Velanche's Canvas

This blog entry is like most of my personal blog entries, however few I do have in the public; it comes from a bit of inspiration.

This is a love story, but not the kind that you'd expect. Nevertheless, it is a love story.

On January 16th, it will be my 48th birthday, though I feel much younger than that. I have what many would say to be an optimistic view on life, believing that I've yet to experience the best years of my life. There's more living, more growing, more experiences and opportunities that lie ahead.

Tonight, after finishing a section of an online video course on music production, I was about to get ready to turn in for the evening, having to put things away, wash my dishes, turn on the portable heater to warm up my bedroom, and so on. At the same time, I started listening to an audiobook I've downloaded about an hour earlier. It was one of the books in the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series entitled "True Love: 101 Fun & Heartwarming Stories About Finding and Enjoying Your Mate." I was looking for something to inspire, more like rekindle, the romantic side of me; it's an area of my life that I haven't given enough focus on in recent years, with a few exceptions. 

I've never been in a long-term relationship. I was in a brief one last year, but that wasn't meant to be. It's not impossible, but there were issues outside of what we had that kept things from moving forward. I will just leave it at that, except to say that it was through no fault of our own.

You would have thought that at this point in my life, that I would have at least dated many women, or would have been in at least one long-term relationship. I haven't, and I felt like an anomaly for a very long time. I was very shy since my adolescent years, and I've taken chances that turned out awkward enough that I've erected a pretty thick wall around me. I became too good at enforcing those walls, for I'm sure that there's been missed opportunities in my life of being with attractive women, some of them even gave me clues that, in hindsight, I was too clueless to pick up. 

 

Over the years, I've read "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" and other so-called "self-help" relationship books, I read articles on dating and relationships with what seems to be every viewpoint imaginable, and I even placed ads on Craig's List, Match.com, and other dating sites. I've  dated a few women by chance, as well, but things still didn't come together.

I've ultimately learned that yes, I do know more about what qualities I'd like in a woman than I may have acknowledged. I also realized that, in my mind, I have set high standards for me, at what first appeared to have been my detriment. In talking with others, I was told that I might have to find a woman to settle down with and lower my standards. This advice increased with every passing year, especially during the last decade.

When I was younger, I had a hard time wondering why people who were supposedly in love argue with one another, to the point of using harsh profanity with each other. I have vowed from a young age that I would never treat a woman the way some couples treat each other, at least in that way. Also, I've known people who have been married for many years, but I tell that love was long gone. 

I've had my own ideas, clearly, about romance and love, and how it should be. I wanted to be with someone not only beautiful and attractive, but also bright, warm and compassionate, funny, thoughtful, engaging, independent, and very comfortable with herself. One thing I've learned is that in order to attract that sort of woman, I, too, had to exhibit those qualities. It took me a long time to grasp this, and took even longer to quit beating myself up about it. I've gone through personal challenges in my life that I won't spare you with here, except to say that one of the beliefs that stayed with me for many years was that if I couldn't achieve the quality of life that I wanted, then what right did I had to ask for the sort of quality women I wanted to be with in my dating and romantic world? 

It was just a few years ago that I've learned that it's okay, and it's expected, for me to take action to improve the quality of my life. What I was missing, though, was that I had to give greater respect to me. I needed to respect myself enough that I could laugh and be kinder to my inner soul. This sort of thinking took quite a bit of time to ingrain, but over time I've done so, and it's still a continuous process. Believe me, I've learned a great deal once I've gotten over that major hurdle.

The other lesson I've learned is for the need to not settle. Once I start to lower my standards, that way of thinking can affect everything in my life to the point that the quality, or the potential quality of, my life is diminished. Who's to say that just because I haven't found what I'm looking for, that I have to halt manifestation of such desires? One thing I've learned to do is to find and do more things for me, which takes a great deal of pressure off of my perceived "need" to be in a relationship. Does this mean that I don't' want to be in a relationship? Absolutely not! It just means that in doing the things in life that gives me joy and pleasure, they will give me the improved quality of life that I'm striving for, and in doing so I learn, I grow, and new opportunities develop. From there, who knows what will happen? I'm sure to network with people over time who share my interests, which could opens me to surprise.

Who knows whether or not I'll find dates, or even my life partner, during an activity that we like. I told a dear friend of mine a couple of nights ago about the possibility of looking to date again this year; she's convinced that there's going to be one woman that will knock me up side my head enough, that I will know that she's the one. All I know that I have to be open, be ready, and be me.

