathering in Balboa Park in San Diego tomorrow.  It’s nothing formal so I don’t even know if I’ll see anyone I recognize.  But I’ll be with my family - yes, we’re bringing the dogs.  That’s all that really matters.

Music - Where it all started. Hearing my dad sing and play guitar all my life. Trying to answer questions I’ve received over the years. This would’ve been a mini-guitar tutorial but because I’m still working out the kinks of video and audio, the tutorial will come later. Audio/video issues are completely my fault. I accidentally recorded over other something and it caused glitches. Ah well. Live and learn. Shot on a Panasonic DV cam. Edited in Windows Movie Maker.

I’ve decided to take on the task of transcribing a lifetime of handwritten journals onto the computer. I’ve just begun researching the best, or most appropriate, computer software for the job.

My goal is to have it organized so that I can do a keyword search that will pull up all related entries. Similarly, I’d like to do a date search or an event search.

I’ve found a few software packages but they’re mostly available via download only. I’d like a software disk - you know, in case anything happens to my hard drive. It’s been the way of our computers lately. We’ve lost many programs because of faulty hard drives. Once you reformat, you lose everything, unless you have the disk to reinstall.

Anyway, blah.

Anyone have any good software suggestions?

I considered MS Word or Final Draft but I don’t know if it can organize my files in the way I’d like. Thoughts?

The downloadable ones I found most intriguing:

Life Journal Software. Inexpensive. Not many reviews. Just this one. — Oh wait — Just found a link with the software on CD Rom.

Alpha Journal. Seems similar but I can’t really tell. Screen shots aren’t as dynamic as Life Journal but again, I can’t really tell. About the same price.

NETime Diary. Not sure about the search functionality on this one.

The Journal. I like the search results page. Good screen shots.

All of these (and most downloadable ones) offer some kind of free trial. I suppose I could just download them all. Ugh.

I guess that’s why I’m looking for your thoughts and user reviews.
Can you recommend a Personal Journal Software?

Thanks all.

Help!

I’ve been researching health insurance plans. My head is spinning. I could easily go with the top names (Blue Cross, Aetna) and pay high premiums as a self-employed individual. With them, I’m sure to be covered comprehensively - for regular check-ups and emergency care. But with the recent increase (almost 50%) this year for these premiums, I’m already looking for alternative ways to bring in money, just to pay for health care coverage.

There is another option - and this is what makes me nervous. I’ve contacted non-profit groups who offer group plans for the self-employed. But these two companies pop up on the internet with complaints of fraud. BUT…for every fraudulent complaint, there is a rebuttal of praise for the companies.

What do you know about Mega Health and/or Mid-West National Life Insurance Companies? They are one in the same.

I postponed my appointment with the underwriter today. I need more information.

I want a PPO that I can afford. I want to choose my own doctors and know that I’m covered for emergency care should accidents occur. A co-pay is better than a deductible (imo) — because, even after paying a deductible, there’s still some kind of co-pay or percentage pay.

Anyway - thoughts?

We went to the movies yesterday - first time in … a long time. Aside from student films, I can’t remember the last movie I saw at the theater. It might have been last summer - with PBX and PBX-Jr.

Now I’m stuck on figuring it out. I know we saw Pirates and The Devil Wears Prada. After that, the fall is a blur.

Anyway…

We saw Pan’s Labyrinth yesterday. A sweet little sci-fi fantasy — NOT! Be warned. This is not the movie we expected to see. I’d describe it as a violent, thriller-tragedy - with nothing held back. Very well done. Great acting. It’s a Spanish film - subtitled - and I even stayed with it. If you know me, you know I despise having to read while watching a film. Subtitles take me out of the story because I’m a slow reader. However, this film moved slow enough for me. I found myself spinning my hands trying to move the story along.

I’m still trying to figure out if I liked the story or not. Just because it wasn’t what I was expecting, doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. It was so heavy. We went to an early show - but it knocked us out for the rest of the night.

Be careful - it has an R rating - not just for the mature theme - but definitely because of the graphic violence. And I mean graphic. I could hardly watch some of it. Many of us were squirming and squealing in our seats. It was very discomforting.

At one point I was angry - hating the movie. It was then that I realized it must be a good film - anything that makes me feel so strongly. I hated what was happening on so many levels. This story grinded my soul in a deep way. At the very same time, I feel a deep sense of respect for the filmmakers and actors involved. Compassion like no other for the protagonists and deep rage for the antagonist. It’s the only way I know to explain it.

I’m being vague because I don’t want to spoil the story.

QUESTION: If you have seen, or you plan to see (or not) Pan’s Labyrinth, what are your thoughts?

Ugh. Playing with template changes again. Looking to minimize space within posts (i.e. single-spacing). I did some simple changes like before. Then I remembered what I read recently in my new laymen’s terms “create web pages” book - Always check to see what your pages look like on other web browsers. What do you mean, not everyone is using Firefox? No, of course not.

So I open Explorer and rush to my blog before the inevitable “explorer has to shut down” error box appears. Ack. My blog is a disaster in Explorer. I see it - but the error message appears and I’m stuck with a perfect looking blog in Firefox.

I’m waiting for updates to be installed in Explorer, hoping that will clear the error messages that I’ve been receiving for a year. But, I love Firefox.

Anyway, this is just to say: I’m working on it!

Again, I appreciate any suggestions, hints, tips, etc. Next I need to work on my website. I’ve changed hosts in the last year - but I haven’t switched anything over because I don’t know what I’m doing. sigh. I’ll get there. Slowly but surely.

Question #1: What’s your favorite web browser and why?