techno resolutions

ok, so i've made the standards new year's resolutions already (losing weight, getting in shape, putting my life together, etc..), but i'm also putting together a few projects that require some
technological expertise, which i am slowly attempting to gain.

first off, is the whole book-writing project... and i've got my laptop, so that's good to go (though the reading list i've been accumulating for research is really rather odd... i'll post a bit of it sometimes), though i've got to do something this week about the problems i'm having with it since my friend placed a drink next to my keyboard when i wasn't looking and helped me figure out how to spill rootbeer across my shiny new high-powered computer.

additionally, i'm attempting to get some more work in video production... also have the software in place for that (sony vegas 6.0 with dvd architect... sweet). in fact, i've already done a project for a friend through work, where i took about 800 some photographs, scanned them (with my a lovely canon mp500 scanner/printer) and made a video collage with music and transitions and such out of them. turned out a bit better than i had expected, especially considering the fact that the entire project had to be churned out in a little under a week, from receiving the photos to having the finished dvd. zoiks.

the other real project that i'm working on is a cd of my poetry. i recently ordered a sony mz-rh10 minidisc recorder. portable, clean sound (from the online reviews i've read) and both line level and mic level inputs. that, combined with the audio-technica electret condenser microphone that i've ordered will make me a mobile recording studio (oh, those and the shure in-ear headphones that i also picked up), and considering i'm planning on using a small catalog of found sounds, should make things move along fairly quickly once i get started.

i've also decided not to put any time frames on these projects, but to just begin with a clearly defined plan on how to get the work done. one thing i've noticed about myself... timelines aren't an impetus for artistic work, but actuallly beginning the work sort of makes it feed upon itself... the actual act of creating and editing is really where the joy in the art lives.