Knit Geek Life

So, it's two days until November and I'm asking myself that question I've asked myself for so many years at this time... Am I going to do NaNoWriMo this year? And this year the answer is.... YES!

I haven't a vague clue about what I'm going to writing about short of one scene in a drug store... but that's okay. I'll figure it out as I go along.

I'm debating as to whether I want to post my unedited version online or not... Part of me wants to, I tend to keep on top of things when they're publicly visible, but then I worry if I'll sensor myself and not write about certain things... Would anyone be interested in reading I wonder?

Genrewise I think I'm sorta going towards some sort of erotic/spiritual/romantic/futuristic dystopian novel...

I got my Dell Inspiron Mini 9 last week. I'm mostly impressed with the little machine. Typing is a little more difficult on it than I'd hoped it to be, mostly because the apostrophe/quote key is in an awkward spot... It's down on the bottom row, two keys right of the space rather than being to the left of enter, so I keep hitting the enter key whenever I mean apostrophe or quote, which is fine enough when typing a blog entry but is massively annoying with IM because I now have the misfortune of hitting send on a message before I'm done with it. I'm sure it's an annoyance that will eventually be overcome with time and more usage.

One of the things I really do like about it is it's a great size for lying in bed and just surfing around the Internet. If you've got your knees propped up and you lean the laptop up against them, it just seems to fit perfectly.... unlike fullsized laptops where they always felt too cumbersome and heavy to hold in the same position AND still be able to type. The fact that I can use the computer LYING DOWN seems to overcome some of my annoyances with the keyboard... and in fact,I think lying down is the most comfortable way to type using the keyboard on it, I know when I'm sitting up, my wrists feel really smooshed, but lying down they don't because I can rest them against my hips.

It would seem that the Mini is likely going to be my bedroom/traveling computer.

New Cute Mini Laptop!

Boy, have I gotten behind on posting some of my scrapbooking layouts as of late... Partly it's because I haven't done very many as of late and partly I've just been lazy and busy and got behind posting what I did do, but I figured I'd stop in and post a few of my favorites that I've done.

I apparently got really inspired by Midnight Wonders by Flutter Expressions and made three layouts!

I had the opportunity to work with Craft Basket Finds by Kiki Halbert Designs which is available at her Plain Digital Wrapper shop.

My knitting and spinning friends should get a kick out of the picture. Arc's using a niddy-noddy (a tool traditionally used for winding hanks of yarn) to wind up some ethernet cable.

I also have snuck in some non-CT layouts lately too... Here's a good one of my husband being silly.

Rachel Martin - Posh

And some layouts from the pictures taken at Software Freedom Day in September.

Both layouts:
Let's Connect Collab by Amy Sumrall, Ellie Lash, Flergs, Franziska Altmann, Heather Manning, Kim B's Designs, Krystal Hartley, Lost Gurlz Venture Designs, mgl Scraps, Miss Crow, Moon Scraps, Polka Dot Plum, Sugarplum Paperie, Tracey Monette, Web Designz by Kristi and Wenchd Grafix.
Template by Yin

It's been awhile since I've posted anything substantial. I'm attempting to torture myself tonight by trying to teach myself how to type on a Dvorak keyboard. It's supposed to be more ergonomically than QWERTY. I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I think part of the motivation is just plain boredom. That and it would make my computers unusable by most people (everyone I know but Arc basically).

I can't practice this all the time but using Dvorak for blog entries is a good start.

Today and tomorrow, Kiki Halbert is having a sale at her store at Plain Digital Wrapper! You can buy her entire store for ONLY $19.95!

However, if the whole store is just too much, everything in the store is on sale for $1, $2 and $3! Don't miss the great deals!

Normally I'd run away screaming at the sound of the word "synergy" but I have to say that this usage of the term is a good thing. Synergy is a project that allows you to share your keyboard and mouse between multiple computers. Currently, I'm using the same keyboard and mouse for my Ubuntu desktop and my Mac laptop. All I have to do to go between the two is move the mouse over (similiar to the way you would for a multiple desktop set up).

Arc set it up for me today, and I'm seriously wondering why I didn't do this sooner... It's SOOOOOOO nice to not have to move my hands off my keyboard.

Both Kiki Halbert and Flutter Expressions put out fabulous new kits at the beginning of the week that I had the pleasure of creating layouts with.

First up, Kiki collaborated with Crystal Livesay to create a fabulous pastel kit called Pigtails & Popsicles which is at Sunshine Studio Scraps.

I made a really cute layout with a photo taken of my niece the last time we saw her with the kit:

Flutter Expressions released a great masculine kit this week called Hardy Boy.

I made a layout of my friend Arc taken at the last NH Ubuntu LoCo meeting.

Katherine also has a matching freebie up on her blog.

If there's ever an Arc sleeping on your couch, don't jump on him like a kitty-cat mid-dream. Otherwise there will be an Arc screaming in terror and a Nikkiana plastered to the ceiling in fright. That is all.

It's been awhile since I've really written much of anything, so as an update on my life...

In the middle of August I had my last day at Advomatic, I had a wonderful time working with them, but it was time to move on to bigger and brighter things. What I'm doing for now is theming work for Sony/BMG. (I got to do Billy Joel's theme!)

Our friend Arc is temporarily living with us, which seems to be a good thing. His vegan ways are rubbing off on me. I have ate more veggies recently that I had no idea that I liked, have more or less quit eating out and have more or less quit drinking soda. I'm now drinking lots of green tea instead. Yummy. We've also been going to the gym and the pool almost every day.

In the wonderful world of scrapbooking, I've made some layouts recently.

I got my hands on Kiki Halbert's Frosty Limeberry lately and made two layouts

Also using SgD Designs - Template #8