there is a pill for that

I'm having another <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/11/monkey-monkey-underpants.html" target="_blank">monkey monkey underpants</a> episode.<br /><br />Between finishing the <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/04/take-seat-part-4.html" target="_blank">couch</a>, trying to get inspired to finish the <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/04/gotta-know-when-to-fold-em.html" target="_blank">bedroom</a>, children, jobs and the general merriment that is life, my brain has a hard time resting these days. Since our society apparently frowns on early morning cocktails (I should have worked at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce) I have to find alternative ways to let the stress out. This results in small projects, which results in more on the to-do list, which results in more stress. These are the days of our lives.<br /><br />The newest example of this was over the weekend. I wanted to get something hung up in our bedroom so that it starts to feel more like a room and less like a prison on Locked Up Abroad. So I made my templates for everything, just like I did with the <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/02/step-into-my-gallery.html" target="_blank">gallery wall</a>, and all was progressing. Until I ran out of newspaper. No panic required though, I just used my <strike>MacGruber</strike> MacGyver skills and decided wrapping paper would work just as well.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1Bf7QsgVeZnpAWHbcKTgEpH_qTS8xRIrdqG2XHPIDT5GvppL367mprbmneNq-5QA_bbEeoZPekqX4T42cInVWVeizl_AEpeGw3zO67x2uiKYlAFamr5HfLJL4JhtInr_ivBnLBT32O_Z/s1600/P4226037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1Bf7QsgVeZnpAWHbcKTgEpH_qTS8xRIrdqG2XHPIDT5GvppL367mprbmneNq-5QA_bbEeoZPekqX4T42cInVWVeizl_AEpeGw3zO67x2uiKYlAFamr5HfLJL4JhtInr_ivBnLBT32O_Z/s640/P4226037.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>(I'm cropping out most of the mess in this picture btw. I'm all for keeping it real, but some people might be eating.)<br /><br />After hanging the wrapping paper, my ubiquitous and ever helpful 4-year-old said "Oh mommy, I really love these stripes. These are good colors."<br /><br />While I agree they are good colors for something else, not so much for my room. However, the longer that stayed on the wall (we're talking minutes here) the more I kept thinking 'I like this idea'.<br /><br />Now I've framed wrapping paper many times before. Hell, I even tape it to my <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/12/tied-up-with-bow.html" target="_blank">mantel at christmas</a>. But this time I was thinking a little different. Something longer. Possibly a way to introduce more pattern into the room.<br /><br />Something clicked (not my jaw this time) and just like that, it became my mission to find this 'something'. I found a few options the next day and temporarily taped them up to see what I thought.<br /><br />Not bad.<br /><br />My husband liked it as well and said, "you know what would be cool is if it went all the way to the ceiling and down to the floor" (he'll be getting an extra present on his birthday this year).<br /><br />Then, yesterday I saw this picture on <a href="http://chinoiseriechic.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Chinoiserie Chic</a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdqSEKQDUVtKQlcp3_NINxnYv8s443oWqGJh4yEOGnn4ppKMg8jeEENVEBKlc283AuMUm9qJcESEKl0Ns9hYpOJWjHNo8T-p6nWlzxtJpajc7OVGVJhcWw3z4rMpBZFJ82alZBBC7Dzm7/s1600/6896205649646125.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdqSEKQDUVtKQlcp3_NINxnYv8s443oWqGJh4yEOGnn4ppKMg8jeEENVEBKlc283AuMUm9qJcESEKl0Ns9hYpOJWjHNo8T-p6nWlzxtJpajc7OVGVJhcWw3z4rMpBZFJ82alZBBC7Dzm7/s400/6896205649646125.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>Its a sign.<br /><br />I'm thinking I'm on the right track here people. Or at least <i>a</i> track. Which is a big improvement from the muddy gravel nothing I was on before. Inspiration is a'rising again. I better get something done before it disappears.<br /><br />Have you had any happy accidents lately? And did you see RHONJ? Oh yeah baby, this is gonna be good.

there is a pill for that

I'm having another monkey monkey underpants episode.Between finishing the couch, trying to get inspired to finish the bedroom, children, jobs and the general merriment that is life, my brain has a hard time resting these days. Since our society appar…

