Microsoft One Note

This is the shiznit.





I like to collect information. When I was in school, I loved research projects and spent hours finding and gathering information. Back in the day, finding information involved digging through card catalogs and microfiche drawers, but I did with glee. I am seriously dating myself. When I was 15, I spent a Saturday afternoon at the Public Library looking at microfische for a project and loved it. My copy card always needed refilling and I had a big folder full of my research topic of the moment. One Note is a info gatherer's dream come true. It replaces my research folder of my school years. If you have a tablet pc, it will make you cream your jeans.





One Note is a way to gather information and put it in 'Notebooks' that you can organize just like your class binders. I have a notebook for my work projects, my life projects, sorority projects and just general research stuff. Within each notebook are subject tabs that have individual 'pages', so my work notebook is divided into sections like: meetings, notes, calendars, to do lists and whatever deserves it's own section. Each section then has pages of thier own.





When I am online, I like to select information that I find and copy it to a One Note page. The info is then put into my notes, along with a hyperlink from the site the info was taken from. You can then type notes anywhere on the screen. I used to bookmark everything on Internet Explorer, but I find this more useful since I can add notes to the link also. Right now I am using it to find a new laptop and a new bean bag cushion. I know I am a nerd, but I don't care. Laugh if you want. Buying the right cushion is a biiiiiiiiig deal.





For project management, it is also good because, I still use Word to make documents to support my project, but I can also put those files in One Note in sections that are easily visible and won't get lost in all the documents that a project can create.





You can also insert audio and video into the pages. My sister was very excited at this prospect. She has a webcam and mic on her laptop and figures that she can record her meetings via One Note and type notes on the same 'page' where she is recording the meeting.
If you have a tablet PC, the world is yours. You can write those notes as opposed to typing. it has handwriting recognition software on it so you can convert those notes into text. The only problem I have with this is that it does not always recognize what I write, and I write pretty clearly, so if you have messy handwriting, this might not work for you. But imagine sitting in a class or a meeting and writing your notes on your tablet pc while recording the it in One Note.

How cool.

Tablet PC

I want a tablet PC.

I have wanted one for a long time and now, the price is low enough that I can afford it! I love the idea of writing my notes on the screen and converting them to text. If this had been around when I was in college, who knows- those 3.o's could have been 4.0's!

I went to Office Depot and played around with one yesterday. I must be big ol nerd, because I had a good time. I can do so much with the tablet, the world will be mine.

But it will never replace my cute stationary! There is still nothing like writing a note on paper covered in little hearts, cupcakes or teddy bears. And if you leave a love note to your boo, you can't just hang that tablet on the bathroom mirror- It is just uneconomical.

Sunshine

From the ages of 12- 26, I dreaded the summer. I hated the heat and the brightness. It didn't help that I wore heavy clothes to hide rather than celebrate my body. I also got the majority of my migranes during the summer. Now I welcome the sun and love to bask in it's glory.



During my lunch at work, I like to go to the park and eat, listen to music, knit and read. I come back so relaxed, the high is better than any drug and I come back ready to take on the nuts I work around.

I love the other seasons of the year, but when the sun is shining, I feel vibrant and happy. One winter, I pulled my couch in front of my window, and would lay down on my back and let the winter sun beat down on my belly. Sometimes my daughter would lay down on top of me and fall asleep too, but she was much smaller then. I miss that. I try to hold her now and she is almost big enough to hold me. I also like sitting outside and letting the sun warm my legs through my jeans. I have been outside so much that I have the most awkward summer tan. I wear a head wrap and I looked in the mirror and saw that there is a line going across my forhead. One half is dark, the other is pale. Wow. I guess I have to wear my wrap everyday until the tan fades. I have also been wearing tank tops and have a big 'U' shaped dark spot along my cleavage. Not sexy at all.

But that will not keep me from soaking up my vitamin D.

R and R

I know I wrote about sleep already, but Rest and Relaxation are totally different. With sleep you revive your body and mind. But with R and R, you revive you body, mind and SOUL.

