I was sitting on my chair in the bedroom when I noticed that Maggie was cleaning Linda. Usually these sessions end up with a cat fight, so I ran to get my camera. Three minutes later, Maggie casually jumped down from the bed and it was all over: no cat fight, just a quiet moment in my life captured on film.
It’s no wonder that Maggie pukes up huge white hairballs on a regular basis…
Talking to a camera is so much more difficult than typing on my keyboard. Sometimes I feel like the ideas come out of my fingers instead of my mouth.
We had some nice weather, so I did my video in the backyard, which brought to mind all my duties. Time to cut the grass…
The strangest things come out of my mouth when I video tape myself. I don’t even remember talking about this.
“That’s always the funnest part of Spring: finding what the snow was hiding.”
While waiting at the Apple Store for one of the Vloggercon events, I had a zen moment. I thought I’d share it with you.
Until age twelve, I was a Jehovah Witness. I was not allowed to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I was not allowed to put my hand over my heart during the National Anthem.
Today is Flag Day and I’m an adult now. I can say the Pledge of Allegiance whenever I want.
Francisco Daum interviewed me while I was at Vloggercon. I didn’t think much about it when it happened, but he posted my interview on his weblog. I think this is the first interview I’ve ever had on film. All other interviews I’ve done have been for print, so I’m stoked.
I am the second person interviewed. After two days of conference, I look frizzy and tired. I was. It’s funny, but Francisco was able to capture exactly how I felt on film that evening. I was hungry and waiting for everyone to decide where we were going to eat.
You can see more of Francisco Daum’s work here:
It was a beautiful sunset except the cloud of black smoke coming from the west. We got into the car and drove toward the pillar of thick blackness, but nothing prepared us for what we saw.
This three alarm fire at Central Pallet of Utah was originally called in as a grass fire, but it quickly spread and flames were leaping up forty feet into the air. Mike and I didn’t dare get any closer and cautiously drove by on Bangerter Highway.
You can see the full story on KSL.com:
Update 07-05-06: The next day, Central Pallet of Utah was open for business. They were able to put out the fire before it reached the business offices, so they were able to start their recovery early. I wish them the best of luck. That fire was so scary that I am proud of their pluck for picking up the pieces so quickly.
Where: Central Pallet of Utah 810 S 4190 W Salt Lake City, UT 84104 Google Map
Mike took me to Tres Hombres because I had a headache. You would think that the sunshine streaming in from the skylight and the loud music would have aggravated my headache. Instead, I was happy to just sit and watch the leaves of the healthy tropical plants sway in the cool breeze from the swamp coolers.
If you don’t know who Robert Scoble is, you’re not going to understand how Internet Famous he is and why going to this lunch was like breaking bread with a rock star. M. David Petersen made a podcast of the lunch and recorded all the amazing things that Robert Scoble had to say.
I have about fifty minutes of video from the lunch. While it’s tempting to just post it all here, I’ve edited it down to just under two minutes of the coolest things that were said.
This is one of those rare times where I filmed the event, but didn’t live it through the LCD screen. I was able to just hold the camera and still enjoy the moment. Some day, the camera will become so much a part of me that I won’t even realize when I’m filming.
David took pictures and he snapped this photo of Mike and me. He happened to capture me looking incredibly bored and sad. I’m not bored. I swear it! Do I always look this sad? It’s not the way I was feeling, I can tell you! I was totally stoked to be there!
I carefully chose my shirt that morning. I wore JETRIS from Threadless. I thought a pixelated Jesus was a completely appropriate shirt for Robert Scoble’s visit to Salt Lake City, Utah.
A special thank you to all who came to the lunch:
Robert Scoble – PodTech
Patrick Scoble – I didn’t hear. Who are you working for?
Gilbert Lee and Tad Giles – The LDS Church Website (These guys have 10 hours of content to translate into almost 100 languages every six months. They totally ROCK!)
Ryan Hawley
Jared L Smith
Tim Stay – Know More Media
Michael Hoover
M. David Petersen – Thanks for recording the entire thing!
Me and Michael Moncur – Starling Studios
P.S. There are three two people who came to the lunch and didn’t get on this list because I didn’t have a card. If you are one of them, contact me and I’ll put you on the list.
I procrastinated working on the Geek Dinner video because I thought that the audio wouldn’t work. I was imagining going through all 60 minutes of audio and thinking, “Man, he said a great thing. I wish my camera could have caught it.” Instead, I had so much good footage that I had a hard time picking and choosing the best. In fact, the interview with Carolyn was so awesome that I am editing that for its own video tomorrow.
It took a lot of ruthless cutting to get this video down to just under six minutes. It’s a long download, but these Utah Geeks (and one nerd) have so much to say about the community here and Utah technology in general. I asked them why the Geek Dinners are so cool and what they thought about the Utah Tech industry.
The best answer: Watch Out!