In the end, I'm writing this to let everyone know that, no matter how young or old you are, that if you believe that the pieces of life will fall into place for you, and if you believe that there are special people in the world, for whom one of them may be your life partner, who will be with you so that both experiences will be magnified, then the rewards can be profound. Just hang in there, because you have really nothing to lose and so much to gain.

Loving who  you are….can be the best love of all.

I promise you that when that day happens to me, everyone will know.

And with that, Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.

 

 

Last Saturday night, I was at a bar/venue called The Z Club here in San Luis Obispo, on a night where I would have otherwise been at home. Just a few hours' earlier, while at my favorite espresso cafe, Black Horse, I received a Facebook message from a DJ friend who wanted to know if I would be there that night. I wasn't planning on it. As I read the message further, he was willing to pay me for taking the time to take photos of him for future literature and material to go with his growing DJ career. It would be my first paid gig, so I was happy to oblige. 

I arrived there a few hours later, having been in a bit of a rush. It turned out that the night there was still young, so I made time to take out my camera, set my other gear aside, and take some test photos. In between meeting friends and checking the photos, I've taken lots of them. My thought was that this was going to be a great session, as it looked as if I would find some gems among all the pics I was taking.

Then, about a half-hour before the event was over, just after taking a photo of the DJ's lovely girlfriend, my right eye, the only eye I can see out of, was bothering me. I don't remember the details, as everything occurred quickly. I do remember that the hard contact lens in that eye popped out and that, as I was reaching out my hand in an attempt to catch it, it bounced off my palm. All I could do was stand there on the front, left side of the dancefloor, hoping that no one would dance in the vicinity of where I was. I got on my knees, felt the floor around me with my bare hands, and hoped that the lens could be found. Eventually, the DJ's girlfriend came, as did another dancer, then one of the bar employees (with a flashlight); alas, none of us were able to find it.

So there I was in the same spot for about 30 minutes, feeling helpless and discouraged that I'm suddenly blind. To be more precise, my vision dropped to nearsightedness and astigmatism combined into one. I was trying to act cool by checking out the pics I've taken on my camera, which I was able to see via the back panel when viewing up close.

I told the DJ my tale of woe. Not long after, he took me home. I was willing to walk home, because at that stage I thought I needed some alone time to lick my wounds over the loss and helplessness that I was feeling. But he and his lady was insistent that I not attempt the 30-minute walk home at 2am; at that point, I wasn't going to disagree.

For three days, this helplessness and loneliness continued. I'm a very independent person, so I realized that, eventually, I needed to get over this hump. I was going to do laundry the next day, which required a trip to the laundromat. I was too despondent to care, and for a day or two i was too despondent to care about anything, even though I have plenty to do. But much of what i wanted to do was sidetracked by not having the lens. I felt even worse when I called the eye care place to tell them that I've lost my lens, as I was told that the soonest time that their contact lens specialist would be available in San Luis Obsipo was at least two weeks' away. I made an earlier appointment, but that will take me to another city that will take a bus trip to do. It was one of those periods where I was trying to hang onto the hope that there was still some good to hang on to.

But the truth is, of course there's much to hang on to. Sometimes doing without, especially with an item as vital as a contact lens for the only eye that I can see out of, can really test me in ways that I'd rather do without. Yet, it's been said that there are reasons in life for everything that happens, and that ultimately there's good that comes out of it. I can't say that I'm over it, but last night was a good start when I walked back and forth to the supermarket, which was a 20-minute walk from my place. It was the first time I went outside my duplex in two days. If I could do this at night, then I will be fine with adjusting to life over the next week, albeit things will be very blurry for me. Still, life moves on and I will move with it; I'm not going to stop.

Though I don't yet know what life's lesson I'll learn from this, because frankly I've been put in situations where, while they may have made me stronger, I could have done without. I don't have regrets experiencing them; I just want life to be easier, to flow, to be more harmonic. And perhaps through this, I may experience a little more harmony.

I normally wouldn't have written this; I would have kept this to myself. It's been said of late that "sharing is caring," and so I share because I care that maybe a few people will, somehow, benefit from what I'm going through. In the end, it's not really all that bad; it's a moment in time, where I had to bottom out before rising up. When we rise, we grow.

