Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO5000 “Chromebook Keyboard Detail” Cedar Park, 2016
I’ve been using my Acer Chromebook 11 for over a month now, and I continue to use it every day… I love it! One of the things that is so great about it is that there is no fan needed to cool down the processor. That means it runs silently, and since no vents are needed for airflow, I don’t have to worry about blocking them like I do with my Windows laptop. That means I can use it while lying down on the carpet, which happens to be my preferred position to write my evening blog posts.
But not having to worry about venting also means I can put it in sleep mode and throw it into my bag immediately. I just close the Chromebook and put it in the bag. With my work Windows laptop, I wait until it fully sleeps and the fan shuts off before I feel comfortable putting it into my bag. (I have a fear of it not going to sleep, then overheating in the bag, and exploding 😮)
The fanless design is one of several nice features that makes the Chromebook a great solution for my needs.
This post has been a long time coming – about a year! I don’t play many video or computer games, but I do have a few that I like to play. Torchlight 2 is my go-to game on the PC. I’ve always liked fantasy-type games, ever since I was in elementary school and played Dungeons & Dragons with my friends. That was such a fun time! I was really into the game, but then when I was in 7th grade or so, I became more interested in girls than games!
But then video games and computers became popular and I played a lot of sword and sorcery-type role-playing games, even official ones using the Dungeons & Dragons name. Torchlight and its sequel, Torchlight 2, are games of this genre, but they are less puzzle-solving and more stat-building. I play on normal or easy mode because I don’t like the stress of my characters dying often. I just like to breeze through the game, exploring new areas, and learning new skills and Torchlight 2 is the perfect game for that. I highly recommend it, especially because it is relatively cheap on Steam. I think I bought it on sale for $10, but it is regularly only $20.
Below is a screenshot of one of the characters I play as. I took this screenshot when she was very low-level so there isn’t any real fancy gear. But I think all the characters looks so cool… the artwork in the game is really vibrant and sometimes funny too! It’s kind of cartoony and doesn’t have any realistic gore, although bashing monsters is a lot of fun. It’s a perfect, low-stress game for pure entertainment. Go play!
Hi, this is the first day of the A-Z Challenge! (It’s my first time doing it, but was nudged along by Jamie Lyn Weigt 😄) So, without further ado…
A is for “Anime”
I often say, “I’m not a huge anime fan…” but when I do watch, I usually enjoy it. Of course it depends on the story. For instance, I don’t like sci-fi/mecha anime too much, but I do like adventure and slice-of-life types of stories.
Just recently I finished a great 13-part anime series titled “The Pilot’s Love Song” which takes place in an alternate reality, but a lot of the tech is similar. For instance, the story revolves around flying, and the planes they use are all prop-type, and they use conventional guns, but there is also some supernatural components as well. And of course, their world is a series of stepped discs, suspended in the air, with floating islands and a rainbow barrier surrounding them all.
I thought the artwork and the air combat was pretty cool. The story is interesting, although predictable, and thankfully the opening theme song (video below) and closing song are good. That’s important because they take up so much of each episode (I don’t skip forward)!
“The Pilot’s Love Song” ended with a bit of a cliffhanger, but I don’t think a second season is in the works. I hope they make one, because it was fun and I need to know how the adventure continues! You can watch the first season at Crunchyroll.
So now I am looking for more anime to watch. If you have any suggestions (especially if they are on Netflix or Crunchyroll) let me know!
I’ve wanted to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty for a long time, ever since seeing the trailer, but it hasn’t been streaming on Netflix and I missed my RedBox window. Well, I was happy to find the DVD at my local library yesterday (the librarian even said it was a great movie) so I borrowed it and watched it immediately. Loved it! It grabbed me from the very start… the cinematography and graphic style are amazing. I thought the opening sequence (before the title of the movie shows) was fantastic… like a Bond movie. Not in the action sense, but in the level of detail and imagination. Very polished.
I love the emphasis on photography… the large LIFE posters, the film archival room, Sean’s Nikon film camera, the graphics from film strips making it into the title sequence… it is so cool. And there are a lot of epic shots of amazing views and locations. I especially like the helicopter shots in the North Atlantic.
The movie makes for a wonderful second-viewing as well because there are many small details that take on a lot of significance which you might miss the first time around. The character Cheryl talks about a mystery’s clues all connecting at the end, and that is how the movie unfolds as well. If you rent the movie, make sure to watch it a second time – you’ll know what I mean when you see it!
The reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were mixed (50% critics, 70% audience) and I read one review that pans the movie… saying something like the movie is a “‘Just do it’ ad for the middle-aged.” I can see the truth in that statement… but really, what’s wrong with that? Is inspiration an awful thing? I was moved by The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, moved even to tears a few times I’ll admit. The reviewers on Amazon seem to love the movie as much as I do… it’s got 4.3 stars!
I guess I really am the target-audience of this movie. Lots of the references are really aimed at my generation… Stretch Armstrong, the cassette tape, Major Tom… speaking of that… BOWIE! The scene where Cheryl sings and Walter decides to run for the helicopter was awesome! Best scene! By the way, the soundtrack is great as well.
This will be in my Blu-ray collection soon, along with my other all-time favorites.
So many quotable lines from the movie, but here’s my favorite:
To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.
My rating: 9/10
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Movie Poster)
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I use a Fujifilm X-series camera for most of the photos on this site and my Instagram. Why not pick one up for yourself?
