Grateful Journal
24 06 08 07:10
healthy dialogue arising from difficult conversations, such as
this article from the WSJ the other day
Glo and Jo, who worked tirelessly for equal rights when I lived in Santa Fe
wedding invitations
the support and love of family and friends
Final Cut Pro Certification
21 06 08 17:04
I passed the Final Cut Pro certification exam yesterday! Yaay! To pass, you need a score of 80 or better. I took the training, and at the end of the training about half of us went ahead and took the test. I was nervous because the test costs $150, which I know limell’ (OSCR’s director) was willing to shell out for us, but I would have had a hard time telling her I needed to take it again. I would have probably paid for myself the second time, anyway, or at least offered to, but I still would have been embarassed.
Regardless of the certification test outcome, the training was great fun, partly because I continued to sit with Melanie and Catherine all week. In four days, we pretty much blazed through Diana’s entire book. Diana was an incredible instructor. If you want or need Final Cut Pro certification, I would recommend trying really hard to attend one of her own trainings.
Finally, I want to post a couple photos from my front yard. Enjoy!
Regardless of the certification test outcome, the training was great fun, partly because I continued to sit with Melanie and Catherine all week. In four days, we pretty much blazed through Diana’s entire book. Diana was an incredible instructor. If you want or need Final Cut Pro certification, I would recommend trying really hard to attend one of her own trainings.
Finally, I want to post a couple photos from my front yard. Enjoy!
HOA Meeting
18 06 08 19:38
OMG I am sitting in our neighborhood’s Homeowner’s Association Meeting listening to the business. This is definitely the kind of event that would make a great South Park episode. I think we ought to contact them, if we can sell the idea to the South Park creators, we might be able to use the funds to build a back entrance to our neighborhood, which apparently costs somewhere between 20,000 and 600,000 dollars...
We have some cantankerous neighbors, for sure! I knew this before coming to this meeting because an email went out last weekend regarding someone’s political sign twice being vandalized. The initial email was followed by an email flame war.
Which brings me to my reason for being here. After witnessing the email flame war, I bounced emails back to the most offensive responses so it would look like they had an erroneous email address, and then wrote to the secretary to offer to manage a website for th HOA. My thought is that a well built website would increase appropriate communication by doing the following:
• we could procure our own domain on the cheap (about $50/year)
• we could post documents, for HOA residents (CC&Rs, for example)
• access to the webpage can be restricted to HOA using passwords
• a well manged blogpage can allow for free speech, without responses being pushed to email accounts
• newsletters can be posted online
• directory can be posted as password protected PDF
• alerts can be posted online
• PDF postings can be downloaded and searched
• RSS feeds on blogpages can notify residents of news/changes if they choose to subscribe
• We could then offer folks the option to receive newsletters via mail or not, if we post them online anyway...
I’m going to pitch these ideas to the board, and that I am willing to return with a better researched presentation (I don’t have costs tonight, don’t know the best blog service to use).
We have some cantankerous neighbors, for sure! I knew this before coming to this meeting because an email went out last weekend regarding someone’s political sign twice being vandalized. The initial email was followed by an email flame war.
Which brings me to my reason for being here. After witnessing the email flame war, I bounced emails back to the most offensive responses so it would look like they had an erroneous email address, and then wrote to the secretary to offer to manage a website for th HOA. My thought is that a well built website would increase appropriate communication by doing the following:
• we could procure our own domain on the cheap (about $50/year)
• we could post documents, for HOA residents (CC&Rs, for example)
• access to the webpage can be restricted to HOA using passwords
• a well manged blogpage can allow for free speech, without responses being pushed to email accounts
• newsletters can be posted online
• directory can be posted as password protected PDF
• alerts can be posted online
• PDF postings can be downloaded and searched
• RSS feeds on blogpages can notify residents of news/changes if they choose to subscribe
• We could then offer folks the option to receive newsletters via mail or not, if we post them online anyway...
I’m going to pitch these ideas to the board, and that I am willing to return with a better researched presentation (I don’t have costs tonight, don’t know the best blog service to use).
Final Cut Pro Training
18 06 08 08:35
I am at a training all week. Mah co-worker and fwiend Patti arranged a Final Cut Pro training with Diana Weynand in one of OSCRs computer labs. That’s where I’m hanging all week, Tuesday through Friday, so basically this training is my work week.
I was a little lost at first, because I thought the Final Cut Pro training had something to do with circumcision. I half expected to arrive and find a room full of Rabbis and screaming babies. I was mistaken, however. Final Cut Pro is a video editing application published by Apple.