Time to grow some more.

P.S.: I started going through the DJ's pictures from last Saturday, having to look at my laptop monitor really close. I threw out a lot of pictures, but I found those gems. I hope to post a few once I'm done, probably next week. I'm loving photography, and will do more of it once my new lens is in my eye.

This very much feeds onto my spiritual side; Tom Anderson, aka Tom from Myspace, has posted an inspiring TED Talk video from British actress Thandie Newton on "otherness," sharing her transformation, with hopes that she can inspire the world to transform too. I hope that you take a few minutes to watch and listen.

 

Last Friday morning, I've woken up to the news of a tragedy that was unfolding in Oslo, Norway. The news was still fresh, but I've followed it on the Internet via a combination of sites such as The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and links via postings on Facebook and Google+. To this day, I haven't bothered viewing related photographs or videos. In addition to wanting to learn about the unfolding event from the scene, I was also interested in watching the online reactions from people via Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. As to be expected, the reactions were varied, but predictable. I know a few people who live in Norway, and also some recording artists with whom I've played music from on my radio show. They were calm, reassuring that they were okay, but wondered about friends, acquaintances, and mainly their fellow citizens. Universally, the response was that this was a tragic event, and plenty of grief and outpourings of support were expressed.

Yesterday, I've woken up again to yet another event, also deemed as tragic: singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse was found dead in her home. The cause of death has not been confirmed at this time, and hopes are that more willl be known soon. Unlike the universal outpouring for the victims of Oslo, some of what I've read on Facebook and Google+ were less than kind. Some have written that she had what was coming to her; another hoped that her death wasn't going to overshadow the deaths in Oslo; yet others proclaimed "wasted talent" and "good riddance." As I've read the negative things that people were writing about Amy's passing, my thought was that we, as a socieity, have a very long ways to go to evolve over this way of thinking.

Amy Winehouse has had to deal with many demons in her life; demons that many of us never had to encounter. Sure, she was an extremely talented diamond in the rough, but her talents, at least in public, were eclipsed by her very public deterioration. From acts of assault to her usage of illegal substances, Amy has worn her heart on her sleeve. The same can be said of her talent; her roots were in jazz and soul, and she unleashed her musical gifts to the world in a way that makes her a standout that few of her caliber can match. Even when she's at her worse, when she was not at her best, she was able, for the most part, to belt out the songs from deep within her spirit. It's this spirit that should be celebrated; that someone such as Amy was willing to give her all, even in the face of obstacles laid in front of her. 

I'm sure in the days and weeks to come, we will start to know more about the children and adults in Oslo and their stories. Each victim leaves family, relatives, and friends behind. We don't know how their lives were, but let's assume that theirs was idyllic and tranquil. That's a wonderful thing, because I feel that every child should have the opportunity to live their lives to the fullest with healthy attitudes about people, and themselves.

Sadly for Amy, her life was far more complicated and complex. But I feel that she deserves just as much love and compassion as the Oslo victim who were befallen by bombs and bullets. I know people who knew Amy personally. I haven't yet asked them to speak on it, but some of them that I know have posted their reactions on Facebook. They didn't judge Amy for the negatives that have haunted and followed her; they've, instead, shown their adoration of the Amy they knew. She was one of us, one of our brothers and sisters on this earth. She was a girl who ended up lost at sea, and is now swimming in the ocean of other spiritchasers that have come and gone before her.

We, as a society, can be very judgmental of others, even when we ourselves have imperfections. Let us not see Amy's passing as any more, or any less, than the events in Oslo last Friday. It's always best to show the world love; spitefulness and bitterness are easy, petty things.

Showing love and compassion for both Amy and the Oslo victims, in equal measure, is ultimately what will make a society, as well as individuals in this society who choose to express them, evolve. Because really, we could all use more love, not hate, on this earth.

R.I.P. to Amy, as well as to every one of the Oslo victims.

 

Since May of this year, I've swapped mobile phones. For about three years, I've been using Blackberry phones, which have been good little workhorses. As the Android operating system continued to grow, and as more phones with the OS became plentiful, I've looked around. Then I ended up with a really good deal from my carrier, T-Mobile USA, that allowed me not only the chance to switch over to a new rate plan that was offered, but the plan also allowed me to buy a new phone, with a discount, and on contract, while giving me the opportunity to exit my previous plan a year early.