Many things make me happy, but I love my relaxing time. I don't need money to do it, just the time. I find many ways to relax. I go on my deck with a nice cold iced tea, knitting and just sit. Sometimes, I sit on my orange throne and veg out in front of the tv. Othertimes, I lay in my bed, daydream or noodle around with my laptop. It doesn't matter what I am doing, it is not supposed to be totally productive.

My vacation is at the end of this month and I plan on doing nothing. They call it a 'staycation' now, but I think I perfected it. Usually, we stay up late watching movies, then wake up to watch 'The View' take another nap, then take our showers, get dressed and head out. Each day we go to another part of the city. One day we will go downtown and hit up the bookstore and the mall. Actually, we go to town a few days a week. Another day, we go to the International District and go to Uwajimaya's, then we will hit up the U District where my favorite yarn store is. The Market is a afternoon all by itself, it is packed with so much to see. But at least three times during our staycation, I will drag my laptop to Tully's and do whatever until my battery goes out.

After our afternoon of fun, we either eat out or I make a simple dinner. Shoot, sometimes we eat cereal. They are usually packed full of vitamins and stuff, so don't chastise me please.

America's Most Wanted

I have watched this show since it first came on when I was 14. I was hooked. It's not that I had fantasies of finding crimminals and calling them in. Most likely, I would probably look at them trying to figure out where I had seen them before. If I did figure it out, I would run like hell. It was one of the first "true crime" shows on TV- I also liked Unsolved Mysteries, but sometimes I got scared watching that.

I think I liked the show because sometimes the dramatizations were so cheesy it was funny. Sometimes the actors used to portray the crimminal looked NOTHING like the crimminal. I wonder if any of the crimminals got pissed that they used a ugly actor to portray them. One episode was filmed in the city where I live a long time ago. The actor they used for a segment was a guy who used to come into the grocery store where I worked all the time- he looked a little like Bad- era Michael Jackson, and his acting was saaaaaaaaddddd. The crimminal he was portraying looked closer to Rick Ross. I had a real good laugh at that one.

One episode that pissed me off was the story of a local lady killed by her son. I knew the lady and the actress portraying her looked nothing like her, but what killed me was the props and what they secretly said about her... They showed her walking through her yard and it was littered with toys and junk. What was worse was that they portrayed the cop who's head was GRAZED by a bullet while she hid behind a car a hero. That whole segment left a sour taste in my mouth. I definetly see bias in some of the stories, but at the same time they do pull people off the streets who deserve to be in jail.

Babies

I love babies, they smell good, are sweet most of the time and are full of the potiential that God made us with.

My child is now a tween and I look at her and get very teary as I remember her as a baby, unable to do most things herself but breathe and poop. I remember the joy and wonder as she accomplished new things, her first laugh, sitting up, crawling, figuring out how to walk and talk. It was so exciting. She made a 'drawing' when she was two and I carried that around for a while next to my badge.

I miss that. I love watching my daughter grow now, but that time brings back some of the best memories of my life. I thought I was ready to have another one, but now I am not so sure. I had custody of my nephew who is 18 months old for a few days and was shocked at all the work that I had to do. I forgot about that. My daughter can cook, clean and bathe for herself- though she does none of them very well. My nephew, eats constantly, poops a lot and wants to be carried. I think I blocked all that stuff out in my memories of motherhood and that is why I almost got suckered into planning for another.

But even as I write the above, my heart still wants a baby.

Knitting

I knit, therefore, I am.



I knit, but don't expect no complicated frilly stuff. Homey don't play that. I do quick, uncomplicated things. I have been working on a vest for the last 3 or 4 months, and I am in no particular hurry to finish it since it is now 'summer' and I don't need the extra insulation.
Knitting brings me peace and helps me work things out in my brain when I am troubled. The last week has been crazy with family issues, I knit like a fool and finished two bags, two hats and I am currently working on another. My favorite thing to do is to sit and knit. The weather has been so lovely lately that I sit outside with the sun burning my legs and knit and drink my lemonade or iced tea until it is time for me to get some real work done.

But I love the winter, the time of year when it is cool to sit on your butt and do nothing. I like to put on music, heat up a pot of tea, wrap up in my blanket on my favorite chair and knit. Sometimes I watch TV, but it is better with music. I was watching a movie and my friend was irritated that I was knitting while watching the movie. He thought I couldn't follow along with the movie while knitting. I had to educate his butt.
I have tons of knitting paraphernalia. I have a lot of knitting needles, and don't EVER ask to borrow them. I can part with yarn, but not with my needles son. I have three or four garbage bag sized bags of yarn.... I am a little more likely to part with my yarn only so I can buy more. My favorite sites for my hobby/ fetish are:

• knitpicks.com- The Harmony interchangeable needles are the shiznit and the yarn is cheap too!
• Ebay- Uhhh yeah! I have found needles by the lot, yarn and cute knitting bags here.
• Discontinuedbrandnameyarn.com- I found my favorite yarn- Lamb's Pride- here for half price.

When I recieve my Knit Picks catalog in the mail, I get so excited. I call it my porn because it makes me hot- I swear it does.

I also spend a lot of time on Ravelry.com. It is like a MySpace for knitters and crocheters. You can post pictures of your work, your stash of yarn, there are forums and groups to join and of course, there are friends to make. I belong to a lot of groups. Maybe too many.

I love knitting so much and believe in it's powers to calm and soothe that I teach a class at work and will teach anyone who asks... but bring your own stuff cause I ain't sharing.

Sleep

Sleep.... It is something I can not get enough of.



I have always needed a nap. When I switched from my part time job working 5 hours a day to six hours a day. I got really tired. I know it is only one hour extra a day, but that hour did me in. I found myself going in the office and sleeping on the desk. When I was in high school, my thing to do after school was to eat some ice cream and soda or a candy bar and milk, watch my cartoons and get my half an hour or hour long nap. I continued that tradition in college. I would schedule my classes for mid morning or early afternoon. Classes after 2 were not even on my radar. I would go home, make sure my sisters were home and take a nap until I had to go to work at 5 or 6.

I always feel at my worst when I am not getting enough sleep. I don't have bags under my eyes yet, but give me another week of 5 hours of sleep a night and I will have some Samsonites in no time.

In the winter, my schedule is jam packed full of stuff and I have a hard time getting my sleep in. A full 8 hours of sleep is unusual for me, and I do try to get my full set. Life just gets in the way.

During the summer, life slows down somewhat but I still can't get any sleep because now it is too dang hot to sleep. I run the fan, have the window open, and sleep in shorts or- ahem- naked, but I am still too hot. Now that I share my room with my booski, the room is even hotter, and not in that 'oooh baby' kinda hot way.


Right now, I am feeling exhausted. I went to sleep at 2 am, woke up a few times at night by my bladder and then my booski and finially when I was getting that too good to be true sleep, it was time to wake up. My child will be gone for the weekend and I was hoping to get in some good sleep and clean my house without the frustration of cleaning the same dang spot elevteen times because my girl keeps meesing it up. So I am going home and will pack her bag, wait for my sister to come and get her, go to the gym, come home take a looooong hot shower, eat a little sumthin sumthin and fall asleep on a movie I have seen ten times and wake up at noon. That sounds so great I could cry.

Treo

I love my Treo! It keeps me semi organized, I keep my lists and favorite pics on there. I text like crazy until my balance gets too low and I use whole words to text, not 'ttyl' or stuff like that. My phone is old and getting kinda battered, but it still loves me and I love it back.







Here are some of my favorite things about my Treo:

• Color coded calendars- I separate my life in many different categories- work, sorority, goof off stuff, my child's stuff and so on. It is a very easy way for me to figure out what I have too much of in my life. If there is too much red, I have way too much to do at work. Too much pink, I should pull back on my child's schedule a little before I give us both a coronary.
• Handy Shopper- this is a separate program that can be downloaded onto just about any Palm. I make lists for each of the stores I frequent will a recurring list of items that we always seem to need. It has worked out nicely, I have not run out of TP yet. I also use it for lists of things to pack for trips, music to download and books to look for. Yes, I am an anal nerd at times, but I am also forgetful.
• Mirror- My Treo is a cool ass mirror to make sure my lipstick is even.
• Real Player- I like to listen to music. Sometimes I make it my 'ghetto' ghetto blaster and walk down the street with it playing with out headphones. Sometimes I play it in the shower- resting on the sink of course.
• Butler- I use this to set the three alarms I need to talk myself out of bed in the morning. I like that it calls me Madam, 'cause I am a lady.
• Camera- It's not the best camera, but it sure does beat carrying one more thing that you are afraid of breaking to a people packed place. It also captures precious moments like your neighbor's toddler nodding in and out of sleep clutching a balloon.
• Touch screen- I will forever and ever touch every phone screen I come across. The best thing for me is the easy navigation by touch screen. I tried the Sidekick, the Jack piece of crap or whatever it is called and the Blackberry. They suck in my eyes because I love the touch screen of a Palm Treo.

There are many more reasons that I love my Treo. Yes it is big and clunky, but it does so much and I would probably be assed out to the extreme if something should happen to it.

Hello Kitty

Uh oh. Here I go! Everyone knows that I have an obsession with Hello Kitty. I have a HK email account, tons of stationary, pens, pencils and.... a tattoo. The tattoo was dedicated to my favorite people, my daughter and Hello Kitty.

I first saw HK when I was 8 or 9 years old. I was walking home from the store in the rain and saw a red square thing on the ground. I saw it had a cat on it, and she had a bow. I picked up the thing and found out that it was a teeny tiny address book with a keychain on it. I took it home and dried it out. I didn't really use it because I wasn't allowed to use the phone so there was no use putting numbers in it. But I kept it because I thought it was sooo cute.

After finding the address book, I started seeing Hello Kitty in various places, usually on Asian students who went to school with me. I could not find it in my hood anywhere. And my mom was not about to drive me around on a mission to find some 'damn cat'. So I forgot about Hello Kitty and would occasionally remark on her cuteness when I went to Shiga's on the Ave and saw thier Sanrio section. UNTIL.....

I had a child.

Something about having a child brings out all manner of nostalgia in a parent. You want to give your child everything that brought you comfort and happiness when you were a child. I bought Really Rosie and Free to Be... You and Me and sang it badly and loudly to my child. My child is 9 and can sing those songs backwards if she wanted to. I wrapped her in blankets because I remember my grandma and me sitting on the couch with our blankets on our laps watching TV. I buy maple nut ice cream and make coca cola floats with my daughter because that's what me and grandpa did while watching Dallas, the Dukes of Hazzard and 60 Minutes. It was also the ice cream of choice for summer BBQ's.

My homelife was a doozy growing up. We were a crazy mix of all American and all loony. My dad walked around the house in his tighty whiteys. My mom not only took her shoes off at the door, but also her skirt and bra. I really did read Playboy for the articles because they were in the bathroom near the toilet when I went to do my dootie. My mom would scream at us a lot. My mom should not own a gun. We found that out the hard way.

Hello Kitty somehow represented the sanity that was missing from my home growing up. My parents provided for us, but man, sanity is hard to come by. My mother was depressed and snapped in anger a lot, I suspect she has other issues too, but nothing has been diagnosed. My dad was protective of us and he would swing his bat if he thought anyone was trying to hurt me, but sometimes I felt overprotected but underprotected at the same time by him. Hard to explain that one.

So ANYHOO- I grow up and have this beautiful little girl and all I want to do is kiss her and make her happy. What better way is there to subconciously say "I love you and I am sane" than Hello Kitty? So I have a lot of HK stuff and my daughter has been indocrinated with the HK way of life, though I know she likes the Bratz line of crap. She doesn't have to like the kitty, but she must know the kitty.

So I have tons of Hello Kitty stuff to prove to my daughter that I will always be there for her and never chase her through the house with a butcher knife, or shoot a gun off at her and barely miss. But I know that I still think she is awfully cute and would collect her various products regardless of a crazy mother.

Hmmmm. I never realized it was so dang deep before now. Wow. Self discovery.

