A few things about today.
1) That Office joke with the disposable camera? Seriously hilarious. A joke that only The Office could pull off with such plausibility. If you wanna watch it, go here and skip ahead of 2:38 to see what Im talking about. Maybe you wont laugh cuz you know its coming, but man, I laughed a lot.
2) Got called a fag in class yet again today, but this time it wasnt under whispered breath like normal. This time it was full-on, in my face, so the whole class could hear. And the students repeated their statement enough times to make it stick. Things like this shouldnt shake me, but Ill admit I was a bit shaken. And of course the mind twist to all this is that when shit like that happens, I go get my mom to handle it, since shes the disciplinarian of the school. Its like coming home from school and telling your mom that you got called a fag in class. Its just so bizarre and surreal that I had to walk into my moms office and tell her what just happened, especially when Im not the kind of person to typically share those kinds of things.
But this is what I signed up for, more or less. These are the toughest students in the whole district, the ones no other school wants in their building.
I guess its true what they say: Be careful what you wish for. In college, I used to wonder what it would have been like if I had been harassed or teased about my sexual orientation in high school after I came out. I used to wish I could have gone to a Treatment Camp or something, just to see if I could tough it out with all the confidence I have now.
I guess Im not as strong as I thought.
3) Went out to dinner with my Dad to a new place where he can get gluten free pizza, and he really liked it!
4) Took the night off from my heavy exercise routine, since i couldnt even straighten my arms today, I was sooooooo sore everywhere. Ill pick up again tomorrow afternoon before I go to Denver. I spent the evening watching all my shows, which was nice to just relax after a really busy week.
5) And finally - WHO THE HELL WAS THINKING AT APPLE when they stuffed the new TV with a version of iOS? I mean really! The thing has been out 3 days, and its already been jailbroken. I mean, come on Apple, you arent even trying anymore. I swear, its like you WANT us to jailbreak the damn thing.
PS, press Option-Shift-K on your Mac computer to create the symbol. Rename your folders on your iPhone using iTunes, and suddenly you have the cool symbol on your iPhone. Hell, place it everywhere!
Ok, that was pretty much the highlights I can talk about today. Other stuff happened, but I dont think its my place to discuss it publicly. Enjoy the 1st of October!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
In Brief: Got the new Xbox 360 Dashboard!
I dont wanna upload shitty pictures of mine, but heres basically what shows on my Xbox now. AWESOME.
Be Jealous.
Be Jealous.
 |
| Source: Engadget |
Its been One Week....
My apologies. I wrote this post two weeks ago, and never posted it. The weekend I tried to post it, I got SUPER sick. And this week has just been a blur with my new exercise regime......
SO! Pretend its two weeks ago.
Over the last week, many of you probably noticed some changes in my patterns. First and foremost, I stopped tweeting on a regular basis. The first thing you should know is that Im totally fine, and nothing bad happened to me. The fact of the matter is, I stopped tweeting because most of my thoughts these days involves either frustrations with my job (which isnt fun to read on Twitter), or my thoughts about how different the kids are that are work with (which prolly flirts with FERPA violations if I talked about it).
So! Im gonna kinda do a run through of everything thats been going in my life, and what the next year looks like, all planned out.
First, I got a job working for the Dreamcatcher program in Boulder, a Direct Instruction program that helps students who are behind catch up to grade level quickly and successfully. Interesting fact - the dude who invented Direct Instruction actually taught at the University of Oregon a few years ago.
I got involved with this program because Dreamcatchers is hired by the school my mom works at to help the students who are the most behind get caught up. AKA Remedial instruction.
My mom works at Justice High School, a school for students who are all legally involved in the court system, generally have a criminal history, and were either expelled or not allowed to attend any other school. Another words, this is the last chance school for most of these students. So the makeup of this school is about 95% Latino students, which all combined, makes this a VERY different group of students than what Im used to. For example, on my VERY first day at work - two girls started fighting. And I dont mean fighting as in verbally, or even just slapping. I mean full on, full out yanking of the hair, clawing at the face, and lots of blood dripping down both their faces once 6 people finally pulled them apart. Oh, and it happened again with two different girls on my second day. Yea. Different.
I spend my morning hours at Boulder Justice High, and spend my afternoon hours at Denver Justice High, another branch of the school.
However, instead of spending most of my time teaching, I find myself spending most of time babysitting or trying to coax these students into working instead of telling me to fuck off.
Its SOOOOO different than what Im used to. In any other place, when you approach a student with discipline of some sort, or some loss of privilege, and the student realizes that they need to apologize and get back to work or stop goofing around. At Justice High, they look at you like you are crazy to even try to tell them what to do, and then they laugh at you.
Its like Im having to start from scratch and re-learn everything I know about working with students. Instead of working from the top down, and bringing the students down a peg when something happens, I have to work from the bottom up, and really focus on positive reinforcement and using Love & Logic techniques.
Basically, this is HUGE opportunity for me to really develop my skills working with students, even though these students are in high school. So I am grateful for the opportunity.
In terms of my tech dreams, most of that has gotten kicked to the way side for now. After I take the GRE in November, Ill start studying to get my Apple and Microsoft certifications so that tech shops will actually hire me. Right now, its just a flat no from most people.
So for now, Im tutoring students at CU in Computer Science, and I already have 2 students that Ive taken on, and 2 more that are interested. So all good money rolling in. (This was a MAJOR fail. The students sat down and I had NO CLUE what the devil they were talking about. I had to turn both tutoring offers down and switch to tutoring algebra and stuff. OOPS.)