The phone I've chosen was the G2X, manufactured by LG, but sold here stateside under the T-Mobile branding. I don't have much to compare, as it's my first Android phone, but in terms of speed and the way windows move when I flick the screen, it's pretty acceptable. Over time, I've done customization on it, put loads of apps, both useful and not, and did what I could to make the phone quite the handy computing device it turned out to be. The OS on the phone was Froyo 2.2 (Google likes to give fruit names for each version number). 

Late this afternoon, after a long wait, there was a leaked version of the LG Update that the manufacturer had been working on for some time. I was excited to finally install 2.3 Gingerbread; the G2X has been a good phone to me, but it also had some issues that apparently were consistent through the phone's short life. I don't mean just mine, but quite a few G2X users have experencied a range of issues. There were several times for me, even, when the phone would suddenly reboot, or when the phone turns off, or when everything slows down to a snail's crawl, to the point where I have to pull the battery to power down the phone. Many, including I, were hoping that this update would be the savior to their phone woes. Good things have been said about Gingerbread, so I've decided to give it a try.

I've ran the LG Mobile installer, which prompted me to choose a phone to install the update. After installing the LG drivers, my phone was found by Windows 7, and I proceeded with the process by running the LG update tool. 

Upon running the tool, the progress bar was stuck on 4% for awhile, then it proceeded to move until it reached about 40%. All of this took about five minutes, before an ominous message appeared. I don't remember verbatim, but the LG window said that it couldn't make a connection between the PC and the phone, and to try the process again. Worse, my screen ended up with a "S/W Upgrade" message, finishing off with "Please wait while upgrading..." I was eventually prompted to start the whole process over, and yet every time I power the phone I would shortly get the "S/W Upgrade" message, for which a battery pull is the only way to kill the power on it.

I've finally given up after over 30 minutes, and called T-Mobile. About 45 minutes later, I finally had a rep, who transferred me to technical support. We've made a couple of attempts to get the phone running again. After those taskes failed, and after some consultation behind-the=scenes from the tech support rep, I was then told that a phone exchange would be done for me. The phone ships overnight, but I would have to wait about four days because the last day for shipping this week would be tomorrow, which is Friday (the phone was being shipped by UPS, which doesn't do Saturday delivery for this instance). 

I was a bit disappointed that it needs to wait, but I don't think I'll even consider anything like rooting a phone, let alone doing a proper OS upgrade, anytime soon, at least until the official software is released through T-Mobile. I was told that it may be a matter of days before the upgrade rolls out; I only hope that they will get this update right.

I am testing out Posterous for Android to find out if this works. Random, I know.

Wow, it's been damn near forever since I've used Posterous, much less done any sort of blogging. This has not been a good thing, though really I haven't thought much about it at all. Every now and then perhaps, but that's about it.

Lately, I've thoughts about wanting to write again, and was thinking of doing so via writing drills. Then as I was in the shower this morning (really, how many times do ideas come when one's in the shower?), I had a light bulb glowing in my brain that perhaps the energy of that writing can be put back here. I know that I still have much to say, much to share, and much to appreciate. 

There's been some additions to Posterous, which seems to be good; I'll find out, soon. Also, I've since traded my tactile-keyed Blackberry for a touch-screen Android phone. I will share more about it, because despite its moments here and there, I know that it'll be a challenge to go back to Blackberry. 

The fact that I have a place to post whatever random blurbs I want is very appealing to me; I won't have to blend it with my DJ site, or my upcoming photography site. I will still share select content from those sites here, but this is the "everything else" bin of thoughts, words and whatevers. It could be via my computers (I have both a desktop and a laptop), or via my phone (just found out that Posterous has an Android app...yes!). Also, the fact that I can share my posts via my Facebook account is also appealing.

So stay tuned, and stand by!

 

Greetings!

I am planning to keep this on the short side, but I have been extremely busy with a variety of things. I've been neglecting a few things, including my poor Posterous account. 

I have absolutely no intention of relenting on here, because I do have a lot to say and share. Things really have been very busy for me, and soon the dust will settle down enough that I can have some time to get some proper posts in.

Even my desired passion, making music, has had it momentum slowed down somewhat. Still, I plan to get back on the proverbial bandwagon this week and continue onwards with what I've started. You know that I'll have more things to say about music creation in the near future.

