Sunday, August 29, 2010
I DID IT!
BAM! Made my bookcase prototype. Discovered that it would also look awesome hanging horizontally on the wall. I painted this one black because it was made of plywood. But once I get better at it, I'm planning on making some out of pine and oak and staining them.
Also drew out a new square design. Pretty excited about it. When I get money enough to build another one, you can see it.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Hobbies
Recently, I have discovered that I am in need of a hobby. Really I feel that everyone is need of a good hobby. Something to do that realigns my chi or whatever, even something just to pass the free time that I'm probably not going to have. I have been moving toward this discovery ever so slowly over the past few months.
My first baby step on the road to this discovery happened when I went into my parents garage to watch my father sand his hand-crafted wooden kayak. He has been building this kayak for over a year and a half and it is nearly finished. He says that every youth pastor should take a year off and build houses so that at the end of the day they can look at something that they have built and see that they have made a difference in the world. Pastoring youth is not the most rewarding job sometimes, I suppose. He loves his kayak. He is very proud of his kayak. And he has every right to feel so.
I feel like Speech-Language Therapy is similar to youth pastoring. Results take a whole lot more time to see than I would like. The victories are much more celebrated but they are few and far between. I need a hobby.
Another step toward this discovery is that when I'm not working or studying, I really don't know what to do with my time. I find myself playing Burnout: Paradise City and facebook stalking my friends. I feel like I should be more productive. I did start reading for pleasure, which has been good, but most of the people in my books have a hobby. I think I'd like to get one.
The final step was telling my boyfriend that he needs a hobby besides video games. At 27, I feel that it is no longer acceptable for your ONLY "hobby" to be starcraft 2/MW2/Red Dead Redemption (all the men argue that that is 3 hobbies). We are about to become a long distance relationship, so I won't be around anymore to remind that he should probably go outside and breathe fresh air at least once a day (he probably wants me to tell you that that is an exaggeration and to stop making him look bad, but it's kinda funny).
So I've started throwing around ideas in my head (and looking for things to do on the interwebs).
Sewing clothes. I feel like that is a good idea, but I'd enjoy it more if I had children to make clothes for, or was somewhat skilled at using a sewing machine (I used one once I think) (I made Lauren enter a contest to win a serger).
Recycling. People are so into recycling these days. My best friend Samantha is in California right now educating people on some proposition that would green all of California and probably save the world. I see cool things like people making coffee tables out of VHS tapes and think: I could do that. But I don't think I'm passionate enough about it, and green people are so very passionate. It's intimidating.
Wood Carving. I only looked into this because I recently watched The Runaways and Cherie Currie (played by Dakota Fanning in the movie) is a wood carving artist now. I never really thought about hot blondes being into wood carving, but I can get down with that.
Drawing. I can draw surprisingly. It surprising even to me sometimes. I rarely do it. I think because I can really only draw things from real life and in order to get everything the way I want it, I end up taking a really long time and get bored with the subject. So I often forget I can draw. My family does too. I showed them a drawing I recently did (to see if it should be my hobby) and they were like "you drew that, you can draw, hmm?" Thanks for the confidence boost, dad.
But yesterday i found something that I actually could probably get excited. I've decided that my new hobby is probably going to be building things. Out of plywood mostly. Bookshelves are at the top of my list. Bookshelves, I feel, are a safe place to start when working with plywood (I say plywood because I know that if I just put wood all my college frat boy friends will giggle every time they read it, plus plywood is cheap). Anyway, I'm very excited to dabble in my new found hobby. We'll see how long it lasts.
If ever I'm famous (questionable), it all started right here.
(so many parentheses)
My first baby step on the road to this discovery happened when I went into my parents garage to watch my father sand his hand-crafted wooden kayak. He has been building this kayak for over a year and a half and it is nearly finished. He says that every youth pastor should take a year off and build houses so that at the end of the day they can look at something that they have built and see that they have made a difference in the world. Pastoring youth is not the most rewarding job sometimes, I suppose. He loves his kayak. He is very proud of his kayak. And he has every right to feel so.