Between all that and watching Nip Tuck with mom, I stay pretty busy these days. Anyways, Ill update more later.
LATER -
So now that ive been on the job for 3 weeks now, Ive noticed some things.
First of all, my fellow remedial teachers really dont have the backbone for this kind of job. ....I take that back. They do. Everyone does. We just dont use it and follow up when we should. The lot of us are empathetic towards the students. We dont want to send them to the office to get in trouble, so we threaten, and then DONT FOLLOW THROUGH. How I allowed myself into this pattern, I dont know, but heres the bottom line.
Normal classrooms: 20 kids, 1 teacher, smooth as butter.
Us: 25 kids, grouped into 8 kids per room, TWO teachers per room, and we cant control them at all.
As you might be able to imagine, the schools are pretty pissed with our performance. And so am I.
But Im not in charge anymore. Decisions dont go through me, and my boss isnt super on the up and up with dealing with these issues. She wants to kill them with kindness. Well wake up, sweetheart. It aint working. We need solid structure before we befriend these kids.
Oy.
Other news........ ummm.......
My parents are making me pay my cell phone bill now, so yep, im trying to find someone on AT&T to jump onto their family plan with so i can FINALLY GET AN IPHONE. If your interested...... let me know.
Im studying a lot for the GRE now........ taking it Nov 8th......
Booked a trip to Florida from Nov 10th to the 18th...... seeing my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc, all of which I havent seen in SIX YEARS. So yea, Im glad Im going.
Im getting out there in the gay scene more often, which im pretty happy about. But Im still trying to figure out a good friends routine. I love the people I have seen since Ive been home, but i see them too infrequently. I need something more solid.
Oh, and on the DL........ i ordered a PS3, which will complete my trifecta of currrent gen video game consoles. As of this Friday, I will own an Xbox 360, a Wii, and a PS3. Bwa-hahahahahahahaha.
So life is going ok! Could be better in some areas, but im pretty happy as it stands. Im doing something I enjoy, thats also VERY challenging, helps me with my weaknesses (cough*my patience levels*cough), and looks fantastic on a resume for something im doing on my OFF year.
Sorry for the lack of updates! I promise ill pump more out as I go. But as it stands, I roll out of bed at 7:30, and finally get back to my computer around 7:30. And with Fall TV making a comeback...... well...... blogs take a backseat I guess. Oh well.
Til next time!
SO! Pretend its two weeks ago.
Over the last week, many of you probably noticed some changes in my patterns. First and foremost, I stopped tweeting on a regular basis. The first thing you should know is that Im totally fine, and nothing bad happened to me. The fact of the matter is, I stopped tweeting because most of my thoughts these days involves either frustrations with my job (which isnt fun to read on Twitter), or my thoughts about how different the kids are that are work with (which prolly flirts with FERPA violations if I talked about it).
So! Im gonna kinda do a run through of everything thats been going in my life, and what the next year looks like, all planned out.
First, I got a job working for the Dreamcatcher program in Boulder, a Direct Instruction program that helps students who are behind catch up to grade level quickly and successfully. Interesting fact - the dude who invented Direct Instruction actually taught at the University of Oregon a few years ago.
I got involved with this program because Dreamcatchers is hired by the school my mom works at to help the students who are the most behind get caught up. AKA Remedial instruction.
My mom works at Justice High School, a school for students who are all legally involved in the court system, generally have a criminal history, and were either expelled or not allowed to attend any other school. Another words, this is the last chance school for most of these students. So the makeup of this school is about 95% Latino students, which all combined, makes this a VERY different group of students than what Im used to. For example, on my VERY first day at work - two girls started fighting. And I dont mean fighting as in verbally, or even just slapping. I mean full on, full out yanking of the hair, clawing at the face, and lots of blood dripping down both their faces once 6 people finally pulled them apart. Oh, and it happened again with two different girls on my second day. Yea. Different.
I spend my morning hours at Boulder Justice High, and spend my afternoon hours at Denver Justice High, another branch of the school.
However, instead of spending most of my time teaching, I find myself spending most of time babysitting or trying to coax these students into working instead of telling me to fuck off.
Its SOOOOO different than what Im used to. In any other place, when you approach a student with discipline of some sort, or some loss of privilege, and the student realizes that they need to apologize and get back to work or stop goofing around. At Justice High, they look at you like you are crazy to even try to tell them what to do, and then they laugh at you.
Its like Im having to start from scratch and re-learn everything I know about working with students. Instead of working from the top down, and bringing the students down a peg when something happens, I have to work from the bottom up, and really focus on positive reinforcement and using Love & Logic techniques.
Basically, this is HUGE opportunity for me to really develop my skills working with students, even though these students are in high school. So I am grateful for the opportunity.
In terms of my tech dreams, most of that has gotten kicked to the way side for now. After I take the GRE in November, Ill start studying to get my Apple and Microsoft certifications so that tech shops will actually hire me. Right now, its just a flat no from most people.
So for now, Im tutoring students at CU in Computer Science, and I already have 2 students that Ive taken on, and 2 more that are interested. So all good money rolling in. (This was a MAJOR fail. The students sat down and I had NO CLUE what the devil they were talking about. I had to turn both tutoring offers down and switch to tutoring algebra and stuff. OOPS.)
Between all that and watching Nip Tuck with mom, I stay pretty busy these days. Anyways, Ill update more later.
