Just this week a new producer started working here. One of her hobbies happens to be photography. Before she started I emailed her about doing some photo safaris on our lunch breaks from time-to-time. She is much more experienced than I am, so I am somewhat shy about showing her my work. Plus, she is a Canon girl who enjoys making fun of my Nikon! But, whatever, it’s just a hobby and I can only get better with practice. We’ve already gone on our first adventure — the MassLive parking lot. Her jawdropping photos are here and a few of my less-than-awe-inspiring photos are below (and after the jump). I really want to learn her little Photoshop tricks. Maybe if I’m nice to her she’ll show me.

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My office purchased a number of Flip cameras this week, so I’ve been testing one of them out. My early impressions are very positive, especially where design is concerned. It’s about the size of a pack of menthol 100’s and very lightweight. There are a minimal number of buttons to push. The designers definitely took a page out of the Apple book, right down to the boxy packaging the Flip came in.

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I am going to co-present a class on podcasting at UMass Amherst on Wednesday night. If you were a student (or if you are a student), what would you want to know about podcasting?

Here is a list of blogs/videos/audio that I need to get to this week.

How not to brand/market your site/newspaper (via Jeff)

Speed Up Windows XP (can’t remember but prolly via Jeff)

Adding blogs and multimedia to your newsroom (via here)

When I have more I’ll add them here

I am off to enjoy a week-long vacation. So I won’t be posting here. Or anywhere. That’s what vacations are about.

Another night of sporadic sleep. This sucks. I think I’m stressy about work, but I don’t know why it’s affecting me to this degree. Nothing out of the ordinary is happening.

this week i’ve been sort of living in a fog. For some reason I haven’t been able to get a decent night’s sleep. Last night was the best of the last three nights, because I convinced myself that it was ok to use alcohol to help me sleep. So, I bought a bottle of champagne and had it with dinner. I feel good about this decision, because I was asleep before 10:00 p.m. I feel slightly regretful, because I woke up around 1:00 a.m. completely sober and couldn’t get back to sleep until around 3:00 a.m. Overall, those hours between 10 and 1 am made it so worth it. I promised myself that this was a one-time deal. I am overly conscious of my drinking, which is funny to me because I rarely drink.

I am not sure what has happened to me this week, although I have some ideas. The editor is out this week so things are kind of nuts at work. I moved my bedroom into the smaller, greener room. It’s more peaceful back there, but I think I’m still getting used to the new vibe. I also think that the air conditioner in that room is a bit louder than the one in the other bedroom. My new plan of attack is to cool that room down before I go to bed and then turn off the air conditioner when I’m ready for sleep. If that doesn’t work I’ll have to ask Matt to swap the air conditioners. I don’t want it to come to this, though.

But do you know that feeling of sleeplessness? Of your mind racing with all of the thoughts of things you have to do? Or you are willing yourself to relax, which just makes it worse because you’re just reminded that you’re very much NOT relaxed.

Wow, an AT&T commercial with Mates of State. How weird!

The past few weekends have been full. earlier in the month, Matt and I went to Pennsylvania and did all of the things we set out to do. I have to say that my favorite was riding our bikes around my hometown. It was nice to see Palmyra on a bicycle. What a nice place to have grown up I’ve decided. And last weekend matt played a show in Brooklyn and then we stayed at his grandma’s on long island. I beat them both at Scrabble. Twice. I’m just sayin’

I warned you. I said I wouldn’t be sharing much about my life in my blog. I have started to feel that nagging feeling that I am neglecting this space, though. I pay a lot of money per year to keep it up and, just recently, I pre-paid sighclub for another year.

2007 has taken me on many new paths and I’ve been thankful for all of them. To recap, I bought a house, became a landlord, ended a long-term relationship, met someone new and got a promotion. All in that order. The brightest highlight has been meeting someone new, with whom I have packed so much life into the past three months. I am grateful for the way my life has turned out, but really could not in any way have predicted things would be this way just six months ago.

