in an effort to be at least somewhat creative during these down months, i’m going to write about being unemployed. not “woe is me” stuff, but just things that will hopefully give some perspective (to, albeit, a small portion of the population) on what a lot of people are going through right now.

unemployment item: TIME!
i have an ungodly amount of time on my hands. too much. many might react with “i’d love that! i’d get so many things done!” and it’s to them that i ask this question:

would you?

it’s human nature to relax. chill out. take it easy. we’ve built our culture around ease of comfort and accessibility. so, in a world where i can have things handed to me a digital platter, it’s very difficult to motive myself to better my situation.

no matter how much most people say they hate their routine, they need it. without it, i’d say (and this is just me and my opinion) only 5% of the population would be be able to get a sense of accomplishment out of a completely free schedule. whether i like it or not, any job i’ve had (whether i like that job or not) yields a sense of accomplishment. and for it, i’m forced to condense my personal activities into a few manageable items. thus a break from the 9 to 5-ness of it all.

now, take out the job and give me unlimited time and i have NO CLUE what to do with myself. so, i’ve been filling my days with a routine of sorts. the gym, language lessons, writing, gaming (not too much though), etc., etc., etc.

and all of this is in the middle job hunting. i’m unemployed, i’m not a bum.

item!

i’m very proud of this years halloween costume. yes, this is coming two months late, but oh well.

dear holders of money,

use it well.

case in point: a friend of mine bought a Nikon D90. the camera i want. the camera i need. the camera… that was meant to be mine. it’s a DSLR of a higher quality, however (much like the snapshot brethren below it) it carries a feature to take digital video along with the many still memories it captures. this is what i want.

the video quality is unmatched due to the lens that fits the camera. it’s really the only thing that makes buying the camera worthwhile. there are cheaper iterations below it that do the exact same thing, sans the video. so, why buy a camera that can do a million times what you need it to do?

that’s iLife.

i blame Apple for this. this ‘overpriced = the one you want” b.s. i do know people who have bought an Apple machine and used it to it’s fullest extent. and kudos to them. but, to the rest of you: why buy a ferarri to just run the corner market? what you want for email, music and pictures is going to cost about $200. and if you just spend an afternoon getting to know the machine and what it needs, then “just wanting it to work” won’t be a worry.

it’s technology. not an insurance plan.

windows 7 works great.
windows writer is making easier to blog.
windows photo gallery is stitching together a bunch of panoramic pictures i took.
the new zune software is as slick as shit.

is microsoft finally getting it?

probably not.

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i had recent computer misadventures with the folks at a small shop called General Nanosystems. long story short, they fried my motherboard. i’m writing from my newly updated laptop which is now my main computer. and i’m not sure why i didn’t do this before, as it’s about 5 times faster than my desktop.

a stern talk with the manager today and i’m getting a replacement motherboard for free. score and a half.

hopefully with addition of adobe’s creative suite 4 will make this the little laptop that could.

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this new blog writing software is the bee’s knees. seriously.

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i’m going to be globe-trotting in a minor sense over the next month. i get to be in London for Guy Fawkes Night. bonfires, carnivals, and more explosives than you can shake a stick at. expect stories and pictures.

on a globe-trotting note, i finally have access to the pictures i took when i went to the british isles for two months. expect a giant flickr album soon.

remember, remember the 5th of november.

fall needs to get here. now.

item!
‘9′ sucked.

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being unemployed, i have copious amounts of time on my hands. i try and channel it into productive activites (jogging, writing, job hunting… you get the picture). but, as one would expect, i have ample down time. in this, i have found that OnDemand is offering the first three seasons of the Showtime original series, Dexter, for the nice price of nothing.

first off, i’m not a tv watcher.i have a small handful of shows that i watch, but i usually catch them when they’re on; no planning around the set.

second off, i’ve seen the first season of Dexter, but that was about two years ago. but i figured i’d give it a rewatch before i caught up.

the dialogue is terrible.
the photography is forgettable.
the direction of the actors is abysmal.

so tell me then: WHY DO I STILL LIKE THIS SHOW?

Michael C. Hall is very talented, as Six Feet Under showed us, but the voice-over he gives throughout the episodes is embarrassingly bad. wincing stuff, sometimes. but i like his character and the fixes he gets into and out of.

every aspect of this show sucks, in my blunt opinion. yet, why am i hooked? it, most likely, is the simple concept of the show: a good serial killer; righting wrongs and defending the weak. but… still. if every aspect of the show is as bad as it is i would’ve normally dumped it by the wayside after the first episode or two.

whatever.

item!
last weekend i went over to fred’s place with the simple plan of hanging out. we ended up playing through ALL of Rock Band: The Beatles. beginning to The End. fred rocked paul’s bass licks. i was ringo.

i actually do have blisters on my fingers

it really wants to be chilly. and it should do what it wants.

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it’s that time of year again…

zombies!

damian, tim, and i will be remounting our form of Survivors of the Undead Plague with Creature Feature at the Brave New Workshop again this year. it’s a pleasure to be back.

i made this today. stay tuned to that as well as this for more info.

i also found this, which is totally amazing.

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9 came out today. in the hopes of saving on gas, i’m going to go see it tomorrow when i’m around and about uptown.

expect many thoughts and fanboying.

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seriously. i am so lucky sometimes.