Archive for the ‘friday free for all’ Category

friday free for all

Friday, January 29th, 2010

… As of yesterday, I’ve been working as a contractor for seven weeks. By Monday afternoon, I will have moved into three different cubes; spent about fifty hours on-bus; worked past 8p twice, on three different computers and three sites; and haven’t been paid. (You read that correctly.)

After a particularly long (cou*12 hour*gh) day, I received a pitch about the many benefits and great things about signing up full-time. I was not impressed and, as my newfound stability isn’t all that stable, am still unimpressed. (I’m scheduled for a check on the 15th, as their accounting system defaults to a 60 day wait.)

… (Speaking of unimpressed.) The Apple i[Tab] (what an incredibly terrible name) was introduced Wednesday and will ship in two months. Some people will find a use for it but until I can justify paying for books instead of the library (on top of some UX choices), I’m out. My next Mac will be the Mini that runs my television after the move.

… Yesterday was my sister’s twenty-second birthday. We went to the restaurant she suggested and had a pretty great time. Afterward, Girlfriend, two friend and I went to a show. After a drink or two and waiting in line for about fifteen minutes, the power went out.

About a half-hour later someone told us they were getting information for refunds; thirty seconds after that the lights went back on. Roma di Luna‘s (if you’re not listening to them, you should be) set was cut short for time and we left before the headlining act. I’m fully exhausted today.

… and finally:
This is the first FFFA since a month and a half after I was unceremoniously and involuntarily removed from my former place of employment. Since has been a whirlwind. I very much enjoyed my summer but didn’t enjoy the finance-related stress.

I’m now actively looking for work in Chicago and if any of the threes of you dear readers know of anyone that could help, please let me know. I’d love to find a local job board or hear about some specific places looking to hire.

Thanks in advance. You’re all glorious beacons of light in this dark, dark world. Well, most of you.

friday free for all

Friday, May 15th, 2009

… My youngest sister will be back up in MSP next week. She will have two jobs, an internship and gets back to school in the fall. She’s already mocking me. (Sibling rivalry becomes all too real when you’re not getting paid.)

… To stave off a neuron puddle, I’ll be reading more. This includes blogs, non-fiction, magazines, subtitles, you name it. Hopefully I can keep myself mentally ready for any 9to5 that comes my way. (The literary urge may or may not have been sparked by receiving more books from the library than expected due to bad queue management.)

… Girlfriend and I had to make an emergency trip to the MOA Apple Store because her cool-kid-computer tweaked. A terrible idea, this. Not because we didn’t need to go, but I had time to play with the Macbook on display. Ugh.

Someone, (anyone!) let me know if your company is looking for someone to show them the ways of the internets. Hell, need a web designer that can maintain a brand message across dozens of social tools? Need a blogger with a flair for parenthetical thoughts? (No? Are you sure?)

Tell your friends, your parents, your toddlers, whoever. I’d love experience, something to do with my afternoons save for reading (which is too nerd chic for my tastes anyway) and financial stability.

friday free for all

Friday, February 20th, 2009

… Yesterday, I attended Social Media Breakfast (MSP). It was quite enjoyable but for it being mostly about SXSW, which I can’t go to this year. I followed that up with a tutorial meeting on Google Analytics (which I’ve been using for three years) then a tutorial on a possible project routing program that’ll probably be shot down by those that don’t understand it. I’ll count it as a super productive and ultimately worthless day.

… We need to start electing leaders. The bickering among politicians and their constant skirting of responsibility is starting to get irritating.

… I’ve decided to do something with my portfolio. I will be building a site using Joomla! and will have posts like this one moved copied over there. (Eventually, they may be there exclusively.) I do this for those that would rather me not talk about social media or the implications and theories therein.

In other words, all you with no idea what I just said.

oscar predictions ’09

Friday, February 20th, 2009

… Because the big show is Sunday, I need to get the predictions out there. I mean, only amateurs wait ’til afterward to extol their brilliance. I can extol at the drop of a hat. (::hat drops to floor::)

Titles in italics will probably be winners. Titles in bold are ones I’m pulling for. *s are by ones I haven’t seen.