Another thing that I'll have to find more time for is to practice on the turntables. Things needed fixing, and finally they are now fixed. With working equipment, I can now proceed not only to do some practicing, but also do more mixes and the like. Again, I have to find the time, but given that I'm a few mixes behind, time shall be found in some way.

Okay, time to bust it. Have a good week; I shall return...

If you've read my most recent post, you know by now that I'm a sucker for my Blackberry Bold 9700, and how some of the apps I use works well for me. I might do a post in the near future on the essential apps that I use for my device. But I need to give a shout-out to one that I've downloaded a few days ago that is super-slick in both functionality and ease-of-use.

First, some context. I'm a music freak, at least in terms of underground, off-the-radar music. On Facebook, I see radio shows posts and messages all the time about when their shows are on-the-air somewhere in the world. I never really invested all that much time in checking out radio station apps, though early on apps such as FlyCast for Blackberry allowed me access to some good stations. Still, such apps were usually limited to Internet-only stations, and the commercial and non-commercial selections of traditional stations weren't easy to sort through. The overall selection was limited, and the search features weren't the most intuitive to use. While radio apps came and went over the last few years, I just haven't had the time to look around. 

My ideal radio app would possess these features:

• The ability to easily search for stations by various criteria.
• The availability of a large number of stations worldwide to choose from, including named commercial stations such as the BBC.
• Have a good mix of both Internet and traditional radio stations.
• The ability to bookmark stations.
• The stations need to sound good over my headphone.
• Streaming needs to work well over 3G and/or wi-fi.
• The app must reasonably priced.

While checking out the latest news on my Blackberry's RSS reader, there was a post on a couple of the Blackberry news sites mentioning an application called TuneIn Radio. The writeups were glowingly positive, so I decided to download the app via OTA (over-the-air) and install it to try it out. I have to say that I was really, really impressed. The interface isn't the most glamorous if you are used to slick, polished and sexy appearances such as the iPhone, but I doubt you'll care about such things once you start to use the app. Performing searches was powerful and easy. You can tell the app to search for your local stations around you via your devices wi-fi and/or GPS information. Some of the stations found went beyond local, but it did find quite a few local stations in my town. 

So how big is the list of stations? TuneIn boasts over 50,000, which is great in that it allowed me to find the choice stations overseas I was aiming for. I've found all the stations I was looking for, and they were all live and streaming. Presetting them was as easy as highlighting the station, then choosing a menu option on my Blackberry to save the station as a preset. 

As someone who wants to check out other shows, I can now do so at will and at anytime I pleased; well, almost. I still have to catch the shows live; there's no ability on the app to record them. Given that the app was just released a couple of days ago, and given what it can already do, I can easily overlook that fact. Were this to become a feature, and I don't see why it won't, I'm willing to pay a few buck if necessary. It would become my killer app: a DVR player for radio while on the go. The recording would be done in the background without my intervention, or without interfering with any of the other functions of my device. That's what I'd like to see.

Impressed with the Blackberry app, I've read that there was an iPhone app version of TuneIn, so I searched for the app via the iTunes App on my iPod Touch. Once the app info was found, I had a bit of a read. Just like the feeling a nirvana I had with the Blackberry app, I've felt that the iPhone app was going to be a keeper. There were plenty of glowing reviews written by both consumers and reviewers, the screenshots of the app shows a slick interface, and there's also the added bonus of a recording option that can be used either at will or via a preset timer. At $1.99, I didn't had much to lose but to give it a try.

Try I did, and now all I want to do is to tell everyone who want to keep up with their favorite stations and shows anywhere in the world to buy this app if they use an iPhone!

I haven't had a chance to check them out, but TuneIn is also available for both Android and Palm devices; seek out if you have either.

To access stations in real-time from around the world via mobile is amazing and mind-boggling to me, and TuneIn really helps to bring the world that much closer. 

Have a read for more information about TuneIn for both the Blackberry and the iPhone/iPod Touch; you're welcome!

I've been using cell phones since Summer of 2000 when I was hired by Cal Poly State University. I was provided with a black candy bar Nokia phone, and have had two others since. They've all performed as expected in that calls came in clear, and the cell signal was strong enough to make it through calls. Still, these phones lacked features. I never bothered playing one its installed games, nor have I made use of any of its organizing tools, save for the contact book. 