LATER -
So now that ive been on the job for 3 weeks now, Ive noticed some things.
First of all, my fellow remedial teachers really dont have the backbone for this kind of job. ....I take that back. They do. Everyone does. We just dont use it and follow up when we should. The lot of us are empathetic towards the students. We dont want to send them to the office to get in trouble, so we threaten, and then DONT FOLLOW THROUGH. How I allowed myself into this pattern, I dont know, but heres the bottom line.
Normal classrooms: 20 kids, 1 teacher, smooth as butter.
Us: 25 kids, grouped into 8 kids per room, TWO teachers per room, and we cant control them at all.
As you might be able to imagine, the schools are pretty pissed with our performance. And so am I.
But Im not in charge anymore. Decisions dont go through me, and my boss isnt super on the up and up with dealing with these issues. She wants to kill them with kindness. Well wake up, sweetheart. It aint working. We need solid structure before we befriend these kids.
Oy.
Other news........ ummm.......
My parents are making me pay my cell phone bill now, so yep, im trying to find someone on AT&T to jump onto their family plan with so i can FINALLY GET AN IPHONE. If your interested...... let me know.
Im studying a lot for the GRE now........ taking it Nov 8th......
Booked a trip to Florida from Nov 10th to the 18th...... seeing my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc, all of which I havent seen in SIX YEARS. So yea, Im glad Im going.
Im getting out there in the gay scene more often, which im pretty happy about. But Im still trying to figure out a good friends routine. I love the people I have seen since Ive been home, but i see them too infrequently. I need something more solid.
Oh, and on the DL........ i ordered a PS3, which will complete my trifecta of currrent gen video game consoles. As of this Friday, I will own an Xbox 360, a Wii, and a PS3. Bwa-hahahahahahahaha.
So life is going ok! Could be better in some areas, but im pretty happy as it stands. Im doing something I enjoy, thats also VERY challenging, helps me with my weaknesses (cough*my patience levels*cough), and looks fantastic on a resume for something im doing on my OFF year.
Sorry for the lack of updates! I promise ill pump more out as I go. But as it stands, I roll out of bed at 7:30, and finally get back to my computer around 7:30. And with Fall TV making a comeback...... well...... blogs take a backseat I guess. Oh well.
Til next time!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
New Music
You may have already seen this first song on my Facebook, but Im reposting it here because Ive been listening to it today, and I like it more and more every time I hear it. Its the new single by Marina and The Diamonds called Shampain.
This next song, however, is one I heard on the radio last month while driving home from Oregon. I had never heard it before, but it intrigued me, and I had never taken the time to look it up until to today.
Ill go ahead and say this song is NOT APPROPRIATE for the work place, or anywhere else you need to be professional. The songs basically says, "Fuck you," all the way through the song. And rightfully so, shes pissed off.
Anyways, hopefully you enjoy!
This next song, however, is one I heard on the radio last month while driving home from Oregon. I had never heard it before, but it intrigued me, and I had never taken the time to look it up until to today.
Ill go ahead and say this song is NOT APPROPRIATE for the work place, or anywhere else you need to be professional. The songs basically says, "Fuck you," all the way through the song. And rightfully so, shes pissed off.
Anyways, hopefully you enjoy!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Random Thoughts
To say I have been watching a lot of Nip/Tuck lately would be an understatement. Ive ripped through 4 seasons of the damn thing in just over a week. Thats about 15 episodes per season at 46 minutes an episode, not counting the 1st season that consisted of 22 episodes and not counting that the first and last episode of each season are 20 minutes longer than normal on average. This is also not counting the time I have spent catching my Mom up on the show, who now likes to watch episodes with me.
Statistics aside, I get heavy doses every day of two individuals who have plenty of cash to throw around, and never REALLY have to worry about money.
And after I got over wishing I could be rich like them, another thought occurred to me.
What kind of life would I live if money really wasnt an issue at all? What would I want to do with my life if I really didnt have to worry about money at all? What would really make me happy at the end of day?
These are the kinds of questions that friends and family have asked me to think about over the course of my life, but that I never really seriously gave thought to. Why should I? Money talks, and money makes a lot of things move. But perhaps something about my life-shift and heavy doses of this show have started to make think differently.
So I started thinking. And since the job market has been my priority question these last few weeks, I started with the job. What would I really be happy doing? What would really give me satisfaction? The funny thing is, I dont know if I would WANT to not be working, and just lay around all day. Ive been doing PLENTY of that for the last 3 weeks, and let me tell you, it sucks. I get to stay up all night doing whatever, sleep til 2 in the afternoon, and eat whatever I want, and do whatever I want, with no responsibility. And it feels like Im paralyzed. I cant stand it. So no, I cant just vacation forever.
I have to do something, and more importantly, I have to give back. Some of life's most fulfilling moments for me have always been when I have been giving back. I cant put my finger on what that would be yet, but I know its my calling. Whether I end up as tech support or a student affairs admin or a psychologist, Im going to be giving back.
So then I started to think about other things. What I might do with tons and tons of money. Id two things, I decided. First things first. Id buy the hottest night club in the city and pump tons of money into helping it grow. Then Id influence the setlist and make sure all the right songs were being played. Id set it up to be the most freeing club anyone had ever experienced. Im so tired of all these senseless songs that get played at clubs.