Music Credit: Atmospheric Royalty Free Music – Variation on Egmont
You can also embed this video on your own webpage:
A special thank you to Phil Burns from DevUtah for setting up the monthly Geek Dinners!
Those featured in the video (in order of appearance):
James Carroll
Matthew Reinbold – mutednoise and BloomBurst
Tom Gregory – alt-tag.com
Susie Gregory
Gary Thornock – Gary Thornock’s Weblog
Niki Thornock – Audio Conversions
Robert Merrill – Utah Tech Jobs and SOS Technical
Richard K. Miller – Richard K Miller dot coooooooooom and More Good Foundation
Jordan Gunderson – Jordy Blog
Chris Sandberg – Business and Technology and Answer Wiki
Update 08-08-06 8:05 am: Robert Merrill posted pictures from the Geek Dinner on his weblog: July Geek Dinner Report– Utah Tech Jobs
Update 08-08-06 12:18 pm: The August Geek Dinner will be August 22 at the Los Hermanos Restaurant in Lindon (Google Map) at 6:30 pm. See more here: DevUtah » Blog Archive » August 2006 Geek Dinner
Carolyn Duncan had such an interesting story at the Geek Dinner that I had to do a video just for her.
If you are interested in the Utah Geek Dinners, you can find out more information at DevUtah.
Carolyn’s “real” weblog can be found here: The Carolynn Blog
The weblog she talks about in the video is here: Why Provo Labs Is Hiring Carolynn Duncan
Music Credit: Atmospheric Royalty Free Music – Variation on Egmont
I was waiting for my family at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace. I had done all the shopping I cared to, so I was sitting by the fountain while they looked in the Sony store again. I was happy just to rest there. Sometimes the best time for vacation is the time when we have nothing to do.
I could see the water moving slowly in the fountain. It had been turned off and I could see each coin in the water. The sun was coming in through the skylight and reflecting off the water into my eyes. Because the fountain had been turned off, the water had strange currents.
I am continually surprised by Las Vegas. Tacky souveniers are right next to famous designers. You can buy a Fendi and a refrigerator magnet within steps of each other. All the while, the most interesting thing is the defunct fountain and a little bit of sunlight.
This month’s CodeAway was awesome! I wish I had gotten more video of our conversations. Dave Turnbull showed us his Google Map Mashup for the Pete Ashdown for Senate website. He added my house onto the map of Pete supporters.
Matt Reinbold talked about his two awesome weblogs, mutednoise and BloomBurst. We brainstormed ways to enhance the interactivity and to drive more traffic to them. His coverage of the remix culture on muted noise is excellent. If you like cool videos, go there and see what he has gleaned for you.
I was working on new ideas for The Quotations Page and they suggested some great ones like a MySpace widget that allows MySpace users to post The Quotes of the Day on their page. Halfway through the evening, we realized that Mike’s entry on The Gadgets Page (10 Ways to Make Your Digital Photos Last Forever) was only four diggs away from getting on the front page of Digg.com, so we went online and gave it our three digs and Gary Thornock gave us the final fourth to get us on the front page. Thanks, guys!
Next month, we might be meeting in a more public space that doesn’t need to be super secret and undisclosed. If you were wishing for BarCampUtah, you should come to next month’s CodeAway. It’s like a mini BarCamp!
Update 08-21-06: Matt has posted his recap of the August CodeAway here: BloomBurst – August CodeAway Recap
The date has been set for next month’s CodeAway: Pick Me! » September 2006 CodeAway
I was waiting for them to bring me my food. It was a little windy outside and I was feeling breezy, happy and cool. I only had the camera running for a few seconds before they brought me my food and I was able to eat.
Michael and I encountered this grackle outside of Fry’s Electronics in Austin, Texas on Thursday. He kept making a car starting noise and a car alarm noise. Grackles are amazing mocking birds, but this is the first time we’ve heard one mimic a car alarm.
It took him longer to get into the packaging for the lock than it took him to pick the lock. Just goes to show that security is merely an illusion. There is no such thing as protection and we are all really depending on the goodness of mankind for our safety.
I was testing my new camera to see how well it will work for videoblogging, but I had forgotten to turn off the Twitter notifications to my phone.
By the way, the camera I have been waiting for since last year at this time has finally arrived! Yeah! The film is so beautiful! I can’t wait to go to California and film some Walking DVDs for Starling Fitness! Ocean beaches and botanical gardens!
For months I have been telling myself that it’s not the camera, it’s the photographer. I have been reminding myself that I have a better camera in my purse than either Cecil B. Demille or Ansel Adams had their whole lives. Now, I have an even better camera. There’s no excuse now.
Just learning how to use iMovie. I should have called this movie, “How to make a grilled cheese sandwich with one hand and two begging pets getting in the way,” but there wasn’t enough room on the marquee for it.
Download this video for your iPod
If you look carefully, you can see pelicans, ducks, geese, seagulls and a brief glimpse of a female starling. It was like we walked into a bird sanctuary.