ANIMATED FEATURE

ORIGINAL SONG

  • Slumdog Millionaire – “Jai Ho”
  • Slumdog Millionaire – “O Saya”
  • WALL-E – “Down to Earth”

EDITING

CINEMATOGRAPHY

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Doubt
  • Frost/Nixon *
  • The Reader
  • Slumdog Millionaire

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

DIRECTING

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

SUPPORTING ACTOR

ACTRESS

ACTOR

PICTURE

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Frost/Nixon
  • Milk
  • The Reader
  • Slumdog Millionaire

I doubt I’ll be as victorious as last year (sarcasm) but one can hope I’ll catch a few. It wasn’t a good season (tons of repeats on here) but the ones listed were fairly solid. (As you can tell from the above, I’m quite partial to Slumdog Millionaire.)

I know you can’t wait ’til the recap to fully appreciate my genius. I know it. (Delusion is the first step toward success, right?)

In case you think you’re smarter than I am (and probably are), pick a category or two and lay out your prediction in the comments. We’ll see on Monday who emerges with the prize.*

* There is no prize.

friday free for all

Friday, February 13th, 2009

… I was sick Saturday night through Tuesday night. I caught up on “Flight of the Conchords,” “Six Feet Under,” finished “This Land is Their Land” and watched a few movies. Calling that productive is like calling me handsome or universally liked. (In that it’s so obvious it causes nosebleeds, of course.)

… Wednesday, Girlfriend and I had a night out. With the trips and work and pulling my hair out (metaphorically) and all that, it’s been awhile. As it’s winter and Minneapolis can make a witch’s teet seem tropical, we went to a movie. (The Reader, more on that later.)

Kerasotes, awhile back, bought out the multi-screen downtown. They offer a Five Buck Club (free!) that sends you a card and then emails about upcoming shows you can get at that ridiculously low (high, for the “back in my day” folk) price. If you’re not part of the club, you’re dimmer than an compact-fluorescent after the Apocalypse, I guess, is what I’m saying.

… This weekend is Valentine’s Day. I try (and fail) to make Girlfriend feel as special as I think she is every day. Luckily, there’s a day when I can do that when everyone else is doing the same. (Individuality!)

Guys, make sure you do something worthy of her telling her friends about it. It’s all she thinks about (according to all the sexist ads out this week) between how many carats her dream ring is/which detergent to use/how fat she feels and how annoyed she is that you like sports/don’t vacuum/are a terrible father.

Singles, here’s your annual chance for some pity-play. Happy hunting!

friday free for all

Friday, February 6th, 2009

or: Google is my digital-lifemate.

… Last night, at Grumpy’s, I attended my first “tweetup“. It was entertaining. Pretty sure I’ll do it again. Nice to be among a crowd of digital dorks, like myself. Speaking of…

… My Gmail inbox is sort of my digital enclave. I redecorate constantly and reside there daily. I have my documents, my calendar, my AIM/gchat and a theme. I’m also a bit of a filter slut, organizing and reorganizing my labels, directing traffic.

So I pissed myself (just a bit) when Google read my mind, creating multiple inboxes. Over the course of the day I’ll be refining filters and adjusting labels. Because I lead a sheltered, nerd-centric, physically attractive life.

… Screw it, let’s dry-hump Google some more:
Latitude? Passive observation (read: creepy) but has privacy settings more advanced than other geo-locator programs. (Can select, by friend, if they see nothing, citywide, or best location; can hide your location globally.) Also, it stores only your latest location.

Mobile Books? I like the idea (it’s FREE!). I don’t have a cool kid phone so I can’t say I’ve tried it for its intended use but it works in a standard browser too (if impossible to read because it scales width). Seems a good travel companion for those with mobile interweb that want more features than the Kimble can sort out.

It even remembers what page you’re on under the “My Books” section. (Which is nice.)