Should I Get the New iPod Touch?

You Are iPod touch

You are definitely a music lover, but you love games, movie, and the internet too. You are a gadget geek who wants a device that does it all. You like to be on the cutting edge. You aren't just a consumer, you're also a creator. It's likely that you're a budding filmmaker or artist. For you, inspiration could strike anywhere. And you need a devi[c]e that will capture your creativity.

What Kind of iPod Are You?

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

Kelly Rowland Drops on September 21st

It's gonna be a busy late summer and early fall.

First, I have Basic Copy Editing from August 23rd to 26th. Second, the LOST Season 6 and LOST Complete Series DVD/Blu-Ray sets are released on August 24th. Third, the Fringe Season 2 DVD/Blu-Ray set comes out on September 14th.

Now, a much-anticipated album release: Digital Spy reports that Kelly Rowland's self-titled third album will be released on September 21st.

Ms. Kelly describes her new album as having "a modern Donna Summer feel with definitely more of a thump." Sounds interesting, ain't it? And have y'all seen the covers for her singles "Grown Woman" and "Rose Colored Glasses"? I'm digging the giant afro look!

I can't wait for Ms. Kelly's new album!

iPad or Amazon Kindle?

Image by mikebaird via Flickr

The book nerd in me wants to know if I should buy an iPad or an Amazon Kindle?

Did I say I was a nerd?

Last week, I was in Best Buy at Bellingham, Washington. I was looking for a new digital camera, while my nephew was looking at SLR cameras. We went to the Apple section and played with iPads. Wanna guess which icon I pressed first? That's right: the iBooks app. It was fun going from one book to another. It's just like reading a physical book! Stephen King's Under The Dome was in the library and I almost started reading it. (I got the hardcover edition as a Christmas gift.) Do y'all realize how many more books I can read on the iBooks app? A lot more. I won't even have to worry about buying gigantic hardcover books, like the aforementioned Stephen King book and Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. But there's not much else that I want in the iPad (aside from the iBooks and watching TV episodes on a bigger monitor) so spending CAD $549 on it is nuts. I could buy a new BlackBerry phone with that amount.

On the other hand, the Amazon Kindle is strictly for reading books, newspapers, and magazines. You can even read your own documents. The original device is small enough for my needs, but I think the new Kindle is as big as the iPad. Plus I can download books quickly, thanks to the Kindle's global 3G wireless coverage. It costs USD $259 or approximately CAD $267, about half the cost of an iPad.

Regardless of what I decide to get, I would save physical library space (although I don't have an actual physical library) and my mother won't freak out every time I buy a new book from Chapters, Black Bond Books, or Amazon. Also, the books cost less than the bookstore list price.

Or maybe I should just stick to reading the plain old book?

Who's Got A Cure For Insomnia?

As I was writing about the possible correlation between my insomnia and my writer's block on Adrienne's Notebook, I saw some articles on the Zemanta content recommendations sidebar saying that chronic insomnia may shorten one's life.

Say what???

Well, that makes sense, if you consider the health consequences of poor sleep. But a 20-year population-based study claims that chronic insomnia actually increases one's mortality risk by at least 150% (or 2.5 times more).

Um, no, I don't want to die early. I don't mind dying, just dying early.

So, I decided to take action. I downloaded a free app named iRelax Melodies from the iTunes Store. So far, it has helped me sleep faster with the relaxing music it plays (hence, the app name). The sound of ocean waves - as if I were on a deserted Island as one of Jacob's candidates - unsurprisingly puts me to sleep faster than watching The Weather Network or reading books in bed. On early morning Wednesday (1:30ish), I quickly fell asleep and I felt way more rested when I woke up at 5:45 AM than on any other work day. Of course, it's only been two days, so I can't say it has cured my insomnia. But it's one step towards it.

So I guess I should say goodbye to the TV movies on The W Network or to Biography on A & E, eh?

Right Now I Command You to Dance!

I just bought Kelly Rowland's new single, "Commander," off the iTunes Canada Store.

