My recent business...

I'm still plugging and chugging away at this thing called life.  Chicago is getting to that short point in the year where the weather is bearable and Anna is happy because it's her favorite season.  The leaves are turning colors and the wind doesn't quite feel so humid anymore.  In the mornings the ground is slightly moist from the dew signaling the imminent close of longboarding season (moisture, leaves and road grime don't fare well with $100 skate bearings).  I should be getting ready to pull out the visqueen to insulate the windows from the upcoming bitter cold winter.  I've managed to keep staying up late with my crazy ventures on my computer, the various projects I'll give a few details.

I've run in to a few hiccups with the "big project" I've been working on, but things will work out.  It's just required me redoing the entire project (another 50 to 60 base hours) plus an additional 1/2 to 1 hour each section (22 total) to overcome the little hiccups that are happening due to my cheap software and hardware limitations.  In researching my options to make this project a little simpler for myself I came across some of my dream setups.  While checking out these pricey gizmos I was able to give myself a few more distractions to fill the deficit in ADD.

The first project (distraction from the main project) was found while researching software options.  I love Adobe software, that stuff is like cocaine to me (or what I would imagine cocaine being like).  It began while looking at the academic pricing schedule, the software looked great but was all pretty expensive (almost $1000 for most single programs without the student discount, around two or three hundred with the discounts) so I decided I'd struggle some more with my cheap software and just put in the extra man hours to manually correct the audio problems.  I noticed one program was completely free for students, Adobe Flash Builder 4, used for building applications for computers, phones and websites.  I've always been interested in how to build these applications and have thought of uses for my own little apps so I applied using my DePaul .edu email address for the free software.  About a week later I was accepted and given a free license to learn and use it!  I haven't really done anything with it other than take a small look at the interface, but it's a great tool for when I decide to dig deeper.

A short time later I received an email from the Adobe Student program reminding me about my "last chance to enter a submission to the Slamdance/Adobe Re-Cut Competition."  I didn't hear about it before, but I have some interest in video editing, and I consider myself a software whore, so I checked it out.  The competition includes downloading a video composed of a bunch of different scenes (with 2 or 3 takes each) of an independent movie which will be shown at the Slamdance Movie Festival in Park City, cutting up the takes into one smooth flowing scene (a chase scene, but according to the rules of the contest I can't really tell you much about it without risking my disqualification), burning it to DVD and mailing it in.  The winner gets his "re-cut" put into the final movie along with a paid trip to the festival (in UT, I would get to see my family and mountains again!) and a huge package of Adobe software (Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium, about $1,700 worth).  All the Finalists get the CS5 package and tickets (but not airfare and hotel to the show) while every participant in the show gets a license for Adobe Premier Pro CS5 (the main software program for the video editing, which I've been doing a lot of, which would really simplify my life).

I entered the contest, downloaded the trial software and cut together a little bit of magic to submit.  If I'm lucky I'll be a finalist and get to bask in the glory of the whole suite of software getting to use the video editing for my main project, but more importantly I'd get Photoshop (which I'm in love with).  As it is, I did send in a submission so I will get the video editing anyway.  If the stars align and the winds are just right and I won, I'd get a trip to Utah for the film festival, hotel, software and the ability to chill with my family for a while (squee!) which is something I've only been able to do twice in the last 2 years and probably wont get to do again for another long time.  Do I hear "ski trip" if I win?  I would absolutely love to see my family sometime soon.

I'm not just a software geek, I like hardware too.  I've really been eyeballing THIS little treasure for all my project needs too.  Works flawlessly with the software and it would complete the necessary components to streamline all my efforts into one seamless flow of productivity.

Enough with the geek talk.  This video really makes me happy

Adobe Eyeballs from Seagulls Fly on Vimeo.

It's getting late, I've been busy with some photo shoots lately and I've got a hair show tomorrow, another fashion show next weekend and a Halloween show on the 30th. They should keep me occupied for a while.

To all my imaginary friends reading this, thanks.  Have a great October!

FINISHED!

The secret project is pretty much finished... just need to talk to a few other people about how we want to package it up and present it and things should be completely wrapped up pretty soon.  I've been slowly working on this project since the end of April this year and it's really nice to have it all finished up.

Another thing coming up is the annual Healey boy pushup cup.  I'm pretty surprised to say that I've never won the cup, life gets in the way and I've always gotten burned out, injured or beat by just a few pushups to take the title.  This year it's mine.  I'm starting to think about it now so I can have my full momentum at the start of the month.  Here's a little training program I found to help get prepped for the contest.  Looks like a good little site for slowly upping my numbers without hurting myself (like I tend to do each year).  I just hope I can eat enough to keep energized and keep from injuring my elbows again.

Another thing I'm excited about this upcoming season is cyclocross.  Here's a video, if you know anything about me, you'll be able to see why I want to get involved in the sport.

U.S. gran prix of cyclocross from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media on Vimeo.
It'll be cold, but I'm fine with cold if I'm having fun!  Last year I had the privilege of going out to one of the races and watching it happen, maybe this year I'll find somebody with a bike I can borrow and get in a race for myself.

Secrets Are So Much Fun

So I've been diligently working on a secret project for some secret family and it's going to be a pretty big surprise, unless the secret gets out.  It's been fairly time consuming however I've been having an absolute blast at it.  Some of my family know about it and others don't, but it's been a great project to work on and things are coming together quite nicely.  However, if I keep writing about it I'll probably end up spilling the beans and I don't want my parents Christmas present ruined early (oops, did I say that?)

Aside from the project, I've been jumping through hoops left and right to get ready for the imminent arrival of the eighth of September, which happens to be the first day of classes at DePaul.  I really regret to inform everybody of some sad news.  Due to multiple circumstances involving time, transfer credits, money and work I will not be able to attend DePaul University to complete my undergraduate degree in Chemistry in preparation for optometry school.  Not enough credits transferred from BYU to DePaul so I would need to be in school for more than 2 years in order to finish, which means if Anna matches in California (fingers are crossed that she will) then I would have to leave school again just before I would graduate.  So I'll wait until we know where we're going to be for the next set amount of time before attempting to finish school.

It's a nice weight off my chest, to have made a decision about what I'm going to be spending my time doing for the next couple years.  I wouldn't be a very nice person to be around if I was back in school full time and had a part time job to help pay the bills (which is why I did so poorly while I was at BYU, too much on my plate).

It's getting late again, and I just finished with another one of the project sections, I'm going to bed.