Drew

Oh hey

Oh hey.  So we finally moved.  New blog address is drew.smcbloggers.com.  you can find all the new bloggers @ ww.smcblogs.com

A new year

I'm very excited, and a bit stressed because there is a lot happening right now on campus and specifically in the Office of Admission.

We've got our first Saint Michael's College Bloggers meeting coming up.  At the end of the semester, I had about 9 or 10 students who were interested in doing it.  I'm up to 12 now.  Might be 13 or 14.  I'm not sure how we'll handle all that, but if one of our students is excited to spread the word and share their experiences, I'm not going to turn them down. 

One idea of mine is to have Saint Michael's Bloggers take on different media.  I've already had someone express interest in doing a photo blog.  I love www.boston.com/bigpicture.  If we could do something like that, I'd be pumped.  I also think it would be great to have students doing videos on YouTube.  It's much more time consuming than blogging, but it's really cool if you can pul it off.

This year is going to be very much a let's see what we can do year.  How many toys can we implement and it will be a very fluid year.  If stuff isn't working, we'll drop it right off. 

So I was walking to my car today after work (and I had plenty of time to think durring that walk now that school is in session and the employee parking lot fills quickly).  Anwyay, I waas thinking about all this stuff ad my blogging and I can't help but wonder if it isn't time for me to step aside and let another staff member blog.  I've certainly enjoyed it, and writing for me is an important exercise, but I am afraid that I'll get a bit stale here and keep writing about the same topics. 

I think I'll throw it out there to the group and see what they think.  I thin the chances are good I'll be coming to you on this same Bat-channel at this same Bat-time.

Peace,
Drew

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Now playing: Foghat - Slow Ride (Single Version)
via FoxyTunes   

Move In Day

Poor, poor neglected blog....

Yes readers, I've been neglecting you.  Many apologies for that.

Today was move in day at Saint Michael's.  One of my favorite days of the year.  This is when all of those students you met last September as seniors (sometimes as juniors or even sophomores) in high school show up on campus with carloads of clothes, dorm furniture and other tons of other stuff.  Some parents get teary-eyed, some are beaming with pride, and I'm sure that many are wishing they were the ones about to embark on the four best years of their lives.

For me, as an alum of Saint Michael's (2001), it also brings back many a memory.  I'll never forget pulling up to the traffic light on Route 15 and being mortified as my mother honked and waved at strange people wearing smelly, sweat laden t-shirts,  blowing whistles and holding up signs that read "Welcome Home", "You Brought Too Much Stuff", and "Thanks for the $$$$$$".

As soon as we pulled into the Ryan Hall parking lot we were swarmed by those same strange people in those sweaty shirts. They grabbed all of my stuff and only asked, "What room?"  Freshmen, savor this.  It is the only time that you will have your stuff unpacked for you.

Yes there are many fond memories from those first two days on Saint Michael's campus.  One of the first people I met on campus is still one of my best friends and I still keep in touch with many of those that I met during orientation week.  There will be friendships forged in these next weeks (and next four years) that will last a lifetime. 

It's Move in Day that reminds me of how special this place is.  And how lucky I am to be working here.

I posted some photos onto the Flickr account.  Check 'em out.   There are also photos from the previous two Move in Days.   Enjoy.

Best,
Drew

Burlington

I found myself in Burlington today and it was such a beautiful day that I decided to take some video.   Here's a clip:

Blackberry Addiction

I took a class last week, Medic Criticism, for my Masters in Education.  We had to do a video project and post it on YouTube.

My group was made up of me and Angie and Allison from our Alumni Office.  Allison often wears the mascot costume for that office so we decided to borrow Mike the Knight for a little bit:

Where did that come from?

So I just bought an iPod Shuffle. Well, my wife bought it for the charger that came with it as she seems to have misplaced hers. The charger by itself costs $30. A brand new Shuffle costs less than $50. (You're shocked by this I'm sure) My old iPod died a while back so she just went ahead and bought a whole new one and now we're sharing chargers and have two Shuffles.

Anyway, I'm getting of track. I'm sitting here at our dining room table, reading for class and listening to this neat little gadget. I've been here for an hour or so and at least three times I've said to myself, "Where did that come from?"

Is this a sign that I have too much music?

Is my taste in music really this bad?

That's what fun about these little shuffles, and completely annoying at the same time. If you allow it to add music randomly, you'll never know what is coming next. Of course, if you in the mood for that one particular song, good luck finding.

Now playing, some song by Weezer off of some album.

Transcodeit

Transcodeit.  It's supposed to be the new hottness.  So far I'm unimpressed.  It supposed to allow you to upload video and directly dump it to your blog.  No luck so far.  You just get the circle of bars and the transferring data status.  Perhaps it takes a while to upload.  I'll post this here and see if it works.

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Now playing: NPR - NPR: 06-18-2008 Technology
via FoxyTunes    

Web 2.0

I'm looking to switch blog services this year. I think Typepad is way to rigid and not nearly Web 2.0 enough. Wordpress seems to be a popular one, but I just like Google's products better. Although I know it isn't as hot, I like Picasa better the Flickr and I'm liking Blogger better than Wordpress. Google's stuff just seems to be more intuitive and easy to use. Plus, you can customize it more. I like that I can throw a Facebook badge up there on Blogger and a Picasa (Flickr too actually) sideshow right in you blog page. It's also easy to use the Foxy Tunes thing.

It's just not what everyone else is using (well the really good ones that is).  I think I'll put Carrie on this.  Let's see what she likes...

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Now playing: Kenny Chesney - When the Sun Goes Down
via FoxyTunes   

Return of the Mascot

Our boss was in the hospital last week having hip replacement surgery.  We thought it would be funny if the Purple Knight delivered a gift basket that we put together for him.

When the word "mascot" comes up in the admission office, I'm using the first to be volunteered to wear the costume.  I actually have a lot of fun wearing that thing - despite how much it smells and how hot it is. 

After delivering the basket, we thought it would be fun to visit some of the kids in the oncology ward as well.  I put this little video of the day together.  I was definitely having too much fun.

Out the way they came in

Tulips and Clock
Originally uploaded by Millie VT

Campus in May is absolutely gorgeous. I had to get out of the office and walk around the other day. I took some pictures of campus. It was the last day of finals and the quad was once again full of cars, just like it was nine months ago. This time however, the UHauls and cars were being stuffed with the collections of dorm room furnishings and memorabilia collected through during the first year away at college.