I feel like Speech-Language Therapy is similar to youth pastoring. Results take a whole lot more time to see than I would like. The victories are much more celebrated but they are few and far between. I need a hobby.
Another step toward this discovery is that when I'm not working or studying, I really don't know what to do with my time. I find myself playing Burnout: Paradise City and facebook stalking my friends. I feel like I should be more productive. I did start reading for pleasure, which has been good, but most of the people in my books have a hobby. I think I'd like to get one.
The final step was telling my boyfriend that he needs a hobby besides video games. At 27, I feel that it is no longer acceptable for your ONLY "hobby" to be starcraft 2/MW2/Red Dead Redemption (all the men argue that that is 3 hobbies). We are about to become a long distance relationship, so I won't be around anymore to remind that he should probably go outside and breathe fresh air at least once a day (he probably wants me to tell you that that is an exaggeration and to stop making him look bad, but it's kinda funny).
So I've started throwing around ideas in my head (and looking for things to do on the interwebs).
Sewing clothes. I feel like that is a good idea, but I'd enjoy it more if I had children to make clothes for, or was somewhat skilled at using a sewing machine (I used one once I think) (I made Lauren enter a contest to win a serger).
Recycling. People are so into recycling these days. My best friend Samantha is in California right now educating people on some proposition that would green all of California and probably save the world. I see cool things like people making coffee tables out of VHS tapes and think: I could do that. But I don't think I'm passionate enough about it, and green people are so very passionate. It's intimidating.
Wood Carving. I only looked into this because I recently watched The Runaways and Cherie Currie (played by Dakota Fanning in the movie) is a wood carving artist now. I never really thought about hot blondes being into wood carving, but I can get down with that.
Drawing. I can draw surprisingly. It surprising even to me sometimes. I rarely do it. I think because I can really only draw things from real life and in order to get everything the way I want it, I end up taking a really long time and get bored with the subject. So I often forget I can draw. My family does too. I showed them a drawing I recently did (to see if it should be my hobby) and they were like "you drew that, you can draw, hmm?" Thanks for the confidence boost, dad.
But yesterday i found something that I actually could probably get excited. I've decided that my new hobby is probably going to be building things. Out of plywood mostly. Bookshelves are at the top of my list. Bookshelves, I feel, are a safe place to start when working with plywood (I say plywood because I know that if I just put wood all my college frat boy friends will giggle every time they read it, plus plywood is cheap). Anyway, I'm very excited to dabble in my new found hobby. We'll see how long it lasts.
If ever I'm famous (questionable), it all started right here.
(so many parentheses)
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Middle Schoolers
Today, I discovered Middle Schoolers. I've known many middle schoolers throughout my life. Most of them I knew when I, myself, was in middle school. And then at some point I'm pretty sure my siblings were in middle school. So I've known middle schoolers, but I had never really seen (as an outsider) a mighty band of middle schoolers before today.
Today, was the second day of school apparently. And the Speech-Language Pathologist's (SLP=what I am, I guess) job during the first few weeks of school to provide hearing screenings for all of the new students and all of the kindergarten, 4th, and 7th graders. Today, I was at a local middle school doing these hearing screenings with my good friend and fellow student SLP thing (we aren't technically SLPs for another 9 months), Laura.
Let me start at the beginning. Public schools are creepy now. When you sign in as a visitor they take your picture and print it out on your name tag. But they don't TELL you they are going to take your picture. So I looked like a legit creeper walking around with a what's-going-on face in my picture posted right next to my name. Let's just say that several people asked me what I was doing there as I walked down the hall.
So here I am in a public school (which always weirds homeschoolers out), I don't understand how the cafeteria works, I look like a little lost 5th grader trying to find the bathroom and have to ask for help, and then the sinks are practically at my knees, I tried to buy my lunch with a credit card and was reminded that I was in a middle school ("we only take cash"). Oh right. Duh (such a middle school word).
And there are tons of little people! Middle schoolers are so much littler (yes, that is the word I want to use) than I pictured in my mind. When I see freshman in college, in my head they are equivalent to middle schoolers. No longer. And they are very strange little people. Somewhere between cute kindergartner and screwed up adolescent high school senior but with hint "my mom still dresses me and I hate it".
