Hype Machine GEEKSOAP Geek Soap

Become one with your favorite music and spread the love with Hype Machine GEEKSOAP geeky soap.

GEEKSOAP is handmade from natural, pure vegetable glycerin and moisturizers, enriched with aloe and vitamin E. Soaps are lightly scented with a clean, invigorating smell and come shrink-wrapped to seal in freshness and allow you to keep the soap on display until you’re ready to use it. GEEKSOAP is vegan friendly!

Size: 5oz bar with dimensions of 3″x2.5″x1.25″

This is just one design of many in my GEEKSOAP line. Check out the Soap category for more. My fun soaps are available for purchase at http://www.geeksoap.net

Please Note: Name trademarks and copyrights are properties of their respective manufacturers and/or designers.These fan inspired versions are NOT to be confused with licensed merchandise. My interpretation of these designs are lovingly created and carved by hand and are not intended to mislead or confuse the customer OR infringe on the manufacturer’s/designer’s name and valuable trademark.

GEEKSOAP is geek soap for the internet. Soap for geeks; just pure geeky soap!

Podcast Haiku

I love this thing.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently acquired my first real MP3 player.  I’ll mostly spare you from the horrid details of my problems with the Zune MP3 player that I purchased first… let’s just say the Microsoft proprietary software you are forced to use to sync your files with the player has a long way to go to reach a level of acceptable user friendliness. I took it back and picked up an 8GB Sony (Walkman) MP3 player; the same brand and type my husband has.  And now, a haiku, to express my love for this new gadget.

Ode to my Sony MP3 Player

Thanks Sony player
Music, podcasts, video
Doesn’t suck like Zune

And now, I want to point out the highlighted word in my haiku that inspired today’s post. Podcasts. This is a fairly new concept for me; digital media in a series, web syndicated.  Like a radio show, but broadcasted online for you to download and put on your MP3 player and listen on the go. And when I started looking around for knitting related podcasts, I was overwhelmed by just how many podcasts there are out there for just about anything and everything you can imagine.  Some series are updated weekly, monthly, and in each little segment or show, there’s obviously a main topic related to the subject of the podcast that gets discussed. I don’t know why it never really occured to me to listen to podcasts before; perhaps it has to do with the fact I’ve never owned a portable media device before. I know that’s not a requirement since you can just listen on the web, but using a portable digital media device is where it’s at. I can take the Cast On podcast (knitting) or Epic Dolls podcast (gaming) with me wherever I go and get updated on new segments in the series just like I do with bloggers out there like the Yarn Harlot or KnitPurlGurl that I follow with Google Reader, for example. KnitPurlGurl has her own mom and fiber podcast, too. I find this whole thing fascinating. And I also feel a little noobish that I’m so late to the game on this.

Check out what I’m listening to and see my subscriptions, add me as a friend, or suggest podcasts you think I’d be interested in over at Podcast.com! I don’t use iTunes, as much as it’s promoted and hyped up, because when I tried to browse podcasts there it wanted me to download and install the iTunes app to use like a “store’ to shop for things instead. I don’t want to add more proprietary software to my computer; that was my main problem with the Microsoft Zune. If I can’t browse and download your selections online (via website, and not an additional required application that connects to a website) to then just drag and drop onto my MP3 player, I’m not interested.  I don’t need another media player on my computer and I don’t have an actual iPod to sync, so it’s all pointless to me. But I digress.

If you have any podcast goodness you think I should be listening to, let me know! :)

In the (Knitting) Zone

Lucas, knitting and music make me whole on the commute

This weekend I got my hands on my very first real MP3 player. We’re talking a decent amount of space, not one you spend $10 on that will hold 30-40 songs and run through a pair of AA batteries 5 minutes after you turn it on; no, I purchased a real 8gb Zune that will allow me to listen to all of my favorite music, podcasts, and even watch videos. (Knitting technique video clips on me wherever I go? Priceless.) While I’m not thrilled that it’s a Microsoft product considering 90% of the computers in the house are currently Linux, (That was an arbitrary percentage to indicate that most computers are Linux, with one or two that can dual boot into either Windows or Linux, OR run a virtual Win box within Linux) it does fit my needs without breaking the bank. Score. (EDIT: Or so I thought. I had some major issues with the Microsoft proprietary software that I was forced to use with this thing, [big surprise! It’s Microsoft; I should’ve known better] and after my 5th day having it, I’d had enough. It shouldn’t have been this fiddly or stressful! I returned the Zune to get the same 8gb Sony Walkman brand my husband uses, with the same features! Hurrah! Unfortunately it’s not pink, but oh well. The brand of 8gb music/video player doesn’t matter to the rest of the post, however, so keep on reading!)

The morning and afternoon commute consists of my husband and I sharing a seat on the Calgary CTrain, aka public transit. We’re on the train for around a half hour each way to get into downtown for work. I always carry some knitting and he usually reads the free morning paper on the way in. I enjoy using public transit; there are lots of interesting people on the train and I don’t have to deal with traffic. Unfortunately, that also means I (along with everyone else) am usually subjected to random idiocy, such as Loud-Talking-People who simply MUST have that private conversation about their recent medical exam or issue with “that horrible girl from accounting” as loudly as possible on their cell phones. They do realize that they are on public transit, right? Their conversations are aired out to the world and most of the time they don’t even realize they are forcing everyone else on the train to listen in on their private lives. It’s annoying. I don’t care that you split your pants at work, nor do I want to hear how you just can’t stand so-n-so or “Like, omg you should’ve heard what she said to me!” drama.  No thanks.

Suddenly with an MP3 player, my issues seem to be solved. I get on the train, snuggle next to Lucas as he reads his paper, and get lost in my knitting zone.  It’s zen: my favorite music is playing — quietly enough to not disturb those around me or kill my ear drum, but also at a level where most everyone else is tuned out — and I knit. And I knit. And before you know it, I hear the signal that I’m a stop or two away from where we get off for work and I put my things away and smile happily; a happy sigh that can only be achieved by pure bliss. Sure I still have to smell some of the other passengers, but not being forced to listen to the ones that talk so loudly about things no one wants to hear while still getting to enjoy hubby and my knitting for a full half hour (twice a day!) is fantastic. I have found my knitting zen.

Now I just gotta be sure to not turn into one of *those* mp3 listeners — it’s been hard to keep myself from breaking into song occasionally (music will do that to you), and I do find myself gently tapping my foot or getting my knitting into the rhythm of whatever song is playing.  As long as I can keep it confined to my hands and my knitting instead of singing aloud, it’ll be all good. Because trust me… no one wants to hear that.