Sometimes You Just Need the Big Guns

Yesterday, a very special package came in the mail. It was from Jesse's office. No, he didn't get promoted, but judging from the excitement in the apartment, you would have thought they made him King of the non-profit. We did a little happy dance as he ripped open the padded envelope. That very special package was the new Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium edition. It's the tricked out Cadillac of all Adobe packages and it's allllll miiiinnnneee. (Ok, technically, it's all Jesse's, since he is going to use it for work, but I can also load it on my Preshus and tinker to my heart's content.)

I popped in the tutorial cd this morning and realized that there are about 15 different programs and applications, many of which I've never heard. I decided to get a little breakfast before diving right in, because I am definitely not worthy. Having this software package to do the types of projects that I have in mind is like hiring Deloitte and Touche to balance my checkbook. However, I feel that I must step to the challenge of owning the CS4 Web Premium edition. In addition to my Public Administration course, I'm thinking of taking a basic web design class to learn how to use Dreamweaver. My main goal will be to rebuild the Quickcrit Blogger template (which is right now sort of a Frankenstein of pieced widgets and html parts) so it's not all buggy and annoying. We'll see how that goes.

Oh and my Public Administration class? Awesome. I think it's going to be a really great quarter for two reasons: my professor is pretty great and Public Administration is such a nebulous field that just about anyone can find a niche -- kind of like my degree in American Studies. Oh, and speaking of American Studies, my professor is also an American Studies graduate. I think I'm going to love this class!

My Preshus

Preshus!* Arrived a day early and has since ruined all my plans of finishing my papers early.

* I mumble in my best Gollum voice as I pet the shiny aluminum case.

The Last Straw

I know I've threatened this before, but I'm seriously done with my laptop. As in, shut down for the last time and if it mysteriously catches on fire and melts into one giant chunk of plastic, I'll roast marshmallows and hot dogs over its (hopefully not too toxic) flames. If you're out there Dell and Microsoft (aka. Axis of Evil) you just lost a customer who swore she'd never buy a Mac.

There have been a series of incidents that have led up to this decision, the most recent and annoying is the failure of my power cord yet again. It has left me laptop-less for over a week. Luckily, PSU has an abundance of computers on campus and 500 free pages to print for students. Bonus! Last night, we had a scare that Jesse's 4-year-old+ laptop from work wasn't going to start up again (it did, hence my ability to blog this morning) and I realized that we need to have one reliable computer in the house. The Mac Mini is great, but it's not a full computer -- basically a word processing and music machine. Jesse also reminded me that I'm a student until the end of August, so we might as well take advantage of the discount. I think we're going to pop into an Apple store and check out the goods, ask a few questions, and maybe even consider a purchase.

As for today? I have a piece of fabric* that is calling my name. Perhaps I'll make a sundress this afternoon. I haven't touched the sewing machine in ages!

* Yes, this photo is taken with my cell phone camera. No, there is nothing wrong with my real camera. Jesse's laptop will not allow me to download just one image, due to the fact that the iPhoto version is so ancient. It insists (even though I yell at it) on scanning every single photo on the memory card, which happens to be in the neighborhood of 800 right now. Someday, I'll operate technologically in the 21st century and feel secure enough to actually delete photos from my camera (which sadly, is the most stable device in my life right now).

Dude! You Got a Piece of Junk!

I keep seeing that Dell guy's vacant stare and hearing him yell at teenagers on the television screen, "Dude! You Got a Dell!" As I was de-fragmenting my hard drive yesterday and hating life because my laptop sucks, I wondered whatever happened to the Dell dude? I have to admit I felt a bit of satisfaction when I found that he got arrested for buying pot and Dell dropped him from the campaign. (As as side note, what was Dell thinking? Buying pot only gave him street cred. I mean, they did hire a total stoner to sell laptops to prospective college students). Anyway, he's now a bartender/waiter somewhere in NY.

To get to the point, my 2-year-old Dell is a total piece of crap. The only reason that it hasn't flown out the window this week is that I'd much rather pay rent than buy a new laptop in April. So, we're stuck with each other for a little while longer. As of April 1st, it's missing three keys and the left click button is worn and not very clickable anymore. Also, it crashes whenever I try to use the control panel. I've learned to deal with Vista's setup (I can finally find things once they are buried in the "user friendly" configurations). However, I can't get over the fact that my 4 year old laptop actually performed better -- even when it was dying.

