jenniferbrola.com

Ok, so the smiley's birthday is tomorrow, but my birthday is today! I've been agonizing for days over my birthday gadget...a 160GB iPod Classic or a 16GB iPod Touch. I love the interface on the Touch, but the screen is getting bad reviews and (for a video player) it has dinky storage and battery capacity. The ability to surf the web via wi-fi is cool, but where could I use it - the only place I have free wireless is at home! And if I was traveling, I'd surely bring my Fujitsu. So, I think I'm going to upgrade my Nano to the Classic...it could hold ALL of my videos (music, movie, tv), music, audiobooks, podcasts, games, etc., with a long-lasting battery (40hrs/audio), better audio rendition, disc storage capability, and money leftover for a nice case or something. It was a hard decision, as fluffy decisions go. I hope I don't talk myself out of it before I visit the store!

New York also sent me two birthday presents - free online access to the New York Times and my very own New York Public Library Card! I didn't know you could apply for them online until recently, and it only took them about a week to mail the keychain+wallet card combo.

• New York Public Library - Downloadable Media
• White Plains Public Library - Digital DownLoans
• See also: Internet Archive (Public Domain Goodies)

Honestly, I have no intention of borrowing books down in NYC, but I learned recently that NYPL, and many other libraries, now embrace electronic media (e-books, e-audiobooks, e-video). So I can electronically check stuff out and, since the licenses use expiration dates, never have to worry about returning anything. Double bonus - electronic media is easy to store...no shelf space required! Free newspaper...free movies...free audiobooks...free textbooks...no physical footprint...it's awesome! Now if I could just get back into doing my readings for school I'd be all set. :)

September is synonymous with "crazy busy" this year! On Labor Day (September 4th), we finally managed to make it to the New York Renaissance Faire. We were rained out the previous weekend, and we nearly ended up having to forfeiting our prepaid tickets (the rest of our weekends were already booked). However, the clouds parted on Sunday, and by Monday there just a few puddles and lots of sunshine. We got a little lost on the way, but after a quick stop at the Sterling Forest Visitor's Center, we caught up with the rest of the pack. Predictably (as with all events in New York), the place was bumper-to-bumper outside and shoulder-to-shoulder inside. That's probably why the location was engineered quite differently than the Carolina Renaissance Festival.

In any event, I had an awesome time. We managed to watch Robin Hood's Stand Off (12:30pm), the Sheriff's Chess Match (1:00pm), Jodi Bove's glassblowing demonstration (3:00pm), The Crown Madrigals (4:00pm), and grabbed great seats for the Royal Joust (6:00pm). Unfortunately, the whole place sold out of Turkey Legs, but I got to try Fish 'n Chips at the Peacock Pavilion for a late lunch (good stuff). Between shows and food, the husband tried his hand at archery, and we poked our noses into the various medieval shops. As an early birthday gift, he bought me a chain mail headpiece from the Black Prince Armory. It is beautifully handmade with luminescent drop crystals and finished in white gold - a great "head"-start on an elfin costume for Halloween!

I was back to work the following week for only one day. The rest of the time, I was burning up vacation hours to be at Pace University (twelve hours on Wednesday and nine hours Thursday to Saturday). Most of our class activities were spent on personal introductions and team-building exercises. Since the program's scholars come from geographically and professionally diverse backgrounds, it was an unique opportunity for everyone to come together. Besides introductions, the professors also took the opportunity to provide a tour of the program's online facilities, assign time to process our temporary student identification cards, help finalize any lingering registration paperwork, distribute our first dissertations to critique, and hand out our tote bags of assigned books for the semester:

From twelve hours in the classroom to twelve hours in the car, I was driving down to South Carolina only a few days after getting back to work. The husband and I travelled together, but we split upon arrival to maximize time with our respective families. We reconvened Saturday evening (in cocktail attire) for my "Bearcat Reunion" at the Rock Hill Country Club. Unfortunately. there were a lot of people who did not come - Hilary, Caroline, Candice, Laura, Jennifer, Aaron, Gayle, Shawn, Shannon (and many others). Nevertheless, it was still a great opportunity to meet those who did come and get a sense of their evolution. Then, just as quickly as we arrived in South Carolina, it was time to leave. After twelve more hours of fighting traffic, we pulled into the driveway just minutes away from Monday...and my birthday!