So we're bringing these kids in about 10 at a time and giving instructions:
SLP: "ok, you're going to sit in these chairs in front us and we're going to put some head phones on you. You are going to hear a series of beeps. When you hear the beeps raise your hand-"
Random middle schooler (every time): "do we all raise our hands?"
SLP: "no, only the people with the head phones on. ok, you all need to be very quiet so that everyone can hear because these beeps are really quiet and you have to listen hard."
First kids steps up, puts on the head phones. I start pushing buttons making little beeps happen. no hand raising.
SLP: "do you hear anything?"
Middle Schooler: "yeah, it's like beep beep beep."
SLP: "right, I need to raise your hand, otherwise I'm going to put down that you are deaf." (I just gave you instructions)
This happens over and over again for several hours. Bring kids in, give instructions, they ask weird questions, put on head phones, don't raise hands, give instructions again, they pass/fail, sent 'em out, bring on the next load!
At one point, later in the day. Laura and I are in a total groove. We go through 12 kids in less than 5 minutes. This one group comes in, all boys (Ah, middle school boys). Instead of asking the typical "do we all raise our hands" question. This one kid raises and his hand and asks my tall, Norwegian friend, Laura, a question. He asks: "Do you have any Indian in you?" She stands there for a moment, and you can see that she is actually wondering if he is talking to her. If there had been more of us standing at the front of the room she probably would've looked behind her for the person he was obviously asking this question to. It was strange. I no longer felt like the creeper.
Anyway, I discovered middle schoolers today. It was very weird.
Today, was the second day of school apparently. And the Speech-Language Pathologist's (SLP=what I am, I guess) job during the first few weeks of school to provide hearing screenings for all of the new students and all of the kindergarten, 4th, and 7th graders. Today, I was at a local middle school doing these hearing screenings with my good friend and fellow student SLP thing (we aren't technically SLPs for another 9 months), Laura.
Let me start at the beginning. Public schools are creepy now. When you sign in as a visitor they take your picture and print it out on your name tag. But they don't TELL you they are going to take your picture. So I looked like a legit creeper walking around with a what's-going-on face in my picture posted right next to my name. Let's just say that several people asked me what I was doing there as I walked down the hall.
So here I am in a public school (which always weirds homeschoolers out), I don't understand how the cafeteria works, I look like a little lost 5th grader trying to find the bathroom and have to ask for help, and then the sinks are practically at my knees, I tried to buy my lunch with a credit card and was reminded that I was in a middle school ("we only take cash"). Oh right. Duh (such a middle school word).
And there are tons of little people! Middle schoolers are so much littler (yes, that is the word I want to use) than I pictured in my mind. When I see freshman in college, in my head they are equivalent to middle schoolers. No longer. And they are very strange little people. Somewhere between cute kindergartner and screwed up adolescent high school senior but with hint "my mom still dresses me and I hate it".
So we're bringing these kids in about 10 at a time and giving instructions:
SLP: "ok, you're going to sit in these chairs in front us and we're going to put some head phones on you. You are going to hear a series of beeps. When you hear the beeps raise your hand-"
Random middle schooler (every time): "do we all raise our hands?"
SLP: "no, only the people with the head phones on. ok, you all need to be very quiet so that everyone can hear because these beeps are really quiet and you have to listen hard."
First kids steps up, puts on the head phones. I start pushing buttons making little beeps happen. no hand raising.
SLP: "do you hear anything?"
Middle Schooler: "yeah, it's like beep beep beep."
SLP: "right, I need to raise your hand, otherwise I'm going to put down that you are deaf." (I just gave you instructions)
This happens over and over again for several hours. Bring kids in, give instructions, they ask weird questions, put on head phones, don't raise hands, give instructions again, they pass/fail, sent 'em out, bring on the next load!