It's a fun song! I really like the beat and the chorus. It makes me dance around... a lot! So I recommend that you listen to the song and purchase it. Here are the iTunes USA & Canada links:

Kelly Rowland - "Commander" iTunes USA


Kelly Rowland - "Commander" iTunes Canada

Also, rumour has it that Ms. Kelly's third studio album will be released on September 14th. I will wait until it's officially announced, though. I don't want to be burned when her new label delays the album release date so many times. And I hope her new album is awesome!

Pennette Has A Better Love Life Than I Do

Last night, I was looking for games on the iTunes Apps Store. I found Virtual Families, a sim game where I adopt a person - I chose Pennette, 27 and a rookie magazine editor - and I control her life, from finding a mate and encouraging her to work to giving her children and helping her house renovations.

I found Beamer, 25 and a rookie board game designer, for Pennette. He seems to be good for her; he cooks for her, and he has a happier disposition than Pennette. She seems to be depressive - like me. I thought it's only because she was lonely, so I found her a husband. I did and she was happy for a few minutes, then she's depressed again. I keep encouraging them to mate, but they fight about having kids. (Beamer's profile says he definitely wants to have children and Pennette's says it would be nice to have children, so I don't know why they fight about it.)

Anyway, Pennette works from home, but Beamer doesn't seem to work although he earns money. Maybe those are royalty payments?

The game has crashed once, but restarting my iPod Touch seems to work. Let's hope it doesn't crash anymore.

Let's also hope Pennette and Beamer agree to have children soon. Hehehe...

P.S. Wouldn't this make a good short story? Hehehe...

August 24th Dilemma

We're only halfway through the sixth and final season, but the release date for the LOST Season 6 DVD/Blu-Ray set has been announced. It will be released in North America on 24 August 2010, three and a half months earlier than the last two seasons. Per Lostpedia and TVShowsOnDVD, the set will contain five discs and the usual bonus features, plus original scripted content produced by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and Crafting a Final Season feature. The DVD set's current price is USD$59.99 (CAD$79.99), while the Blu-Ray set is on sale for USD$79.99 (CAD$94.99).

Interestingly, LOST: The Complete Collection, which includes all 121 episodes from Seasons 1 to 6, will also be released on 24 August 2010. Per the same sources above, the DVD/Blu-Ray set will contain all previous extras, plus one bonus disc with at least two hours of additional content. The DVD set price is USD$229.99 (CAD$269.99), while the Blu-Ray set price is USD$279.99 (CAD$349.99).

What, oh, what am I going to get???

Obviously, I wanna see the goodies in the Season 6 set. I have the DVD sets for Season 1 to 4 and the Blu-Ray set for Season 5, and the bonus content in all of them are freaking amazing. And, like most fans, I usually get the DVD sets for the bonus content, especially in Season 5 where I got to download the episodes from iTunes before the DVD was released. But I also want to see the additional two hours of content in the Compete Series bonus disc. However, what am I gonna do with the Season 1 to 5 sets that I already own?

I have both the Season 6 Blu-Ray set and the Complete Collection Blu-Ray set on my Amazon.ca wishlist. I need to put in my pre-order soon, so I have to decide which one I'm pre-ordering ASAP!!!

Maybe I'll decide after the series finale? Whaddya think?

A Complete Online OPM Store: Is That Even Possible?

In case y'all didn't know, I immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in February 2002. I brought my Original Pilipino Music (also known as OPM) and import cassette tapes, since compact discs in Manila are expensive to an 18-year-old unemployed university student and online music downloads were then way out of my radar, when I came here.

Anyway, I started friending (sorry, Lake Superior State University Word Banishment Committee) Filipino celebrities on Facebook last year. Roselle Nava, the singer known in the Philippines as the Sentimental Diva, is one of them. Before Kelly Clarkson came in my life, Roselle was my all-time favourite singer. I bought all her records and enjoyed lip-syncing to her songs, since I couldn't - still can't - sing like she can. Unfortunately, CDs are affordable here so my cassette tapes, especially my Roselle Nava tapes, are now collecting dust. (If someone can convert my cassette tapes into mp3s, that's great!) Roselle has released three albums since, including Forever Love Songs, released under mega-record company Viva Records.

