Friday, October 21, 2011

Friday Things

Thing 1: I am wearing my new riding boots today with skinny jeans, a cream sweater, and a long chunky bronze three-chain necklace. I feel very equestrian (minus, perhaps, the necklace) and am enjoying the fact that, in case of an emergency, I could ride a horse out of the office. Assuming of course that I had access to a horse (and knew how to ride it).

Thing 2: I've enjoyed your comments on the last post. I wrote it in exactly 8 minutes, edited a comma, and pressed publish. Sometimes that's a bad idea, but I'm letting this one stand. Those really are a lot of the thoughts pinging around in my head right now. Obviously some are more important than others, some are more realistic than others, and many of them can't happen at once, but I suppose that's exactly why they're bouncing around instead of lining up like the nicely ordered bullet points I want them to be.

Thing 3: Remember this motion? It won. BIG. On an argument I fought (loudly and repeatedly) to keep in the motion. Vindication, it is so sweet.

Thing 4: JP surprised me with a beautiful white iPhone 4S last Friday. He was supposed to be buying himself an iPhone for his 30th birthday present (he turned 30 on Tuesday; I was totally excited it, he was rather morose). He's had a tiny, terrible phone he can't operate for over a year so when he got his job I told him he should treat himself to the iPhone of us his dreams, but he decided to wait until the new one came out. Then, he got to the Apple store last week and found out he wasn't eligible for his "new every two" phone for another 10 months and to just buy an iPhone was $650 and he would never spend that much money on himself, so he bought me one instead! Happy Birthday! I had gone without such Apple indulgences because the firm gives me a blackberry for free and I just couldn't justify spending the money on an unnecessary second device, but secretly deep down inside, I lusted. JP knew this, and I have to say, after spending a week with this new electronic love of my life, besides our children and my wedding rings (and wedding watch), it's the best gift he's ever given me. The biggest benefit is probably the camera. I don't always lug my DSLR everywhere and the kids do cute things without warning. My 7th firm issued blackberry broke 48 hours later (perishing in a fit of jealous rage, I think), so I purchased an indestructible Otterbox iPhone case and got the firm to switch my work email to my new love. And then, to be all Gift of the Magi-ish, I sold an old camera body and lens on ebay to force JP to spend the extra money on his own iPhone already because (1) he desperately wants one, and (2) I'm tired of him not answering calls because he can't operate the cheap, half-broken one he currently has.

And now, for the important question- which apps do I need? I have Hipstamatic, Instagram, a Headache diary tracker (awesome), Kindle, Bank of America, Blogger, Pandora, Flashlight, and Angry Birds (though seriously, what was the big deal about that one? I'm just not a computer game person because other than finding the birds adorable for the first 10 seconds, I have no interest in playing). All but two of those were free, which is preferred. Is there anything else awesome (and free?). Which Hipstamatic lenses, film, and flashes do you like? I haven't yet found my preferred combo.

17 comments:

  1. Congrats re motion! Does that mean your trial is over?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sadly no, it was a response to the other side's Motion in Limine to exclude one of our defenses, so the trial continues, we just get to mount our full defense. But I'm actually pretty much off the trial as of two Fridays ago, so my schedule is pretty much back to normal :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Re: iPhone apps, I've been using one called To Do for organization purposes for the last two weeks and I really like it. It was $4-5. It's better than just making lists because it's tied to a calendar so you can change the order of your list and has other features like categorizing work and home, make multiple tasks for a single project, designate priority of the tasks, etc.

    I'm not sure how much you like to track exercise, but I use an app called LiveStrong for tracking calories burned and (when I had more time) calories consumed. It has a very comprehensive database. I think it cost $5. LoseIt was free, but I've read that the database isn't as good. For biking, I use Cyclemeter, which is an extremely comprehensive GPS-based device for tracking location, distance, etc. It has a nice program if you want to compete with other people. They have running and walking versions too.