When I bought my first Nokia, I got brave by cutting the cord and ditching my landline. At the time, the landline I was using was Vonage. The service wasn't a traditional landline, because using it required a router sent to its customers that needed to be attached to the residence's cable modem. This worked fine for me when I had control of the modem and lived elsewhere, but not-so-much when I moved into a house with a landlord who already had Internet access via a router, which was broadcasting a wi-fi signal throughout the home. Because there could be only one...router, that is, I terminated my Vonage service.

Over time, I've heard about smartphones. Up until then, and even after I bought my first, smartphones were considered tools for the business road warrior, with features and applications that would make mere mortals cringe. Back in 2008, the first brand that many, including me, thought of when one hears the word "smartphone" was Blackberry. When I had a chance after switching carriers, I was tempted to buy a Blackberry Pearl. It was touted as the Blackberry for consumers, as up to that point Blackberry devices were the domain of the business and enterprise markets. The one deterrent that kept me from buying a Pearl was that most of the keys had two letters per key. I've heard at the time that people had problems typing on it.

I then took a look at another Blackberry model, the Curve 8320. At the time, it was the prime Blackberry model. It was full-featured with things like a camera, a place where I can store additional memory via an mini-SD card, the ability to download application and files, and more. Most of all, it had a full-sized QWERTY keyboard, which meant that I didn't had to do any other odd thing to try and switch between one letter and another on the same key. 

No matter which phone I decided to get, I was going to have to commit to it for two years, which was the length of my service contract. With that sort of commitment, I thought, I might as well buy the more expensive Blackberry model. On April 2008, I bought the Curve at a subsidized price.

Between then and 2010, having the phone was fine for the most part, but not without challenges. 

• Internal Memory - the Curve had 64MB of internal memory. This was fine if I only use the standard installed applications, a few third-party applications I'd download to the device, and some pictures here and there. Like the iPhone, there were some compelling applications created for the Blackberry; solid applications, in fact, that helps extend the basic functionality of the device. There were two major gotchas I've ran into: one, I've often had to make hard decisions of which applications I could install and/or keep. Despite doing my best to take out unnecessary applications and files from the device, it became clear to me that it wasn't well-suited for power users like me. The other problem was that I couldn't install applications on, say, an SD card and run applications from the card; all applications needed to be installed in the internal memory area.
• Reboots - in many ways, this is related to the above internal memory issues. The longer I would use my device, and the more items and apps stored in the internal memory area, the more likely that something will happen that would slow down the Curve's performance and, more often than not, the more likely that the phone will suddenly had its screen turn black, then reboot without warming. Another thing was that from time to time, I would have to remove the battery from the phone whenever it hangs and the hourglass goes on and on, known in the Blackberry world as a "battery pull." In this state, the phone became unresponsive; it wouldn't respond to any buttons, or key commands, or...anything else. I had to do the pulley at least once a week, sometimes several times a week.
• Dead Zones - the service provider here that I use, T-Mobile, didn't have a very good reach at the home where I was living at the time, and it had somewhat better, though sporadic, coverage on the Cal Poly campus. At home, service was virtually non-existent. For reasons I won't go into here, I wasn't able to secure the T-Mobile's @Home service, which would have allowed me to make calls over wi-fi. Not always impossible, but dropped calls were frequent. 

I was fine with staying with T-Mobile in spite of it all, especially when it was contract renewal time. Like many people, I was tempted to jump toward Apple's latest incarnation of its iPhone, but I wasn't wiling to put up with service from AT&T, which, even before the iPhone, was known as one of the worst carriers for cellular service.

I did had my eye on a phone that was released about six months before the expiration of my contract: the Blackberry Bold 9700. It was the next iteration of its well-reviewed Bold model that was released the summer before. It was a very handsome, masculine model that us guy geeks love, and I've read about the many improvements that were made over the Curve.

In April of this year, I bought my Bold 9700 when my contract was renewed. I've used this phone up to now, and I have to say that it's way more indispensable, and far more satisfying to use, than all of my previous mobile devices. Why?

