Hi, my name is Tracey, and I'm an addict.
This morning, I decided to try something. I was trying to avoid having to completely reformat my hard drive and start all over (darn freaking viruses), so I got the brilliant (snort) idea to just upgrade WinXp (ya know- where you don't lose all of your programs and stuff). If it works- great. If it doesn't- nothing lost but the hour or so it takes to upgrade.
Wrong. Silly me- my cordless, optical, USB mouse does not work when upgrading WinXP. I don't know if it was me or what, but I'm so totally paranoid about losing everything that I didn't dare do anything with my computer until I had some sort of techno geek around to fix my mistakes. This happened at oh, 930am this morning. My husband was at work. My father was at work. There were no other techno geeks around. So- I waited. I cleaned a bit, played with my boys a bit, and basically sat there and fumed- How could THIS happen to me? I'm going to lose everything! Programs- no big deal. The layouts that I haven't backed up because I don't have enough of them to fill a CD- BIG DEAL. My fonts? HUGE DEAL. The photos? REALLY HUGE DEAL. Oh- and the thought of an ENTIRE DAY without my computer? TERRIFYING. That's where the whole addict thing comes in. Although it would have been rather comical to see me drifting towards my computer, sitting down in front of it, only to realize that it still wasn't working.
Tomorrow- I will be backing everything up. Partly because I need to reformat, and also partly because I decided that I'm not going to screw with stuff like this anymore.
Back to today: the day got better. I got caught up on my DVR. I got some cleaning done. I got a package from Memory Maker's for the layout that I had published. Oooo- paper supplies! Travel themed paper supplies! Vintage labels! Cardstock stickers! Epoxy stickers! Self adhesive metal! Neat! And, of course, I got an idea.
I'm going to make an album. Not just a typical (for me) album, but one made entirely of paper. I'm thinking something along the lines of Oh Baby The Places You'll Go, something for the boys. This is really cool paper- unfortunately, I doubt that I'll be traveling places any time soon. Ya know, the whole 'money' thing. This is the type of stuff that I just have to do something with, ya know?
Oh, and not to toot my own horn here or anything, but you can find my layout, Spirit of Chicago, on page 84 of Memory Maker's Travel Issue. Because they didn't use my supply list (grrr), I used a page kit by Michelle Underwood (found on her Diddly Scraps CD).
5.24.2005
Girly Girl
All About Jasmine
This is my current project: a gift album for my step niece. She'll love it- it's going to be a book all about her. I'm all excited about it- it gives me an excuse to get really girly, because Jasmine is a girly girl. I've completed three layouts for the book so far, and each time I've opened the papers and elements, I've been shouting in my head {PINK!} {PURPLE!} {GIRLY!}. Yeah, I'm weird. I know. The kit that I'm using is Holly McCaig's Good Times kit. It was one of those that is on my 'I want, but I can't buy because it's too girly' list. I could have kissed my sister when she said that she wanted that kit for Jas's book.
I'm kinda shocking myself here with all this girly stuff. I'm so not a girly girl. I love to get dressed up, but make up and nylons and I are like oil and water- we don't mix well. I can't wear nylons more than once- I always seem to get runs in them. Make up, well, we won't go there, ok? I'm happiest in a pair of jeans and a tshirt (or lately, tank top), could care less if there's rips in the jeans (and not those neat, no white strings rips that are really 'frayed edges' stuff either- the real deal, ripped from simple wear type rip). Yep, I'm low maintenance.
But I'm truly happy when I can go all out girly with my scrapbooking. I'm planning on going all out girly with this book- because I can.
5.11.2005
Speak Up!
I've already posted that I enjoy discussion lists. This morning, there was a rather interesting thread on one of my discussion lists regarding freebies and gifts with purchase. The topic isn't really that interesting- just the reactions.
First off- this is nothing new. The person who started the discussion this morning is the same person who started the previous discussion a few weeks ago. I know that we get new members all the time, but that doesn't explain the huge difference in this morning's reaction from the reactions a few weeks ago. A few weeks ago- her thoughts on offering a freebie for posting in galleries was accepted. She was told, by designers and customers alike, that it was a 'good idea'. I only found one dissenting opinion- and it wasn't really that dissenting, just a 'it might turn some away' comment- an acknowledging of potential risk, if you will. This morning, when she posted what she did and how it turned out and asked for opinions, she was met with more negative responses along the 'You shouldn't do that, it's not a good idea, people don't like to have to jump through hoops' line. I don't understand why this stuff wasn't posted when she said that she was considering doing it! They might have saved her some trouble- instead, she has to read how it shouldn't have been done in the first place.
Too often, we are afraid of being burnt to a crisp because we don't agree with the majority. This fear of being flamed has affected the effectiveness of discussion lists and messages to a point where people are actually waiting for two or three braver (or naive) souls to post a response before they post their response. We shouldn't have to worry about being flamed for our (non-offensive) opinions. We should be able to disagree with each other and not feel that we are flaming or being flamed. On some lists and message boards, nothing is lost with this fear- those are the 'fun' lists and message boards. On a true discussion list, where the point is to learn from each other, this fear can be detrimental to the purpose- it can make the group useless. If I ask for opinions- I want honest answers.
The internet has created a level of anonymity that many people enjoy- while opening us up to not only new ideas, but hurtful comments. We don't like to think that not everyone lives inside our little bubbles of experience. When someone bursts our bubble, we feel that because of the anonymity that we can 'correct' this person's opinion. Yet, when someone does this to us, we are being 'flamed' and are even more offended. So- we stop posting our opinions, in fear that someone's bubble will burst and we'll be roasted, toasted, and burnt to a crisp.
First off- this is nothing new. The person who started the discussion this morning is the same person who started the previous discussion a few weeks ago. I know that we get new members all the time, but that doesn't explain the huge difference in this morning's reaction from the reactions a few weeks ago. A few weeks ago- her thoughts on offering a freebie for posting in galleries was accepted. She was told, by designers and customers alike, that it was a 'good idea'. I only found one dissenting opinion- and it wasn't really that dissenting, just a 'it might turn some away' comment- an acknowledging of potential risk, if you will. This morning, when she posted what she did and how it turned out and asked for opinions, she was met with more negative responses along the 'You shouldn't do that, it's not a good idea, people don't like to have to jump through hoops' line. I don't understand why this stuff wasn't posted when she said that she was considering doing it! They might have saved her some trouble- instead, she has to read how it shouldn't have been done in the first place.
Too often, we are afraid of being burnt to a crisp because we don't agree with the majority. This fear of being flamed has affected the effectiveness of discussion lists and messages to a point where people are actually waiting for two or three braver (or naive) souls to post a response before they post their response. We shouldn't have to worry about being flamed for our (non-offensive) opinions. We should be able to disagree with each other and not feel that we are flaming or being flamed. On some lists and message boards, nothing is lost with this fear- those are the 'fun' lists and message boards. On a true discussion list, where the point is to learn from each other, this fear can be detrimental to the purpose- it can make the group useless. If I ask for opinions- I want honest answers.
The internet has created a level of anonymity that many people enjoy- while opening us up to not only new ideas, but hurtful comments. We don't like to think that not everyone lives inside our little bubbles of experience. When someone bursts our bubble, we feel that because of the anonymity that we can 'correct' this person's opinion. Yet, when someone does this to us, we are being 'flamed' and are even more offended. So- we stop posting our opinions, in fear that someone's bubble will burst and we'll be roasted, toasted, and burnt to a crisp.
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