At one point, later in the day. Laura and I are in a total groove. We go through 12 kids in less than 5 minutes. This one group comes in, all boys (Ah, middle school boys). Instead of asking the typical "do we all raise our hands" question. This one kid raises and his hand and asks my tall, Norwegian friend, Laura, a question. He asks: "Do you have any Indian in you?" She stands there for a moment, and you can see that she is actually wondering if he is talking to her. If there had been more of us standing at the front of the room she probably would've looked behind her for the person he was obviously asking this question to. It was strange. I no longer felt like the creeper.
Anyway, I discovered middle schoolers today. It was very weird.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Demolition Derby
Last night, I experienced my first county fair. The fair itself was alright. It was your typical batch of scam-like games that want you to spend $5 on a chance to maybe win a stuffed banana or an inflatable hammer. The rides are scary in the simple fact that they are rides at a county fair. I said that hundreds of people had ridden on them because we were there on the second to last night; Ashley said, "yeah, hundreds of people have loosened the screws." So I didn't ride the Ferris wheel. But one day I will ride a Ferris wheel.
The real reason i went to the Fair..well there were two, but I missed the pig races. The real reason i went to the fair was to see the Demolition Derby. Now I had heard of the derby before and the word demolition gave me a pretty good idea about how it would go, but seriously! Watching a bunch of old cars that run perfectly enough to buy them for your 16-year-old smack into each other over and over and over again. It was something else.
above are Actual Pictures from last night
Going to the derby taught me two things (I think, maybe more): 1) Cars are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for; 2) if we wore helmets while driving, we would be a lot less likely to get hurt in car crashes.
It was the ultimate bumper cars. By the end of it most of them looked like accordions. One was only on three wheels and was still strong enough to bash the front of the last car standing over and over again to gain the win! Cars were flipped. There was fire. At one point the front ends of two cars became welded together and they had to move around the track together. Entire back ends were folded up at a 90 degree angle so that the driver couldn't see out the back window.
Now my father, whether he reads this or not, is probably wondering how I handled going to a demo derby. He is wondering this, because I have some post-traumatic stress from all of my car accidents and freak out (with screaming and cowering in the corner) when other people are driving me around usually. For one, I was not in any of the cars. For two, I would totally drive in a demo derby because the car has been modified for the purposed of wrecking. For three, there were about 40 grown men (and 1 woman) having the time of their lives out there on the track. Giggling like a bunch of fools.
So that was my demolition derby experience. $10 for 2 hours of smashing entertainment. Well worth it.
The real reason i went to the Fair..well there were two, but I missed the pig races. The real reason i went to the fair was to see the Demolition Derby. Now I had heard of the derby before and the word demolition gave me a pretty good idea about how it would go, but seriously! Watching a bunch of old cars that run perfectly enough to buy them for your 16-year-old smack into each other over and over and over again. It was something else.
above are Actual Pictures from last night
Going to the derby taught me two things (I think, maybe more): 1) Cars are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for; 2) if we wore helmets while driving, we would be a lot less likely to get hurt in car crashes.
It was the ultimate bumper cars. By the end of it most of them looked like accordions. One was only on three wheels and was still strong enough to bash the front of the last car standing over and over again to gain the win! Cars were flipped. There was fire. At one point the front ends of two cars became welded together and they had to move around the track together. Entire back ends were folded up at a 90 degree angle so that the driver couldn't see out the back window.
Now my father, whether he reads this or not, is probably wondering how I handled going to a demo derby. He is wondering this, because I have some post-traumatic stress from all of my car accidents and freak out (with screaming and cowering in the corner) when other people are driving me around usually. For one, I was not in any of the cars. For two, I would totally drive in a demo derby because the car has been modified for the purposed of wrecking. For three, there were about 40 grown men (and 1 woman) having the time of their lives out there on the track. Giggling like a bunch of fools.
So that was my demolition derby experience. $10 for 2 hours of smashing entertainment. Well worth it.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Music Downloads Legally
If you are really like get new music for fewer monies, there are several options on the Internet that are not all that advertised.
The most popular legal music downloading system is iTunes. Personally, I think iTunes and is great and all, but it can be pricey sometimes and doesn't always have what I want.
