The Sheila Variations

I just got a digital camera within the last month and I can't believe how many useless, random things I take pictures of now. Mom! Look! A picture of my bedspread! I'm an idiot and I love it. And let Lindsay Lohan be a dark warning when it comes to the blackberry. Hide it from yourself when you're drinking, lest you drunk dial half the planet.

That's right! I will blackberry the world during a 24-hour bacchanal! With my horrible grammar!

And yeah - the camera. Wow. I took a picture of the front door of my building and I can't stop staring at it. It's as though I think it's the freakin' Sistine Chapel. Look at my front door!!!

See this is the advantage of being "behind the times": 7.2 megapixels for 200 bucks?! Wow!

Don't think I'll ever be a "Blackberry guy", however. I just stick to my bulky laptop...

JFH - I know! Great price! And I also bought a memory card so I can store more photos on there. Seems pretty simple - I spent a bunch of time with the manual this weekend, but the real learning is going to happen by me just going out for a day and taking a ton of pictures.

Oh, and I need to figure out how to get them off the camera and ... into an album.

Flickr?

Emily - what do you do with your photos? Where do you store them??

Sheila,
I got a nifty scanner/copier/printer thing about the same time that has a slot to stick your memory card in and it reads the photos off of that. Otherwise, your camera should have come with a USB cord that you can plug right into your computer and have it read the photos straight off the camera. I think - I haven't tried it that way yet.

Yes - okay I do have that cord thingie that you mention. I'll try to figure it out tonight.

And I also have a scanner/copier that came with my computer - and I think there's a slot there as well.

Hmmm. SCARY! But fun.

Glad that you got a Cyber-shot. I own one several generations precedent to that one. I'm sure that when you find the picture effects feature, and you start snapping away at Black and White images, as well as the Sepiatone feature that you'll be gushing with excitement yet again.

Flickr. Great place for photos. Also Photobucket. That reminds me. I need to post my before and after pics of me little house online somewhere.

Re: Blackberries, even I don't own one. Largely because I own a car, and I can't possibly use it in a practical sense. My Brother has one, only because his company gave him one. I'm sure I'd find tons of uses for it if I lived somewhere where I could commute via train or subway.

The memory stick is a good idea, and really should get one, but I always travel with my laptop so I download my camera frequently. Your camera probably came with some sort of photoshop software, so I'd first use that... Otherwise Adobe has a pretty good album software which I'm pretty sure now comes automatically when you download the latest version of the free Acrobat reader (so you might already have that)...

To be honest, I never really liked using my own printer for photos, a lot of effort for photos that aren't really studio quality.

That's why we went the way of the Kodak Easyshare, it's portable enough to take on vacations so you can hand out photos immediately with little effort (but not very economical).

The best on line service I've used is Snapfish and a heck of a lot cheaper than the Kodak Easyshare printer and DEFINITELY cheaper than the printer mode (color cartridges and the photo paper, especially if you make a mistake when printing out.

This is so brilliant, Sheila. Last night a student told me he was going to bring his Ipod to the next class. I still don't really know what that is.

Alex - //I still don't really know what that is.//

hahaha I love you! You're behind the times, just like me.

We need to talk soon!

wutzizname - Yo, homeowner! I've missed you! How's it going? I want to see photos of the house!

JFH - thank you for your tips! I will see what I have (you know, because I have no idea what I have) ... and try to figure it out. I know my computer has photo editing software - because when I scan photos or whatever, I can edit them and crop them and all that crap ...

I'll take a look tonight when i get back from the gym.

I'm still experimenting with the settings and everything ... Oh, and i also made a mini-movie as I vacuumed my apartment. hahahaha "Oh, so here I am vacuuming .... "

It's a great new toy.

Thanks! Good to be missed :) I'm all responsible and stuff...

I really do need to get these pics posted online. I accumulated SO much stuff over the years as I was houseshopping. My folks say I look like I've lived there for 12 years.

I've spent all my free time organizing, cleaning, straightening up the place, and setting up my gadgets, and electronics, and what do I do most of the time when I come home? I cook.

wutzizname - haha! That's awesome. To cook in your own kitchen. That you OWN.

Do you still have the lava lamp? :)

I most certainly do, along with others.

Sheila, that's what iPhoto is for; it helps you organize and categorize your pictures. No need to install anything else, as it's just sitting there anxiously awaiting your photo love. Also, it lets you create a book of your pictures that Apple will print and deliver to you (for a nominal fee, of course).

