Qmckenna’s Weblog

I know I am supposed to want an iPhone–and truth be told, I do. But I have a contract and it isn’t worth it to me to break it. In addition, there are two ways my Verizon Blackberry Curve kicks the iPhone’s ass–battery life and signal. I had an AT&T phone an age ago–when you thought it was normal to constantly drop calls and that certain parts of the City just didn’t get a cell signal. I’ve almost never lost a call with the Blackberry, and the battery has never run out on me. I don’t try to test how long it will go, but expect it to work until I am ready for personal recharging. I concede that the iPhone has a lot of cool(er) applications. I’m not going to shed any tears because the Blackberry doesn’t have a pull-my-finger application.

After using it for a couple of months I did think of a few applications to add to it:

• Facebook: keep yourself up to date. Free
• Twitter: keep your self updated and be pithy about it. Connect Facebook to Twitter and keep everyone up to date. I got interested in Twitter doing research for SMS text message marketing–really. I still think it is a little wierd to keep people appraised of your daily movements, but I think of it as one way communication–I really don’t care if anyone else reads it. Free
• viigo: provides a bunch of RSS feeds allowing easy access to instant news, weather, traffic etc. It will even collect and send you Craigslist searches if there is something you are on the lookout for. You an customize the feeds and add your own. Free.
• Profiler: I have always had a problem remembering to change my phone profile back to normal after I’ve set it to “quiet”  for a meeting. Profiler allows you to change your phone profile in a number of ways, but I love the ability to let my calendar change my profile. It works with keywords. I connected the keyword “quiet” with the profile of the same name. I set Profiler to change my phones profile to Quiet each time it sees “quiet” in an appointment. When the appointment is over, the phone reverts to normal . $7.95
• PeeKaWho: gives you a little pop-up on screen with some basic information about an incoming mail or text message as it comes in–like Outlook dos on your PC. I think you can also connect phone numbers and photos if you can’t read. I probably wouldn’t have bought it except it was made by the same folks that made my number 1 BB add on. $8.50
• FollowUp!: this is my number 1 BB add on. Here’s the issue: I get a lot of email. Most of it I read and that’s that, but a portion needs to be responded to, requires research or contact with other people–you know; follow up. It’s easy on a PC–a bit more of a chore on a BB. The only native BB strategy is to change those emails back to “unread” and then re-read them at the office where it is easy to respond as required. I wish BB had a follow up option for email. This adds it. It provides a seamlessly integrated menu option called FollowUp! which lets you set  a reminder or a calendar item referencing the original email. Great addition. $3.95
• Crackberry: visit www.crackberry.com for these and other applications–they have some kind of app loader you can download–not sure if you need it.
• MicroSD card. Added a 4 GD card. I put a bunch of music and photos to it before I installed it By the way I found its installation to be counter intuitive. I watched a youtube video about it and probably would have bent the holder if I hadn’t.
• Quality earbuds: I like Shure. The more you spend the better they are. I tried the $500 pair. they were awesome. I am happy with my $100 version.
• iPhone/BB adapter: this gadget lets you use your quality earbuds on calls. It switches between music and phone “instamatically” as the call comes in (pausing the song, by the way).  Something like this: http://shop.crackberry.com/seidio-audio-adaptor-wbuilt-in-mic-and-answer-button/12A45A1557.htm (the one I got has a retracting gizmo as part of it–which I like).

A little time setting it up and my Blackberry now works the way I like it.

From an old email:
September 3, 2007

Lila and I were playing a game in which I was the child and she was the mother. She asked me what I wanted to eat and I said “monkey”. After protesting that monkey is not food and trying to feed me bread that she said “tastes like monkey” she relented and said she would go to the store to get some.

But she advised that I could not eat the brain.

“Why not?”

“Because that’s what makes him think.”

“So what?”

“Because he thinks he’s not going to get eaten.”

This is a note from my Mom about trying to mail her taxes at the last minute in Williamsburg, VA. For those of you who have connections there you’ll recognize the “only in Williamsburg” nature of the note.

Here’s what I was doing last night [April 15th] around midnight…

After 11 p.m. on April 15th, I discovered that the mail person—once again—had refused to recognize the validity of an internet stamp on the request for an extension I had placed in my box early that morning. So I drove to the post office ….