Out of respect for all who are involved I will say that the end of the last relationship was a long time coming. Compatibility is so important (although it’s not the only thing) and I have felt with this new relationship that I am way more compatible with this person. I can’t say that I regret anything that has happened to me. I think it would be foolish to do that, considering everything I have done in the past has led me to where I am today. I might not be in the fortunate position I am in were it not for the support of my past relationship. Same with my loving BFFs who have been so steadfast. Oh my girls (not THOSE girls).

So, in the new world life is coming at me pretty fast.

The promotion was huge and although I’d expected it for quite some time I was pleased at how much of a bump-up I got. As recently as this week the pressure has begun to increase. I find that I have virtually no downtime at work, except to run out and grab a bite to eat. Recently, editorial has experienced a number of big successes, so the professional satisfaction is all part of the package. We just need to be able to continue to perform at this heightened level. THAT’s the real challenge.

I’m not going to lie. I do enjoy the job a little less than in the past, but I suspect that will level off and I’ll find my groove again.

In just a few weekends Matt will be coming along with me to Pennsylvania to meet my family. He’s already met my father, so some of the pressure is off. I am excited for him to meet my mother and other family members and to show him the land where I am from. We plan to bring our bikes, ride around ole’ Palmyra to see the sites (ahem), and probably go to Hershey Park. The added bonus is that I went against my nature and took an extra day off of work, so we’ll have another day in PA.

I have to say that one byproduct of getting a promotion is that even though I am much busier than in the past, I didn’t feel bad about taking a day off. I think that is one thing that I should have done more of in the past but I was always worried it would reflect badly on me, that I wouldn’t be seen as a hardworker. So mea culpa and here’s to more balance. Work hard, play hard, right?

The landlording hasn’t been perfect, but overall I’m so proud to be a homeowner. Last weekend Matt and I did some mulching in the front and are now proud to call our mulch job the Patch of Grass Garden or PoGG for short. We tried to mulch around the phlox, but since the flowers have all fallen off and there is grass growing with the phlox, it just looks like 4 to 5 patches of grass. All in all though, it’s pretty freakin’ cute. I need to get the handyman here to start working on my railing. The insurance company is requiring that I install it because of how steep and slopey my front stairs are. This is on my huge to-do list. Also, a big piping problem in the basement was affecting the (let’s say) plumbing in the business part of the house, so that was an added expense. And now, let’s just say that I 1) unfortunately got to see what a (my) sub-basement looks like and 2) the smell of mothballs permeated the house for a while. When I would come home it would stink of them as I walked up the stairs. One day Matt was walking up, the smell hit him, and he yelled out “Mothballs!” Molly was standing right there, so we took to calling her Mothballs for a while. Nicknames always seem to wear off of her, though. Guess that means Molly was a good name for her.

My dad came to visit me a couple of weekends ago. It was a lot of fun! We went to the Basketball Hall of Fame, ate a lot of dinners out, took pictures at the top of Mt. Sugarloaf, went shopping for a camera and a little garden buddha (for his GF), went bowling. I kicked ass at bowling. I’ve still got it people. My dad generously bought me a nikon d40 with an extra zoom lens and 2GB SD card so I have been enjoying getting out and using it. It was his housewarming gift to me and I am grateful for it. I also got a piece of stained glass from he and his GF Maggie when I first moved in. I am trying to find the most perfect spot to hang it. It may end up in the office for now, though, because that’s the only window in the house without mini-blinds. I think it would look funny to hang a piece of beautiful stained glass piece behind a mini-blind, don’t you?

If I can be diary-a like for minute, today is going to be nuts. I have
to drop my car off at the mechanic, work like a dog all day, go into a
meeting at 5:00 (!) and in between all that I have to figure out a way
to get back to my car. I’m sure it will all work out, though.

I know that I glossed over a few parts, but I felt you deserved a proper update. I won’t make any promises, but I will at least be posting new pictures as I get them.

Check it out, people.