Nice People

Okay, so people are not 'things', so work with me. I like nice people. I am a nice person. I want to help others and make this a better world.

What I hate are spiteful, nasty people. I hate people who are mean just because it is waaaay less effort to be mean and rude. And I hate people who will only do things because there is something in it for them.

Sometimes people say I am rude. I have to disagree, if I come off as rude, it is because you have said or done something so stupid REPEATEDLY that I can't take it. I am usually very laid back. Do it once, I can chalk it up you to having a bad day, but three times, I am pissed and I have to set your tail straight. At work, I often have to babysit grown ass folks to relinquish the PUBLIC computers so others can use them. They get upset. After the 10th complaint from the same person, I kindly remind them that they could purchase a computer of thier very own and they would not have this problem. I also remind them that there are programs available where they can recieve a computer (laptops!!) for free. Same with printing, tell them they can not print out twenty pages of thier astrological charts, they get pissy. I tell them they are more than welcome to walk down to the public library and use thier computers and PAY to print shit out.

Oh, but I digress. There is a difference between not suffering fools and just being rude. I know when someone is being rude to me because I am actin a fool (and I rarely do that) and when they are just rude. I worked customer service jobs for years. Don't ever, ever come to a customer service rep with a foul attitude if you want something productive done. We will do the bare minimum to get your ass out of our face. But if you are polite and calmly discuss why you are upset, I know I will go out of my way to help you and move a mountain to make sure you get what you need. People who yell, scream and bully people into getting thier way have bad karma. I firmly believe in reaping what you sow. Good things happen to me because I know that I try to treat people well. (and I don't do nice things because I want the favor returned materially.) Bad things happen to me too, I am not immune from them, but the bad things do not come as a result of things that I can control... I know bad things keep happening to my ex because he keeps doing spiritually dirty things to people and it keeps coming back to bite him on the ass. He always has an alterior motive for anything he does. Last year he took me to Costco and bought us $300 worth of food and supplies. I just waited for him to drop the favor bomb. He wanted me to write a letter forgiving over $20,000 in child support. I told him that was not my decision, the state would make that decision. So he was pissed that he spent $300 on us for food his CHILD would eventually eat, cause my boo can eat, and supplies she would eventually use, (she uses a lot of toilet tissue).

Here is a short and sweet guide to being nice if you are amicably challenged:

• Treat others as you would like to be treated
• If someone does something nice for you, pay it forward and do something nice for someone else
• If there is someone who brightens your day, let them know. It will brighten thiers.
• Hug someone
• Smile dammit.
• Say hello to people you pass on the street, especially if you see them everyday.

And please train your children on being nice. Nothing makes my slappin hand itch and twitch more than a snotty ass child. Hallay-lu-yer.

Men

I like men. Even though they can be thoughtless, clueless, stinky beasts. I am not a skank, but I like looking at 'em. Looking is alright, as long as I don't touch. So chill.

I like short men, tall men, medium men, white men, black men, brown men, yellow men. I like bald men, hairy men, men with long hair, men with hair on thier hands, but not with hair on thier backs... ewww. I like skinny men, chubby men, outright fat men, but I love men with muscles. I love smart men, street smart men, people smart men, but not dumb men. I like men with nice teeth, men with blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes. Long eyelashes are nice. Men who give good massages are great too!

But I love a man who is a man. Having a penis does not make you a man.

Taking care of your bidness (kids, family, home, having and KEEPING a job), honesty, faithfulness, and loyalty are a few of the qualities that make you a true dude.

Actually, what attracts me to a guy can be very random. I like one guy because he seems so nervous around me and it flatters my big ego. I also like his quirkiness. Another guy got my attention because he had a beautiful laugh. It was a gentleman's laugh and made me go 'oh'. It didn't hurt that he is a nice looking man who is educated and square. But that laugh had me. His face also has character. He looks tired but friendly. I dig him. One of my ex boyfriends had a nice sense of humor and it is always good to have someone around who can make you laugh.

