The Year in Review 2009

#1 I finished graduate school! #2 I'm looking for a new career path. #3 I want to move to NYC, SF or ? #4 Still single... #5 Made lots of new friends: Fight On! #6 Got me an iPhone! #7 Lots of personal lessons learned. #8 Inspired for more in 2010! #9 Canon 50D: the Paparazzi Streak continues! #10 ...

Say it loud, say it proud, BB Storm Sucks!

BB Storm: Sucks.

I have a Palm Treo and I thought I’d upgrade to a better system. Well Storm isn’t it. Battery life is non existent if you actually utilize the services available. The click is annoying because first you have to highlight and then click. Not very audible but annoying to use. The subtle touch screen of Palm is MUCH better. You can sit with the storm for hours and still be better off doing something else because you don't get anywhere with it.

I also had random menu options pop up in spanish. Like when I had the keypad up and tap on the three buttons on top, they came out in spanish. Then in Blackberry chat, the menu buttons on the bottom also showed in spanish. All of my language settings were in US English. I triple checked.

Texts I sent were received an average of 2 hours later. This never happened with the Treo. And while I could do smiley faces in BB text, they were no longer available in SMS. My texting capability slowed down considerably to the point that I would rather call than text-which is so not me.

Oh yeah and since I have a mac, syncronizing is pure torture just to end up with contacts and that’s it. Pocketmac doesn’t do media, doesn’t to calendar… I can’t transfer anything over from Palm except the contacts.

For the record, to do a hard reset of the Storm, OPTIONS; SECURITY OPTIONS; GENERAL SETTINGS; SERVICES; WIPE HANDHELD. This took hours to figure out because nobody online said it right. And for the record, when I did the hard reset and turned it back on, it said my data card was corrupted. Thanks. Now I know I got a defective machine. Never buy from a kiosk, just go directly to the store for best service.

All things considered, it was a noble attempt from BB to woo future PDA/Smartphone people, but this isn't it. If I wasn't going to return it tomorrow I would have thrown it a few dozen times. I've only had this for 3 days.

So tomorrow I go and try to return the sucker and return to the Treo for now. iPhone is tempting but the $$$ involved is not quite worth it just yet.

Photograph Tutorials

Finally something that isn't so obvious or ill conceived. Onward with my quest!

Canon 5D Mark II

What's a Canon 5D Mark II? I want one!
Need I say more? Santa can you bring me one for Christmas?

Cross Country Road Trip

My brother and I drove from LA to MD in one week... I want to do it again!

Photography...

"Photography is something that is inside of you, no matter what. You love doing it, and find any excuse to photograph. You take your camera everywhere. You’re the one at the party behind the lens of the camera."

This is my goal for 2009: establish an amateur portfolio of photography. I hope to set up a small studio in my apartment. My test subjects? Graduations, engagements, weddings, babies and more! Wish me luck! Better yet, volunteer! :)

Quid Pro Quo

Time for the Clintons and the Kennedys to claim the fruits of Obama's labor? Now that Obama won, Hilary gets a cabinet and Caroline gets a senate? Politics is an old family game...

Robert Kennedy said the family would come out en masse for her if she does get the appointment and has to run for election in 2010. "If she runs, you will see more Kennedys than you have ever seen in your life," he said.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still glad Obama won. Just funny how everything comes to fruition. How scary would it be to see ALL the Kennedys on the election trail! How many Kennedys ARE there exactly?

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home -- so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt

2008 is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60th anniversary. It's time for a global conversation about human rights and the values that unite us as one human family. It can also be a time when each of us chooses to take human rights into our daily lives, individually and collectively

"Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,"

"You have the right to have whatever you need so that you and your family: do not fall ill or go hungry; have clothes and a house; and are helped if you are out of work, if you are ill, if you are old, if your wife or husband is dead, or if you do not earn a living for any other reason you cannot help. Mothers and their children are entitled to special care. All children have the same rights to be protected, whether or not their mother was married when they were born."

read original text
read plain language
read korean
read french
read russian
or is it all greek to you?

Generation WE

Generation WE: The Movement Begins... from Generation We on Vimeo.

Millennials are the largest generation in American history. Born between 1978 and 2000, WE are 95 million strong, compared to the 78 million Baby Boomers.

WE are politically, socially, and philosophically independent, and are spearheading a period of sweeping change in America and around the world.

The new book, Generation We, explains the emerging power of our Millennial Generation, and shows how WE (and older people who think the way WE do) are poised to change our nation and our world for the better. Download the book here.

**The video states that by 2016, the youngest of Gen WE will be of voting age. Unless they are planning a coup, I don't see how 16 year olds will be voting two presidential elections from now. Not to detract from the message, but statements or implied threats such as these should be carefully thought out before delivered.**

Chris Daughtry - What About Now

What about now? What can you do? What are you willing to do?
Social Work. Social Justice. Social Service.
Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Just do it.