Unfortunately, Roselle doesn't have an official website. Her only songs on the Canadian iTunes Store are those part of movie soundtracks. My eBay and Amazon.ca searches turned up nothing. So I tried Googling her name and found myself going through several online Filipino stores (e.g. Kabayan Central, ABS-CBN's Starry Starry Store, and Divisoria.com). There are also online music download sites, but most of them are free mp3 download sites that may or may not be legit. I usually pay for my music, unless I'm absolutely desperate for an album or a song. Anyway, only some of Roselle's albums are available on these sites. For example, her two recent studio albums, Bare and Forever Love Songs, are available on Kabayan Central; the cost for each CD is USD$12.99, excluding shipping and handling. On the other hand, her first four albums are available on one online music store (whose name and website I can't remember).

Will there ever be a complete online store - physical CD or digital music - for Filipino music? It's exhausting to search for a certain discography, especially when the artist has no official website and you're an ocean apart. It took me hours looking for a site where all Roselle Nava's music is available, and yet I didn't find one.

I can, of course, purchase a CD at a time, but shipping and handling fees may cost more than the CD itself and it takes at least two weeks for the CD to arrive. On the other hand, digital music downloads cost from zero (for free mp3s) to the physical CD's cost. But there are no shipping and handling fees and it only takes an hour or two to download an album.

I've tried iMesh before, but I had to quit it because I don't want to pay $8.95 a month when I don't even buy music from the site. By the way, it took iMesh a month and a few e-mails (one of which to convince me to stay with iMesh) to cancel my subscription. Although, I wonder if I can get Roselle's last three studio albums for free, now that my paid subscription is cancelled. Hmmm...

So, should I buy the CDs online? Or should I take a chance with these digital download sites, whether free or not?

What Kind of Girl Am I?

Why do you think I watch LOST, Fringe, FlashForward, V, The Big Bang Theory, and How I Met Your Mother? Hehehehehe...

You Are a Brainy Girl!

Whether you're an official student or a casual learner, you enjoy hitting the books. You know a little bit about everything, and you're always dying to know more. For a guy to win your heart, he's got to share some of your intellectual interests. A awesome book collection of his own doesn't hurt either!

What Kind of Girl Are You?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

Buon Natale!!!

That's MERRY CHRISTMAS in Italian!

So, Christmas has come and gone. It`s one of the quietest Christmas I've had. 'Twas neither too exciting nor too boring.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the encore presentation of our church's Children's Ministry Christmas play entitled The Best Christmas Present Ever. It was a hit, just like last Sunday's presentation. My niece sang in the choir and spoke a bit towards the end of the play.

Then we went to our churchmate's - and family dentist's - house for a Christmas dinner party. The C's came with us and I mostly hung out with them. Other churchmates attended the shindig and we wished each other a merry Christmas. I missed MuchMoreMusic's broadcast of VH1 Divas 2009, featuring Kelly Clarkson, Adele, Jordin Sparks, and Jennifer Hudson for this party.

We left with Christmas gifts - mine was suspiciously shaped like Purdy's chocolates - at around 11 PM. We stopped by Shoppers Drug Mart for about half an hour so my sister could get the antibiotics that our dentist prescribed. Then we went home.

We opened the presents just after midnight, after a couple of Kodak moments (i.e. picture-taking sessions). I gave my nephew the Casio watch (a.k.a. Usher's watch) that he wanted, a $50 iTunes gift card, and $100. I gave my niece a copy of Rhythm Heaven Nintendo DS Game and $100. I gave Miss KC a $50 iTunes gift card and $100, because she only asked for money. I gave Little Mr. JC a Rex the Dinosaur collectible figure from Toy Story and $40.

And what did I get?

Aside from my mom's early Christmas gifts during Black Friday, she also gave me Ferrero Rocher. Yum! As I guessed, my dentist gave me Purdy's Hedgehog chocolates. Double yum! The C's gave me the Inglourious Basterds DVD and He's Just Not That Into You Blu-Ray disc. Then the A's gave me Stephen King's Under The Dome and Jennifer Weiner's Best Friends Forever. Yippee!!!

At least I got four items from my updated wish list. Hehehehehe... Didn't get the BlackBerry Curve 8520 or the first issue of Y: The Last Man, though. Oh, well. Maybe I can get these on my 27th B'Day? Hehehehehe...

