Here it is!

I think I've got this all figured out.

Click here to see my little podcast thingy.

Tell me if it works.

Time to Work on My To-Do List

I have been given five days off from work. This happens to every employee every year in order to cash out all of our vacation time and to decide if we should be fired or rehired. I'm pretty confident I have been rehired, as my name was still on the schedule for next week, but I always get a little nervous initially. I actually wish they had given me this entire week off, but what can you do.

What I can do is work on a few projects I've been interested in for some time. The first one is reupholstering my chair. I found this chair across the street from Joey's old place. It was slated to be thrown away but I took it. I like the shape and the design of it because it feels very 60's to me. I like the fabric as well, but it is frayed quite a bit in several places. Today I decided to begin tearing it apart to put new fabric on it. Here's a pic of it before I began.



Pretty cute, huh? It took me about four hours to tear, pry or otherwise cajole the fabric into coming off. Don't worry, I watched two videos of Doctor Who in that time period. I was relieved to find that most of the fabric was stapled on and not sewed. The fabric itself was so worn that it was easier to tear it off at most points than use the hammer. By the end, cream-colored bunches of padding lay bunched on the floor along with plenty of small tacks. I made sure to step on several of them.

I took note of where the fabric fit in and how it was attached to the wood. I thought that taking pictures would help, and I took several, or thought I did...when I tried to look at them on the camera the card was full. I think I can manage without them. Tomorrow I am going to look for fabric. I would like something that looks mid century, but I don't know what I'll find.

I'm still trying to figure out the whole podcast thing, but it seems to be getting more and more complicated. I think I'm going to deal with that tomorrow.

The Life of an Outlaw

I have been living an outlaw's lifestyle for the past few days. I drove around with...expired license plates. It wasn't as exhilarating as you might think; criminals are praised way too often in TV in my opinion. No, it was pretty quiet and uneventful, mostly because I didn't know they had expired until yesterday. I usually just go in after I get a notice in the mail, but since I moved I didn't get it. Yesterday Joey told me he had to get his car inspected and that's when I suddenly remembered. 

You may know of my previous attempts to get to the DMV (if not, go read eastside/westside rift) and I was discouraged several times in my pursuit to get there. I ended up in strange industrial areas where semis and huge trains would crush a car like mine just as soon as they'd look at one. Plucky as I am, I managed to avoid the crunching and ended up at the DMV. It was tucked away on an obscure street in the middle of nowhere. I think more government buildings should be like this: difficult to find and even more difficult to find again. I was relieved when the renewal process began and concluded quickly, but I did have to pay $189. At least I'm legal. 

The whole experience really makes me want to sell my car and get a bike. I am wary of what I would do in the winter though, when everything is slippery and the temperature sticks to below freezing for the entire season. The location of my work isn't conducive to bike riding either. There would be very little room to ride on the side of the road, and I don't think it would be very safe to ride alongside drivers. I guess I'll just have to wait until my life changes. Or, I could get a helicopter. I've noticed the skies are temptingly vacant. 

It's Not Done Yet

I recorded some stuff on my new Zoom H2, but I haven't set up a podcast yet. If you are interested, send me your email in a comment (I'll write down the address and delete the comment so you don't get spam) and I will send you the audio file. It is about eight minutes long, so you can listen to it while you count to 480.

I have realized that having a podcast is a little more difficult than I expected. I have to come up with an RSS feed before I can put it on iTunes. Before I do that I want to decide exactly what my podcast will be about and have a clearer idea of how it will all work. In the meantime I'm going to be experimenting. I've already figured out how to use the microphone gain and setting the maximum decibels. The microphone is pretty sensitive; it could pick up the grasshoppers singing outside by me just holding the recorder out the window. I hope by the end of this week to have a plan for my podcast. Maybe I can use this blog for the feed?

In other news, we have been watching my neighbor's cat all day. He is a kitten named Rocky and he is pretty adorable. I feel sorry for him because I think he doesn't get enough attention. His owner is often busy. I have unofficially named myself his godfather. I wander around with him making sure he gets enough water and sees all of the cool things in my apartment. He likes to explore, which can be cute and frustrating. He was engrossed in my activity of cutting up vegetables, trying to stick his furry little face in the food. But I can't stay mad at him at all. My favorite thing is to put him on the roof and watch him stalk the birds. He loves it.

An attempt to defrost my freezer went nowhere. The ice in there is so hard, and I felt pretty primitive hacking at it with a flathead. I'm sure that was how cavemen would have defrosted their fridges, but this is 2008 and I want a better way to deal with it. I need to figure it out soon because the freezer gets smaller all the time and everything in there is getting coated with ice. It's like someone shot my jalepino poppers with the gun straight out of Batman Forever. Where is George Clooney with his horrible anatomically correct batsuit when I need him? 

Time to fold laundry!

This is the Kind of Show I Want to Be On

I don't know what the name of this show is, but this particular clip was being shot during the latest earthquake in California. Personally, I don't approve of men with mustaches on kids' shows, but a robot is always necessary.

We're Gettin' Busy!

I wanted to show some of my estate sale finds from yesterday. I got two books for a total of $1.50. The first book I got was this Rap! book. It contains all of the latest hot artists, like De La Soul, MC Hammer, 3rd Bass and others. I liked the pictures the most. There was a section on how to write your own rap, which I might be doing soon.  The stories were pretty inspiring too. Did you know that Salt N' Peppa used to be called Supernature? They changed the name because fans thought it was a better name. And, did you know there was never anyone named N'? Fascinating. I remember that song they had about sex. They wanted to talk about it. Or maybe that was some other group. The talented Milli Vanilli is featured in this publication. I wish I could get my hair that long, but it just gets all curly. Each picture shows a candid moment in the superstars' life. 

There was an informative section on how to street speak. Apparently I really needed to read this section because I would have said "How to speak in a manner appropriate for the street". In any case, I learned that I can call my friends my crew or posse, and when someone is told to chill they should cool off. 

I also got this Flash Gordon book. It's a short story with a record in the back. I never really got into Flash Gordon when I was little. I have listened to some of the really old radio shows and they are pretty entertaining. He has a girlfriend named Dale. I want to see the movie they made in the 80's. I've heard it's pretty bad.

I don't think any of this stuff is worth very much, but it is pretty interesting. I wish the Flash Gordon book was in color, but I did like the illustrations. I can't believe that a book coming out in 1982 would still have a record in the back. Oddly enough, I have a record player but not a tape player, so I wouldn't have been able to listen to it otherwise.                                                                           

In other news, I have done some of my first audio recordings and will be making them into a podcast soon. I don't know how to put them on here so I will direct you to where they are. My first episode will be about being in a bar. In all honesty, these recordings were just for me to get a feel for how it all works.   

Say Hello To My Little Friend

My audio recorder came today! There is nothing quite like coming home from work and finding a package waiting for you. I dutifully tore open the parcel and dug out my Zoom H2. I have recorded a little and it's been pretty simple. I am excited at all of the things I will be able to record, although I have a hard time listening to my own voice. I think it's kind of annoying. 

I am way too excited in this picture. My camera seems to have some sort of smudge on it because the corner is all fuzzy. 

I have decided to name my recorder Jamal. I'm going to the Twilite Lounge tonight and I will definitely bring Jamal.