    Yelp is great for when you visit a new city and want to quickly find a place to eat. I'm a vegetarian so I love finding vegan places in new cities.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My faves are:
    Words with Friends
    Kindle App so you can read on your phone
    Amazon App - although beware b/c it is SO easy to buy things without thinking ...
    Google +
    Facebook

    And if you buckle and get some apps for the kids, I like:
    Color Dots
    Alpha Baby (more for Claire)
    Elmo hearts ABCs

    ReplyDelete
  5. HUGE Congrats on the motion. That is fantastic news. And yay for iPhone! I am looking forward to seeing some on-the-go photos. Your outfit sounds awesome and has sent me off on an internet boot search.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Color Effects - you can edit a pic with that, save, then edit with Instagram. Very cool. Also, P Tracker Lite, which tracks your periods, your cycle length and your projected fertile time. If you're on the pill, probably no need for it, but if not, irbid fabulous. I used to always forget and then kind of guess based on my level of bitchiness. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Don't you just love when you push for a legal argument and argue that its important to voice or include even when others don't seem to get it and you are vindicated? For me that is my favorite part of being a lawyer and one of the few times that I feel like a real one.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes, that's exactly it- feeling like a lawyer. I still have a lot to learn, but it's nice to feel like I've learned something in my 3 years of practice. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Not sure you're in the market for this, but since LoseIt got brought up, I actually think it's great and its database is incredibly comprehensive. So if you decide you want something like that, it's at least worth trying the free app first!

    I love Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything (however, it's not cheap), and the Epicurious app (which is free), for looking up recipes on the fly in the supermarket (you are probably more organized than I am and plan further ahead! but this works for me!). Along those lines, there are good shopping list apps (I have Shopper but I have to confess it's got a bit too complicated for me and I no longer understand it. But I'm sure there are simpler alternatives!).

    WeekCal syncs with Google Calendar and has a better interface (I think) than the default Calendar app (I don't know if it could sync with your work calendar...or if you'd even want it to!). There are tons of neat to-do apps if that's something you're interested in - I like Remember the Milk, but Things is great (again, not cheap), and Lifehacker just gave rave reviews to Wunderlist.

    I think I probably use Facebook the most, for quickly checking in from work! (It's blocked on our state-owned computers.)

    And congrats on the motion - that's EXCELLENT.

    There are some great running programs like Couch25K and Runkeeper... but not sure if you're interested in those either.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The iPhone and the motion are great. But I *really* want to see pictures of the riding boots! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I always suggest Pocket Pond, because the technology is so amazing. And it's fun for the kids. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. PostSecret
    WordFeud
    iWoman (or similar)
    C25K
    Google Plus (even if you don't post on it, the Huddle feature is fantastic. Basically text messaging for free)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Blend Cam! You can superimpose images over one another -- really fun.

    Songify -- lots of fun.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Words with Friends
    SitOrSquat (a bathroom finder... great if you are out with kids and need an emergency visit!)
    Kindle App
    Facebook App
    myAT&T App (helps you track minutes, texts, data)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Shazam is a fun app. Emoji Free lets you insert little images into text messages - not an emoticon, but an image of a monkey or airplane or thumbs up. Alas, no Hook 'em hand sign yet.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Shazam, IMDB (you will be surprised how often you use to figure out where you know "that guy" from), AroundMe, MealBoard (for meal & grocery planning - it's an upfront time investment, but amazing payoff in the long run).

    I also love the Loud Crow interactive books for the kids (Sandra Boynton books)

    ReplyDelete
  17. --redfin for real estate browsing(at least where I'm at)
    --words with friends
    --hbo go (if you have it as part of your cable/dish package, you can watch EVERY SHOW EVER using this app!)
    --white noise (when traveling)
    --bump (great way to easily share photos with JP (you just select the photo and tap your phones - magic!), except icloud may take care of this now)
    --starwalk is SO cool (costs $$, but you can point it anywhere in the sky and it tells you what you're looking at)
    --NPR news

    ReplyDelete