After all the excitement from the gift-opening, we sat down for a bit of eggnog and coffee for the grown-ups and hot chocolate for the kids. Then I brought my Blu-Ray player to the living room so my bro-in-law could hook it up to his Bose system. Then we watched the He's Just Not That Into You disc. We finished the movie at about 3:40 AM and they went to bed. I stayed up until 4:30 or 5 AM, then I fell asleep.

I woke up at noon on Christmas Day and stayed in bed until about 1 PM. Then I went upstairs to eat. I went back to my room to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and the rest of the trilogy. However, partway through Disc 2, I fell asleep. I didn't wake up until 10:30 PM. I was hungry, so I went upstairs to get some food to bring to my room. I  continued the trilogy; it's now 5 AM and I'm watching The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Disc 1.

I must finish the movie, and maybe get some sleep before tonight's party.

Buon Natale! And Happy Boxing Day!!!

Clarkson and Rowland Net One Grammy Nomination Each

Oh, happy day!

Two of my favourite singers ever - i.e. Kelly Clarkson and Kelly Rowland - are nominated for a Grammy Award each!!!

The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards nominations were announced tonight on CBS via a music-filled concert. (Yes, I know, I'm from the West Coast. It's all over Twitter and celebrity sites, though.) Beyonce Knowles leads with 10 nominations, including Record of the Year for "Halo", Album of the Year for I Am... Sasha Fierce, and Song of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)".

Back to my favourites...

Kelly Clarkson's fourth studio album, All I Ever Wanted, is nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Album category. I totally, totally, totally love this album. I don't care much about its competition (The E.N.D., Breakthrough, The Fray, and Funhouse - well, except Funhouse) and I really, really, really want Kelly to win!

Image via Wikipedia

Kelly Rowland, on the other hand, is nominated for her collaboration with French DJ David Guetta - i.e. When Love Takes Over, which became a Song of the Moment in my house - in the Best Dance Recording category. She and Guetta face stiff competition from the Black Eyed Peas (Boom Boom Pow), Lady Gaga (Poker Face), Madonna (Celebration), and Britney Spears (Womanizer), though. All the nominated songs are so darn catchy!

You can view the rest of the nominees here. The ceremony will be held on January 31, 2010, and will be aired on CBS from 8 PM (Eastern/Pacific).

There's a Reason I Don't Like Baseball...

... And that is baseball's interruption of Fringe.

Grrrr!

For at least two weeks, there will be no new Fringe episode due to post-season baseball. According to FringeTelevision's calendar, Fox will re-air the Season 2 premiere, "A New Day In The Old Town," on October 22nd IF there's no ALCS Game 5. The next week, October 29th, there will be no episode at all due to World Series Game 2. The following week, November 5th, episode 2x06 ("Earthling") may be aired IF there's no World Series Game 7. If so, episode 2x06 will be aired on November 12th. That's four weeks after the last new episode. FOUR WEEKS!

My Geek Thursday (FlashForward at 8pm and Fringe at 9pm) will be incomplete for at least one week. Three, if I discount the rerun of the Season 2 premiere and if there's World Series Game 7.

It would have been better if Fringe Season 2 episodes were available on Canadian iTunes Store...

God could possibly have arranged this so I can focus on Assignment 4 (the last one!). Possible, right?

*Sigh* Oh well...

Glee Jam Sessions

This is one of my favourite moments in Glee episode 1x07 ("Throwdown"). It's a shame the audio isn't available on iTunes. Also a shame that the following clip is the most decent one I could find: video quality isn't so good, but the audio is fine.



Thanks to YouTube user snottlebie7 for the clip!

Has Finn (played by Canadian hottie Cory Monteith) ever played the drums on the show? I can't remember. Has Puck (played by Mark Salling) ever played the guitar? I can't remember either.

Oh, well. I might have to get the episode from iTunes to be able to watch this episode - a strong one, thanks to Jane Lynch's awesomeness - and the jam session anytime I want.

Taylor Swift Found a New Fan

I'm sure you've seen, or at least heard of, what transpired tonight at the MTV Video Music Awards. If you haven't, then here it is: Kanye West dissed Taylor Swift for beating Beyonce Knowles in the Female Video category.