Probably the next most popular place to download music is Amazon.com. I never noticed before I had a twitter account that everyday Amazon has a Daily Deal on an album. The usual cost of said album is usually about $3.99. If you follow them on Twitter they will post the daily deal everyday so you can see if it is worth checking into. They also usually have a free song of the day.
You can also find THOUSANDS of albums for under $5 on a regular basis on amazon.com.
The third most "legal" place to download music is at 7digital.com. This site is very similar to Amazon.com. They have a longer list of free track downloads than most places.
There are some Russian sites that are somewhere in between legal and illegal. The Russian have a law that let them sell music without paying artist royalties unless the artist specifically requests it. So they have the ability to sell whole albums for as little as $1. While these are "legal" places to download music, if you are trying to be moral about downloading music (which most people today are not!) these sites are probably not the places for you.
Gomusic.ru This site is slightly different in that you have to prepay are certain amount (I believe it is $25) in order to download the music. Some people find it creepy to give some Russian Company your credit card number, but the site itself has a pretty reputation. Most people suggest that you get a Simon Visa Card or something like it, if you don't trust them with your credit card information. I haven't heard of anyone having issues with that though.
MP3Panda.com Another extremely cheap site (I'm not sure if it's Russian, but I think so). It has the same concept of putting money of a certain sum on your account and then using that toward music. They also have the option to pay about $250 and get unlimited free music for life.
I'm sure there are other sites out there that have cheap downloads, these are just the ones that I have run into in my Internet researching.
Can you tell I'm really bored when I'm not in school? :)
The most popular legal music downloading system is iTunes. Personally, I think iTunes and is great and all, but it can be pricey sometimes and doesn't always have what I want.
Probably the next most popular place to download music is Amazon.com. I never noticed before I had a twitter account that everyday Amazon has a Daily Deal on an album. The usual cost of said album is usually about $3.99. If you follow them on Twitter they will post the daily deal everyday so you can see if it is worth checking into. They also usually have a free song of the day.
You can also find THOUSANDS of albums for under $5 on a regular basis on amazon.com.
The third most "legal" place to download music is at 7digital.com. This site is very similar to Amazon.com. They have a longer list of free track downloads than most places.
There are some Russian sites that are somewhere in between legal and illegal. The Russian have a law that let them sell music without paying artist royalties unless the artist specifically requests it. So they have the ability to sell whole albums for as little as $1. While these are "legal" places to download music, if you are trying to be moral about downloading music (which most people today are not!) these sites are probably not the places for you.
Gomusic.ru This site is slightly different in that you have to prepay are certain amount (I believe it is $25) in order to download the music. Some people find it creepy to give some Russian Company your credit card number, but the site itself has a pretty reputation. Most people suggest that you get a Simon Visa Card or something like it, if you don't trust them with your credit card information. I haven't heard of anyone having issues with that though.
MP3Panda.com Another extremely cheap site (I'm not sure if it's Russian, but I think so). It has the same concept of putting money of a certain sum on your account and then using that toward music. They also have the option to pay about $250 and get unlimited free music for life.
I'm sure there are other sites out there that have cheap downloads, these are just the ones that I have run into in my Internet researching.
Can you tell I'm really bored when I'm not in school? :)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Life Hacked
One of my favorite blogs on the internet is lifehacker.com. Today they blogged about OpenCourses, which is what iTunes U provides. They have a lot of other resources as well. Check it out!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
What's a DISorganized person to do?
What's a DISorganized person to do?
By Stacey Platt
I just proved how badly I need this book because I just spent 20 minutes tearing the room apart trying to find it so that I could tell you the author's name. I found it, of all places, behind my dirty laundry basket. The room I spent 10 minutes cleaning up this morning is now trashed. Again.
About 6 years ago I was officially diagnosed with ADHD-Inattentive. My parents had me tested after my 3rd or 4th car accident at 17 (I caused 5 before I was 18). I was put on medication which made me more productive than I have ever been in my life, and more boring than I had ever been in my life. I went off the things about half way through my undergraduate studies. I decided that I would rather change my habits than change my personality. That transition probably would've been a lot easier if I had bought this book sooner.
