27 Sep 2012

feuervogel: photo of the statue of Victory and her chariot on the Brandenburg Gate (Default)
My laptop is five years old, and it's finding new and exciting ways to remind me of its age every day. It's a MacBook, the white kind with the case that splits at the seam where your wrists sit. The keyboard is flaky, starting Firefox with 4 tabs takes 3 or 4 minutes, and I'm not getting Chrome updates anymore because I have OSX 10.5, which they no longer support (nor does Flash, apparently). The mouse button doesn't always click.

So it is becoming somewhat urgent that I replace it. Except I still don't have a job (not for lack of trying, let me assure you), so I need to find money from somewhere. I have a crapload of doujinshi for fandoms I'm not all that into anymore, which I could ebay (though god knows if anyone else is interested in them...).

I also have a bunch of BPAL imps that are very much Not Me, which I can sell to interested parties.

Anyway. I have several of the Caron one-pound acrylic yarn skeins, and crochet hooks. I'm currently experimenting to make a joint e-reader and phone (and maybe a couple pencils) holder (http://twitter.yfrog.com/oeq9tfej). I can make phone sleeves to keep your phone from getting scratched (if you don't have a case for it). I plan to try a phone sleeve with a pocket for an ID and some cash, since I always want something like that when I'm at a con and don't want to carry my whole purse. I'd need to get some cotton yarn for those; the acrylic is worsted weight and kind of bulky for that purpose.

Would any of you (or your friends) be interested in purchasing such a thing? I was thinking of pricing the phone sleeve at $10, e-reader+phone cover at $30, and the two-pocket phone sleeve at $15. Other things I can make are balls (which can be made into Kirbys or Jigglypuffs or Haros, priced around $10 each), coasters (though I wouldn't use acrylic for those), uh, scarves, hats...

If I have to purchase materials (ie yarn), that'll factor into the price. I have over 3 pounds of acrylic yarn right now (purple, blue, pink, burgundy boucle, and a small skein of pink baby boucle), which wouldn't cost anything extra. For cotton, I like Lily Sugar n Cream, which is pretty cheap and comes in a wide variety of colors, both solid and ombre.

I can't guarantee that there will be no cat hair in the item. I can wash it before sending it to you, but cat hair is really sticky.

I also have some fabulous Amy Butler print fabric, which I could use to make ... something. Handbags, clutches, that type of thing. It's a little too heavy to work well as clothing fabric, which is what I originally bought it for. (Though it might also work to reupholster my chair...)

Other things I can do that don't involve making things: I can plan you a trip to Germany (any major city, or a tour by train, given budget, traveling style, and interests); I could attempt to write you a story. Um. Stuff.

Would it be worth me making a post listing stuff and prices, colors available? Or set up an etsy shop? (That may be more effort than I have time for right now.)
feuervogel: photo of the statue of Victory and her chariot on the Brandenburg Gate (Default)
Apropos my previous post, I have a decision to make on what to replace this laptop with. The options are all going to be Apple, so don't suggest I should buy a Dell, etc. I like OSX.

This is what I do with my computer:
1. Read gmail, LJ, DW, tumblr, and facebook.
2. Read twitter.
3. Follow links from any of the above.
4. Play stupid flash games.
5. Use Scrivener to write and edit manuscripts.
6. Use google docs.

These are the options I am considering.

A. Refurbished iPad 2 with keyboard (and mouse?) Approx $400
Pros: Tiny! Portable! Cheaper! Trendy!
Cons: No Scrivener (but can sync with existing iOS apps). No Flash. Tiny. Can't transfer entire iTunes library. No OpenOffice? (Maybe not)

I can't imagine it's any smaller than the tiny Vaio I used from 2001-2007 or your average netbook. I also can't use it to revise manuscripts.

B. Refurnished MacBook Air ($650-850)
Pros: Lightweight. Full computer. Can use Scrivener to heart's content.
Cons: Costs 50% more.

C. New MacBook Air (from $999)
Pros: see above.
Cons: Expensive.

I could get an iPad+keyboard as a stopgap measure until I get paid again, should that ever happen. My current laptop still functions; it's just annoyingly slow and its OS is deprecated. If I leave Firefox open for 3 hours, it eats all the RAM. (Firefox has always had memory leaks.)

I don't know how I feel about typing on a little keyboard all the time. I know someone who has this setup, and I could ask her if I can come over and try it out for a while.

Do any of you have experience using an iPad as a primary computer? Do any of you live closer to me than Raleigh and want to let me try it out? Should I just suck it up and get a real MacBook instead of the stopgap iPad?
feuervogel: (win)
I'm the production manager at Bull Spec. Sam and I worked out a publication schedule for next year. Hopefully having regularly appearing issues will help get subscription numbers up.

I made an organizational chart. It is shiny. Also, he'll have to have an official masthead thing with lots of names on it.

Once Sam has a free minute to send me the contact info for the various editors and whatnot, I'll send them an email introducing myself and telling them what my job is. That's basically to be the contact person (not Sam) who gets regular updates on how things are progressing production-wise, and who finds people to fill in the gaps when someone's drowning in life and won't be able to make their deadline.

He has a checklist of things to do and people to email and ask various things.

Here's to a smooth year three!

(No, I'm not getting paid. Maybe someday.)

Profile

feuervogel: photo of the statue of Victory and her chariot on the Brandenburg Gate (Default)
feuervogel

February 2026

M T W T F S S
      1
23456 78
9101112131415
16171819202122
232425262728 

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Page generated 12 Feb 2026 09:23 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios