My Favorite Apps

Oh yes, I have an iPhone and I looove it.  Really, this is the most useful piece of technology I can think of.  It’s in close competition with my new MacBook Pro.  Sometimes I forget how useful it is, and I just play solitaire on it a lot, but then I need something and I remember to go look to see if “there’s an app for that.”  And usually there is.   So today I thought I’d share some of my faves here.  I do like to share them, and writing about them will allow me to further postpone the flurry of housecleaning that was underway until I took this break.  (Hence, if you think this is the most boring topic you can imagine, just come back in a few days and it’ll be something else.)

So without further adieu, here is my short list of some apps I especially like, sort of arranged in categories:

Photography: Camera Genius (zoom lens, the whole screen is the shoot button.) Color Splash (you take a color photo, make it black and white, then recolor only certain parts.) Photogene (Broad range of photo editing devices.) PhotoShare (This one beams a photo to another iPhone.) Klick (direct access to Flickr.) and of course, Flickr.

Budgeting: iXpenseit (This is so cool for watching how you spend money.  It’s my current best one.)

Productivity: Like I’m productive?  If I was productive I wouldn’t be doing this right now.  But, I do have one called Things.  It’s sort of a simple way of keeping track of projects and to-dos.  I always forget to use it – go figure – but it looked so good when I got it.  I think I am just challenged in this department.  I”ll probably start really using it any day now.

Weight Maintenance: Lose It!  This enables you to keep track of what you eat, and set a calories budget for the day as well as weight loss goals.  It also lets you look up the calories in the food you eat.  I’m better at inputting my money than my food, but this one has super potential.  (If you’re not me.)  Gym ABC is one that helps you set up a training program, right on your phone.  I will definitely be using both of these a lot.  Pretty soon.

Books and Music:  Shazam (Identifies music playing so you can find and buy it if you want.  It’s a little temperamental, but works well if you aren’t too far from the music.) Pandora (This one is sooo cool.  You just input an artist and it goes and finds a radio station that plays that music or other music like it.  And then your phone acts like a radio.)

Other:  Sunrise (this one tells at what time the sun will rise and set wherever you are.  Or you can input another location I think.  I like this cause I like to get to the river on time for the sunset, or a little early.  This helps me plan.)  App Gems (This one lists MacWorld’s current favorite apps.)  Solebon Solitaire. (A whole bunch of solitaire games.  Addicting.) Koi Pond (Novelty, it is what it says.  You touch the screen and water splashes quietly, the koi swim away.  I know, over the top.  I didn’t buy it but I do like it!)

Which brings me to the cost part.  They weren’t all free, and a couple actually cost $5.00.  But I’ve only done that twice.  The rest were $2.00 or less and most were free.  So, what are your favorite apps?

25 Random Things About Me

There is a meme circulating through Facebook this week called 25 Random Things About Me.  The first time I was tagged, by Bonnie, I hesitated to do it.  So many revelations?  So public?  Tag 25 more people?  Yikes!  Then I was tagged again by Lani Lila.  I like and respect both taggers, so decided why not?  I of course wrote a bunch on each line and once I got to 25 could’ve kept going.  The hard part was tagging others.  First of all, that meant they would read what I wrote and then would they participate?  Would they then have way TMI about me? Would they think it was stupid or what?  Whatever – I got over it.  So here are my 25 Random things, cause I don’t want to lose track.  And cause I had fun writing it.  And ’cause it seems like it oughta be a blog post:

1. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa. My dad was a sheep dealer and my mom (then) was a bacteriologist for the city of Des Moines. She left that career after a short time, despite having the college degrees needed for it.

2. I’ve lived in Chico since 1980. I have no desire to ever live anywhere else.

3. I love to travel. I have visited Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Laos and Bangkok. And most of the states of the U.S. But I’ve never been to Hawaii!

4. I am a teacher. I taught high school for 15 years, and now teach middle school. Middle school has brought with it a steep learning curve, which has surprised me. I have worked for the Marysville school district since 1992. I student taught there the year before.

