iTunes Genius

Have you guys tried out iTunes Genius?  I love it.  It’s a playlist cheat.

You click on one song and hit the “genius” button and it creates a playlist with music that goes well with that song.

I saw something almost exactly like it in Bose a few years back where the computer recognized music by the tempo, pitch, etc.  iTunes was has been using what I can only assume to be similar technology since the program that could automatically read and name music.

I’m going to use this function when I pick up a new shuffle to fill it with muzac!

This weekend has been pretty great : Orchard show on Friday and lots of laughs/drinks/heart-to-hearts with Suzie and Jenn.  Saturday was brunch at Otherside and a visit to Miss Lucy’s studio followed by TV at Damall’s and a night in folding origami butterflies and watching “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” on Hulu.

My plan today is to get an iPod shuffle, use my gift certificates at Karmaloop and use my gift certificate at Anthropologie on a new shirt.  I’d also like to sneak some laundry in there and maybe a run – construction dude and weather permitting.  Maybe some painting…

Can I Get An “All I Want For Christmas?!”

http://www.t-mobileg1.com/

oh yeah.

sweet, sweet G1 phone. AND it’s available in brown. Which is clearly superior to the common black.

I’m considering pre-ordering, but I think I’ll wait it out. Maybe just get another iPod shuffle in the meantime.

EEEEEEEEEEEE! I’m so excited about this!! SO. COOL.

One day maybe I’ll be nerdy enough to know about this stuff before I read it in the Metro.

Goal Accomplished!

On Saturday I ran my first race: The Mission Hill 5k Road Race to Benefit Puddingstone Park (they call it the Kevin Fitzgerald Park now but, whatever). So, while I was actually running it, it sucked but looking back it was pretty awesome. First of all, I got a tshirt. And it is green (my favorite color), so that’s pretty great. Then I got a racing number, which looks pretty bad ass up on the fridge. I’ve gotta say, I’m really into the whole tshirt/racing number thing. And the whole people-cheering-for-you thing. It makes me want to try to run a 5k every weekend for the next few (five or six) weeks (but not Halloween weekend, let’s be serious). It even keeps me out of the bars on Friday night which is a whole other accomplishment in itself.

Now that I’ve accomplished that goal I feel like I need to up-the-ante a bit. I haven’t quite figured out what my next goal will be. Maybe a 10k? I’m not sure…

Anyways, next year I want to get a team together for the Mission Hill Race. It really is a “Hill of a Race” as the flyer claims, and it feels really good to accomplish it.

pushing myself

I’ve finally gotten to the point in my running where I can think about more than just “ughhhhh how much looonnngggeeerrrrr?!?!” (I still do this, btw, but now I can multi-task my thoughts) and can start to tackle some of my bigger internal questions. Or just whatever pops into my head. Part of this has been a result of me breaking my iPod last Friday (the same day that the arm band I bought for more comfortable running-tunage came in, oh the irony) and being forced to do something while I run. I’ve had a lot of Al Green songs stuck in my head in the morning, thankfully.

Anyways, this morning I was thinking about addictive personalities. Mainly, myself and why I feel like I have to run every day and feel guilty if I don’t. Well, that’s not an addictive personality. If it was, I would feel like I needed to run everyday. Maybe I do. But yesterday I woke up and said, “no way am I getting out of bed right now” so obviously my livelihood doesn’t depend on it. Instead, I think it’s that I’m my own worst critic (most of us our, I’ve heard) and so feel like I have to prove to myself I can do it. As much as I hate running, when I get home I immediately go to gmap-pedometer to track how far I went. And then I come here to post about it on my goals page. Everyday, when I get back from my run, I think “I could have gone farther.” And when I wake up in the morning I think, “if I skip running today then I might skip tomorrow and just… stop.” <— That’s the part that’s the worst, I think. The not-trusting-myself-when-I’m-not-pushing-myself thing. It was similar with school work. If I got an A- the first thing I’d think was, “damn, I could have gotten an A on this.” Maybe it’s destructive? I suppose it could be if taken too far (but what can’t). At least at the end of the day, I’ve got results.

even more temp(t)ing!

Well, it looks like I won’t be at One to One next week after all…

Instead, I’ve accepted a temp-to-hire position at Bentley Publishers, which I’m pretty excited about.  The company publishes car manuals and books of interest about European cars both in print and on-line.  Their products are geared towards service technicians and/or informed consumers who want to try a DIY repair.  The job is a new position they’re carving out, “Account Representative.”  It’s got a bit of customer service involved, but I’ll be working directly with the tech support guys to find ways to improve/refresh what they’re doing on-line now based on conversations I have with customers. Perks of the job include location (Porter Square), people (everyone I spoke with was really nice), office (old Victorian house) and the fact that it’s temp-to-hire.  Basically that means that I have 12 weeks to try the job out and they have 12 weeks to try me out.  At the end of the 12 weeks they decide whether or not to make me a full time offer and I decide whether or not to accept it.

I start Monday.  I’m excited.

temp(t)ing

Today I started a temp job!  It is only for 6 days, but it’s a start!  I am working as the receptionist for an interactive ad agency.  So far, so good.  The job is really relaxed and really easy and everyone in the office seems nice and happy.  I’m filling in for the receptionist while she is on vacation.  Apparently she got this job through Boylston Staffing to begin with.  I am really happy that I went in there.  It’s weird that this is the first day of work I’ve had in 15 months. 

 

One of the phone calls was from MADD and somehow I ended up pledging $37.

 

I’m still kind of confused about how it happened, but…  I’m against drunk driving so I’m okay with it.

ho hum

life’s been pretty dull recently.  It’s been really awesome.

I’ve been running and reading and cooking and visiting and doing a lot of day to day not so exciting things.  So I don’t have a lot to write about that, except that my head feels clearer and my memory more full.  I slipped up on this clear-headed thing on Saturday, but it was really fun so… no harm, no foul.

Today I am going to another staffing agency so hopefully I’ll have some sort of job by the end of the week.

Also, I baked Jackson a loaf of chai banana bread.  Lynette and I had a bite, just to make sure it wasn’t poisonous.

yum!

new space

Another September 1st has come and gone!  Yesterday was a great day – the weather was beautiful and I didn’t have to move!  Lynette and I set up a lemonade stand which was great – despite the fact that the overhead was so large we each ended up with a mere profit of $2.50.  A lot of friends came to support us – I wish I had thought to take some pictures.

I finally moved everything that is mine/I am baby-sitting for friends/ I inherited from friends into my new apartment as of Saturday afternoon.  Friday I has food poisoning, the residue of which lasted until Sunday, so I still haven’t gotten everything set up.  However, Jackson was around and put my shelves together and helped me hang things on the walls so it’s starting to come together now.

A lot of friends seem to be leaving the hill or Boston these days.  It wasn’t bothering me at first but now that it’s official, now that I’m moved into a new space with a new year-long lease, I’m feeling as though this might be my last year in Boston.  If not Boston, than definitely on the hill.  One bedroom apartments in JP would be acceptable, I think.  I really like Mission Hill a lot- I like the architecture and the general lay out, I like the parks and the non-corporate businesses- but I don’t always feel safe here, it’s loud and it’s dirty a lot of the time.  For these same cons, I would never live in Allston.  

Anyhow, hopefully by this time next year I’ll have embarked on some brilliant career and be making tons of money and living like a grown up. For the most part.  In fact, I have an interview at a staffing agency that I should be getting ready for.