Unofficially, I also have a mild case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (which is becoming as popular as ADHD). This is what I get for having a creative, ADHD father and a logical, OCD mother (how did that happen?). So while I'm completely disorganized, I'm also completely overwhelmed by the disorganization and go into these moods where no matter what one does, you can't stop me from cleaning EVERYTHING! Labeling is one of my favoritest things in the whole world. I plan on asking for a label maker for christmas, the office manager at the prep lab won't let me use hers anymore.
Anyway, a few days ago, my boyfriend and I are at Barnes & Noble trying to kill time and use up my $25 gift card. I browse for a while and decided that I wante to read Eat, Pray, Love. Then I find the display table labeled something along the lines of "For the new college student". I'm intrigued. I'm a very old college student, but I know that I should have been more educated on the college process/life before I had entered it. One of the first books I find is this book to help disorganized people because have you ever seen a college boy's room/house -- disgusting. It's the perfect demographic. Again, I wish I had had this book in college. So I buy it. I leave the store with Eat, Pray, Love; What's a disorganized person to do?; and A Year Of Living Biblically: One man's humble quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible (more on that book some other time).
Anyway, I immediately opened this book when I got home. I went through the entire thing cover to cover in about an hour and half. Throughout my readings, I kept yelling at John to listen to the "coolest thing ever" and kept commenting about how much I love this book. The sad part for me was that I'm living out of a storage unit right now, so I have no home or even drawers to organize. So the next day I mention to John that maybe it's time for him to move his dresser out of his closet and do some reorganization that would result in all of his nice clothes neatly hung up and a couple shelves for his few other clothes. He, God bless him, agreed to let me have my way with his closet.
It's nice having this book now, while I'm kinda homeless, because when I do finally get my own home again I can start organize from the beginning and maybe be able to find things more often.
The book itself is full of little tips from how to reduce junk mail to how to organize your toolbox to what to save for tax purposes and how to organize it as you go to reduce the stress of doing your taxes.
If you are a disorganized person, even if you're an organized person who just wants some pointers on how keep things organized more easily, I strongly recommend this book.
Anyone know of other books with good life advice?
By Stacey Platt
I just proved how badly I need this book because I just spent 20 minutes tearing the room apart trying to find it so that I could tell you the author's name. I found it, of all places, behind my dirty laundry basket. The room I spent 10 minutes cleaning up this morning is now trashed. Again.
About 6 years ago I was officially diagnosed with ADHD-Inattentive. My parents had me tested after my 3rd or 4th car accident at 17 (I caused 5 before I was 18). I was put on medication which made me more productive than I have ever been in my life, and more boring than I had ever been in my life. I went off the things about half way through my undergraduate studies. I decided that I would rather change my habits than change my personality. That transition probably would've been a lot easier if I had bought this book sooner.
Unofficially, I also have a mild case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (which is becoming as popular as ADHD). This is what I get for having a creative, ADHD father and a logical, OCD mother (how did that happen?). So while I'm completely disorganized, I'm also completely overwhelmed by the disorganization and go into these moods where no matter what one does, you can't stop me from cleaning EVERYTHING! Labeling is one of my favoritest things in the whole world. I plan on asking for a label maker for christmas, the office manager at the prep lab won't let me use hers anymore.
Anyway, a few days ago, my boyfriend and I are at Barnes & Noble trying to kill time and use up my $25 gift card. I browse for a while and decided that I wante to read Eat, Pray, Love. Then I find the display table labeled something along the lines of "For the new college student". I'm intrigued. I'm a very old college student, but I know that I should have been more educated on the college process/life before I had entered it. One of the first books I find is this book to help disorganized people because have you ever seen a college boy's room/house -- disgusting. It's the perfect demographic. Again, I wish I had had this book in college. So I buy it. I leave the store with Eat, Pray, Love; What's a disorganized person to do?; and A Year Of Living Biblically: One man's humble quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible (more on that book some other time).
