Now including video!!

You might wonder why I've included a mundane video of my cats. Well, first of all, this video does record the time when, after two years of paralyzing skittishness and staying low to the ground, thereby having quick access to all hidey-spots, Maevie decided to jump up on the bed. And stay there. You can also see, in this video, how much she hates Spencer, and how carefully he walks around so as not to incur her wrath. You can also see how "zaftig" Spencer is. Lumbering fool, we sometimes call him. But really, he's big-boned.

My favorite moment today was when I made a short video of Spencer peeing in his box, and then I e-mailed it to Thanh with the subject heading, "We love you!"

I almost posted it here, but then decided I might be crossing a line.

Anyhow, one of the activities in grad school that I loved the most was our video classes - learning how to shoot and edit using a mini-HD camcorder and AvidExpress Pro. I was in a fairly intense acting program where I "acted" on a daily basis for peers and professors with trained eyes and long story short, it's a little exhausting to be looked at and critiqued day after day (thought don't get me wrong, they were encouraging and supportive). My video classes offered an opportunity to shoot video of something other than me, and to sit in a dark room and satisfy my love for detail by endlessly fretting over merest seconds of footage.

I shot about 3 hours of footage when my family and I went to Vietnam. While I was charging my camcorder tonight, I took a look at some of this footage and it was a real boost of happiness to have evidence of our family and our youth and our adventures. I can't wait to have a Mac so that I can properly edit this footage.

So I would like to start doing short video blogs, shooting anything but me, 30 seconds to a minute max. Unfortunately, my miniDV is great with tape but bad with digital (it captures max 60 seconds of digital at 10 seconds per shot - sooooo 2006!). I decided, after salivating over my brother's latest acquirement, to purchase a flipcam. If you don't know what a flipcam is, it's a basic HD digital video recorder that plugs directly into your ...you know, the slot on the side of your computer...for immediate upload. It shoots up to 2 hours of video! In ten years, I will be looking back at this entry thinking, 2 hours of video? How 2010....

Anyway, I found a great deal for 115 bucks, 85 dollars off the list price on Amazon.com. I struggled over making this purchase, but when I realized that I pay that much for a hair color and cut every six months without batting an eyelash, then maybe I should just relax and buy the damn thing.

Anyway, I'm excited to shoot random moments from my life in Chicago. Just think! You'll be able to see what my apartment looks like! And what happens when one boards the elevated train! What does Tanya do in rehearsal, anyhow? All these questions, and more, will be answered. Oh yes, they will....

Oh and don't panic, the video above was shot on my phone, not the new flipcam. Hence the crappy quality. Flipcam arrives in week!