• Internal Memory - the Bold 9700 has 256MB of internal memory, which is more than enough for all of my needs, from applications to media such as music and pictures. I never had to give up any application because of the lack of internal memory, but I'm not a hog about it either, though it's good to know that I have the luxury to go *oink oink* whenever I wish. All of my media (documents, music, images, etc.) are saved to a 2GB SD card that's considerably easier to insert than with the Curve (which required removing the back door of the phone, then removing the battery, to get to memory slot). 
• Reboots - rarely do I have to do battery pulls, though sometimes I have to when there's a screwup with the phone attempting to restart after a software installation. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy about the lack of pulls.
• Dead Zones - I've since moved to a place that's closer to Cal Poly, so my connection is more reliable than it has been in all the time I had the Curve. Also, my Bold 9700 makes use of a service known as UMA, which essentially allows me to use wi-fi to make calls whenever I'm an area that would otherwise be a dead zone. This is really great when I'm on campus, where more often than not my phone switches over to its wi-fi network, allowing me to both make and receive calls in places I'd otherwise had trouble with in the past. It also helps that the campus has expanded its wi-fi network to cover most of the university over the sumer, as well. 

But wait, there's more!

• 3G - the Bold 9700, at the time, was the only Blackberry model that was capable of using the 3G network, which, for most of the Internet applications I had on my phone, made the entire user experience faster and more satisfying than I could have imagine. Streaming media such as podcasts, radio stations, and video looked and/or played great. For comparsion, the Curve used EDGE, which doesn't work very well for high bandwidth content.
• Applications - Evernote, Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, RSS, Email, Calendar, and on and on, are real-time, on-the-go applications that are so useful, at times they seem to make more sense to use on a smartphone than, say, a laptop. I'm really spoiled with the immediacy that comes with real-time communication. I don't chat much, but I like to stay in touch and stay on top of information such as tech news, music and entertainment news, and other items of interest to me.
• Camera - not just one camera here; it has a 3.2 megapixel camera, which is far better than the 1.2 on the Curve. It's not perfect because some pictures still come out blurry, but enough of an improvement for me to share, be it on Facebook or by email. In addition, there's also a video camera that works good. During my Club 91 mix shows recently, I've used both cameras, being able to send photos straight to the show's Facebook Page via email. The videos, though, had to be uploaded later. Last week, I was to transfer some video clips to my Mac via Bluetooth, which I did because I've misplaced the Bold's USB cable. All-in-all, just the fact that I can take pictures or record videos on the fly, then post them to wherever I want whenever, is very inspiring to me.

My Bold 9700 is quite the device. I keep it on or near me at nearly all times of the day. When I'm moving about, it's usually in my belt holster until it's not. When I'm waiting for the bus to and from campus, or when I'm taking the bus, I'm either checking the RSS reader for the latest items on the news that I'm interested in, or I could be checking my Twitter accounts for the same reason. When I find things I like, more often than not I share them. To me, this is one of the greatest things about having a smartphone: the ability to share a single piece of information to many people in many different places (either by location or by service) at once. This is the power of a smartphone. In this age of modern communication and social media, it's still an amazing thing to realize just how interconnected mobile connectivity is to the rest of the Internet, and of just how quickly we've come from being tether at the desk to having the freedom to send and respond with more than just words, on such a small device. Thanks to great services such as Ping, Twitter, Facebook and others, I feel that I'm only scratching the surface in terms of the possibilities of what's next.

Where else do I use the Bold? I take it to bed to use it as my daily alarm. Sometimes, I read things on it via the various apps while in bed. I sometimes listen to podcasts and audio on it, though most of the time I use my iPod Touch for podcasts and audio books. Yesterday, I installed a free radio app that allowed me to preset just about all of the stations around the world that I know fellow radio peeps are broadcasting on, from the UK to Australia, from New Zealand to Croatia. 

I don't chat very much via IM (instant message), though the Blackberry does have this ability. I also don't text very much, but found it nice and handy to use when I need it, or when someone sends me a quick message. The ability to send and receive email almost instantly over the three accounts that I have is most definitely the Blackberry's strongest feature. The same happens for the calendar, too; the ability for instant response when necessary is something that I'm sure many business users pride on when it comes to Blackberry. I also appreciate the unlimited data plan that I have so that I don't have to worry about having to keep track of how much data I'm using during the month.

I love my Blackberry Bold, and I love the fact that it's an extension of who I am and what I am, and of what's possible when people aren't looking. I hope that by sharing my experience, it may give you some insight into one smartphone user's life. Perhaps you, too, may give into your urges, moving away from that single-use phone to something more.

So what's my next phone going to be? Ask me in 2012, lest I relent to an irresistible device. Nerd, I am.