5. In 1992, when I was student teaching there was a shooting in my school. I was trapped in a classroom with 23 students for 7 hours. This event changed my life in some significant ways.

6. I spent a couple of years studying with the Avalon Institute, when they were in Chico. I learned spiritual tools there that still serve me today. I am thankful for having had that opportunity.

7. I have three grown children who were all born at home. At the time of the first two there were no midwives in our area, so I read books and trained a friend to deliver my babies. I had a midwife and a doctor present for the third birth. The doctor made tea.

8. I have three granddaughters, ages 9,7 and 6 months. The oldest spends a good amount of time with me, which blesses my life immensely.

9. I love to take photos. I used to take a lot of photos when I traveled, but last year I joined a Flick’r group called Photo Fridays, in which we post a photo or two every Friday. Since joining this group I have begun taking photos of Chico. Our town is amazingly photogenic!

10. I am bilingual (English/Spanish). Learning Spanish has enriched my life immensely.

11. I love to write. I have three blogs which I post to regularly, as well as 35 years worth of journals. I dream of writing a novel, and have started a couple of them. So far my continuative powers are a little weak, and they sit waiting for my return. I have published several articles in professional journals, however.

12. In the late sixties, after dropping out of college, I lived on a commune outside of Petaluma, CA. This was a spiritual place, and at times quite uncomfortable! After leaving there, I went to live in a much bigger communal situation in the East Bay with a rock and roll band.

13. I hitchhiked from the Bay Area of CA to Boulder, Colorado in the summer of 1970 for a “Holy man Jam” held at the University of Colorado. I think I traveled with about $25! I guess I counted on the Universe to take care of me. And she did.

14. In 1971 I immigrated to Canada with my husband at the time. We lived there until I got pregnant with my first child, whereupon we hitchhiked from Montreal to Northern California to get ready for the baby’s birth.

15. I attended Chico State for years. Enough to earn two Bachelors degrees, a Master’s Degree and two credentials. I think I’m done now. Although if I could afford it I would go to the University of Iowa’s Writing Workshop and get another Master’s Degree. Maybe after I retire…

16. I’m allergic to cats. I like them, but can’t touch them or be in a house in which they live. A long time ago I learned that I seem to react most to Siamese cats. I wish this weren’t the case. I’d like to have a cat, I think.

17. I have been involved with the Northern California and National Writing Project since 1996. I love this involvement. I have had amazing opportunities and have met some great friends because of the Writing Project.

18. I am politically liberal. I think very liberal, but maybe I just really didn’t like George Bush (Or Arnold Schwartzeneggar). I think in many ways not political, I’m pretty conservative. Feels funny to say that.

19. I am a Mac user. I think this is like belonging to a political party. I felt betrayed when a friend gave up her Mac for a PC. I know this seems silly to a non Mac user, but think that most Mac users will understand what I mean.

20. I used to make quilts. I hand quilted them, rueing the day each was finally finished. I became a teacher partly because I wanted more time to quilt, but then teaching was so creatively satisfying that I never quilted again. I still have tons of fabric.

21. I live in the Barber neighborhood in Chico. I’m constantly thinking I am going to sell my house. I still think that, even though I like it quite a bit. I would love to design and build or remodel a house to fit an idea that is lodged firmly in my head. I think someday I will.

22. This summer I will be 60. I want to do something memorable, like walk the Camino in Spain, but I have to work all June and July. So maybe I’ll just go to the beach for a few days. Or have a party. Maybe both.

23. My mom lives in Northern Mexico and I visit her once a year. I hope to go over Spring break this year, having missed it in January. Because she lives there, I never go anywhere else in Mexico.

24. I want to make time to make more prayer beads. I have made a strand that I like quite a lot, and continue to collect beads for more. I like to make little altars around my house, and then I forget I made them.

25. I expected this random list of personal revelations to be quite uncomfortable for me to do and am surprised that it hasn’t been. It’s actually been pretty fun to think of what to write. (The hardest part is figuring out who to tag. For some reason I feel shy about that part.)

Tag, you’re it!

Voice Thread

I have a new thing to try.  This week Kevin Hodgson challenged the Day in a Sentence community to post our sentences on Voice Thread.  I am a novice at this site, so felt a little intimidated, but appreciated the challenge.  I went out and bought a set of headphones with a mic (the headphones don’t fit me at all.  I think my head is too big.  But ni modo, I bought them at Circuit City so too bad for me.  The mic works, so whatever.)  Anyway, I posted my sentence on Kevin’s voicethread, and then decided to make my own.  So, if I can figure out the embedment here is my first Voice Thread:

Exotic Jerky

Let’s see if it worked…okay it works as a link.  That’ll do for this time.  I’ve spent far too long on this.  Next time I’ll try actually embedding it here.  I hope you enjoy it.  So poetic.

This odd Twitter thing has happened…

I participate in Twitter. I am a Tweeter. (Not a twit.  What is the language for this?!) Every so often I get an announcement via email that someone is following me on Twitter. I always go check to see who it is, see if I know them, and so forth. Usually when they have thousands of followers, I block them unless they seem really interesting. I just don’t want to get spam from someone’s business. If they seem like a regular person, I will often click to follow them as well, at least until I decide I’m not interested, or until I see them post twelve tweets in a row, hogging up the whole page. Repeated episodes of that will make me quit following them, as well.

Just before Christmas I got notice of a follower who was obviously a youngish mother and wife who lived in my town. I was puzzled by who she might be, and how she might have found me. (How do people find you anyway? I never seem to find anyone myself, I just follow people who follow me. I’m such a groupie.) Anyway, I clicked to follow her, thinking she must be someone I know and I’d figure it out eventually. Ever since, I’ve read her tweets and learned of her injured rib from coughing, her excitement at getting a new house to rent, her frequent updates on what she’d cleaned in the past hour or so and news about her children and husband (Dear Son – DS, Dear Daughter – DD  and Dear Husband – DH).

Yesterday, I noticed a tweet that seemed to be about her spouse, so I clicked over to his site to see if it included any identifying features, thinking maybe I could figure out who they were or how I know them. Imagine my surprise when I found a conversation about my son. They were waiting for him to show up for something, and were being pretty disparaging about him. I was puzzled, and at first thought it must be a coincidence. Except he has a pretty uncommon name. So I called him and asked if he knew about whatever event they were discussing. He knew immediately who and what I was talking about.

He felt badly that they were feeling so negatively about him, and went to talk to the man, his friend. (My son is direct, if nothing else. In a good way.) Apparently they got things straightened out between them. I thought nothing more about it until this morning when I saw this tweet: “A MOM of one of DH’s aquaintances is spying on me on Twitter. How weird.”

So now.  At first it made me mad. Like, what’s weird is you having a private conversation in a public forum and calling it spying when someone reads it. Hello, it’s Twitter! But now, I’ve cooled down (No, I didn’t post that thought! Although I was tempted.) and am thinking more about the whole phenomenon of Twitter. I mean, I comment to people specifically, and I post tweets, but often I just read what other people write. That is what Twitter is about, and I learn interesting things from people’s links, blog posts and just their updates. But upon further reflection, I think I have been remiss in not greeting people when they first begin to follow me. Does that mean I spy? In the case of this young woman, I guess I didn’t respond to any of her tweets because they do tend to be pretty personal, and I feel sort of like a voyeur, even though she chose to follow me, not the reverse.

I think I have to rethink this whole thing about having interactions/relationships/friendships in cyberspace. I regularly comment on people’s blogs and photos on Flick’r and ask people to be my friend on Facebook (that was a little hard!) and make @ responses to tweets on Twitter. Even though I know the people I meet there are real people, it is sometimes hard to ascribe to them the same level of realness that I would to someone I know in the physical face to face world. Sort of like a cyber-sitcom. This requires a shift of thinking.  Maybe change the way I do things in Twitter. Like say hello to new followers.  I’m pretty okay with the rest of the cyber stuff I do. I wonder if any of you readers have any ideas about this?

Wordie Cloud: Summer Goals Meme

Oh my gosh, isn’t this the coolest thing? I found myself adjusting the words in the blogpost to make the Wordie cloud look better.