Before Linda died, I saw something like this every day. Now that Linda is gone, Maggie is so lonely. Even when she sits on my lap all day, she meows.
I can’t be another cat. I can’t bear to get another cat. This video makes me happy and sad all at the same time.
Download this video for your iPod
On another note, this video was filmed over a year ago. I never posted it because Mike is sleeping on the bed behind the cats. The reason you don’t get to see more of the cats playing is because they woke him up and he kicked them off the bed.
I haven’t been awoken by a cat fight on my bed for months.
As always, I tried to get some video of the Jane Goodall lecture I attended last week. It didn’t take long for the usher to stop me from filming. Since Jane had talked about how amazing technology is and we could be streaming this lecture across the world to China, it seems odd that she wouldn’t want more people to hear her plea, but I stopped filming. Here is the best few minutes of what I got.
Download this video for your iPod
I have more video, but she didn’t get to complete her next thought before the usher asked me to stop filming. It’s always easier to ask forgiveness than permission, so I didn’t mind the reprimand. I’m just glad that I got a minute or two of her amazing lecture to show the world.
I DO have a new quote to add to our Motivational Quotes Collection:
“I think the best evenings are when we have messages, things that make us think, but we can also laugh and enjoy each other’s company.”
- Jane Goodall, Lecture in Salt Lake City, Utah, 03-04-08
I am so grateful I was able to attend this wonderful lecture and meet Jane Goodall in person!
Back in September, we adopted Elvis. I find it strange that I haven’t talked about him here yet, but two months of my life kind of flew by while we enjoyed our new kitten.
It all started when Stacey and Dan got a puppy. Mini was the tiniest Chihuahua puppy you’ve ever seen and she fit in Mike’s hand. Seeing her made me want a kitten. It had been almost a year since Linda had died. Maggie was lonely and clung to me like a needy baby and I thought having a kitten would be nice for her AND us.
I talked to Mike about looking at kittens, but Mike said, “Cats tend to show up in our lives. Let’s not look for a kitten. Let’s just wait for the next one to show up.”
Within two weeks, I got a phone call from my mom. “There is a 70 year old lady in Reed’s apartment building that is going to abandon a kitten outside. Do you want to adopt him?” Apparently the woman had adopted the kitten, given him ONE day to get used to her current cat and couldn’t stand the fighting anymore. She was just going to let him free outside, near a BUSY road.
Within the hour, we had the kitten at our vets office. He was free of parasites and nasty diseases, so we took him home.
It took Maggie two days to stop hiding under the bed.
It took us two weeks to name him. Mike just gave up and let me name him Elvis. The “official” story is that he’s named after Elvis Costello, but really, I named him after Elvis in Animal Crossing. Everybody just thinks we named him after Elvis Presley.
After two months, he and Maggie play and fight and I’ve even caught her cleaning his ears like she used to do with Linda before she died.
Here’s a video of them playing with their new cat toy. Mike had sprinkled some catnip on it. They both wanted it, but Maggie unilaterally informs Elvis that he needs to wait his turn.
Adding Elvis to our household has been a joy. I’m so glad he showed up in our lives.
Here are a couple of quick videos of Elvis playing with his tail.
It’s funny how quickly kittens grow up. Elvis hardly ever plays with his tail anymore. I’m glad I got this video when I did.
I’m kind of embarrassed by this video because the Halloween boxes are stacked in our living room for the whole world to see, but it made me laugh so much that I couldn’t help posting it.
I love how at the end, Maggie tries to help him get the toy by jumping up on the boxes. It’s almost like she’s saying, “Umm, it’s stuck right here, dumbo.”
This video is proof positive that Sid is a saint. If you notice, Maggie is watching, far from the fray. Even Mike won’t let Elvis chew on his feet. Only Sid is calm enough to handle this kitten. Twice during the filming Sid looks at us (first to Mike and then to me) as if to say, “Can you do something about him?”
I love how at the end when Sid barks, everyone scatters, even him. Maggie runs from her observation point, Sid stands up to get away from the sharp kitten teeth and Elvis flees from his bark.
Maggie is very shy about cleaning other cats. I only got video of her cleaning Linda once. I’ve caught her cleaning Elvis about three times, but this is the only one I was able to get on film. I had to turn on the lights and grab the camera to capture this and by then she was almost finished.
It’s so comforting to know that Maggie has someone to play with that will keep her company when we’re not in the house. When Linda died, she was so lonely that she was with me constantly. I needed her comfort during that time as well, so it worked out for both of us. I’m just glad that she has Elvis to keep her happy as well.
I have this Obama shrine on my desk at home.
I got the Obama button from my friend April, who went to the inauguration. She told me how she got the button for me in this video.
This is such an enjoyable story for me to hear. I have watched this video every month or so since I filmed it because I love the story so much. It’s such a beautiful and funny piece of history that she shared with me that I had to share it with the whole world.
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