![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ar_wahanWhen I came downstairs yesterday morning, my husband gave me a birthday present that I absolutely did not expect: a Canon ZR800 digital video camcorder! Plus a Dynex 1394 Card Bus Adapter (he had to explain to me what that was) and two digital video cassettes.
I admit I've been too busy even to take the camcorder out of the box, even though he jokingly told me that he expected to see a finished documentary from me by evening.
I hadn't really wanted one of these, but in retrospect, it makes sense that he'd decide that if I had one, I'd like it.
So we'll see. But I still need to take it out of the box!
My plan for the morning, before an 11 a.m. meeting with Alison at the UU meetinghouse, was to empty the water trough and install the tank heater. That was nixed as soon as I went out to the barn. I have a gutter on the west side of the barn, and the downspout carries rainwater into the trough. This is in part to keep the water from pooling and making a gloppy mess right there (it's a low spot), and it also means I don't have to fill the tank as often with the hose. On Nov. 26, the trough had been nearly empty; I added just a little water via hose so that the horses could drink before I drained the water and installed the heater on Nov. 27. Well .... I guess it rained really, really hard the night of Nov. 26, because the trough was full yesterday morning! Fortunately, I can still break the thin ice that forms on top. I'll try again when the water level is slurped down a bit.
I met with Alison and the UU meetinghouse office administrator, planning out the calendar of events into Sept. 2008. This is so that we don't have events competing with each other at the same time. It was a long meeting, but very productive, and we generated some new activities. For example, Alison wants to have a seder potluck dinner at the meetinghouse during Passover. (We have certainly heard about Passover every year from the pulpit, and the children in religious education have had "seders" led by some of our Jewish members, as part of their education about the faith traditions we draw upon, but I don't think the adults (and children) have ever had a seder as a community.)
Then Alison took me out to lunch for my birthday. She got a kick out of the coffee mug I'd bought as a late birthday gift to her.
I ran around doing errands, including picking up tickets in advance for "Enchanted," the new Disney movie that pokes fun at Disney movies. Then I ran home in time to meet Samurai and drive back down to town to meet my husband at.... Pizza Hut.
My husband never did reimburse me for the movie tickets (I thought he was taking me! ?? I think he just forgot that I'd picked up the tickets), but as it happens, my birthday was on a Tuesday, which we didn't know is a special day of the week -- "all shows $5.00!!! " -- so it was only $15 for the three of us. Plus, I never expected him to buy me a digital camcorder!
And I am grateful that he didn't repeat his usual tribute: Buying a bouquet the night before my birthday, leaving it without water overnight in his car to "hide" it, and then "surprising" me with half-dead flowers in the morning.
Maybe he and his youngest sister K share a "clueless-about-how-to-treat-bouquets" gene.
I admit I've been too busy even to take the camcorder out of the box, even though he jokingly told me that he expected to see a finished documentary from me by evening.
I hadn't really wanted one of these, but in retrospect, it makes sense that he'd decide that if I had one, I'd like it.
My dream in college was to make documentaries, especially for Bill Moyers. I studied broadcast journalism in grad school. In those days, video was in its infancy, even among the networks, and so I learned on B&W film. I learned to edit on film, physically slicing and splicing film, and I loved the tactile way it worked. (I'm still the sort of person who prints out Word files to proofread them, even though I could presumably do it on the computer without wasting the lives of trees.) FYI, if I may brag a bit, I was told I would be very good at broadcast journalism and documentaries. I often see stories as "movies" in my head, and I had a knack for camera angles, cutaways, closeups, etc., as well as verbal narrative/script.
Later, I tried to learn video through our local cable access station, but editing was a pain. I still wanted to just pick up a piece of film, glance at it through a magnifying light viewfinder (I can no longer remember what the things are called), mark the frames I wanted with a grease pencil, and cut and splice what I wanted to another length of film.
Shortly after Samurai was born, I bought a big, clunky video recorder. We used it with enthusiasm for a short time, and I even videotaped a wedding reception for a friend; I had to edit it down, and it took forever. I had to run cables from the camera to our television. A real pain.
We stopped using that camera after a couple of years.
Then, when Samurai was in fifth (or maybe fourth), she wanted to make a short film for a class project. I splurged and got a smaller camcorder, the kind that used mini-VHS cassettes. It was fun to use, and certainly more portable, but again, it was a PITA to edit.
Samurai has editing software on her laptop and borrowed a digital camcorder last year as part of a class project, and produced an impressive result. She says she'll teach me how to edit on my computer.
