Saturday, February 21, 2004

It looks like the stuff I have up on eBay isn't going to sell. I feel that the main reason for this is the photos I used. The digital camera I have is cheap and unsophisticated...not that there’s anything wrong with that. The pictures I have up contain too much of the surroundings they were photographed in. The next thing I will have to do is figure out how to do close up pictures of my artwork that do not include the background. Previously, I used to just put my paintings on the scanner. I couldn't do that with my recent batch of paintings because they are larger than the scanner and it would take a long time scanning them in, section by section, then later fitting them together in photoshop like a jigsaw puzzle. The reason I bought this digital camera was to eliminate that headache. The only other solution I see is to buy a brand new digital camera that has zoom capabilities. Therefore, my latest mission is to find an affordable digital camera that has zoom capabilities.

Also on my want list is an Alphasmart 3000. I first saw it advertised in an issue of Writer’s Digest and have been salivating after it ever since. With the Alphasmart I could do my writing on the train, in the cafeteria, at the mall, whenever I felt like it. I often times have ideas for stories or blog entries on the train but feel hesitant to take out my pen and paper to write it down then come home and transfer it to my computer. My hesitation is mainly based on the amount of the manual labor that would be involved. Writing by long hand and then later transcribing by manually typing each word into the computer takes a lot of precious time.

With the Alphasmart 3000 I could just type away then download it to my computer, no transcribing required! All in all I’d rather have this than a bulky energy wasting notebook computer.

From what I read the Alphasmart runs on ordinary AA batteries that you can buy anywhere. It is designed to be energy efficient. The AA batteries you bought from Walmart or Rite Aid last up to 30 hours in the Alphasmart! Also, it’s nearly indestructible. It was originally designed for learning disabled students but a number of writers have adopted it as an affordable, portable writing tool. Since I have a horrible tendency to drop things this is definitely a selling point for me. I have to say that I’d rather have the Alphasmart 3000 than it’s latest update the Alphasmart Dana.

The updated and very expensive version has palm pilot capabilities, and lasts up to 700 hours on the AA batteries. I know that if I got the Dana very little writing would be accomplished. I’d be checking e-mail and playing games instead of working on my writing.

So my second mission is to save up to buy an Alphasmart 3000. Oh, before I forget Alphasmart has a loaner program where they will send you an Alphasmart for free to try out for 2 weeks. I’m thinking about doing this but would rather wait until I have my money saved up before I tried it out because I know in the end, I'M GONNA BUY IT!!!!

I’m happy today because I looked up my Netflix queue and noticed that I have one more Ioan Gruffudd movie left!!!! Then alas it’s all over until his tv series starts up next month. In case you’re curious the last Ioan movie I have in my queue is Poldark. I hear that the movie isn’t all that great. However, I hear that Ioan is splendid as usual. Hopefully, this movie will be arriving sometime next week.