Lately, I’ve been interested in giving new life to “trash”. I’ve learned how to cut plastic grocery bags to make strips to knit or crochet with, and I’ve read about fusing plastic bags and I’m excited to give it a try. But the amount of information and ideas out there is overwhelming! This is a site I found today…

Craftster Eco-craftalong

I have enough ideas now to last me years…

I’ll get around to writing a review of Scott Sigler’s podcasts eventually, but in the meantime, here’s a link to the promo for his hardcover best seller, “Infected”. It’s a little violent, a little graphic, a lot creepy. Not my normal kind of thing, but I admit to being a Sigler “junkie”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENWUJ7RoJLc

Here is the press release for the video podcast mentioned below.  You won’t see my name anywhere, but I do some consulting work through DCRE Labs and did a lot of the video work on this one.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jacquie Brennan
DBTAC Southwest ADA Center
713.520.0232, jbrennan@bcm.edu

FIRST EVER ASL VIDEO PODCAST LAUNCH from the
DISABILITY LAW LOWDOWN

May 13, 2008 – The first ever video podcast in American Sign Language is being launched today on the Disability Law Lowdown website at ASL.DisabilityLawLowdown.com. The Disability Law Lowdown ASL podcasts will bring a new level of service to the Deaf community by expanding traditional audio-only podcasts to include video that allows subscribers too see native Deaf speakers signing the show’s content.  The podcasts will deliver the latest in disability law information every other week via American Sign Language, captioning, voice-over, and transcripts to maximize accessibility. Free subscriptions to the ASL podcasts are available to have shows automatically delivered to MP3 players. The ASL podcasts are also available on the Disability Law Lowdown website, where transcripts of the shows are simultaneously available. And for the fastest viewing, the ASL podcasts are available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/disabilitylawlowdown.

The hosts for the ASL Disability Law Lowdown are native Deaf signers Danny Warthling and AJ Roupp. They will provide the latest information about disability rights and obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other disability-related topics. Subscription is free and RSS feeds are available to automatically download the shows to video iPods, computers, phones, and other video-capable devices.

Disability Law Lowdown is provided by the Disability Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC), a national network of ten ADA Centers across the country, offering technical assistance and training in the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability-related laws. DCRE Labs developed the Disability Law Lowdown website and brought together several new technologies as part of the Disability Law Lowdown project.

To subscribe, look for the ASL Disability Law Lowdown podcast on iTunes, or visit ASL.DisabilityLawLowdown.com.

Although you won’t see my name on it, I have been working on the new Disability Law Lowdown video podcast, as far as I know, the first podcast in American Sign Language!  It’s written and sponsored by the Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers (DBTACs), but I did the filming, editing, captions, voice over, etc. and I’m very proud of it!  Check it out at http://asl.disabilitylawlowdown.com!

Ok, so I’ve been knitting for a while now, but never could seem to get the hang of crochet.  Everyone says it so easy, it’s so much easier than knitting, but I never could figure out, well, where to stick my hook (though I had a few ideas during my frustration!)  But then I started seeing these adorable little crocheted critters on the web, called amigurumi. And I wanted to make them so badly!  They’re just so… CUTE! 

There’s a group at work that gets together every other week to knit and crochet while we eat lunch. So last Friday, I took some junk yarn and a crochet hook, determined to learn how to crochet.  And in about ten minutes, I had the basics down, and that night, I started my first crochet project.  You guessed it, an amigurumi project — a bear.  I’ll post some pictures later.

So I’ve been kinda floating, all pleased with myself that I learned something new.  You know, I guess you need to take your successes where you can find them!

Examples of amigurumi

I’ve been using Plaxo for a while to keep addresses and emails updated with my professional contacts.  I recently got an email from someone asking to connect to me through Plaxo and I approved it and was sent to the new Plaxo page.  It looks just like Facebook!  No. This is not what I want to use Plaxo for.  I don’t need another social network, I just want to keep contact information current.  Don’t do this, Plaxo.  Don’t. 

One thing I want to do in this blog is to highlight some of my favorite podcasts. I am a podcast junkie, with close to 50 I listen to regularly, one of my own (Disability411 which you can find at http://disability411.jinkle.com) and three that I help edit behind-the-scenes.

The first one I want to highlight is called “Chasing the Bard“, written and narrated by Philippa Ballantine.

This story crosses mythology and history as the Fey cross the veil from their realm into the human world.  The story starts as a special child is born, a child with a touch of the Fey in him, and possessing the gift of the Bard.  His name is William.  The world will come to know him as Shakespeare.

Ok, that’s sounds like I’m writing a promo!  But it’s so easy to fall into a more poetic style of speech after listening to this show for a while! Phillipa (known to friends and fans as “Pip”) has a beautiful, lyrical voice and her soft New Zealand accent is so pleasant to listen to.  Tee Morris, PG Holyfield and Chris Lester (all podcast celebrities in their own right) lend their voices to the production, which is very professional.

I have only listened to about 6 episodes, but I’m already attached to the characters, especially Puck and Sive.  Check it out if you like fantasy, if you like Shakespeare, if you like dressing up and going to Renn Faires. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

This site used to be my attempt at role playing one of my World of Warcraft characters, but I just never could get into the whole RP thing, so it died.  Like a year ago.

Lately, I’ve been wanting a place to write about and be accountable for some projects and goals.  And just a place to write when I have thoughts I can’t get out of my head any other way.  And since I use “Desdemina” as my name in various places around the web, I decided to reclaim this site and make the blog something new.

So stop by and read if you want.  Contribute if you like.  It’s up to you.  I’m not out to become a huge, famous blogger.  Just want a place to write and think.