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Windows Live Movie Maker is fantastic to use in the classroom - and it is free!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal</i><br />The next programme that we will take a look at is Windows Movie Maker. Movie Maker is a fantastic programme to use -  if you think that creating a video with your photos is too complicated then see what you think after trying Windows Movie Maker. The great thing about it is you can add photos and video, whereas in Photostory 3 you can only add photos.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Which Movie Maker do I use?</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />There can be a bit of confusion about Windows Movie Maker because if you are using Microsoft XP, Windows Movie Maker is already part of the package. It is what I call the 'old' Movie Maker (and in my opinion it is much easier to use).  You CANNOT install <i>Windows Live Movie Maker </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">if you are running XP, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as far as I can see. So I am going to put two tutorials below - one for XP users which is the old Windows Movie Maker, and one for Windows 7 users - the <i>new</i> Windows <i>Live</i> Movie Maker. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Windows Movie Maker for Windows XP users</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(I am not sure about where Windows Vista fits in)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found this tutorial on the Internet and it seems to do the trick.  </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ak4ukjOy_FM?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Windows Live Movie Maker for Windows 7 users</b></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the latest Movie Maker - <i>Windows Live Movie Maker</i>. I found this tutorial on the Internet and it also seems to do the trick. On Thursday evening the webinar will focus on Windows Live Movie Maker.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vh82WqBQ_2c?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What can you do with Movie Maker? </b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only can you include your best photo shots and some of your clips, but you can also add some really nice video and transition effects. Your movie could look quite professional at the end.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhyphenhyphenTOVyKU0DpJe1H9rmFNGydmD3b26cIgvr6RT0Q376GuNl3-k8qAwUWolmO1V799yAK5eytnsqU-VlCWrabpwEjxD-KPPKdLnWQGeAZSzCOqpfjwBZFB9KEeb_nldsK6dDDKpwSrgPI/s1600-h/image%25255B21%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaUdoXT91XMkOjroKfINRf1G1_ojNCNrL-VpDazYtEq-BdKEu1tsLCf-f3pWBMGLRpc4pQi_DMEL7B4s6WnhGYJGRqnJ3TwYCjykqMG77U-tnxNI7ergy739Tw7aqPOXvn6kuZlyiay34/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>How to get started with Windows Live Movie Maker</b></span><br /><br />If you look at the image above you’ll see that there is a place that says ‘Add videos and photos’. After you do this the media clips appear on the timeline at the side. Then you add as many effects as you like. You can even add titles and credits to your movie. Here is an infomercial from Microsoft showing how to use the Windows Live Movie maker software.<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="b-hbp-video b-uploaded" frameborder="0" height="266" id="BLOGGER-video-74114758ada0031b-18958" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyyzDGRPdcdTYW_3W7epacpOACblr1Im2ZlpYYMZTCmYKuWN2O7an4jgJAA02ZlNCv4Mi76tdPKOlmG2eV-MTkhgr855NL3e79SHT7_G87iHHIRMppk38SzNg9qRyvA_3YcEVMI" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>How to use Windows Live Movie maker step-by-step to make a simple movie</b></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Instead of putting my application into SlideShare as I usually do,  I thought I would experiment with Microsoft's Sky Drive. Did you know that when you join the Partners in Learning Network you receive a whole web-based Office suite (almost like Google Docs) with 25 GBs of free space. I uploaded my PowerPoint to my SkyDrive and have shared it so that it can be seen by others. You can watch this full screen by clicking the little box on the right. </span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="327" scrolling="no" src="https://r.office.microsoft.com/r/rlidPowerPointEmbed?p1=1&p2=1&p3=SD78BE6492F5E06BF2%21299&p4=&ak=%21AG5el1HLYR-B6Yk&kip=1" width="402"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the actual video I made when completing the PowerPoint tutorial above. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The beauty of Blogger is that you can just add a video like this straight from your computer without having to go through youTube or another hosting service. </span><br /><br /><a href="http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p6ha1ycp091/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p6ha1ycp091/</span></a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="b-hbp-video b-uploaded" frameborder="0" height="266" id="BLOGGER-video-f6d5e63f0ec30f04-6046" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxiSrjAqhP5fcU3IaI5TpYhXU7svtF2JerM1rG9udpAmVihw8ffGpiZjW4c4bNYEw4zCaEtVyUxmJ1BTAag2XYcOHyI5KNvWs6XOw6g2WsqqKHk7JkmjLSars1BOgo7sa0nKPE" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What about starting a movie channel for your class?</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can create your own movie channel in YouTube or in School Tube to store all your class’s movies. I believe there is also a YouTube Schools now. When I was teaching last year I opened a free School Tube account because it seemed a safer environment.</div></div></div>

Microsoft tools Tutorials Windows Live Movie Maker is fantastic to use in the classroom - and it is free!

Submitted by Fiona BealThe next programme that we will take a look at is Windows Movie Maker. Movie Maker is a fantastic programme to use -  if you think that creating a video with your photos is too complicated then see what you think after trying W…

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