Okay, first of all, let’s get this said and out of the way right off the bat. I’m crazy, OCD to the point of insanity, have project-itus to an unmanageable degree. This is all true. I hear you. I agree.

But hear me out, okay?

A couple of things have converged this week that has caused this latest niggling idea I’ve been having to jump right to the forefront of my mind.

1. Brett asked me when it was we went to see Midsummer Night’s Dream last year and it took me a little bit (not ages, but a bit) to track down the info in my journal. (It was November 20, by the way)

2. I lost a journal. Yes. That’s right, I… *sob* I lost a journal! I have ransacked my room trying to find it to no avail. I’m hoping beyond hope that (for some strange reason) I have left it on my desk at work, because otherwise it is in Melbourne and if that’s the case it’s gone.

3. I learned today that LiveScribe pens have an accompanying piece of software that translates the handwriting into text - which is the only (and I do truly mean ONLY) thing which has stopped me from actually buying one every single time I walk past them (and pick them up, and study them, and sigh forlornly that it doesn’t do quite what I want). Anyways, I have now purchased one and it’s on it’s way.

4. While exploring the pen options (I decided on a 4GB Echo, in case you’re interested) and accessories, I found these…

…Livescribe compatible journals. *swoon* Can you blame the OCD archive-inclined part of my brain for being very excited about this? Confess, you want one too know. I know you do.

ANYWAY! With all these things coming together at the same time I decided to stop thinking about indexing my journals and actually do something about it.

But then I thought, wouldn’t it be great if I could index and search my blog at the same time?

Oooh what about the lists and logs I keep - like books read through the year and so on (shush, we already covered the nerdery), that would be good to include also.

Oh! And photos! AND TUMBLR! OMG! YES! BEST IDEA EVER!

By now I was in full on organising mode. How great would it be to simply search a particular person and have any and all blog posts, journal entries, photos, appointments and so on all collate and be at my finger tips? That would be amazing. Surely someone has considered this wonderful idea and created a program for this. Everyone would want to use it, after all…

Yeah I came up with nothing. There was a brief crazed moment where I considered creating it myself, and selling to geeks and librarians everywhere (with a syncable ipad app, naturally) before I realised that I have zero programming knowledge at all. I was very sad.

So basically it’s just me and my scanner, but I would greatly appreciate some input. I’m thinking PDFs are the best format - with longevity and searchability in mind. Individual files for days could be made, being merged together into one master file at the end of the year.

I scrapped together a (very) rough mock up of what I was considering so I had somewhere to start from and this is what I came up with:

(all comments about my not completing my to-do list, will not be well received. I’m looking at you, Courtney)

But then I thought… this doesn’t really fix the problem, as images aren’t searchable. Okay, mock up #2.

That does fix the problem, but I’m not entirely happy with splitting a spread in half. Suggestions to eliminate this would be appreciated. Perhaps very small text boxes down the bottom as I will be able to read off the scan itself? The same problem will occur with photos, but captioning them should do the trick.

I also threw together a blog post example (ignore the squiggles, I’ve only just realised they were there).

Anyways. That’s it. My crazy new project that I have no plans to start before Christmas but please, throw any ideas, problems, solutions my way. Thanks!

I will confess to feeling a little impressed with myself, sitting here at an airport terminal, writing up a blog post. How fancy am I?

...please let me have my little delusion, don't ruin it.

I actually have quite a fondness for the airport (in my oh-so-vast experience /sarcasm) and do love being here. It's filled with so many types of people which, as I'm sitting here waiting for my plane, I've narrowed down to a short list.

The Businessman: Now before you yell at me, I'm sure there are plenty of businesswomen here to, but they appear to be a little better at hiding their business-person status. They're easily spotted by their suits, sleek carry-on luggage and the way they peel away from each other as they approach their gate with a smooth 'see you next week'.