I also like geeks. They can be straight out geeks or so called 'cool guys' who can get lost in Best Buy. I like squares too. There is nothing wrong with a guy who is on point about himself. I don't want no thugs. All that brings is heartache and continued brokeness keeping thier butts out of trouble, and they will never have a job, so having kids with them is a definite no no unless you like working when you should be on bedrest or before your stitches have healed from your ceasarian.

Tea

I love tea! It comforts and warms me when it is cold outside. It reminds me of my childhood, but it also makes me feel grown and sophisticated. When I am home, I enjoy my tea hot or cold and always have at least one pitcher of iced tea in my fridge. I enjoy my tea more when I have an "atmosphere" going on at home, which basically means my house is clean, a nice teapot and matching cup is a must. I have too many teapots and cups, but can not bear to give any away. My favorite thing to do is to put on some music, wrap up in a blanket and grab some good reading material or knitting project and just chill with my favorite tea of the moment. Who needs drugs or alcohol when you have that? I like to have tea parties with my daughter, though she usually enjoys the cookies and not the tea. She will learn.

My favorite teas:

• Harny and Sons Mango Black Tea- This tastes so good with milk, this is my favorite evening tea.
• Market Spice Tea- This is my new favorite, but I will admit that I did not like it when I had it when I was young. But now, this is my favorite morning tea and it smells so good and it makes my office smell like cinnamon and oranges, which is better than the usual stinky smells around this joint.
• Contsant Comment- This is my OG tea. My dad brought this home when I was little and I was intantly in love. I always have a box in my house. I make this hot and enjoy it cold mixed with good ol Lipton. It also tastes good with milk or half and half, smells and tastes luxurious and therefore, my house has to be on point and I bring out the teapots to enjoy this. If I share the yummy goodness of this tea, you have to know that I really like you or I am being awfully generous and want to share my secret love with you.
• Morrocan Mint- This is a great winter tea when I feel icky in the chest and great iced with Lipton. Also good with milk and half and half.
• Jasmine Tea- There is a brand I pick up in the Asian grocery store as a loose tea. I do not remember the name of it, but I always find it because the package is bright yellow and black. I use it for iced tea and add lemon and it is a very delicious summer tea.
• Lipton- Good ol Lipton. Sometimes, I don't want any flava. I just want a hot cup of tea that tastes good. Lipton is that tea. I don't like anyother 'plain' teas but this. I buy it in bulk from Costco. I make my iced tea with 4 bags of Lipton, one bag of a specialty tea or 5 bags of Lipton and one lemon.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula

This has been my favorite all around tool since I was young. I use it for all manner of skin care:

• To smooth out my nose when it peels in the winter
• Lightly control my baby hair around my face
• Itchy skin relief
• ashy hand care
• I use it to smooth out my eyebrows which can be a bushy mess
• I put it on my eyelids. it kinda gives me extra glow... At least I think so.
• And most importantly, I use it for my lips. It smells so good and has no taste that interferes with my tea drinking. And... ahem, my men friends like the smell too.

It has to be the butter formula. The lotion is not as groovy. I have about 4 mini jars of the stuff, I carry a jar in my bag, my jacket pocket, my gym bag and have one on my toiletry tray in my room. I reluctently gave one to my friend for his dry lips and promptly went out to buy another one to replace the one I gave away. It is THAT great.

Me

I don't like everything about me, but I like most of me.

It took me a minute to get there. I still have self doubt and feel ugly sometimes, but overall, I feel like I am a better person than I was even three years ago. I hate that I am nice to a fault towards people who don't deserve it. I still hate my temper sometimes, but I like that I am more likely to let my feelings be known than I was before. I don't like that some people think that I am a b****. But I also know that I put on a stone face to protect myself at work and in public from people who would suck you dry if they could. Sometimes I don't like my goofiness, but most of the time I embrace it because it is what makes me me. It is also very easy to make me smile and laugh- even when I should be more serious, but I like that I do not take life too seriously.


I finally figured out that I am a good person and I can read through my own BS and know when I am not being real for myself and towards others. I can read other's BS sometimes, I am still working on that. I had a friend point out to me that I am 'good peoples' and that anyone who doesn't like me is a hater. I always suspected as much, but it was nice to hear that from someone else.