So I was crazy enough to get up at 3:30 am to get to an electronics store before they began to hand out tickets. I drove there. Took a good look at the line and parking lot and returned home. There were no parking spaces. The line? Several hundred people. All I wanted is one television. However, since the minimum they might have is 15, with a line like that my chances of getting one are slim to none. I decided that I didn’t need one today, and there will be more sales prior to Christmas. In past years, Black Friday has never been very good for the stores in spite of their sales. I am going back to bed to wake up much later. I seem to have caught another bug. It’s mild, but annoying. Later, I think I will get out the decorations and get the outside lights up.

Technorati: Black Friday

Today may be a lost writing day as well, but I hope not. I was out late last night in the East Bay. Not a place I regularly travel to, and certainly not where I would think of first to go out. I had a great time and met some great people who are friends of Mr. O.

Just who is Mr. O? Anyone who listened to one of the last of Kelly’s podcasts might know. He’s hard to describe. He’s my most recent writer’s block. So I’m not going into any detail here. Not that he reads it or would be bothered. I just don’t want to jinx it.

For now, I need water and more sleep. Maybe an afternoon nap. Right now, I’m just not that tired.

Yesterday I tried to take some good pictures with my camera. I have an advanced digital camera, which means I have plenty of control over the shot, but only have one lens. Every picture when enlarged has jaggies. I don’t understand it. I’ve tried everything I know to control it, and the only thing left as a reason is that the camera just isn’t good enough. It’s 5.1 megapixels, which should be fine. I would like to get a new camera–a real digital SLR–but I will have to save up to get one.

Should anyone try to give some advice…yes, I am using the highest resolution possible. Yes, I used a tripod (my hands aren’t that steady for up close work). I think it should be easier to get quality photos than this. I just think that in order to reduce the problems I am having that I need more megapixels.

Technorati: digital photography

To state the obvious, we are nearly at the end of October. It won’t be long before the new year is here. Funny how time passes so quickly. As a child, I remember time moved at a snail’s pace, unless it was summer.

I’m also close to it being 3 months since I restarted this blog. A lot has happened to this blog since then. Although some days, I have no idea where it is going. Maybe that is the point–it follows the same flow as my life. Which brings to mind those crazy questions as to where you will be in 5 years. See, lately I’ve had a few interviews. I’m not the best at lying by saying “oh, still at your company, perhaps in management.” I have no idea where I will be in 5 years, and it doesn’t really matter. My experience has shown that all the planning in the world doesn’t usually work out. It’s better just to go with the flow. My life always changes–sometimes very quickly. The one constant is my life is change. I used to hate it. I fought it. Now, I can’t imagine it being any different. It took years to learn to enjoy the fast-paced change.

So where am I going (with this blog or life)? I don’t know, but I will enjoy the ride.

Last night I watched a program on vampires on the Biography Channel. It covered a little history and interviewed people who claim to be vampires. I’m curious. Do people think there really are vampires? Is it possible to be one? Frankly, I’m not sure that being pale or having a reaction to the sun truly counts. I meet that criteria. Does liking the taste of blood make you one? Or, does it just mean you have an unusual taste? Anyone want to tell me the fascination with vampires?

See that was probably the most interesting thing I did all evening. It was Monday. No dates on Mondays. All of these reminds me that Halloween is coming up, and that means I have to hide my black cat. Poor baby. He has a tendency to try to run outside–although not lately. It’s funny that black cats have such a poor reputation here. In Spain, black cats are lucky. I’ve heard that in other countries black cats are considered lucky. He really is the sweetest cat too. I adopted him because no one wanted an all black cat.

I don’t typically go to Halloween parties. Not sure why. I like costume parties. I think there should be more of them–not just at Halloween. Perhaps I don’t like the ghoulishness of Halloween. I don’t know. I wasn’t allowed to go trick-or-treating growing up.

P.S. Please check out some of the advertisers.

Technorati: vampire, Halloween, black cat

You may notice a few changes. Since I can’t use AdSense anymore, I’m putting up new ads. However, there will only be a few and only those that I actually endorse or use. I’m a Netflix member. I really enjoy it because of the large selection of independent and foreign movies. It’s not that I only watch those movies. It’s that after watching all of the main releases, I still need more to see to really come out on my membership. I get 3 at a time, and I watch 3 movies a week. I added Match.com and Chemistry.com. I have some experience with Match and since Chemistry is a new service launched by Match, my guess is that it is a quality site. The good thing about Match.com is the number of people on the site. Many dating sites don’t have the membership, which means the selection is small.

So if any of the ads you see interest you, please check them out. I will be adding a couple of new ones and probably rotating them, so there are only a few ads at any given time. I don’t expect it to really make me any money. I would just like to break even with the expenses of the blog. I was nearly there when AdSense was disabled.

Technorati: ads

The Based On Experience podcast episode 17 is up. It can be downloaded from iTunes or from the website.

I’m off this morning to an interview for most of the day.

Technorati: Based on Experience, podcast

The two and half hours I spent sewing a hula costume last night didn’t get me very far. I managed to get the material into the right size pieces. I found out that I bought double of what I needed. I also found out that the brown material I bought is much too heavy, so I need to go back to the fabric store to get new fabric. Yuck.

My neighbors have fully decorated their house for Halloween. It’s all lit up like you see at Christmas, except for the spider webs and strange monsters in the bushes. Even I don’t have that kind of enthusiasm for Halloween. Hardly any kids go trick-or-treating anymore. Last year I think a dozen kids came by and that included the neighbor’s two kids who won’t be in the neighborhood this year. One of those divorced families sharing kid time. Something I’m very familiar with, except since mine lives so far away, it isn’t as often.

Podcasting got moved to today. I still don’t have news about the last podcast being ready for download. I would imagine that there are still some problems with uploading it to the host site. After this long, I’d be ripping my hair out. I don’t have a lot of patience with these computer and Internet issues—particularly website issues that I can’t do anything about. Depending on the website, it can take forever to get a response back from service and even longer to get the website back up. Lately, Blogger has been giving me a headache. Several mornings in a row, it has not been able to publish immediately. Then I get anywhere from two to eight posts of the same post. Apparently every attempt at publishing somehow puts it on your blog—even if you don’t see it immediately.

Technorati: halloween, blog, podcast, hula

I looked at my calendar for this week yesterday. I have a very busy week coming up. My biggest concern is making a costume for hula before the end of the month. I’m not the best at sewing, and it’s something I will put off if I can. I bought the material yesterday. It’s a huge amount. It takes four to five yards of material to make a skirt. I have that to do tonight. Someone is going to show the group how to make the different pieces.

I’m recording another podcast this afternoon. I will be letting you know here when the first one I did is ready to download.

I’m a little concerned about a friend of mine who went to Kona, Hawaii yesterday. Yes, although there was an earthquake, it didn’t stop him from going. He’s not the type to want anyone to be concerned about him, but I am anyway, and I would guess his parents are too. On the news, things looked a bit crazy with all the lines to the stores and blocked roads.

I just got back from he one-on-one seesion about tahitian dance tryouts. I didn’t make it. I wish I had, but I know their comments are valid. When you’re nervous it’s hard to do your best, and it was the first tryout I’ve had. While I have a lot to work on, I have come a long way as well. The next tryouts are about six months from now. They want their best dancers for competition, so I can fully understand. Tryouts were tough and nerve-racking. I practiced a lot for the tryouts, which helped me a lot. Now I have a better idea of what they are looking for and what I need to work on. Overall, it was a good experience.

So I am a bit disappointed, but considering their remarks, I wouldn’t have chosen me either–a bit too green.

Technorati: dance