The first day was GREAT! It started slow, but we are learning all of the key commands as we go along, so by the end we will be Final Cut Pro keyboard jock geek experts! Yay! I can’t wait to use my newfound Final Cut Pro suerhero skills on the job... saving humanity from certain destruction... or, something like that. Here’s a pic of me at the trining with Catherine and Melanie:
I was a little lost at first, because I thought the Final Cut Pro training had something to do with circumcision. I half expected to arrive and find a room full of Rabbis and screaming babies. I was mistaken, however. Final Cut Pro is a video editing application published by Apple.
The first day was GREAT! It started slow, but we are learning all of the key commands as we go along, so by the end we will be Final Cut Pro keyboard jock geek experts! Yay! I can’t wait to use my newfound Final Cut Pro suerhero skills on the job... saving humanity from certain destruction... or, something like that. Here’s a pic of me at the trining with Catherine and Melanie:
Grateful Journal
14 06 08 08:29
...coffee with Kathy
lunches with Kathy and Mike
Angelique Kidjo’s music
gifts
family photos
safe zones
fast computers
my year in the College of Education
water...
Grateful Journal
12 06 08 07:11
Grandma used to keep a Grateful Journal, which I have never seen and would love to someday! I’ll have to ask Dad about that. Anyway, I have decided to start a Grateful Journal of my own. I am going to try to add to it at least once a week. Feel free to hold me to it if you see me slacking off. I’ll tag all entries as ‘Grateful Journal’ so they are easy to pull together as one large list as it grows. So, here’s a start. This is only a start!
...Mom, Dad, John and Susan
Carl
Grandma and Grandpa
Ga’peh and Cha’peh
Steven and Marla
Deloria and Thomas
Jim and Joseph
Kevin
Steve and Joy
limell’ and Catherine
famiy
friends
home
sun
Santa Fe
Tucson
teacup display Gandpa made me
quilts Mom quilted for me
photography on my wall from John
the afghan Susan knitted
flower sculpture on my mantle that Kevin made
the Armenian rug in our living room that reminds me of Carl’s heritage
old friends who make contact after years apart
work that I love
smart, fun coworkers who I enjoy seeing every day...
Visiting Steven and Marla in Santa Fe
08 06 08 09:21
I am in Santa Fe this weekend spending time with Steven and Marla. Steven is moving to Singapore to accept a position at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore to design and direct a new graduate program in Sonic Arts Design. He will be gone for at least three years, and possibly significantly longer. Since he has been one of my closest friends for a long time, I wanted to be able to see him before he left.
We have been having a great time. Yesterday we went to a fishing lake at Picuris Pueblo for the day with Deloria and Thomas, nephews Zack and Shane, and Deloria’s brother Wilbur. Zack offered me SPF45 sunscreen the moment I showed up, and it’s a good thing he did! It was a perfect day. The setting was beautiful, too... complete with mountains, some still wearing snowcaps. All we did was hang out, fish, and eat. It was great. It made me feel sad that our little family is going to be so geographically scattered, but I doubt we will ever lose touch with each other. My family is all back East, and maybe thanks to iChat, cell phones, and occasional plane flights, I am just as close as ever. I’m sure it will be the same for Steven, Marla, Thomas, Deloria and me. Carl too, of course! (...being a newcomer to our circle, he wasn’t kicking around with us for the decade we all spent together in Santa Fe...)
After fishing, we changed at Deloria and Thomas’ house in San Juan, then headed off to Chimayo. We all visited the Santuario, and then met up with Marla for dinner at the Rancho de Chimayo.
^ Deloria and Wilbur and -> Steven
^ Thomas and -> Wilbur and Deloria
^ Steven posing with Carl at Santuario de Chimayo
^ Thomas and Deloria
^ Wilbur, Zack, Shane and Steven
We have been having a great time. Yesterday we went to a fishing lake at Picuris Pueblo for the day with Deloria and Thomas, nephews Zack and Shane, and Deloria’s brother Wilbur. Zack offered me SPF45 sunscreen the moment I showed up, and it’s a good thing he did! It was a perfect day. The setting was beautiful, too... complete with mountains, some still wearing snowcaps. All we did was hang out, fish, and eat. It was great. It made me feel sad that our little family is going to be so geographically scattered, but I doubt we will ever lose touch with each other. My family is all back East, and maybe thanks to iChat, cell phones, and occasional plane flights, I am just as close as ever. I’m sure it will be the same for Steven, Marla, Thomas, Deloria and me. Carl too, of course! (...being a newcomer to our circle, he wasn’t kicking around with us for the decade we all spent together in Santa Fe...)
After fishing, we changed at Deloria and Thomas’ house in San Juan, then headed off to Chimayo. We all visited the Santuario, and then met up with Marla for dinner at the Rancho de Chimayo.
^ Deloria and Wilbur and -> Steven
^ Thomas and -> Wilbur and Deloria
^ Steven posing with Carl at Santuario de Chimayo
^ Thomas and Deloria
^ Wilbur, Zack, Shane and Steven