Later, I tried to learn video through our local cable access station, but editing was a pain. I still wanted to just pick up a piece of film, glance at it through a magnifying light viewfinder (I can no longer remember what the things are called), mark the frames I wanted with a grease pencil, and cut and splice what I wanted to another length of film.
Shortly after Samurai was born, I bought a big, clunky video recorder. We used it with enthusiasm for a short time, and I even videotaped a wedding reception for a friend; I had to edit it down, and it took forever. I had to run cables from the camera to our television. A real pain.
We stopped using that camera after a couple of years.
Then, when Samurai was in fifth (or maybe fourth), she wanted to make a short film for a class project. I splurged and got a smaller camcorder, the kind that used mini-VHS cassettes. It was fun to use, and certainly more portable, but again, it was a PITA to edit.
Samurai has editing software on her laptop and borrowed a digital camcorder last year as part of a class project, and produced an impressive result. She says she'll teach me how to edit on my computer.
So we'll see. But I still need to take it out of the box!
My plan for the morning, before an 11 a.m. meeting with Alison at the UU meetinghouse, was to empty the water trough and install the tank heater. That was nixed as soon as I went out to the barn. I have a gutter on the west side of the barn, and the downspout carries rainwater into the trough. This is in part to keep the water from pooling and making a gloppy mess right there (it's a low spot), and it also means I don't have to fill the tank as often with the hose. On Nov. 26, the trough had been nearly empty; I added just a little water via hose so that the horses could drink before I drained the water and installed the heater on Nov. 27. Well .... I guess it rained really, really hard the night of Nov. 26, because the trough was full yesterday morning! Fortunately, I can still break the thin ice that forms on top. I'll try again when the water level is slurped down a bit.
I met with Alison and the UU meetinghouse office administrator, planning out the calendar of events into Sept. 2008. This is so that we don't have events competing with each other at the same time. It was a long meeting, but very productive, and we generated some new activities. For example, Alison wants to have a seder potluck dinner at the meetinghouse during Passover. (We have certainly heard about Passover every year from the pulpit, and the children in religious education have had "seders" led by some of our Jewish members, as part of their education about the faith traditions we draw upon, but I don't think the adults (and children) have ever had a seder as a community.)
Then Alison took me out to lunch for my birthday. She got a kick out of the coffee mug I'd bought as a late birthday gift to her.
I ran around doing errands, including picking up tickets in advance for "Enchanted," the new Disney movie that pokes fun at Disney movies. Then I ran home in time to meet Samurai and drive back down to town to meet my husband at.... Pizza Hut.
Yes, Pizza Hut. My idea. I wanted someplace near the theater that wasn't fancy and would get us fed and out the door on time for a 7 p.m. showing. It was rather disappointing pizza, actually, which surprised me, because I've liked their pizzas in the past. Whatever. It wasn't about the food.
Samurai then gave me her present to me: The Universe in a Single Atom: The convergence of science and spirituality by his Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Turns out while she was rummaging through Alison's bookcases when we were at her place Thanksgiving evening, she saw this book, glanced through it, and thought I'd enjoy it. (Look at my "interests" list and you'll see why.)
"Enchanted" was very well done and very funny. I would probably have appreciated it even more if my kid were younger -- it has been so long since we've seen "Bambi," and "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid," and all the other films it steals from with a broad grin and wink, I probably missed half the jokes. I recommend it.
Samurai then gave me her present to me: The Universe in a Single Atom: The convergence of science and spirituality by his Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Turns out while she was rummaging through Alison's bookcases when we were at her place Thanksgiving evening, she saw this book, glanced through it, and thought I'd enjoy it. (Look at my "interests" list and you'll see why.)
"Enchanted" was very well done and very funny. I would probably have appreciated it even more if my kid were younger -- it has been so long since we've seen "Bambi," and "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid," and all the other films it steals from with a broad grin and wink, I probably missed half the jokes. I recommend it.
My husband never did reimburse me for the movie tickets (I thought he was taking me! ?? I think he just forgot that I'd picked up the tickets), but as it happens, my birthday was on a Tuesday, which we didn't know is a special day of the week -- "all shows $5.00!!! " -- so it was only $15 for the three of us. Plus, I never expected him to buy me a digital camcorder!
And I am grateful that he didn't repeat his usual tribute: Buying a bouquet the night before my birthday, leaving it without water overnight in his car to "hide" it, and then "surprising" me with half-dead flowers in the morning.
Maybe he and his youngest sister K share a "clueless-about-how-to-treat-bouquets" gene.
