Saturday, March 2, 2013

Graphics Cards, Coursera, St. Patrick's Day, and what nots.

So... hey there.

Had meant to write this Thursday, but alas, I was having a lot of difficulty editing my February Favorites video. That was a main reason why I was hesitant to start making videos again - I knew I wouldn't be working with any great software. Right now I use Windows Movie Maker - which is what I used before when I was doing BenPals vids - so I know how frustrating that program can be for editing the way I want to. But the worst part is that WMM doesn't recognize .mp4, which is what my camera and my phone records videos as. There's no changing that. So I have to use a conversion program. When I did BenPals, I converted to .avi, then opened it up on WMM and saved it as a .wmv before I even edited, so it would edit smoother. Now I use a program that converts to .wmv, which is supposed to eliminate a step, but it sometimes flakes out and doesn't convert the videos, which means I have to convert them again and wait even longer to start editing. Converting an 8 minute video takes about two and a half hours, so it's frustrating when it doesn't work. But it's a free program, so I have to work with what I can get.

That being said... I might be putting a pause on videos. Sucks, because I was enjoying making videos again.

What's happened is, my guy is building a new computer. He's got a lot of things for it, but what he didn't get, is a new video graphics card. So he took the one out of this one. Mind you, he bought the one that was in this one - so it makes sense for him to move it. But he replaced it with a crappier one, and as a result, the Youtubes I love watching so much just don't work that great. I have to watch it at 360p quality, because I just can't do 280p - the quality is so bad - and even at 360p, it sucks.  And I film in HD. I don't want to film in regular, because I hate the bars that show up on the side of the video when it's in "fullscreen".  So essentially, I don't know how this graphics card is going to handle editing my videos.  I have one video filmed but not edited, (it's just a random haul video) so tonight when I go to sleep, I'll convert the video and in the morning, I'll try editing it. If it's a no go, I'll have to decide what to do. Sigh. Ah well.

I still have like, three reviews I want to write here, (two lip product and one nail) and there's one more Flower beauty review I want to film.  All on my to-do list. I'm enjoying writing reviews.


Next up, St. Patrick's Day. I most definitely intend to go to Chicago the day before. To possibly see the St. Patrick's Day parade, and to see the river dyed green. Last year we went to my guy's cousin's apartment, and she had a stellar view of the river getting dyed. Don't know if we'll be doing that again. But whatever I do, it'll be fun. :)

I mention St. Patrick's Day because I wanted to share the website for the river dyeing. Some of you may not know that the Chicago River gets dyed green every year, but there you have it. I checked the site to make certain of the date, and got a kick out of what they've written...

"A modern day miracle occurs each year as part of the St. Patricks Day Parade celebration when the Chicago River turns an incredible shade of Irish green. This spectacular transformation ranks right up there with the parting of the sea by Moses and the Pyramids of Egypt."
You can read the rest here if you're interested. lol. :)


On to Coursera. Have you heard of it?

"Take the World's Best Courses, Online, For Free."

My friend Ruth posted on FB that she signed up for an art class there, and I went to investigate. I decided to sign up for a few things. Who knows if I'll stay signed up for everything, but hey, I figured I'd give it a try, right? My courses are:



Yep... and why yes, Songwriting did start on the 1st. I just haven't gone to look yet. I plan to tomorrow though. I'm actually not even sure I want to take the songwriting class, but I was sitting there trying to decide when I realized I can always just drop the class - it's not like I'm paying for it. It's free. So eh. We'll see if I end up keeping up with all these classes. It'll give me something to do anyhow. The classes I'm most looking forward to is learning the guitar and the art class. The others just intrigued me for one reason or another. Wish me luck.



Finally... I have it in my head that I really want to make some throw pillow covers. lol. In my head, they're Doctor Who related throw pillows, that feature a design that's still in my head - and based on the design on the back of my phone. I'd theoretically get the fabric through Spoonflower, and then make and sell them on my etsy account... but alas... money is an issue. I don't know if that idea in my will ever become a reality. I had thought of possibly doing some kickstarter or something to help with the funds to make the throw pillow covers. I dunno... guess we'll see on that again.


Alright. Time to go. Ta!

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