CCS Site

Opinions HOME FAVORITES ART STORIES Music


Archives: 2000 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 2014 2016 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Subscribe to the RSS feed.


5/26/2004

Earlier, my father informed me that my mother and he had found my long lost story (a submission to a local newspaper writing contest). I was so thrilled to hear it. And when he produced it in its entirety (I found that I had one page remaining of the end — only about the last part of a paragraph).

It was such a thrill to read it again. I would like to share it with you.


5/10/2004

What's up with companies advertising and product descriptions? Let's take Kraft's Macaroni and Cheese. In the Commercial, it's Kraft Cheese and Macaroni. I thought that was very clever. But when I went to the store to get some, I was very disappointed to find out that it was just a gimmick.

Now, let's consider the Fig Newton. In those older commercials, we see that Fig Newtons are not cookies, but are fruit and cake. Ah, says the viewer to herself, not cookies. But now, look at the packaging! It refers to the Fig Newton as a cookie! Even newer commercials do the same! Oh! The inconsistency! The unique identity is tossed aside, or passed over. :-(


4/30/2004

The iTunes Music Store has added Disney to its collection. I was very happy to learn this. I purchased about $17 worth that day! Now all I need is Nintendo music. Yes! It's quite good. I won an Anne CD (soundtrack of the "Anne of Green Gables" series). I do love that music. I think I've bonded with it. I suppose that's where my attraction for video game music came from. It's something I was familiarized with when I was younger, so there fore it has that much greater appeal. I'm listening to the Superman theme right now. It also has that effect on me.

Oh, how music can move! I downloaded some sheet music and was trying to play some of those classical pieces on my guitar. Let me tell you (if you don't already know), they're not that easy. Even simpler ones (ones that have been "fixed up" to be easy) are a bit challenging to me, but that could be because I haven't played the guitar in several months (maybe a year).

As for the Newton. I was able to get it to connect to my iBook via WiFi. It's been online with WiFi, and with my cell phone (both dialup and GPRS). There's still more for me to learn about it, too.


4/15/2004

I got the battery a couple of days ago for the Newton. It is sweet! (The Newton—the battery's okay too.) It would be nice to have an up-to-date version. I just love writing in cursive and having it recognized. I just love writing on it. I have yet to share this joy with my family; I'm waiting until I can show off it's modern features such as WiFi access. Woohoo! I suppose this means I should set up a technology section in "Favorites."


4/9/2004

I got an Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 yesterday. It is huge! I didn't pay a whole lot for it, so I'm quite relieved that it's not all scratched and banged up. I have no way of powering it up as of yet, but I have a power adapter and battery on the way. I'm curious to see how the "original" PDA stands up to it's modern descendants. The handwriting recognition from the Newton is available with Mac OS X (10.2+), so I've had a little time to play with it, at least with its capability, if not it's actual implementation. I've used Graffiti2 on a Palm, and it's okay, although there isn't a way to make capital letters just by how they are written.

Another really cool thing about the Newton is its support for current technology (something it's large size works for it in its advantage). With recent drivers, it can use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi! How many Palm Pilots can do that? Even current Palms don't have access to a Wi-Fi upgrade, although one has supposedly been in the works for quite a while. I think that the upgradeability with the Newton is just amazing. It's been discontinued for six years.

A number of years ago, I did have interest in the Newton eMate when it first came out. Originally available only to educational customers, it was later made available to the general public. It's high price —$799— proved to be too much for my no income economic position (hey, I was a kid then). I came across a few mentions of the Newton which did raise my interest a bit, but the price, even for a now used and older Newton, was still too much for me. Oh well, now I have a job, and have found one cheap enough. Yippy.


4/1/2004

I finally won a song from the Pepsi–iTunes Giveaway! The first Pepsi I got came in a can at the Honda dealership while I was waiting on my car to be fixed (oops). The second (that was actually part of the promotion came from a community center vending machine (with high prices I might add). I was a bit dissapointed with that one. But today, I just felt like giving it a try. I had a bit of hope in me—even the price was lower. When I took it out, I tried the angle peek. I saw the words "one" and "song." I didn't think that sounded like the "Sorry. Try again" message.

I have now entered the code and have one free song in my iTunes account. Yay! Hmm, which song to pick…


3/3/2004

Well, I've left my former location of employment. I still have the same employer, but I don't work for the same library branch. It does sadden me. I know many people there, and I miss them. In my new environment, I am surrounded by many more people. It's almost scary. I hope to get to know them though. I have spoken with a few of them. They seem nice enough…

I'm just thinking again how unsuitable this material is to the title of this section "opinions." It started out being opinion comments, then turned more into a kind of blog. Oh well. Opinions shouldn't be overly depressing either. Hmm. Perhaps the "Comfort" section would have been better, but then it would be an oxymoron; but perhaps to good effect.