The Holiday-Goer: This type of traveler comes in two varieties. The first, the outgoing, can be identified by their big grins and lots of leg shown off in denim cut-offs, just waiting for the beach. The second, the incoming, can be picked by their extra bag (or two) of luggage, usually brightly plastered with things like "Live the Life of Byron!'. The exhausted expressions help here also.

The Air-Proffessional: Pilots in their jaunty caps and flight attendants in their neat jackets and brightly colored scarfs striding down the corridors with an air of superiority and secret knowledge. Also, they cut the queues. Mean.

The Traveler: Not to be confused with The Holiday-Goer, The Traveler is a different breed entirely. This person has an air of tiredness that they've come to know and love, and they're probably more than a little grungy. Tall backpacks that have moulded to their back and beanies that cover months of airplane hair is the norm here.

The Mother: Heading in or coming out from a misbegotten family holiday or necessary trip, the mother is usually leading one or more child in varying degrees of crankiness. This type is dangerous and not to be approached unless you are kind enough to help.

The Starbuck Writer Missing Their Cafe: Think about it, you know exactly who I mean, that person sitting at a table with a cup of coffee, and a laptop or two, stopping their typing only to check their iPhone or to shoot off a tweet or something...

...or who knows, maybe they're writing a weird post about the people about them?

Once upon a time*, I bought a pair of shoes. They were not the flashiest of shoes (though they definitely bright), nor the most expensive (if memory serves I paid $7 for them). They were not the most fashionable shoes, and god know they weren’t the most subtle. But they were my shoes and I loved them.

I wore these shoes near every day - at home (“oh Bec, they’re dorky even for you”), and at work (“We’ve got a sub.” “Which one?” “The one with the crazy shoes”). They were my go-to shoes. Need to run to the shops? I got them. Going to Melbourne to meet your favourite actor? I got ‘em!** Need to go to a wedding? I... got em? Yeah I did... Like I said, I wore then nearly every day. Which meant they went on nearly every one of my 365 photo travels. They were even photographed themselves.

They got dampened in innumerable rivers, meandered through orchards, gleefully skipped through the zoo, and jumped the fence to, uh, soon-to-be-demolished houses. They came with me to buy my first DSLR, on my first trip to a skate park, and my first after-hours school function. They carried me through several trips to Sydney, to learn piano, and see Shakespeare in the Park.

I’ll admit, I became complacent in our relationship. As the shoes moulded to my feet, I flagrantly ignored the splitting of their sides. I refused to see the tearing away of their fabrics. I chose to ignore the feel of pebbled sidewalks under my theoretically not bare feet. When puddles emerged I avoided them – not because it was what my mother taught me, but because I knew it would force me to acknowledge the simple truth that my shoes let in more water than a boat made of swiss cheese.

But then it happened.

I made one step too far. One step too heavy on an already unstable surface. It was a choice poorly made, a choose that could not be undone. I stepped... in the mud.

(photo by an unnecessarily cheerful Bethany)

Was this it? Did this mark the end of my shoe’s longevity? Was this to be their unremarkable fate? To die in service of my photographic roving, sure, but to die like this? Immersed in mud and murky water? Surely they could saved?

But, alas, they could not. Despite a methodical rinse in a car park puddle, followed by a frantic exposure to our front yard hose (knowing full well my mother’s keen eyes would not allow them to cross the threshold), the brightness of their canvas could not be restored.

I knew in my heart they were gone. It was a hard weight to carry, but worse yet was the knowledge that they must one day be replaced. A time would have to come when a new pair of shoes would rise to the station of ‘every day shoes’. It would be they that would accompany me on adventures both big and small, mundane and unique, sunny and hopefully not muddy.

Hoping that a hastening in this inevitable day would lessen the pain of my heart, I stalwartly moved forward to collect these new shoes. And it is this new shoes that I give up for offering to you today.

They are not as noble nor as experienced as their predecessor, but they are youthful and enthusiastic. It is my hope that these traits will prevail in the forthcoming days.

RIP Rainbow Shoes.

You will be missed.

*26th September, 2009 if you must know

** Okay, I’m not over this yet, I’ll link to this whenever I can.