I wasn't a fan of Taylor Swift's until tonight. I mean, the girl was shocked that she won in the first place. A country singer winning a Moon Man is an achievement by itself. Who does Kanye West think he is by dismissing that and ranting that Beyonce should have won? Oh, right. Kanye thinks he's the most awesome person that ever lived. Please. Dude, Beyonce herself was horrified at Kanye's idiotic actions.

I must admit I wanted either Beyonce or Kelly Clarkson to win. I even shouted "Robbed!" when she was going up the stage. BUT I immediately repented of that when Kanye went up and dissed her. I mean, WTF, Kanye?!

Anyway, Taylor fought back by doing a great job in performing her song You Belong With Me, the video that won her the Moon Man.

When Beyonce won the Video of the Year award for Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), she more than made up for Kanye's idiocy by giving Taylor a chance to finish her acceptance speech, which Kanye rudely interrupted. Although I still prefer Kelly Rowland over Beyonce, I have more respect for her now than I had before. B is a real class act. (Taylor too, of course.)

One more thing: Because Kanye West pissed me off so much, I decided to buy Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me off iTunes. Ha!

One last thing: Has anyone noticed that when other musicians record Kanye's songs - e.g. Kris Allen's Heartless and the Glee Cast's Gold Digger - they sound so much better? Have you?

Thank God Kanye was kicked out of Radio City Music Hall. Also, word around Twitter that he apologized for his idiotic and egotistical actions. But I don't believe him. He'll do this again. I just know he will.

I Love Glee!!!

I'm addicted to Glee - especially its soundtrack.

Four months ago, I watched the pilot and actually liked it. Hotties Matthew Morrison and Cory Monteith certainly helped. Of course, the performances in the pilot were freakin' awesome.

Glee returned tonight - as in, Wednesday at 9 PM - with a great episode. I loved the "Push It" and "Take A Bow" performances. My favourite, however, is the cast's version of "Gold Digger" (originally by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx).

I found this video on YouTube. Well, it's actually the audio for the song. Download it from iTunes, if you'd like.


(Video courtesy of YouTube user LeelooDoyle.)

Here's a capture of the sequence itself:


(Video courtesy of YouTube user ramapo13.)

I can't wait to download this episode from iTunes!

Of course, as I've mentioned before, I will have to sacrifice Glee when LOST comes back. But that's still four or five months away, so I will enjoy Glee while I can.

The Fall Season is Upon Us

Primetime TV programming, that is.

New and returning primetime shows start premiering next week. To help us all out, EW.com's Michael Ausiello - with a little help from EW intern Aly Semigran - posted a fall premiere schedule.

Here are the ones that matter to me:

September 9, Wednesday - Glee - 9 PM on FOX
September 10, Thursday - The Vampire Diaries - 8 PM on The CW
September 17, Thursday

• Fringe - 9 PM on FOX
• The Office - 9 PM on NBC

September 21, Monday

• House - 8 PM on FOX
• How I Met Your Mother - 8 PM on CBS
• The Big Bang Theory - 9:30 PM on CBS
• CSI: Miami - 10 PM on CBS

September 22, Tuesday - The Good Wife - 10 PM on CBS
September 23, Wednesday

• The New Adventures of Old Christine - 8 PM on CBS
• Gary Unmarried - 8:30 PM on CBS
• Criminal Minds - 9 PM on CBS
• CSI: NY - 10 PM on CBS

September 24, Thursday - FlashForward - 8 PM on ABC
September 27, Sunday - The Amazing Race - 8 PM on CBS
October 9, Friday - Ugly Betty - 8 PM on ABC
October 15, Thursday - 30 Rock - 9:30 PM on NBC
November 3, Tuesday - V - 8 PM on ABC

Obviously, I am most excited about the return of Fringe, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, Glee, and 30 Rock. I am also looking forward to the series premieres of The Vampire Diaries (Ian Somerhalder! Paul Wesley!), Flash Forward (Joseph Fiennes! Sonya Walger! Dominic Monaghan!), V (Elizabeth Mitchell!), and The Good Wife.

Obviously, LOST will be my top priority once it comes back in 2010. So, assuming it will come back on Wednesdays at 9 PM, I will have to say goodbye to either Glee or Criminal Minds. There's always iTunes and reruns.

By the way, The Futon Critic also has a colourful grid for the Fall 2009 schedule. Check it out, if you'd like.

