Welcome to AvantaLand

Thank you, everyone, for the advice and suggestions on a new camera.

I went to several different stores, including the only local camera store that isn't a chain, and tried out cameras by several manufacturers: Sony, Canon, Kodak. (I wanted to look at this Fuji camera in addition to the others under consideration, but no one in the immediate area sells Fuji, and I did NOT want to drive into Roseville or Sacramento today.) In the end, I went with a Kodak product:


Kodak EasyShare Z1012 IS

It was a little more than I originally intended to spend, but that extra $50 came with some nifty additional features: more options for different light levels, panoramic photo stitching, a deeper zoom.... Plus I like the way it feels better than any of the other cameras I handled.

Give me a few days to figure out all the bells and whistles, and then we'll see what mischief I can make with my new toy.

*rubs hands together with glee*

Since spouse and I bought each other new laptops for Christmas, and now have really nifty and powerful toys to play with, I'm considering adding Photoshop or something similar to my software arsenal. Mainly, I want a program that will allow me to add captions to or word balloons to photos; and then animate them for LJ userpic purposes. (Isn't that pathetic?)

Currently installed photo/graphics programs are: HP PhotoMovieMaker, HP Photosmart Essential, Microsoft Publisher, Windows Movie Maker, and Muvee6, all of which came with the new toy, and none of which seems to do what I want to do (i.e., make animated icons).

This may be due to operator incompetence, of course, and so I present to you, O Great and Powerful LJ Reading Public, my request for assistance: Which program(s) named above will make nifty animated icons and how does it perform such function; or, if none, which software program(s) do you recommend to do such tasks?

Hi folks,

My PC is giving me fits -- it's gotten incredibly slooooww in loading pages and spouse can't figure out why. So I'm stealing a few minutes on his PC to pop in and say howdy.

I finished my Christmas shopping online this morning. Since all the gifts we're giving are being shipped elsewhere, the internet was the only thing that made sense this year.

E-F's nifty little spider arrived last week. I'll post a picture of it as soon as I find an appropriate setting.

I finished knitting spouse's scarf Thursday night, and now have to decide on my next project. Mom is sending me all of Grandma's knitting needles, crochet hooks, and yarn. There may be some pattern books as well. I'm half-inclined to wait until that box arrives before settling on a pattern or project. I also need to learn to knit and purl in the same row. It just doesn't look right on the needle, and right now I have no one to tell me if it's supposed to look like that. Come the new year, I must give serious thought to finding a new stitch-n-bitch group.

Weekend plans include cleaning house and putting up Christmas decorations; we won't be getting our tree until a week from Monday when spouse and I both have the day off from work. We'll drive up to Paradise again to cut a tree at the tree farm. I hope to get Christmas cards addressed and in the mail by Monday, as well.

We finally had rain Thursday and Friday! Very light rain, but steady on Thursday, and gone completely by mid-morning Friday. It looks like another dry winter here in Northern California; normally (can there even be weather that's considered "normal" any more?) the rains start in mid-November, with at least one good solid downpour by this time. I may not get as much use out of my new Wellingtons as I hoped.

I'll skim through my f/list, but probably won't be commenting. I expect spouse to kick me off his PC any minute now....