April 2011 – Page 3 – Concert Katie

Ricky Martin Musica Almo Sexo Tour Uncasville, CT

Katie April 18, 2011 0 Comments

Last night Ricky Martin brought his Musica Almo Sexo Tour to the Mohegan Sun Arena. Last minute, I decided to go as a gift to myself for getting my Alexa ranking under 1 million.

Tickets said the show was set to start at 7, so I made sure to get in line to be let in at 6pm because Get Glue has a special sticker just for those attending Ricky’s concert and I wanted to make sure I figured out how to get it! I quickly found a banner which had a QR code on it and I was instructed to scan it and check in to get the sticker. I scanned it, but wasn’t awarded a sticker… (I have contacted Get Glue Support to see what is going on!)

Ricky had no opener and didn’t take the stage until closer to 8pm. I am not sure if the set list I got is 100% correct – I found it on a website before I went and checked it now and then and it seemed to be accurate, but I am not totally familiar with all of Ricky’s stuff. (And I don’t speak or understand much spanish)

The stage had 2 cat walks that went up into sections 14 and 26. (Which is probably why there were no last minute tickets in that section – I was in the back in section 22.) The main stage had a big metal tic-tac-toe board set up. The show started with Ricky in the middle spot and then after a song or two he fell from the spot into his dancer’s arms who were waiting for him on the stage.

The show was a lot of fun (though I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who is bothered by strobe lights – the lights were really intense at points) and a great mix of some of Ricky’s more up beat singles and slower songs. I also liked how during 2 of the breaks we got to know a little bit more about one of Ricky’s dancers and musicians.

I had a lot of fun and was wanting to see Ricky since 1999, so I am glad that I finally got the chance. He puts on a great show and so obviously loves what he does – he has a smile on his face nearly the whole show!

Sera Sera / Too Late Now
Dime Que Me Quieres
Its Alright
Que Dia Es Hoy
Vuelve
La Vida Loca
She Bangs
Shake Your Bon Bon
Loaded
Maria
Tu Recuerdo
Frio
I Am
Mas
Lola Lola
La Bomba
Pegate
The Cup of Life

The Best Thing About Me Is You

Technology

WordPress Switch: Speed Bump

Katie April 18, 2011 0 Comments

Today I was prepared to take the plunge and move my blog from blogger to wordpress. I have a new layout, I have several print out of instructions and I was ready to tackle everything. Until I went to install wordpress on my hosting plan and it told me “Invalid Domain” D’oh!I put in a support ticket and my hosts are talking to the administrators there to see what is going on. I am not sure how long it will take for this issue to be resolved, so it looks like I will be sticking around here at blogger for at least a little bit longer! Things may change without warning though now that the process has started so if you see anything strange going on, don’t be alarmed it is just the moving process. 🙂 (P.S The Space Race Kids giveaway end date was chosen with a day of buffer time for when the blog was down during the move. If the move ends up taking more than 1 day, the end date will be modified accordingly)

Concert

DJ Miller at the Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge

Katie April 17, 2011 4 Comments

Friday afternoon up and coming country artist DJ Miller performed at Country 92.5’s Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge. His performance and Stealing Angels were a “2 for 1” trade in on the radio station’s website. At first I wasn’t going to see DJ – but I decided last minute to go anyway and I am glad I did.

There were about a dozen of us there to see him, and the show was set to start at noon. However, one of the station guys came out and told us that DJ had called and was running late, so it would be about 10 more minutes. About 10 minutes later DJ showed up and shortly after that we went into the music lounge.

DJ played 5 songs for us: (and mentioned the names of each one before he sang them which made my life a heck of lot easier when it came to keeping track of a setlist!) Between Sundays, Little Things, Probably Just Me, Whatever It Takes (his single) and Only one makes me lonely. He told us that he is from a small town in Indiana (about 150 people lived there) and he played some gigs in Nashville as well before he was discovered. He is 21 years old (though looks a bit younger than that). He has is working on an album, but does not yet know when it will be out. He is going to be playing for some major labels soon so if one of them signs him (and they’d be silly not to!) then they will release it, if not it will be released on the indie label he is currently on.

After his performance we got in line to get photos with him and then got back in line to go through again to get signed photos. He is adorable and very sweet and I hope that he does well for himself 🙂

Guest Post

College Affordability – Education

Katie April 17, 2011 0 Comments

This post brought to you by Flat World Knowledge. All opinions are 100% mine.

It is no secret that college is expensive. You have your tuition – which is through the roof. On top of that you have lab fees and all sorts of other fees and then of course there are the textbooks! I have had classes which required 4 or more textbooks and in some cases – we never even got around to using them in class! Sure, the bookstore would allow you to “sell back” your books, but for a huge discount compared to what you paid for them – and then they would put them back on the shelf and make money off of them again! (Assuming that the professors did not choose to use the newest edition in the next semester!)
Fortunately, I won a full college tuition scholarship to my #1 choice school when I was a senior in high school. While this saved me a TON of money, I still spent a small fortune on textbooks. As I mentioned above, I had a few classes that required 4+ textbooks. I also had a lot of classes with HUGE textbooks. I think my Physics book cost more than I made in a month at my part time retail job and it may well have weighed more than I did.
I wish that Flat World Knowledge was around when I was in college that my college utilized it. I’d have had a lot of money left each semester to eat something other than easy mac every day! And maybe even some extra money for concert tickets!
With the current economy, having a degree is important in finding a job. But tuition and other fees are on the rise, making it difficult to obtain that degree. Many have opted to go to a community college. Those looking to get into the business of financial planning may also join a financial advisor coaching program. But no matter where you go – textbooks are an integral part to your education.
According to The College Board, in the past year students spent an average of $1,137 on textbooks and supplies.
The Department of Education has found that textbooks costs almost as much as tuition and fees (72%) for those students enrolled in a community college. 42% of college costs goes to textbooks for these students.
Textbooks are rising at 4x the rate of inflation (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
According to Gates Foundation Study, the rise in cost of textbooks is having an impact on students abilities to do their class work. 60% of students who did not end up graduating have stated that the cost of textbooks and other fees aside from tuition played in to why they did not graduate.
Flat World Knowledge iis going above and beyond to try and reduce the cost of textbooks by using an open license in 2 critical ways:
Enabling faculty to change the textbook from a book to a platform
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Since Spring 2009 Flat World Knowledge‘s books have been used by 1600+ professors in 900+ schools. That’s over 115,000 students. Flat World Knowledge has raised 27 million dollars plus over the last 2 years to build a model and help build open content. Several early studies done by colleges who have started using Flat World’s open textbooks have reported significant increases in the course completion rates, 10-15% higher, when open textbooks were used versus traditional text books.
Visit their site and request more info

Giveaway

Space Races Review&Giveaway ends April 30th

Katie April 17, 2011 0 Comments

Better Late Than Never?

Katie April 16, 2011 4 Comments

I actually have 2 stories to share that fall under that title.

1. I have removed Networked Blogs from my posts on Facebook. I don’t know if you have noticed, but in the past few weeks Facebook decided to change things. Basically, any sort of app that posts your twitter feed, blog posts or anything else to your feed that does not require you to actually log in to their site and look around is getting “grouped” Therefore, many posts are being buried in this group and won’t be seen.

As of right now, the only solution is to remove the app from your account and manually post your updates to your feed. This is fine, except that sometimes (ok like 90% of the time) I schedule things and I am not always at the computer to post to my facebook feed. So I am now manually posting all my updates, but they might be on a bit of a delay. However – this will ensure that my “likes” actually see it in their feed. If I don’t do this – well they might never see the posts because it will show up in a “see 500 more posts from NetworkedBlogs” link. It is a couple minutes extra work – but if it will ensure people see things and check out my blog, it is worth it.

This is a real-life capture from my twitter feed. I assume that ToBeThode has the most recent post from NetworkedBlogs (although I am not entirely sure how they choose which post to ‘showcase’) and then I have 326 other updates grouped and hidden from my feed.

Thanks to Simply Stacie and Still Blonde After All These Years for posting about this!

2. You may remember one of my 2010 goals was to work on my 8×8 scrapbook of photos of me w/ celebs. Except that I didn’t touch it all year… Well, over the past couple of days I got out all my alphabet and letter thickers and went through all the photos I had printed and added the names and dates to them. Once I got “caught up” I cross referenced all the pages that I had done with the photos I knew I had with celebs. A handful were missing so I ordered prints from Snapfish (and then I met Stealing Angels and had another photo to add to the book!) and once those arrive everything will be up-to-date. Better late on the goal accomplishment than never… and my next job will be to get all the pages into album(s)! I am trying to figure out which years to include before the album will become too huge. I’ll post photos of some of the pages in the future 🙂

Scrapbook

Tutorial for creating custom Silhouette shapes!

Katie April 16, 2011 6 Comments

I often get asked for my custom Silhouette files or how I make my custom shapes. I decided I would put together a tutorial so that those of you with a Silhouette can make your own custom shapes too! I recently updated my Silhouette software so this is with Silhouette Studio Release 1.5.0 and Inkscape 0.45. (Inkscape can be downloaded at http://inkscape.org/ for free)

Under the cut will be screen caps to go along with most of the instructions. Some steps I wasn’t quick enough to capture and some I was unable to capture because once I hit the Prt Scr button the way I had the screen set up changed! I think it should be enough for you to be able to follow along though 🙂

1. Choose your image. This can be something you scanned in to the computer, something you found on google, etc. For this example I chose the Chicago Cubs logo as it is a fairly straight forward image which I got from a Google Image search.

2. Open Inkscape.

3. Open the image (File > Open) Under Places select where on your computer the image is saved (I tend to work off the desktop) then under Name find the name of the file. Hit the Open button on the bottom right once you’ve selected the image you want to work with.

4. Click on the image (make sure it has arrows and a dotted line around it (not shown in the photo), that’s how you know it has been selected) Go to Path > Trace Bitmap

5. If the image does not show up in the box on the right, click “Update” Depending on the image, I usually toggle through Brightness Cutoff, Edge Detection & Color quantization hitting “update” each time to see which looks best. For the example I went with Brightness Cutoff

6. Hit ok. (The trace bitmap screen might not go away after this, you may have to manually close it by clicking the X) When you are back on the main Inkscape screen, you should see a dark version of the image. I like to select it and move it to the side a bit to make sure I have the right image selected.

7. Save the file. File > Save As. In the “Append filename extension automatically” drop down box, select Desktop Cutting Potter (*.DXF) and hit the Save button. (A python script might pop up. If it does, let it do it’s thing – it shouldn’t take long). Further files you can convert from word 2 pdf and back.

8. Close out of Inkscape. You may get a popup about closing without saving changes. You can hit “close without saving”

9. Open Silhouette Studio. Go to File > Import to My Library. Change the “Files of Type” dropdown to “All Files” or at the very least DXF Files so that you can see the file you just made. Select the file and click ok.

10. If you want to add keywords or a description to you file, you can do it on this screen and then click OK

11. If you are not directly brought to your library, you can go to File > My Library. The file your just imported should be in the “My Own Designs” folder. Double click it to open it in a studio page.

12. Once the design is on the page you can resize it, move it around, un group it, group
it, etc just as you would with any purchased silhouette image! (Sometimes there are extra lines/layers – this design seems to have 3 layers of lines, so you do sometimes have to do some editing and tweaking with the lines once the file has been imported into silhouette)

For the cub logo, I ungrouped the image and took the outer 2 circles on to a separate page so I could cut them out in blue and left the CUBS lettering so I could cut that out in red. Since the TM was so tiny, I opted to remove it entirely rather than attempt to cut it. I also removed the additional layers of lines that were there so that there was only 1 line left for the design.

And a scan of the finished product. (Which will obviously be more centered and straightened out when stuck on a scrapbook page, but my scanner has a tendency of moving things around when I close the lid)

Rock N Roll Fridays

Rock N Roll Fridays – Three Dog Night

Katie April 15, 2011 2 Comments

1. Black and White: “The world is black The world is white

It turns by day and then by night The child is black The child is white

Together they grow to see the light To see the light”

What are your favorite black and white items?
Books

2. Joy To The World: “If I were the King of the world, Tell you what I’d do,

I’d throw away the cars and the bars and the wars

And make sweet love to you”

What would YOU do if you were King of the World?
Abolish curbs. Make railings required for all stairs… and give people more mandatory vacation days from work!

3. Easy To Be Hard: “How can people have no feelings, How can they ignore their friends

Easy to be proud, easy to say no”

Have you ever ignored a friend?
Yes… sometimes I am just not in the mood to deal with anyone.

4. Old Fashioned Love Song: “Just an old-fashioned love song, One I’m sure they wrote for you and me, Just an old-fashioned love song, Comin’ down in 3-part harmony”

What song do you think was written about you?
My mind is completely blank and I can’t think of any song I can even relate to right now! lol

5. Out In The Country: “Before the breathin’ air is gone, Before the sun is just a bright spot in the nighttime, Out where the rivers like to run, I stand alone and take back somethin’ worth rememberin’”

When was the last time you took back something worth rememberin?
I don’t know.

6. Family of Man: “Memories replacing the loves that we’ve lost, Burning our bridges as soon as they’re crossed, Factories built where the rivers ran, And time running out for the family of man”

Since the nuclear plant tragedy in Japan, what alternate power source would you prefer?
Wind? Solar? Water?

7. Shambala: “Everyone is helpful, everyone is kind, On the road to Shambala,

Everyone is lucky, everyone is so kind, On the road to Shambala”

Where have you been where everyone is overly friendly?
The south

8. Eli’s Comin: “Well you better hide your heart, your loving heart

Eli’s a-comin’ and the cards say… a broken heart”

What good advice did you ignore and then later regret?
Nothing that I can think of off hand.

9. One
: “It’s just no good anymore since she went away, Now I spend my time just making rhymes of yesterday”

Can you make up a rhyme?
No. Poetry in school was one of the things I dreaded because anything I wrote came out ridiculous!

10. Never Been To Spain: “Well I never been to heaven, But I been to Oklahoma

Well they tell me I was born there, But I really don’t remember”

What is your earliest memory as a child/baby?
Being in my crib and angry that I was in there. My mom is convinced I made this up… but I can describe the room and everything is accurate so…

11. Mama Told Me Not To Come: “Just open the window brother, and let me catch my breath”

Where was the last really stinky place you were in?
New York City, I guess

12. One Man Band: “Here I am, take my hand, I’m your man, Baby, let me be your one man band”

Do you play an instrument?
No. I tried to play the clarinet in middle school but that didn’t go so well and I haven’t attempted anything else since

13. Liar: “You’ve taken my life, so take my soul, That’s what you said and I believed it all

I want to be with you as long, As you want me to, I won’t move away

Ain’t that what you said?”

When was the last time you were lied to?
I feel like I am lied to a lot, but I might just be paranoid. Years of being bullied have really messed with me so I have major trust issues

Guest Post

NMEDA – National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association

Katie April 15, 2011 0 Comments

This post brought to you by NMEDA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Living with Cerebral Palsy, I know first hand that no two people with a disability are exactly a like and it is important to find the right equipment for you.

NMEDA is a non-profit trade association; they educate consumers on buying products from a NMEDA qualified dealer. NMEDA does not sell anything, they are the only association that promotes safe driving and equipment for disabled people. They are non-profit and their members are required to adhere to the safety standards of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NMEDA dealers (members) are the ones who sell handicapped vans and vehicle modifications for disabled people.

Beware of adapted wheelchair vehicles sold over the Internet or through catalogs. After a personalized “in-person” evaluation, you can be sure you are getting the right driving solution customized to your specific lifestyle and needs. If you need additional training or product refinements, your NMEDA dealer is there to help you.

The Quality Assurance Program (QAP) is the only nationally recognized accreditation program for the Adaptive Mobility Equipment Industry. It is based on the principle that in order to satisfy customers consistently, companies must have a systematic and documented approach to quality.

Go to NMEDA and on the homepage, hit the dealers locator and type in your ZIP code to see if there is a qualified dealer near you. Leave me a comment letting me know where your closest qualified dealer is! My state of Connecticut has 4 locations 45 minutes or less away from where I live!

Charity

Charity Week: Blogs for a Cause

Katie April 15, 2011 0 Comments

From Just bcause, I found out about Blogs for a Cause. I have worked with Nikki, she designed the header for my wordpress blog layout (which you will all hopefully see soon!) Nikki charges $30 for her design with $25 going towards her humanitarian work and $5 going towards her charity of the month. If you would like a “scrapbook” type design, you must also provide the digital scrapbook kit. Kits cost anywhere between $3-$7 depending on which set you choose. Nikki has a list of several websites to choose from as well. (The Charity Week image I made from the scrapbook kit I bought for my header. Who knew I could make something that looked that cool!?)

I emailed Nikki in the afternoon asking about her making me a header and by that evening the work and design was completed! It was great working with Nikki and I would definitely recommend her if you are looking for a layout!