After that, Id probably buy my way into one of the top tech companies, most likely as a board member, and have access to all the latest gadgets before anyone else even heard of them. Id let them know what I want, and what consumers really want their gadgets to do.
Speaking of gadgets, the entire theme of my house would be advanced tech. Ive seen Disney's Smart House, so obviously I know what Im talking about. But the main thing that I know my house will have is a podium stand right in the middle of the front entrance hallway. So everyday when I came home from work, I would slide my iPod into this podium and the entire house would blast the music I was listening to. I hate being cut off from my music. There is nothing worse then getting kicked back to cold reality after being lost within a good song. Id also make sure LCDs lined every wall of the house. Enough of this pretending stuff. I want my house to bring the proper song visualization to life, and I want it to do it by reacting to my dictation. Cameras would capture my every movement, and the visuals on screen would react. Imagine making a ripple of light everytime you pointed at your wall. Then add in a high-BPM song, and its your own song garden.
Of course, for those rare occasions when Im not listening to a high octane song, Id settle for nature visuals, wind blowing through the trees, etc, etc. I do calm down every now and then.....
Oy. This is tiring. Im gonna cut this off here. But my point is (besides the house redesign and the club and tech purchase) that money doesnt really buy happiness. I cant buy my way into the right job for me, and I cant let money dictate what job I go for. Sean and Christian enjoy being plastic surgeons in Nip/Tuck, they didnt do it for the money outright. I dont want to be a plastic surgeon, and I dont want to be a lot of things that would make me absurdly rich. I just want to be happy, and I think the point of this whole blog post was to share that Im not afraid to find that job that makes me absurdly happy, even if money isnt a huge part of the equation. Money may buy some comfort items, such as a Smart House with mass speaker system and your own night club. But it cant buy fulfillment, and I think this year.... thats what I want to find. /Random.Thoughts.
Statistics aside, I get heavy doses every day of two individuals who have plenty of cash to throw around, and never REALLY have to worry about money.
And after I got over wishing I could be rich like them, another thought occurred to me.
What kind of life would I live if money really wasnt an issue at all? What would I want to do with my life if I really didnt have to worry about money at all? What would really make me happy at the end of day?
These are the kinds of questions that friends and family have asked me to think about over the course of my life, but that I never really seriously gave thought to. Why should I? Money talks, and money makes a lot of things move. But perhaps something about my life-shift and heavy doses of this show have started to make think differently.
So I started thinking. And since the job market has been my priority question these last few weeks, I started with the job. What would I really be happy doing? What would really give me satisfaction? The funny thing is, I dont know if I would WANT to not be working, and just lay around all day. Ive been doing PLENTY of that for the last 3 weeks, and let me tell you, it sucks. I get to stay up all night doing whatever, sleep til 2 in the afternoon, and eat whatever I want, and do whatever I want, with no responsibility. And it feels like Im paralyzed. I cant stand it. So no, I cant just vacation forever.
I have to do something, and more importantly, I have to give back. Some of life's most fulfilling moments for me have always been when I have been giving back. I cant put my finger on what that would be yet, but I know its my calling. Whether I end up as tech support or a student affairs admin or a psychologist, Im going to be giving back.
So then I started to think about other things. What I might do with tons and tons of money. Id two things, I decided. First things first. Id buy the hottest night club in the city and pump tons of money into helping it grow. Then Id influence the setlist and make sure all the right songs were being played. Id set it up to be the most freeing club anyone had ever experienced. Im so tired of all these senseless songs that get played at clubs.
After that, Id probably buy my way into one of the top tech companies, most likely as a board member, and have access to all the latest gadgets before anyone else even heard of them. Id let them know what I want, and what consumers really want their gadgets to do.
Speaking of gadgets, the entire theme of my house would be advanced tech. Ive seen Disney's Smart House, so obviously I know what Im talking about. But the main thing that I know my house will have is a podium stand right in the middle of the front entrance hallway. So everyday when I came home from work, I would slide my iPod into this podium and the entire house would blast the music I was listening to. I hate being cut off from my music. There is nothing worse then getting kicked back to cold reality after being lost within a good song. Id also make sure LCDs lined every wall of the house. Enough of this pretending stuff. I want my house to bring the proper song visualization to life, and I want it to do it by reacting to my dictation. Cameras would capture my every movement, and the visuals on screen would react. Imagine making a ripple of light everytime you pointed at your wall. Then add in a high-BPM song, and its your own song garden.
Of course, for those rare occasions when Im not listening to a high octane song, Id settle for nature visuals, wind blowing through the trees, etc, etc. I do calm down every now and then.....
Oy. This is tiring. Im gonna cut this off here. But my point is (besides the house redesign and the club and tech purchase) that money doesnt really buy happiness. I cant buy my way into the right job for me, and I cant let money dictate what job I go for. Sean and Christian enjoy being plastic surgeons in Nip/Tuck, they didnt do it for the money outright. I dont want to be a plastic surgeon, and I dont want to be a lot of things that would make me absurdly rich. I just want to be happy, and I think the point of this whole blog post was to share that Im not afraid to find that job that makes me absurdly happy, even if money isnt a huge part of the equation. Money may buy some comfort items, such as a Smart House with mass speaker system and your own night club. But it cant buy fulfillment, and I think this year.... thats what I want to find. /Random.Thoughts.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Living a Teenage Dream
After all has been said and done, today was super awesome. I was finally reunited with my iPod, and the brand spankin new one at that. And because my iPod has a camera now, I pretty much recorded my way through the day. How did it all go down? Read on!
9am. Rolled out of bed and jumped in the shower. Today was the day. The night before, I had asked two Apple stores if they had the new iPods in stock, and both said they had them, and would be selling them at 10am when they opened. So I had ran home and canceled my un-shipped iPod touch order from the Apple website. Why wait to get it Friday when I was DYING without it?
9:30. For various reasons, today was going to be a gay day, meaning my tight jeans from Express, club spanks from Calvin Klein (mirroring ones that Chris wears in a Skins episode), and that cute shirt that I bought from Hot Topic. So I spent a good amount of time getting ready and looking sharp. Hell, I even did my hair, which I hadnt done in weeks. I was getting my life back today; I had to look good when it happened.
9:55am. Right on time, I entered the parking garage in the Boulder mall, and parked. Wallet? Check. I was good to go.
10:03am. I strolled into the Apple store just past opening. I was shocked. There were already 20 people in the store!!! WTF! And Im not counting employees, there were legit 20 customers in the store already. And only one of them was buying an iPod. I waited behind the one guy buying an iPod for my turn.
10:04am. An agonizing 1 minute later, I finally made it to the front of the line. "64 GB iPod Touch please!" I said. "Oh, sorry," she replied, "We didnt get any of those." My heart fell out my ass, on to the floor, and rolled away. "Try online," she added. I couldnt speak, there was too much flame coming out my mouth. TRY ONLINE?????? YOU MEAN LIKE THAT ONLINE ORDER I JUST CANCELED LAST NIGHT???? I struggled to maintain my composure as I walked toward the exit, lightening and fire already coursing their way through my rib cage. I managed to catch my breath long enough to ask the concierge for the phone number for the nearest Apple store. This wasnt over. Not by a long shot.
10:06am. I dialed the next closest Apple store and was told I was 6th in line for my call to be answered. I turned on Bluetooth, jumped in my car, and sped off with the Chew Fu Ghettohouse remix of LoveGame blaring out my speakers.
10:18am. Im 5 minutes away from the Apple store, and someone finally picks up. I put back on my sweet, innocent voice. "Hi, do you have the new iPod Touches in stock?" I ask, not being specific yet out of fear for what the answer might be." "Yes," he replies. I continue, "......Do you have the 64 GB version?" Time seems to pause as I wait for his answer, aware that he holds my fate in his hands. "Yes." he says. Im assuming hes making a mistake, so I try to get more details, "How many of these do you have in stock?" "We arent allowed to give that information over the phone," he says, "But I would get here as soon as possible." With that answer, I knew he had them. If one store didnt have any, then any other store would only have a few in stock. I hung up and drove 50 MPH through the parking lot til I found a spot.
10:22am. I rushed into the store, not caring how diva-like my walk had become. I was about to stroke out, I needed my iPod back in my life, and fast. I walked up to the person selling the new iPods. I didnt even manage a complete sentence, "Hi.....64GB iPod please." And then. To my shock and horror, he replied, "Oh, Im sorry, we didnt get any in today." My lungs deflated a little. "But.... But..... I just spoke to someone who said they had them in!!!!!!" I may have been shrieking at this point, which is probably why the manager came over. "Can I help you?" he asked. "Yes!" I said, "I just called THIS STORE 5 minutes ago and someone in the back said you had the 64 GB iPod Touch in stock!!!!!" "Well I didnt see any this morning, so Im not sure who you talked to." he said calmly. I wish I could have maintained MY calm at this point, but I couldnt. I tried explaining again, "I just called THIS store and spoke to someone who said they had them to and to get here ASAP meaning there were only a few in stock, so Im assuming he knew he was talking about!" Finally, the manager got on his radio, and called the back room. "Do we have an 64 GB iPod Touches in stock?" He waited, and listened. "Nope," he said, "Im sorry but we dont have any." I didnt even have time to speak before his hands went back up to his ear to listen to his radio. Then his face looked really confused, and then he looked at me. "Oh." he said, "Apparently the delivery guy just dropped them off. Let me go get you one." I held my breathe. I had been through too much this morning to believe everything was going to be ok. I was going to wait until I had the damn thing in my hands to breathe a sigh of relief.
10:24am. The manager came back out with the 64 GB iPod Touch. I snatched it from him and examined it. Sure enough, it was the right one. THANK GOD, I thought.
10:26am. I strolled out of the Apple store with the iPod in one hand and the receipt in the other. Then I panicked and realized that my iPod was in plain sight and visible to other people. I childishly HID IT UNDER MY SHIRT and exited the mall. I walked quickly back to my car, fearful my iPod would be taken from me. I got in the car, shut the door, and locked it. Alone at last. Finally, I had my baby. Thats when I took this picture:
10:27am. I started the car, and headed home.
11:00am. I got home, ran upstairs, and grabbed my camera. I tried to record the whole unboxing process. The I found out iPods are not meant to be opened one-handed. So I ditched the idea pretty quickly, but not before some pretty embarrassing videos of me trying were produced. Im not showing those..... right now, anyways.
1pm: 2 hours later, my iPod had finally synced up. And I had managed to use that time rearranging all my apps. I created enough folders so that I went from 8 pages of apps to just 2 pages. I was pretty happy. A few more clicks, and my iPod was ready.
1:25pm. I headed downstairs to show my Dad and to compare it to his first-gen iPod touch. But he was busy, and I was being impatient. So I strolled out the door to show my Mom at her office.... 30 minutes away.
2:00pm. I drive up to my Mom's school, where I suddenly realized that Im all gayed out in front of 100 at-risk youth who are all court-ordered to go to this high school. Needless to say, they werent quite sure what the hell I was doing approaching them, and I could tell all the guys immediately felt the need to defend their own sexual orientation in front of their girlfriends. I wont repeat the comments, but its not like I took offense to them anyways.
2:01pm. I made it to my Mom's office. I showed off my iPod for a bit, then I sat down as my Mom handled other work she needed to do. And needing a chance to test out the 720p video recording, I proceeded to record this video below. You can tell I was messing with the focus and lighting a little bit:
I squealed with delight after figuring this out. This was going to be the best iPod EVER.
The rest of the day, I just messed with my iPod touch a bit more. Playing games, trying out new features, etc.
5:30pm. I took another few videos, just for kicks. The first shows me with the front facing camera. The latter shows my parents not paying attention. Again, me being creepy. Although the look on my Moms face is PRICELESS. I edited that last bit and sent it to my sister.
7:30pm. I didnt get a picture, but my old supervisor called me using Facetime!!!! I wish I had snapped a screen shot so you could see, but alas, I did not. Ill have to grab it some other time.....
Anyways, it was a fun, exhausting day getting my life back in order, and Im still figuring out some cool new tricks to this iPod. Like, for example, I can install RINGTONES on it finally! It used for people call me on Facetime. I can have a ringtone for everyone that calls, so start calling me! If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone 4, then call me on Facetime using my Facetime-only email address: Ross.Logan@me.com
Comment on Facebook or something if you have any questions about the iPod!
9am. Rolled out of bed and jumped in the shower. Today was the day. The night before, I had asked two Apple stores if they had the new iPods in stock, and both said they had them, and would be selling them at 10am when they opened. So I had ran home and canceled my un-shipped iPod touch order from the Apple website. Why wait to get it Friday when I was DYING without it?
9:30. For various reasons, today was going to be a gay day, meaning my tight jeans from Express, club spanks from Calvin Klein (mirroring ones that Chris wears in a Skins episode), and that cute shirt that I bought from Hot Topic. So I spent a good amount of time getting ready and looking sharp. Hell, I even did my hair, which I hadnt done in weeks. I was getting my life back today; I had to look good when it happened.
9:55am. Right on time, I entered the parking garage in the Boulder mall, and parked. Wallet? Check. I was good to go.
10:03am. I strolled into the Apple store just past opening. I was shocked. There were already 20 people in the store!!! WTF! And Im not counting employees, there were legit 20 customers in the store already. And only one of them was buying an iPod. I waited behind the one guy buying an iPod for my turn.
10:04am. An agonizing 1 minute later, I finally made it to the front of the line. "64 GB iPod Touch please!" I said. "Oh, sorry," she replied, "We didnt get any of those." My heart fell out my ass, on to the floor, and rolled away. "Try online," she added. I couldnt speak, there was too much flame coming out my mouth. TRY ONLINE?????? YOU MEAN LIKE THAT ONLINE ORDER I JUST CANCELED LAST NIGHT???? I struggled to maintain my composure as I walked toward the exit, lightening and fire already coursing their way through my rib cage. I managed to catch my breath long enough to ask the concierge for the phone number for the nearest Apple store. This wasnt over. Not by a long shot.
10:06am. I dialed the next closest Apple store and was told I was 6th in line for my call to be answered. I turned on Bluetooth, jumped in my car, and sped off with the Chew Fu Ghettohouse remix of LoveGame blaring out my speakers.
10:18am. Im 5 minutes away from the Apple store, and someone finally picks up. I put back on my sweet, innocent voice. "Hi, do you have the new iPod Touches in stock?" I ask, not being specific yet out of fear for what the answer might be." "Yes," he replies. I continue, "......Do you have the 64 GB version?" Time seems to pause as I wait for his answer, aware that he holds my fate in his hands. "Yes." he says. Im assuming hes making a mistake, so I try to get more details, "How many of these do you have in stock?" "We arent allowed to give that information over the phone," he says, "But I would get here as soon as possible." With that answer, I knew he had them. If one store didnt have any, then any other store would only have a few in stock. I hung up and drove 50 MPH through the parking lot til I found a spot.
10:22am. I rushed into the store, not caring how diva-like my walk had become. I was about to stroke out, I needed my iPod back in my life, and fast. I walked up to the person selling the new iPods. I didnt even manage a complete sentence, "Hi.....64GB iPod please." And then. To my shock and horror, he replied, "Oh, Im sorry, we didnt get any in today." My lungs deflated a little. "But.... But..... I just spoke to someone who said they had them in!!!!!!" I may have been shrieking at this point, which is probably why the manager came over. "Can I help you?" he asked. "Yes!" I said, "I just called THIS STORE 5 minutes ago and someone in the back said you had the 64 GB iPod Touch in stock!!!!!" "Well I didnt see any this morning, so Im not sure who you talked to." he said calmly. I wish I could have maintained MY calm at this point, but I couldnt. I tried explaining again, "I just called THIS store and spoke to someone who said they had them to and to get here ASAP meaning there were only a few in stock, so Im assuming he knew he was talking about!" Finally, the manager got on his radio, and called the back room. "Do we have an 64 GB iPod Touches in stock?" He waited, and listened. "Nope," he said, "Im sorry but we dont have any." I didnt even have time to speak before his hands went back up to his ear to listen to his radio. Then his face looked really confused, and then he looked at me. "Oh." he said, "Apparently the delivery guy just dropped them off. Let me go get you one." I held my breathe. I had been through too much this morning to believe everything was going to be ok. I was going to wait until I had the damn thing in my hands to breathe a sigh of relief.
10:24am. The manager came back out with the 64 GB iPod Touch. I snatched it from him and examined it. Sure enough, it was the right one. THANK GOD, I thought.
10:26am. I strolled out of the Apple store with the iPod in one hand and the receipt in the other. Then I panicked and realized that my iPod was in plain sight and visible to other people. I childishly HID IT UNDER MY SHIRT and exited the mall. I walked quickly back to my car, fearful my iPod would be taken from me. I got in the car, shut the door, and locked it. Alone at last. Finally, I had my baby. Thats when I took this picture:
 |
| First time alone with my iPod |
11:00am. I got home, ran upstairs, and grabbed my camera. I tried to record the whole unboxing process. The I found out iPods are not meant to be opened one-handed. So I ditched the idea pretty quickly, but not before some pretty embarrassing videos of me trying were produced. Im not showing those..... right now, anyways.
1pm: 2 hours later, my iPod had finally synced up. And I had managed to use that time rearranging all my apps. I created enough folders so that I went from 8 pages of apps to just 2 pages. I was pretty happy. A few more clicks, and my iPod was ready.
1:25pm. I headed downstairs to show my Dad and to compare it to his first-gen iPod touch. But he was busy, and I was being impatient. So I strolled out the door to show my Mom at her office.... 30 minutes away.
2:00pm. I drive up to my Mom's school, where I suddenly realized that Im all gayed out in front of 100 at-risk youth who are all court-ordered to go to this high school. Needless to say, they werent quite sure what the hell I was doing approaching them, and I could tell all the guys immediately felt the need to defend their own sexual orientation in front of their girlfriends. I wont repeat the comments, but its not like I took offense to them anyways.
2:01pm. I made it to my Mom's office. I showed off my iPod for a bit, then I sat down as my Mom handled other work she needed to do. And needing a chance to test out the 720p video recording, I proceeded to record this video below. You can tell I was messing with the focus and lighting a little bit:
2:30pm. Driving home listening to my music, I realize that my iPod now has a mic built in, so I no longer have to search for a different song while driving.... I can just use voice control and tell it what song to change to! I took a picture to demonstrate:
I squealed with delight after figuring this out. This was going to be the best iPod EVER.
The rest of the day, I just messed with my iPod touch a bit more. Playing games, trying out new features, etc.
5:30pm. I took another few videos, just for kicks. The first shows me with the front facing camera. The latter shows my parents not paying attention. Again, me being creepy. Although the look on my Moms face is PRICELESS. I edited that last bit and sent it to my sister.
7:30pm. I didnt get a picture, but my old supervisor called me using Facetime!!!! I wish I had snapped a screen shot so you could see, but alas, I did not. Ill have to grab it some other time.....
Anyways, it was a fun, exhausting day getting my life back in order, and Im still figuring out some cool new tricks to this iPod. Like, for example, I can install RINGTONES on it finally! It used for people call me on Facetime. I can have a ringtone for everyone that calls, so start calling me! If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone 4, then call me on Facetime using my Facetime-only email address: Ross.Logan@me.com
Comment on Facebook or something if you have any questions about the iPod!
Friday, September 3, 2010
A Clip from The Oatmeal
This is totally me at the security line, like 100%. Especially since I have to dig my phone, ipod, headphones out, then rip off my belt, take off my shoes, fling out my laptop, throw everything on the belt, all while all these people are waiting behind me and pushing me forward. I hate it!
By the way, if you arent already reading the Oatmeal, you should be. I literally laugh out loud in a hysterical geeky way every time I read a new post of his. Its simply hilarious and I love it. Go ahead, it will make your day better.
 |
| Courtesy of The Oatmeal |
By the way, if you arent already reading the Oatmeal, you should be. I literally laugh out loud in a hysterical geeky way every time I read a new post of his. Its simply hilarious and I love it. Go ahead, it will make your day better.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
It Aint all Peaches and Cream
So today was a great day. I rolled out of bed at 10am PST, turned on my computer, and started watching the live feed of today’s Apple event on my big screen TV at the foot of my bed. With surround sound, of course. And I had a high quality feed coming in too. The entire event I was simply enjoying myself instead of listening to fuzzy audio and a poor connection from a webcam from someone in the audience.
And it gave me a bit of time to reflect on the announcements today. I wont cover Apple TV, simply because this item still wont be much impact on people’s lives.
However. Apple updated three items… make that FOUR items, that people use everyday and are a part of their daily lives. And I'm just not sure everyone is getting what they really want.
Lets start with the Shuffle. Ok, now this update I get. People like being able to reach for the buttons. So they moves back to a Shuffle that had buttons on it instead of only relying on the headphones remote/mic switch. My dad actually runs with his Shuffle all the time, and had to put heavy layers of masking tape over the buttons on the headphones because sweat kept dripping down into the buttons and then cranking the volume without warning.
Yea. So, my Dad will be going out and getting the new Shuffle for sure. People just like to have the buttons on their iPod. ESPECIALLY an iPod that is really just for music!
So heres where I get confused. Lets see if we can follow this logic. People. Like Buttons. Ok, Ok, so another words – People like Buttons….. on their iPods…. That are for music. Ok, whoa whoa whoa. We are going too fast now. Lets back up.
People. Buttons. iPods. Music.
And because people like buttons on their iPods…. then why did Apple GET RID OF THEM on the Nano??????
I have been just puzzled all day by this. We are now on the 6th generation of Nano. Last year, Apple outdid themselves and release a LARGE screen Nano that could view VIDEO and also SHOOT VIDEO while till having BUTTONS.
And then this year, its like…… What???? You decided to do what? Get rid of the buttons, get rid of the camera, get rid of being able to look at videos, get rid of the bigger screen?
Didn’t you just bring back buttons to a device where people missed the buttons?????? Are you even allowed to contradict yourself on the same day?
I'm just speechless. Am I crazy? Can anyone actually see Apple’s BRILLIANT idea behind this move for their Nano????
Ok, lets move on. The day wasn’t horrible. Actually, for me, it was AWESOME. I prayed for an iPod Touch with a camera, 720p recording, microphone, retina display and faster processor, and I GOT IT ALL! Its like they heard my prayers from last year and finally got with it.
This is how awesome it is. Are you ready? …..I might not sell my iPod come next September. Why would I need to? I literally now have EVERYTHING I want in an iPod.
We can end their on the iPod Touch. Just know its now the BEST iPod on the market, and that’s that.
Lets move on to the other stink in the pile today – iTunes 10.
All day, I have been excited to use the new iTunes 10. Then I downloaded it. Ping, their new social networking for music application was fun for about 5 minutes. Ill wait till they add in Facebook connectivity.
Then I started looking around to see what else they had changed. For starters, THEY TOOK ALL THE COLOR OUT. All of it. Every icon is now GREY GREY GREY. I cant even tell what everything is now, as the colors were my cue! And the icon changed as well for the iTunes application as a whole, I have trouble recognizing the new icon after being with the old one for 6 years!
The whole iTunes just frustrates me now, and I'm pissed.
So nods for the day for Apple – the iPod Touch, and the Shuffle.
WTF moments – The new Nano, and iTunes 10 color scheme.
You win some, you lose some.
And it gave me a bit of time to reflect on the announcements today. I wont cover Apple TV, simply because this item still wont be much impact on people’s lives.
However. Apple updated three items… make that FOUR items, that people use everyday and are a part of their daily lives. And I'm just not sure everyone is getting what they really want.
Lets start with the Shuffle. Ok, now this update I get. People like being able to reach for the buttons. So they moves back to a Shuffle that had buttons on it instead of only relying on the headphones remote/mic switch. My dad actually runs with his Shuffle all the time, and had to put heavy layers of masking tape over the buttons on the headphones because sweat kept dripping down into the buttons and then cranking the volume without warning.
 |
| Photo Courtesy of Apple |
Yea. So, my Dad will be going out and getting the new Shuffle for sure. People just like to have the buttons on their iPod. ESPECIALLY an iPod that is really just for music!
So heres where I get confused. Lets see if we can follow this logic. People. Like Buttons. Ok, Ok, so another words – People like Buttons….. on their iPods…. That are for music. Ok, whoa whoa whoa. We are going too fast now. Lets back up.
People. Buttons. iPods. Music.
And because people like buttons on their iPods…. then why did Apple GET RID OF THEM on the Nano??????
I have been just puzzled all day by this. We are now on the 6th generation of Nano. Last year, Apple outdid themselves and release a LARGE screen Nano that could view VIDEO and also SHOOT VIDEO while till having BUTTONS.
 | |
| 5th Generation of iPod Nano (Last Year's Model) |
And then this year, its like…… What???? You decided to do what? Get rid of the buttons, get rid of the camera, get rid of being able to look at videos, get rid of the bigger screen?
 |
| Photo Courtesy of Apple |
Didn’t you just bring back buttons to a device where people missed the buttons?????? Are you even allowed to contradict yourself on the same day?
I'm just speechless. Am I crazy? Can anyone actually see Apple’s BRILLIANT idea behind this move for their Nano????
Ok, lets move on. The day wasn’t horrible. Actually, for me, it was AWESOME. I prayed for an iPod Touch with a camera, 720p recording, microphone, retina display and faster processor, and I GOT IT ALL! Its like they heard my prayers from last year and finally got with it.
 | |
| Photo Courtesy of Apple |
This is how awesome it is. Are you ready? …..I might not sell my iPod come next September. Why would I need to? I literally now have EVERYTHING I want in an iPod.
We can end their on the iPod Touch. Just know its now the BEST iPod on the market, and that’s that.
Lets move on to the other stink in the pile today – iTunes 10.
All day, I have been excited to use the new iTunes 10. Then I downloaded it. Ping, their new social networking for music application was fun for about 5 minutes. Ill wait till they add in Facebook connectivity.
 |
| Photo Courtesy of Apple |
Then I started looking around to see what else they had changed. For starters, THEY TOOK ALL THE COLOR OUT. All of it. Every icon is now GREY GREY GREY. I cant even tell what everything is now, as the colors were my cue! And the icon changed as well for the iTunes application as a whole, I have trouble recognizing the new icon after being with the old one for 6 years!
 |
| Photo Courtesy of Apple |
The whole iTunes just frustrates me now, and I'm pissed.
So nods for the day for Apple – the iPod Touch, and the Shuffle.
WTF moments – The new Nano, and iTunes 10 color scheme.
You win some, you lose some.
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