Flickr, however, is good if you want to put your pictures online to share with others. After all, who wouldn't want to see your front door?

Mark - ah yes, iPhoto. I have a lot of stuff in there already - mainly because I create slideshows, just to amuse myself, with photos of Cary Grant and stuff. I'm a loser.

Okay - so I'm gonna try it tonight. And then - get ready! Pictures of the front door goin' on the blog! I know you are DYING to see it. hahaha

I second the Snapfish recommendation. We've been using it like mad for quite some time now. Decent prints and I have prints sent to anyone I want.

Oh yeah, as for just getting regular prints made, any place that develops film should be able to print digital photos (if they want to stay in business). Especially if you have a card, you should be able to just bring it in and say, "Here, print these." Some places even have a little kiosk where you can do it yourself.

I keep my camera at work, which is kinda dumb, but hey, if I didn't, y'all would miss beautiful artsy pictures like this.

I aim to please.

I still don't know how to access the voice mail on my new cell phone. The whole thing scares me. Except for the camera.

Basically, I have a cell phone only for the camera.

Congrats on your purty new purchase, Sheila!

Next stop: TiVo. Or the Roomba/Scooba.

I just got DVR a few months ago myself. I can't believe how life-altering a technology it is.

Oh, that was a reply/augmentation of Ind. George's TiVo comment.

Cullen (et al) -

So - I must get a new television. This is essential. And I must get Tivo. Yes? I have heard about the wonders of Tivo. I really think it's about time I catch up with the rest of the populace on this one.

Yeah, you need Tivo. And access to AMC.

But, even me, gadget freak that I am (really, truly), I do not have a blackberry.

Flickr, since you are in the US, has an option where you can have them print your photos and then post them to you, which is handy because what you will find with a digital camera is that you never have hard copies of photos anymore. And going with Flickr printing them vs getting a photo printer and toner and paper ends up cheaper and since you are slower to get gadgets who knows when you would get a photo printer, is probably the better option. :-)

Congrats on the new camera, Sheila! And also on the choice, since purchasing a digital camera can be quite daunting... I remember when I decided to purchase one myself, it took me forever to decide, I had no idea what I was doing. I finally went with a Cyber-shot and have been thrilled with it (and snapping all kinds of useless pics, and making little movies, haha!) ever since. So much so, that last month I made myself a late birthday present and upgraded to a Sony Alpha. I'm still dealing with all the knobs and buttons, but as you said: the best way to learn is to go out a take pictures like mad (which I did, and still do). I'm so excited about my new gadget, that I can perfectly feel your enthusiasm about yours!

Please post some pics with your new camera, you have such a creative way of looking at things (as proven by the great cellphone pics you usually take!), that I can't wait to see what you will do with this little toy!

//Even still with my iPod, I have moments of ... Uhm. I love you so much. How on earth did I live without you, iPod. Bless you, iPod.//

I still feel that way and I've had mien for two years...

Congrats on the camera? May we expect more adventures of crazy baseball wife?

Dan - Nancy the Crazy Red Sox Wife will DEFINITELY make another appearance. I have big plans for her.

Awesome! You should get a Flickr account to document Nancy's recurring dramas.

First game at Fenway is the 10th, right?

Nancy needs to make an appearance.

Yeah, home opener is the 10th. Nancy footage frmo the Fens would absolutely hilarious.

Nancy passed out on the bar at the Rattlesnake...

Nancy yelling at the Sausage King for staring at her...

The possibilities are endless.

Yeah, I think the pressure of her husband's new contract has caused her to snap even further. She hates baseball even more and during a recent press conference she referred to Fenway Park as "Satan's anus."

If I had more hours in the day, I would set up Nancy with a blog.

... moments before being bundled away from the mike by her 'handlers.'

A press release later that day claimmed that Nancy in fact stated 'Satan is heinous... and I utterly abjure his works.'

hahahahaha Dammit. I love Nancy - she's so nuts. I wish I could be that nuts. Her poor husband.

Bwahahaha - You could call it "The Nanciad."

hahahaha I like it!!

I also have another character I need to share eventually. She is a woman locked up in a British mental institution who believes that she is Colonel Qaddafi's illegitimate daughter.
She wants to move to Libya and join her "father". Qaddafi says he has no illegitimate daughter.

She'll make an appearance here eventually.