A Little Bummed…
By Charles | June 20, 2009
Even though it’s Father’s Day weekend here in the US I’m a little bummed about missing Podcasters Across Borders 2009. I was fortunate even to attend PAB in 2007 with the family and had a really fun time learning more about podcasting and networking, it was more like a family reunion than a conference.
I’m surprised that that I miss attending it. I’ve been on a podcasting hiatus for a little while trying to figure out how I wanted to be involved with social media but I have found myself today trying to live vicariously through the attendees by following Twitter search streams, live feeds and blogs about the conference. I feel like I’m missing out on something important, at least important to me and the is surprising. It’s surprising because I thought I had lost interest in podcasting, blogging and social media in general. Maybe it’s because I teach about it and so work with it on a daily basis so it started to feel more like a job and less like something fun? Yet I find myself wanting to get involved.
Maybe I will be able to attend PAB 2010 if time, date, and money permit? I think it’s time for me to start podcasting and blogging again. Time to get more involved and maybe to even open up a little bit more. Wordcamp Dallas is next weekend (6/27) and I’ve been thinking about attending maybe I should? I think it will be a good way for me to get involved again in something I have really enjoyed. Are you involved? Maybe it’s time?
Topics: Odds and Ends, PAB, Podcast, social media | 1 Comment »
I voted, did you?
By Charles | November 4, 2008
I was at my neighborhood elementary school serveral times throughout the day today and the longest wait for voting I noticed was this morning at 8:30 am. The wait then was about 10 minutes, not too bad. After having to wait almost an 90 minutes to vote in the primary my wife and I decided to vote early last week, just in case the the wait was going to be long. Forunately for my precinct it hasn’t gotten bad, yet. I wonder what it will be like after work when more people are trying to vote on their way home? I have a feeling the lines will be long.
Topics: Odds and Ends | No Comments »
Five Reasons Why I Enjoy the Start of School
By Charles | October 6, 2008
Ahh, it’s officially Fall, and even though I’m a little late with this I thought it would be fun to post. I love Fall, I have since I was a little kid. When I was younger Fall meant the starting of school and seeing my friends again. It also meant that Halloween was coming up soon, one of my favorite “holidays”, and Christmas was just around the corner.
Now-a-days I still like Fall but for slightly different reasons, here are some of them:
It’s quiet in the house now that school has started, kids are at school. I love my family dearly but with all of us home during the summer months it is sometimes hard to get things done.
Fall means cooler weather and leaves changing. Here in Texas that’s 80 degree weather and one day of fall leaf color. One day the leaves change color the next they have fallen off the trees. lol
It also means Halloween is around the corner and the holiday season is getting closer. I still love Halloween. Now instead of dressing up and collecting candy I enjoy watching my kids choose costumes and dress up. It’s also fun seeing the neighbor children dress up as ghost and goblins too.
Fall also means the return of students and teaching classes on-campus. During the summer I teach online courses so I’m not on campus much, nor do I see the students. When the fall semester starts and I to return to the classroom I get to see the students again and get a chance to interact with them face to face. I actually learn things from my students.
With the ending of summer it means that more episodes of my favorite podcast will be available. Several podcasters I listen to go on hiatus during the summer months. Now they are back podcasting again filling my iPod with their zany goodness.
Well there are just a few reasons I like Fall and the start of school. What do you like about it?
Topics: Odds and Ends | 1 Comment »
Desperate Husbands Episode 20 is Live!
By Charles | September 1, 2008
A new episode of Desperate Husbands is out. For those of you who don’t know DH
is my way to let off some steam and talk about the things that I do in my
relationship with my wife. It’s kind of a “don’t make the mistakes I do”
type of podcast. 
Topics: Podcast | No Comments »
Ping.fm is my Hero!
By Charles | June 18, 2008
I think I have finally found a web tool that will allow me to update all my social media sites at once. It’s called ping.fm. Ping.fm will allow a user to send a message to Twitter, Jaiku, Plurk, FaceBook and a ton of other social media sites. So now instead of flipping through my various accounts updating things I can go to ping.fm and send one message to all my peeps at once.
The only downside is that you can not check messages with ping.fm Now all I need is one site to check all my messages too.
Ping.fm is in public beta so you will need a beta code to create an account. If you need a code please contact me and I’ll send you one.
Topics: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
So Long and Thanks for All the… er, Downloads!
By Charles | April 11, 2008
Today I published the final episode of the Mostly News podcast. I have really enjoyed producing the podcast and Mostly News allowed me to meet people from all across the world. And while it’s been fun I have grown tired of searching for news, recording and editing segments on a weekly or daily basis. I have neglected my other two podcast, Desperate Husbands and the Higher Ed Podcast, for too long.
I am not removing the feed or website in case I find some news in the future worth reporting. I suspect there will be plenty of fodder during the 2008 Presidential Elections to talk about. But for now I need a break and I want to spend more time with my other podcasts and you!
See you on the flip side!
Topics: Podcast, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Mostly News Turns 100
By Charles | March 26, 2008
My originally podcast, Mostly News, will be celebrating it’s 100th episode the week of April 6th. If you would like to participate in the festivities please send me your stuff by April 7th. I will be playing audio comments and reading well wishes on the Friday show.
Topics: Podcast | No Comments »
Voting Woes (and Whines)
By Charles | March 4, 2008
Agghhh! I TRIED to vote in the Texas primary today. I say tried because of the tribulations that ensued. I decided to vote on my way to work. Our usual polling place, a neighbor school, wasn’t far off my route. When I arrived there I was surprised to see that most if not all of the parking places were already taken up by candidates or representatives of candidates. You could tell because they had sign plastered all over the cars and they were standing in front of them. By-the-way, it’s not a very smart idea to stand in the middle of a parking lot when there is a line of cars driving through, just saying. Since there was no parking in the school lot us voters had to park down the street and walk. I didn’t mind the walk, it was a nice day and I could use the exercise but I did feel bad for the older voters forced to walk too.
I was glad to see that the line to vote was short and I felt pretty smug that I had manage to out-smart the crowds by voting early in the day. My smugginess quickly changed to frustration when I was told that my precinct voting place had been moved to another school to accommodate the expected crowds. In 7 years of living in this area I had only voted once in another location. The new place was a school located about 5 miles in the wrong direction so I decided that voting would have to wait.
The wife and I went to the new place after work and we were shocked to see the crowd, the lines were around the building. All four of them. We ended up standing in line for close to 45 minutes as the election officials tried to shove all four lines through one doorway. Did I mention all of us voters had to exit through the same small doorway?
I feel good about completing my civic duty, especially after hearing the early results. It’s still too early to say who will win Texas. I just wish my county’s election officials will learn from this experience in time to correct the problems for the Presidential election in the fall.
Topics: Odds and Ends | No Comments »
DH Valentine’s Day Alert!
By Charles | February 7, 2008
Topics: Odds and Ends | No Comments »
Happy Birthday
By Charles | February 1, 2008
Happy Birthday to me! I’m a year older and I hope wiser. 
Topics: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