I had a good chuckle yesterday when Jesse read me an article about how the Texas State government just made a provision in one of it's laws that bans any state agency from buying Vista. It's nice that they can choose -- I was strong-armed into having it loaded with my new computer. "Vista or nothing," said the Dell customer service guy when I called to ask for XP instead. I wonder how much kickback they got from Microsoft for pushing the shitty product? Maybe I'll ask that when I write a letter this week to Steve Ballmer. I'm going to request a complimentary copy of the new operating system when it's released. Fat chance, I know, but I feel that I should ask anyway. Call it a "retention bonus," because they're about to lose a lifelong PC user. (Yes, I said it, my next laptop will likely be a Mac.) I just can't take it anymore.

To end on a more positive note, I did disable a lot of features that make the Vista system unique and the Dell and I are getting along much better today. Also, I got a our first house plant! I think this is the longest I've gone without having any flowers or foliage around. I guess I still don't feel like this is our permanent place and haven't made a huge effort to make it feel like more of a home. However, it was so gloomy the other day that I felt we needed a little sunshine. I'm thinking of planting a few herbs next -- Jesse does love a nice summer pesto.

Love, Hate and Rain

It's been cold and rainy for the past two days. I can only assume this is what February in Portland is supposed to look like (we've had such a wonderful winter that I find it hard to imagine what everyone complains about). However, I had things to do and people to see, so the rain and cold was unavoidable.

I submitted my resume to a temp agency today and hope to pick up some part-time work here and there to keep myself busy. Also, I really do want to get that house and yard sooner than later, so the more money we can put into savings, the closer we will be when the time comes. I kind of dread getting started though -- having to take those stupid typing and word processing proficiency tests is annoying, but I know once that's done, I'll feel good about bringing in a paycheck again.

After having a delicious breakfast of red beans and rice with an egg on it (hey I'm not the only one with great ideas), I headed out to the Portland DMV to get our car title transferred. The trip was successful, but took about 2 hours of waiting with a bunch of weirdos. Anyway, we're legit. The final step necessary to becoming true Oregonians is done! I then went over to Anna's for an afternoon of hanging out. She's in the final days of pregnancy and can't wait for the baby to finally arrive. It was nice to chat with her for a few hours. At this point, I feel like I need to get in all the socializing I can before she and Brian hunker down with the newborn.

I got home from Anna's around dinner time and fixed a bite to eat. Then, I decided to try and finish a photo book of our wedding that I started, oh, a year ago. It's shameful, I know, but better late than never right? One reason that I've dreaded working on it lately is that I have grown to detest my laptop that is plagued by Windows Vista. I'm not sure if I've ever shared the contempt I feel for my computer on this blog, but believe me, the hatred runs true and deep. Since the darn thing has trouble performing mundane tasks like opening the internet and saving Word documents without freezing, the added strain of editing a 600mb photo album is not pretty. In fact, it's physically painful. I think being run over by a dump truck studded with spears would be less painful than finishing this wedding album. Currently, I'm blogging on Jesse's Mac because we need a little time apart. (With that said, I feel I should launch a preemptive strike on all arguments stating that I should just get a Mac. We already have two in the house and I use them now on a regular basis. However, they're not great at EVERYTHING and I'm not ready to convert completely.)

Throughout the process, I keep reminding myself how awesome it will be to have a complete book of photos that contains memories from all three of our celebrations. I'm pretty excited to finally see it in print!

Videorama

So, after having a near-death experience over my sideways videos yesterday, I took a deep breath and walked slowly over to the mini Mac (the little box that I never touch). I have an irrational fear of Macs, they scare me with their "user friendly" logic. Also, even though I loathe Windows Vista and curse my laptop daily, I'm pretty sure if I ever saw Justin Long in person I'd deck him right on the spot. (Loved him in Ed, but can't stand him in my face smugly touting a product -- no lifestyle -- that I just can't seem to master.)

Anyway, I tend to shy away from Jesse's computer, even though technically it's our computer, just because it makes me feel stupid. However, my insane need to rotate these damn videos led me to the iMovie application. It seriously took me 15 minutes just to figure out where the computer applications were hiding (everything is neatly tucked away in places that I can't ever seem to find). But I found it and tinkered for a while. The results are very crude, but my precious videos have been rotated and edited down to the essential parts. The Dancing Gallagher video lighting has been adjusted so you totally can't see the lead singer anymore, but the Crazy Man's air drums ring in crystal clear. Check it out here.

Hold on to your hats! Here's the promised Marble Run from Christmas in Santa Cruz, complete with Tai (the holiday party paparazzi) demanding a photo op: