this is what happens when i can't practice

Okay, so Jen talked me into this.

My Johari Window
My Nohari Window

Here's your chance to let me know what you really think of me (because I'm sure all two of my readers have been holding back all this time).

In other news, I really really want my trombone back. After this, I may never have it repaired again. I'm not angry, because apparently the main repair technician has been down with the flu and a fever for several days. I'm just suffering from mild separation anxiety and have been frantically knitting to ward off the shakes. I can quit anytime I want.

a technology tangent

So, my parents got a new computer for the holidays. 24 inch wide-screen monitor, ridiculously big hard drive, more RAM than they really need... and Windows Vista. I’ve only been working with it for a few days, and already I think I might hate it. About all I can say in its defense is that it is shiny. Shiiiiiiiiny.

Why am I the one working on it? I, apparently, am the de facto “computer person” in the household, which is a glorified way of saying that I know how to point and click. My parents are a little technologically-challenged, which is a nice way of saying that they began their journey into the world of computers with AOL. Thankfully, they’ve moved past that dark and dismal stage, but there’s still work to be done.

There were a few settings I had to turn off. Like the annoying little prompt that pops up every time I tell the computer to do something and asks for permission to do what I’ve just told it to do. That had to go. I also sneaked in one night and turned off half the sound settings. I doubt my parents have even noticed.

I had to convince them that moving a program from one computer to the other is not a matter of putting the program files on a CD-R and pasting them into a new computer. I agree with them that it should be that simple, but since it’s Microsoft I know it really isn’t, and they’ve either lost track of the original installation files, or it just hadn’t occurred to them.

I’ve been helping them transfer files from the old computer to the new. It hasn’t been pretty. We have the cable, and after a few false starts we finally found one program that mostly works, except for when it freezes up and shuts down. (The first time it didn’t exactly freeze; it vanished completely. No error message, just *poof* gone.)

I finally narrowed it down to one folder that the program refused to transfer no matter which computer I was working from. It was just a folder filled with image files of flowers and birds and similar pictures, but apparently Laplink PCSync hates springtime because it would not transfer it, period. That’s what CD-R’s are for, I guess.

And then I had to figure out where the files went, which wasn’t easy because Vista has moved everything around. They’ve done away with My Computer. In fact, they seem to have done away with putting “My” in front of everything. So now it’s just “Documents” and “Pictures” and such. I actually kind of prefer this, except that it makes things much harder to find at first. And while the “Turn Off Computer” menu is still under the Start menu, it is now hidden behind this tiny button with a tinier arrow on it. I have to come out and find it for my stepfather every time he wants to shut it off.

Oh, and then there’s this:

I have dubbed this the Fisher-Price desktop. Apparently the normal icons are just too hard for my parents to see, even on a screen the size of a small planet, so the icons have been resized to resemble small continents. The scale might not be entirely obvious from the picture, but I swear to you that you could hold up a 50¢ piece and it would be the same size. This is not an exaggeration in the slightest.

They’ve already had to do one forced restart, which involved unplugging the computer entirely because it would not shut down any other way. And while I am not a computer tech in any way, I do know that if your computer is offering to boot up in Safe Mode it is usually a bad sign.

So, Vista? The jury’s still out, but the more I use my parents’ computer, the more I appreciate my XP laptop.

It is awfully shiny, though.

god damn it

I am not pleased.

the first christmas gig of the season

A few observations...



1. Ah, sound shields. I love watching the woodwind players carefully construct their little plexiglass barricades to protect from the deadly onslaught of brass.

2. Lyrics. For the Nutcracker. What.

3. Was there a time when Mannheim Steamroller was cool?

4. One industrious woodwind player had procured two shields; one behind the chair and one to the side for maximum protection. I would be more sympathetic if we were, like, Chicago. However, this is not a loud brass section.

5. There is no reason for "Angels We Have Heard On High" to be in 7/8. It is not clever. Nor is it hip.

6. Sometimes if you pick a particularly tedious and repetitive piece of music, your trombone section will start to switch between regular and alternate positions, just for the hell of it.

7. How much good does it do to raise a shield to full height and then put it in front of a tuba with a bell that points upwards? Is someone confused about the physics of sound?

8. Is it a bad sign if your trumpet section is so bored that they briefly trade instruments mid-concert for no apparent reason? (This wouldn't be as big a deal, except that one of them played a Monette.)

9. I understand the word "Hanukkah" and I understand the word "calypso" but when you put them together suddenly it makes no sense.

10. A few of us agreed that the performance could only be made complete with a smoke machine. And maybe lasers.


Because this was a paid gig, I'm letting it off easy (as those that have heard my Nutcracker rant can attest).

can you tell i'm making an effort to post more?

Cash Advance Loans

I am so glad that eight years of college and thousands of dollars in student loans are finally paying off. Truly, this is what it's all about.

a holiday lesson

The key to a truly successful Thanksgiving is knowing the correct time to switch your intake from caffeine to alcohol.

This has been a public service announcement.

proving that i occasionally pay attention to current events

So, how about that writer's strike?

I'm not personally affected, because I don't watch television. And I haven't been to a movie in forever. And when I say "forever" I mean that I never stepped into a Bloomington theater while I was at IU, so it's been at least two years if not longer. And that's still not as long as I've been without television (five years maybe?).

Anyway.

On the rare occasions when I do watch a TV show, it's either on DVD or online *coughthedailyshow.comcough*. Oddly enough, these happen to be the two issues over which the WGA is striking. So, I'm keeping half an eye on the proceedings. Morbid curiosity is another reason. There won't be any new tapings of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report until it's all over, which is only offset by the schadenfreude-y goodness of hearing the TV-viewing public's screams of anguish at the possibility of a season dominated by reality shows. They might even have to turn the television off and read a book. (Click on that link at your own peril, by the way. You have been warned.)

Unless I either win a job in Seattle or overseas, I will probably have to join a union for my chosen profession. I don't foresee anything like this happening with the AFM, but they have voiced their official opinion on the whole situation. Besides, it's not every day that you see a major union on the picket line. Since I only have a vague idea of how a union works anyway, it's educational as well.

If anyone else is mildly curious, various writers have set up a few blogs. They get a little long-winded at times, but that's to be expected. (I can't find one representing the AMPTP's side, presumably because network executives wouldn't be caught dead blogging, but these links might count for something.)

Oh, and for those of us in Daily Show/Colbert withdrawal, apparently the writers have been having a bit of fun onYoutube. It's no Jon Stewart (oh, the delivery), but it might get you through the day.

In other news, there is the slightest possibility that I spend way too much time on the Internet.