Blog of Josh Hall

Here’s a first time truth story for you.  when i was 13 or 14, i was big into BMG music service.  I would sign up at my dad’s house, refer "Jay Hall" at my mom’s address, and I’d get 5 free CDs on top of the introductory offer.  I think it worked out to 12 CDs for $45.  That’s great.  Anyway, one day I got a trial offer flyer in the mail for Playboy magazine.  It had my BMG music info on it for my mom’s house.  You had to be 18 or older to sign up for the service, so I guess they’re just allowed to send you stuff like that.  I took it in to show my friends at school how cool I was.  Dallas and Travis and everyone were trying to convince me to fill it out and send it back in.  I wouldn’t do it.  Then Dallas said he would do it, so he took it from me, but I didn’t think he had the guts to do it.  We were at that age where we just taunted eachother to do bad things.  Dallas actually did it though.  If I remember correctly, Travis had a car at that time and he drove Dallas home from school that day and they dropped it off then.

Few weeks go by I guess, my dad and I are out running errands and he says we need to stop at my mom’s for something.  I actually don’t remember how it all unfolded, but it just so happened that Dallas and Travis and I were planning on going to a concert, X-fest a week or two later.  My punishment was that I would have to leave the concert early.  Total weak sauce.  I missed Green Day, and them lighting their drums on fire, the bassist from Jimmies Chicken Shack running on stage naked during someone’s set, and another band or two I think.  I also just missed out on the bonding time with Travis and Dallas.  I didn’t even do anything…but sometimes, it’s the lack of action that we end up paying for.

Something is off in the world these days.  Stereo-types are being altered.  I’m going to ask you to define the profile or person that first comes to mind when I say the word…GRAFFITI.   Young, black, male, doesn’t care about himself or others.  Somewhat accurate right?  and if I do the same for Knitting…grandma.  Kind of a clash there, right?  Well, there’s sort of a movement going on.  There’s a lot of knitting graffiti going on in the country, and even here in Pittsburgh.  Call it urban knitting, call it a sign of the economic hardship where people can’t afford a can of spray paint so they buy some yarn.  Whatever it is, I think I like it.

Major urban knitting pictures

CMU Artist weaves yarn in Oakland fence.

So I activated a feature of the blog for smart phone browsing.  It’s an extremely limited version of the site that only has the last 10 or so posts, but it’s only text based so you can read it on mobile devices easily.  I’ll probably create a nifty URL like http://joshuadhall.com/mobile or /iphone in a few minutes to point to it, but you can access it from the ‘mobile browsing’ listing in the menu.

another addition along those same lines is an icon for the iphone.  if you add the link to your home on your iphone, you’ll get a nice icon.  The screen shot is below.

So I’m playing with my new iphone, and I’m fascinated by all the possibilities.  I’ll be sure to tell you about productivity enhancers later.  For now, I want to share a little app I found called Fstream (direct link to app store download page here).  There are other music apps that cost money to use, like simplify media and tuner internet radio too, but I was looking for a free solution, and this is it.  That’s the perfect solution i was looking for.  Thanks Fstream!

Weren’t you able to buy stamps at ATMs before?  I can’t remember the last time I saw this.  I’m all for making the MAC machine a more convenient stop, like having the choice to get a stick or a pack of gum for an additional charge. 

I’ve always complained about how I’m not made for this world and how they stop making things that I really appreciate like the certs mints, ice cream, etc.  Last week I went shopping for a wallet because my current one is falling apart.  My wallet is just about perfect, and I would say that here are the things that make it great:

1. bifold
2. a bill compartment divider (I like to have $20 and $10s on one side and $5 and $1s on the other)
3. Driver’s license is clearly visible upon opening
4. picture holder can be removed/discarded
5. over all efficient use of space resulting in a thin wallet

This is what I have now.  Something that already exists.  You’d think I’d be able to find something at least equal, right?  Wrong.  I spent a good hour total looking at wallets and couldn’t find one that I liked.  I even bought one, returned it, and bought another.  Anyone who knows me knows that I believe returning items to be a cardinal sin in consumerism.  I ended up settling for one that has an additional flap for the drivers license, which takes up more space, but can still operate as a bifold.  Just because I feel like mentioning it, I used to have a wallet that had a little tab that you could feed a key into and flipping it out exposed the teeth so you could use it.  I LOVE that.  I love functionality.  Makes my wallet like a swiss army knife.

ANYWAY, the real bit of sunshine was when I was at Walmart, looking at batteries for Kallie’s remote car unlocker thing-a-ma-bob.  We’re in the watch section, and I just happen to glance over at a watch that meets my first few criterion on watches:

1. Rectangular face
2. No gold
3. Classy and Artsy design
4. digital display as well
5. date, with days and months
6. back lighting button

The watch I have now, and have had for about 5 years now does not have a digital display, back lighting, or months/days.  I searched high and low for a watch that met my standards, but found none, yet here one is for $18 at Walmart.  It’s a little large, and I’ll need to get the band adjusted before I can wear it, but we might have a winner here.  That makes me happy.