Der Feuervogel aufersteht.

I have a mid-2011 11" MacBook Air, which has 384 MB of video memory, according to Apple. I recently hooked up a spare external monitor to it, and when I put Chrome on the extra display area, webpages load really slowly. Like, it's really hard to read tumblr because one image out of six will load.

I've been having problems with webpages not loading images if I've had the tab open for a while now (long before the external monitor), and usually if I closed the tab and reopened it, things were fine. (I initially thought I had to relaunch the whole browser, then I remembered that Chrome keeps each tab as a separate process, so closing one tab is as efficient and saves time.)

I told Ben that it got worse when I got the new monitor, and he was like "pffff, that's impossible." Then I told him again today, after clearing all my chrome settings and preparing to uninstall/reinstall it, because it works perfectly on the native monitor, and he said, "ok, well, maybe..." then some computer graphics mumbo jumbo I didn't quite catch. He suggested mirroring the display rather than extending it, but I really like being able to be reading tumblr (or playing dragons) and looking at twitter in the window below, so I don't really like that option. Also because setting it to mirror does awful things to the native screen resolution and display.

So I'm throwing this out here in case any of you know if that's a thing, or how to deal with it. I really like being able to edit text at a readable size (or see more of it at once) and sitting with my neck in a more natural position, so I'd like to keep this monitor.

I'm going to ReaderCon, which is outside Boston, and I'm flying Thursday & Monday. I believe I have a room for Thursday night at the con hotel, but I'm looking for space Sunday night.

I don't need much space; a couch will work. My flight out is at 12:45, so even allowing 2 hours pre-flight, I won't need to be out at the crack of dawn or anything. I have no major allergy problems, but I will need to be able to sleep undisturbed lest I get a migraine. If you have allergy problems, be warned that everything I own is covered in cat hair.

I do not yet know how I'm getting from the con hotel (in Burlington) to Boston. I may be able to get a ride to Alewife, or even someplace more central, depending on the charity of others with cars. (There is reportedly a bus to Alewife, but it comes every 2 hours.)

I also do not yet know how I'm getting from the airport to the con hotel, but since my flight arrives before noon and con things don't begin until 8 pm, I'll have some time to kill in the afternoon. Possibly even toward 6 pm dinner, if people can be gotten together by then. (Boston friends, I haven't seen you in ages.)

I may enjoy playing tourist in your fair city, but I'll still have my luggage with me, which doesn't sound like a fun game in July. I haven't actually visited much of Boston, so that could be fun, as long as I can leave my bags somewhere. (They will be minimal, as I'm flying carry-on-only. But lugging a backpack around for 6 hours isn't my idea of fun.)

ANYWAY! If you have a bit of crash space I can borrow Sunday night and/or want to show me cool things in your city, let me know!

I'm looking for a novel published between, say, 2005 and 2010, by a Turkish German. A Bekanntin from Twitter gave me this, which kind of helps (though not if I can't find any of those books here for reasonable prices).

The reason I want this is so I can write a paper for my grad school application. (I need to give them a 10-20-page paper, theoretically written during my undergraduate German studies. We never wrote real academic papers, with journal references and stuff, in college. So I need to make one now.) I want to write about Turkish Germans, though I don't have a paper topic specifically.

My alternate idea was to write about reunification viz Friedrich Christian Delius' "Die Birnen von Ribbeck," which we read in one of the college classes, maybe "lit since 1945," and the current state of affairs. (The pears thing uses a lot of metaphors, like "you have to graft trees together carefully, otherwise it won't take.")

If I knew anything about film/media analysis, I'd write about Gegen die Wand (which I have a bunch of articles on) or Das Leben der Anderen. Or Türkisch für Anfänger.

ETA: Do you have recommendations? Have you read any of those books and liked them? Or books by other German Turkish writers? If I click, Amazon helpfully gives me similar books, but I don't know anything about them.

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.)