Archive for the ‘Random’ Category
Life with a name that begins with two A’s
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
In elementary school I used to think it was cool to have a name that begins with two A’s. Back then it was more common for a teacher to organize things based on your first name as opposed to your last. That meant that often I was first for a lot of things, games, checking roll, or sometimes we would be asked to get in alphabetical order line to go somewhere.
After grade school those perks wore off, but with the emergence of cell phones an interesting side effect began taking place. I was on the receiving end of everyone’s accidental cell phone calls. Because my name is first in everyone’s phone directory I get called if someone accidentally hits one or two buttons on their phone. It often tends to happen when people are in transition. When I answer the phone I may hear a car door open, footsteps, knock on a door, maybe a little snip of conversation. I will usually, “Hello, Hello!” listen for a minute, and hang up.
At first there was my good friend during college that lived in another city and partied hard! I would get calls from him all the time. I could hear him in the bar screaming and saying ridiculous things. It was kind of funny. I guess you could say that was another type of “drunk dialing.” I eventually had to tell him to change my name to Zaron.
I have been getting a bunch of calls lately. Got one from an old friend who now has two babies, not surprisingly I could hear were babies crying. Got on from my brother who has a baby. Now that I am writing this… I’m thinking the babies probably made those accidental calls.
It’s kind of interesting, it’s like I’m a spy that has secretly placed a bug on someone. I don’t usually listen long, but I will often call them back and say, “did you call me?” It’s a good way to chat with people you have not talked to in a long time.
Tags: accident, call, phone, secret
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Couch Surfing culture
Friday, May 1st, 2009
I decided to try out Couch Surfing during my trip to California. Couch Surfing is a social network used for people to stay with others when they are traveling. I didn’t just want to use it to save money from hotels, but also to meet some locals and possibly do some professional networking if I could surf with some people involved in web/graphic design. (more…)
Tags: california, couch surfing
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Tips for the everyday videographer
Saturday, March 14th, 2009
My friend James is thinking about getting a video camera and was asking me if I thought he should do it. This is a question I’ve been asked a couple times before. I’ve always had a video camera and have logged hundreds of hours shooting and editing. A couple tips came to mind on how your average James could get the best shots and make the most out of his purchase.
Don’t wait for action, make it happen
Real life is not always exciting as you know. Sometimes you have to give things a little shove in order to get good shots. If you have a video camera you now have an ability others don’t, the power to get people to do things they normally wouldn’t. People think they have a chance at stardom(and they do, thanks to YouTube) when they are being recorded. One way to get good footage is simply to ask people unusual questions. For example, is filming grandma kind of like watching grass grow? Ask her to tell you about the first time she had a little too much to drink.
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Tags: editing, tips, video camera, videography, youtube
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