_jems_ (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} _jems_) wrote,@ 2012-06-07 20:46:00 |
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| Current mood: | geeky |
The non-fandom side of life
Thanks for your concern in my last post. I'm fine, nothing much more has happened, and I'm basically just waiting and seeing what will happen next.
Photography
I've been getting increasingly interested in photography and using my DSLR more. That's why I was asking about advice on camera bags a few months ago. BTW, this is the one I went with:
I LOVE it. I'm buying a new wideangle lens, which will mean I'll have three lenses, camera body, battery charger and assorted knick-knacks and doodads in there and they all fit with ease. And the best part? My eReader fits right on top!
Anyway, aside from my new wideangle lens, I've also been looking into HDR photography and yesterday I set up my camera for bracketing (when you hold down the shutter button, it'll take three images - one regular, one underexposed and one overexposed), which is how you get HDR images (though apparently you can do it with just one image).
I can't wait to try it all out! Especially on my vacation next month (I'll be going to Teneriffe for THREE WEEKS. Words cannot even begin to describe the joy I feel at the prospect of doing nothing for three weeks straight)!
Kickstarter
I've seen Kickstarter mentioned before, but I never really bothered to go searching for projects I'd like to sponsor. And, really, I still don't, but I saw this idea that I really liked, so I'm getting four of these:
I mean, they're not even that mindblowing an idea, it's just the perfect dock for me to be able to use on my nightstand, in my car, maybe at work... Also, good for when you just need a stand so you can watch a show or something on your phone. Well, as soon as I saw that they'd added Android functionality, I was on board.
I got myself a Pinterest (this is me) and I find myself using it a lot more than I've ever used Tumblr. I think it's because for me, fannish activities are so much about the discussion of it, not just the ogling of pretty pictures, that Tumblr doesn't work other than for the occasional OOOOH PRETTY!/OOOOOH FUN! moments. But Pinterest is all about creating mood boards and getting inspiration, which works so well for me in the real world.
Anyway, if any of you are on there, let me know!
Evernote
I've had Evernote for...a year? two years? In that time, I've mostly been using it for the occasional recipe, a place to store wish lists (for myself and others) and writing down my books read/TV seasons watched and movies watched for each year.
But the other week I was reading a blog post on something or other and Evernote was mentioned and suddenly I'm using it for all kinds of stuff.
For instance, I've started using the Link Note function to fill in my books/TV/movies list. So every time I start a new book, I create a new note in the Books notebook, add an image of the cover and the date I started. Then, when I finish, I write down any thoughts I might have about it and link it to my Books Read 2012 note. Okay, so I've only done this for Blackout and Ship Breaker since I only started last week, but still! This is what I intend to do from now on.
And if I start/finish any TV shows (my summer kdrama obsession should kick in any day now, since I'm hardly reading anymore) or watch any movies, I'll do the same. Maybe I'll have absolutely nothing to say about them, but a note hardly takes up any space at all so who cares, right?
Another thing I'm doing is trying to organize my saving goals. Like, I want to buy a new couch, a new computer and the newest version of Photoshop in the next six months. I have saved absolutely nothing towards any of this (all my current savings have gone/will go towards my trip to Teneriffe), but I've set up a savings plan to (hopefully) help me achieve all this.
I find that if I don't write down and set in stone (or in ones and zeros) how much I need to save each month, I tend to use that money for lots of frivilous stuff instead.
I've also set up automatic feeds from my online haunts that feed right into a Diary notebook. I just want someplace where I can go to find a timeline of what I've been up to online. And since I don't actually have to worry about it, it just appears automatically (thanks to ifttt), I don't have to worry about forgetting to add something to the notebook. I just let the interwebs do the job for me.
A friend and I have been discussing how hard it is to figure out what to eat when you're single - and how to have the energy to make elaborate dishes for just one person. I was thinking maybe we could share a recipe notebook and then get together once a week or once every other week to cook so that we have some ready meals in the freezer/fridge. I mean, if she wants to go to the trouble of installing and using Evernote. She's not really the type to do stuff like that. But I also don't want to be the only one to find recipes.
Anyway, those are just a few of the things I've started doing with Evernote in the last week, so I figure there have to be TONS of uses for it that I haven't considered so far. Does anyone have any tips? Links to tips? Enquiring minds want to know!