Getting back to work: it's different in ways. Everybody there asks or tells me it's different, but I feel that in many ways, it's the same. I'm still taking books out of boxes, still putting them on shelves, and comparing books to items on a list. I've done all this before, only now, the procedures are slightly different. I suppose I should leave a little room for misinterpretation. Perhaps some referred to how books are ordered — by list and title, not by spine label and number. I suppose I will get used to it. I started out similarly at my old location — not knowing anybody, not sure of what to do all the time — only now, I do have a bit of experience to fall back on.


2/19/2004

:-( Why is it so hard for me to understand things? It seems that so many people just get "life." I seem to struggle so much with understanding basic emotions. I question myself: Is that how I really feel? What should I be feeling? Then, when I watch a movie, or read a book — it all seems so clear. But when I look at myself again, those questions once again come up. Oh well. I guess I'll live and eventually, one day, find out.


2/18/2004

Jurassic Park. Good book, good movie. The Lost World: Jurassic Park, another good book, and movie (at least, I thought so). Jurassic Park III. Hmm. Well, there was no corresponding book, although some elements were lifted from the previous book(s). I knew this movie was on the wrong track the minute I saw that Spinosaurus Egypticus break T-Rex's neck. I know, it was supposed to suggest that this movie was even bigger than the previous two, but, it was playing with what was "great." For some of us in the audience, the Tyrannosaurus Rex was just cool. Then, to just come in with a bigger dinosaur just to make the movie "more cool" was just plain silly. Also, the music was just a rehashed version of John Williams original themes. (He was busy working on another film — BTW, this seems oddly familiar. Have I already ranted about this? Please, let me know.)

Why am I mentioning this? Well, because of a review I read about another one of Michael Crichton's novels-turned-movie. Timeline. When I got into the book, it started to seem really cool. A lot of events (similar to Jurassic Park) took place, but were unable to be incorporated into the movie. To be fair, I haven't seen the film just yet. Apparently, it didn't do to well at the box office, so it quickly left the major theaters and even the cheap ones before I had a chance to check it out. Now, let me point out why (opinion:) Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park were so good: 1) Crichton wrote the screen play for the first 2) Steven Spielberg directed the two. Now, I can't blame the director of Timeline simply because he's not Spielberg, but it kinda looks as though he didn't do too well in carrying out the story.

I just may consider doing a full-fledged review of movies I've seen some day.


1/26/2004

Guess what. That's right (or wrong, as your guess may be), the car had a lot of damage and wear. The current theory is that a lot of the important structures "under there" dealing with the axles, steering and exhaust system (read "muffler") were corroded or weakened by salty Louisiana air (you folks can let me know if I'm wrong) and then the theft and stripping with carelessness. It was a warning when the seller said the sale was "as is," "no warranty" and then proclaimed that even the best dealers could only offer the same.

So far, the car is costing about $7,000 (two thirds of that being the actual purchase price of the car). Again, it is so sad that folks steal. It's also sad when some try to rip another person off. :-(

Note: This entry was originally dated January 24, 2004 but appeared chronologically after the January 25, 2004 entry. The exact date of this entry has been lost to time, but I have advanced it by two days to correct the sequencing.


1/25/2004

Now I've "finally" gotten another car. No, it didn't take too long, in fact, I think it was too quick. I've found the cars that were similar to mine, showing partiality to those that were of my favorite color. (In case you hadn't noticed, it's blue.) There was one ad I was particularly fond of. The car was about an hour from where I live, but my parents and I drove up to see it. It is a light blue; I was hoping for a darker blue, but light blue is still blue. The car did have a few things wrong with it: a broken lock on the passenger side (from a break in, oh yeah, did I mention it had been stolen?), a "salvaged" title, a few odd spots on the interior that looked mildly like cigarette burns, Lots of scratches and a few cuts in the dash (did I mention the car was stolen and put on the chop block?), the tail pipe looks a bit rust (along with a few odd screws). Anyway, it wasn't until later that I discovered that the muffler had some holes rusted into it!

Sometimes I wonder how people can do such things. I don't think I could imagine myself doing such a thing. I'm not being self righteous (at least, I'm not trying to be), but I guess I haven't had the environment that would encourage me to do so.