Anyway, I immediately opened this book when I got home. I went through the entire thing cover to cover in about an hour and half. Throughout my readings, I kept yelling at John to listen to the "coolest thing ever" and kept commenting about how much I love this book. The sad part for me was that I'm living out of a storage unit right now, so I have no home or even drawers to organize. So the next day I mention to John that maybe it's time for him to move his dresser out of his closet and do some reorganization that would result in all of his nice clothes neatly hung up and a couple shelves for his few other clothes. He, God bless him, agreed to let me have my way with his closet.
It's nice having this book now, while I'm kinda homeless, because when I do finally get my own home again I can start organize from the beginning and maybe be able to find things more often.
The book itself is full of little tips from how to reduce junk mail to how to organize your toolbox to what to save for tax purposes and how to organize it as you go to reduce the stress of doing your taxes.
If you are a disorganized person, even if you're an organized person who just wants some pointers on how keep things organized more easily, I strongly recommend this book.
Anyone know of other books with good life advice?
Monday, August 16, 2010
iTunes U
Yesterday, I purchased an iPod Nano. I haven't owned an iPod (or any portable music player) in about 5 years. The reason being that I successfully destroyed 5 iPods in 3 years when they first came out. The first thing my boyfriend asked me after I had checked out: "Did you get the accident plan?" He knows me too well.
He had bought a nano the day before and was still in the "it's-so-beautiful" phase that everyone who buys their first Apple product goes through. He had decided that I needed one too. After 20 minutes of trying to convince me of this I told him that I would go to the store and look at them (poor decision #1). At the store the next day, I stood in front of the display for about 30 minutes trying to decide if I really need one. I decided that I really don't need one, but it's got a video camera! Geez! And I happen to only pay about half of what I expected to pay for my textbooks. Ok, maybe I need it.
I gave in.
Her name is Nancy (aren't I clever, har har).
My real discovery came after I went home to play with Nancy. I haven't really messed around with/updated iTunes in years. Pandora has been my main source of music for a while now. And I'm a grad student, I have no money for new music. Anyways, I stumbled upon iTunes U. iTunes U is more or less the apple store for a college education. You can take classes from Yale University for free. And this is not like they are giving you a book to read. There are videos of real lectures given at real universities and most come with complementing readings, or you can buy the textbook and do the assigned readings in the syllabus.
If you are an education enthusiast, or just want to learn about a subject without the assignments and grades of a real college course, this is the thing for you. I tend to have a hard time listening to music while driving, I think this will help with my soon to be 3-hour commute to school on Mondays.
Personally, I've recently become interested in the debate between evolutionists and creationists. So I downloaded a course on evolution given at Missouri State University and a course on creation from a Seminary.
I also downloaded an Intro to Psychology course from Yale University.
He had bought a nano the day before and was still in the "it's-so-beautiful" phase that everyone who buys their first Apple product goes through. He had decided that I needed one too. After 20 minutes of trying to convince me of this I told him that I would go to the store and look at them (poor decision #1). At the store the next day, I stood in front of the display for about 30 minutes trying to decide if I really need one. I decided that I really don't need one, but it's got a video camera! Geez! And I happen to only pay about half of what I expected to pay for my textbooks. Ok, maybe I need it.
I gave in.
Her name is Nancy (aren't I clever, har har).
My real discovery came after I went home to play with Nancy. I haven't really messed around with/updated iTunes in years. Pandora has been my main source of music for a while now. And I'm a grad student, I have no money for new music. Anyways, I stumbled upon iTunes U. iTunes U is more or less the apple store for a college education. You can take classes from Yale University for free. And this is not like they are giving you a book to read. There are videos of real lectures given at real universities and most come with complementing readings, or you can buy the textbook and do the assigned readings in the syllabus.
If you are an education enthusiast, or just want to learn about a subject without the assignments and grades of a real college course, this is the thing for you. I tend to have a hard time listening to music while driving, I think this will help with my soon to be 3-hour commute to school on Mondays.
Personally, I've recently become interested in the debate between evolutionists and creationists. So I downloaded a course on evolution given at Missouri State University and a course on creation from a Seminary.
I also downloaded an Intro to Psychology course from Yale University.
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