The building was open but unmanned. Seconds after I entered, a man came in, looked around and, as he was asking me why there were no postal employees there to date stamp his return, he turned toward a security camera, held up his envelope and announced that he was placing the return in the slot before midnight on the 15th. He then commented that the country was getting worse every day and launched into a recital of his work day which had been complicated by permit requirements and the failure of the power company to return to the site to reconnect the power when he had finished his project and had just gone into a soliloquy about his past when a woman dashed into the building with a handful of dollar bills and some tax returns. She said she needed to buy some stamped envelopes to mail the returns which she was clutching. When she realized that there was no one there to sell these to her, she dashed to her car to locate an envelope. She returned with two used envelopes, crossed off the addressees, and addressed each to “THEIRS” explaining that it was shorthand for “The IRS.” When she went to buy stamps from the machine, she gasped loudly; the machine takes only debit or credit cards and she had neither. I told her I would use my card and she could reimburse me. She wanted two 41-cent stamps but the machine prints only $1.00 stamps. After some prodding, she put both returns in one envelope and affixed the printed stamp and then focused her concern on how she would be able to get it postmarked to prove that it was mailed before the deadline. Obviously, there was no way that this was going to happen and there was no time left to drive around looking for a manned facility. After I asked her if she thought that the IRS had hired enough people to read all the postmarks on the onslaught of last-minute filings, she smiled and placed her return in the mail slot.

The three of us then laughed and began talking. She had recently married after many years of tumult as a single mom. The man continued with his tale of divorce and child support problems. When the woman left and the man and I were walking to our cars, I filled the silence by asking him what kind of work he does. I learned that he is a carpenter and a general handyman presently working on a house about a block away from mine. Since there always seems to be something that needs repair or maintenance at my house, he gave me his phone number because he does not have business cards. He said I could come to the house where he is working or call him any time. I was then in my car and ready to leave when he said, “There’s one more thing that I think you should know…..sometimes I dress as a woman.”

I doubt there are many of you, but you may be out there–those few who do not understand that tonight we’ve made history–made it, seen it, did it.

As a Southerner it brings tears to my eyes to empathize with so many African-Americans I’ve known who could never have believed that a black man (or woman) could be elected president.  This is a generational change and a millions of new American voters have seen their dreams come true. Their trust and faith in electoral change has been rewarded. Had the feared “boogey men” of voter suppression, Diebold voting machines and backroom shenanigans materialized we could have lost that new generation. We may now have cast a new dynamic for American politics that can sustain us for years to come–I’m not talking about Democratic partisan politics, but about a return to forward thinking, inclusive politics aimed at the future rather than the divisive efforts that have been the real Regan legacy. This is the promise of Bobby Kennedy repealing the detritus of Ronald Regan.

I’m sad about Proposition 8. There’s always more to do.

Who knows why a four year old gets fixated on the things they do. But this week, with Lila, she’s fixed on  death, and it is a little weird. She’s been talking a lot this week about “when we are dead” (meaning mom and dad). It’s not exactly the time I want to think of it, when I’m talking with my little daughter.

Last night, on the way to the circus, pretty much out of the blue, she announced:

“If you die, you know what happens?     You get flowers.”

At least she’s focusing on the more pleasant aspects of our future demise.

Tonight Lila wanted to go out to her favorite restaurant “The Mexican” (Ceila’s). It’s not a great place by any means but it is quick, consistent and the margaritas are good.

Tonight Lila decided to add some spice to the evening by yelling “Taco Bell!” from time to time.

Over the last few election cycles noticed a new trend. People don’t stick bumper stickers on their cars. They tape them to the back window. It’s a sign of limited commitment I suppose. Who wants “W’04″ sticker defacing the car?

Over the last few months I have seen a bunch of Obama bumper stickers–no surprise there–but most have been actually stuck to the car–which is new, or old, depending on your perspective. When I was a kid we always had a history of campaign stickers on the car. We were proud of the losers we had supported over the years. We thought they were the right person and not just for the moment.

Oh, and bad news for McCain. In about 200 miles of driving over the last couple of days, I’ve only seen two McCain stickers. Both taped to the window.

Tonight on the way to ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, on my favorite SF street (6th) we saw the following:
Near the corner of 6th and Market–a black transvestite in white mini skirt, with knee high black boots and glistening shaved head meanders across the street. She stops near the curb and examines something in the gutter. She picks it up, a spray can, and looks at it. Gives it a shake and sprays her legs and skirt. The light turned green before we could make out what it was, but it must have been good. In the gutter, on 6th Street.

By the way, the play was very cool. Especially enjoyed the screamer cellist and the set was very cool. The show altogether was very good, as you would expect.

There are 14 varieties of beef jerky at my local 7-Eleven.

One question: why?

Meth lady left or fell on the floor. Can’t tell.
Studio lady  announced that she is selling candy and soda “for the
dancer’s energy” (explains a lot) for $1.
Perhaps the blond lady is playing Inga Braun in a musical exercise video.
The one boy in the show is Studio lady’s son.
The spin kicked happened again on the second run through. Consistency.
The older kids are pretty good.
There’s another guy here but he can’t possibly be straight.