Well, I cleaned the carpet today and was just now trying to dry it out a bit with the heater. I'm typing this up right now, in it. Thank goodness for modern conveniences such as portable computers and AirPort (WiFi/802.11b for the uninitiated). I have had some worries about it. I'll be taking it to the dealership to have all the "proper" repairs done. I do wish that cars could last forever. A reset button for an accident would be great.


1/23/2004

Well, my car has officially been deemed a total loss. :-( My first car too. I only had it about 2 years. It's still driveable. The rear end looks a little crooked, however. And the trunk is difficult to close (there's a trick to it, but I haven't mastered it). Someone can come along, break your car, and then, rather than getting it fixed, you have to find another one. It's sad. At least now, maybe I get to find a car in the color I want


1/21/2004

I've found an interesting site recently. It's called YoshiArt.com. I've run across Yoshi fan sites before, but this one just got to me for some reason. When you're young, it's acceptable to be obsessed about a video game or character, but when you're older, it starts to look a little sick. I must confess my love of Yoshi. I appreciate his docile nature, his unique abilities, but most of all, his wonderful body design. Oh, yes, I am obsessed with bodies — perhaps just a little too much. :-\

Well, just let me say that I have come to "love" Yoshi from an artistic perspective. Lots of curves, a few angles and the relationship among all the shapes. I have made a number of drawings and other art with Yoshi, as you may have seen in my art section (did I mention my Yoshi animation (with Shy Guy)?.

Now, when Yoshi first started out in Super Mario World, I really didn't like him (he was always running away!) But when Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island came out — oh my! That game just called to me. The graphics were just so artistic (or artsy). The story, just pulled at my heartstrings. Oh, how I wish I could play that game when my sister and I picked up the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. We didn't get it then. But it did come with Super Mario All Stars, which included Super Mario World. Okay, so I guess I was just spoiled by the Yoshi of Yoshi's Island so that I couldn't develop an attachment to this more "primitive" Yoshi.

I do believe (well, as far as I'm concerned) that Yoshi's Island was when Yoshi was in top form. In Super Mario World, he was a bit of a wimp and had that pointy nose; so unyoshi-like. In later games, Yoshi took on a more youthful look losing that adult or experienced (for a yoshi) look to be more childish. While Yoshi has always had a somewhat young appearance, it was with Yoshi's Story that Yoshi actually became a child, while the older yoshis just kinda bummed out. This look has seemed to stick. Will it go away? I don't think so. Let's consider Mario. He started out looking like an old "scruffy" plumber. Now look at him. He's so short and cute and good looking. Oh well, just a thought.


1/19/2004

Well, today I got Adobe Creative Suite (and the Premium addition at that!) I can finally run Adobe applications (primarily Photoshop and Illustrator) in Mac OS X! I am so glad! But, I didn't start out so glad…

You see, I was thrilled to find out that Adobe was offering an upgrade path to the complete suite of their flagship applications if you just had a copy of Photoshop – which I did. I bit down hard and decided to go for it. Well, when I got ready to install it, the instruction on the CD told me that if I had a version of Photoshop before version 5, I'd need to contact Adobe in order for this upgrade to work. I called, I was told that the serial number I had was registered to someone else. I'd either have to get the previous owner to sign a transfer form or buy a copy of Photoshop (yeah, I'll buy Photoshop on top of what I've already paid for the upgrade. I can't afford the Full version of these expensive programs. I'm trying to start out, fulfill my passion) . Wouldn't you know? It was just too good to be true. Then I contacted the guy (or gal, Terry is a unisex name) and asked about him doing a transfer (if he hadn't just sold the old version of Photoshop when he upgraded using the same serial number — which doesn't sound legal, if you ask me).

Well, the guy just told me to try and register it. I couldn't find a link on the Adobe support site. I just decided to try installing anyway. I figured Illustrator would work, as only Photoshop needed the so-called activation, but everything seemed to work fine. I'm glad now. I finally get to work in Mac OS X. Only thing now is, everything is so slow to start up! It's not so bad once they're running. (It might be all Mozilla's fault! It's using about 50% of my CPU cycles.) The programs are much bigger, I'll give you that, but those much lighter (and older programs) from the classic Mac OS did have a few of their problems when working in Classic (some more recently than others).

Well, the updates this year (well, starting now) will now be handled by Adobe GoLive. So if there are any bugs… Mozilla Composer has been fairly good to me. It's nice, for a free product. If any of you are looking into an all-in-one solution, I've found Mozilla (and more officially in the past Netscape) to be a nice solution for my browsing, email, news group, and web page design. Well, so long to the web page design part anyway.