Which of the new and returning shows are you watching?

Major Case of LSS

It is so weird that this song is stuck in my head.



I know, Michael Jackson just died and it's normal for one of his songs to be playing on a loop in one's head. But why this song? I don't think I've heard the entire song!

Cover of Off the Wall

Oh, well. I'd just go buy Off The Wall from iTunes. And I'd upgrade to the iTunes Plus version of "Butterflies" (from the Invincible album), which I forgot to transfer from my old iPod to my iPod Touch.

By the way, LSS means "last song syndrome" - as in, the last song you hear keeps playing in your head - for those who didn't know.

Fringe Casts New FBI Agent Role

EW.com reports that actress Meghan Markle has been cast as Fringe's new FBI agent. Her character is still unnamed, but the website describes her as "an attractive, brash and quick-witted junior FBI agent". The character is rumoured to replace Kirk Acevedo's character Agent Charlie Francis. Kirk Acevedo was "let go" in May, just after the Season 1 finale.

Wait.. Isn't Jasika Nicole's character a junior FBI agent as well? Hmmm... This new character sounds like a cross between Astrid Farnsworth and Charlie Francis to me. What are the creators planning now, in terms of Astrid's story arc?

Anyway, I don't remember this actress anywhere, although I might have seen her on Deal or No Deal (as one of the briefcase models), on the CSI:NY episode 3x07, or on 90210's pilot episode (which was the first and last 90210 episode I watched).

Well, as long as the casting changes reflect a freakin' awesome Season 2 overall story arc, it's fine by me. I'd miss Kirk, though, and his level-headed Charlie Francis, when I watch each episode in which he doesn't appear.

Leap, Dude, Leap

I just started an editorial and typing service business. Yeah. I did an outline for a business plan, researched my market, carefully read statistics and business start-up info, and created a web site.

Well, I need extra money so I can save enough for a down payment and closing costs. A little moonlight business can help. A former co-worker is moonlighting as a bookkeeper for at least one small company. I figured, I could moonlight too - not as an accountant, but as an editor. I've been writing prose and blogs for years now - specifically, 15 years all told - and I have been editing my nephew and niece's school papers for almost half of that. Plus, I always edit stuff - like news articles, feature articles, company and road signs, other people's blog posts, etc. - in my head.

I thought I could make it as a freelance editor after I worked on Miss KC's essay for her high school IB program. I needed to whittle it down from 600 words to 200. I only managed to reduce it to 400 words, but I tried to rearrange sentences and change the wording so that I could unite her ideas into one decent application essay. Apparently, after I gave it back to Miss KC, they sent it to their editor-friend in New York (yes, the mecca of publishing in the US) for further polishing. I don't know what the final essay looked like, but it probably helped her get in the program. According to Mrs C, their friend said it looked professional - as if a pro editor worked on it. From there, the freelance editorial services business idea was born.

I'm not going to bore you with the details of my research, but it took me two or three weeks before I finished the rough draft of the business plan outline. I still have not finished writing the business plan itself, but I can work from the outline. I even figured out a fair pricing plan: I will be billing based on either word count or page count (depends on the document), rather than on the number of hours I worked on it. Since I have a day job, LOST obsession, and a hint of a social life, the usual pricing basis will not be fair. Anyway, I added document or manuscript typing to widen my market. I would probably do a bit of editing as I type anyway.

So I created a website on Google Sites, because it is free and it is convenient (I am using my other GMail account for the business). It's a decent site - frankly, Microsoft Publisher can do better - but it works. The site is almost complete; I only need to complete my bio and to figure out how to make the file upload page work and secure for my customers. Check it out, if you'd like.

Also, a thought came to me last Saturday: Why don't I actually study editing? Simon Fraser University has a Writing and Publishing Program, which is based in the City of Vancouver. There is a Certificate in Editing program, but all applicants need to complete Editors and Editing: An Introduction. So I registered for the online course, which starts on July 1st (a.k.a. Canada Day) and should be completed after four months. I hope I get to finish all the requirements so I can apply to the Certificate program. And for $420, I'd better!

Now, I need customers. So, if you need someone to polish your work, then let me know. Pricing is on the website, and you'll find it cheap and reasonable.

And, oh, this feels so much like Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother's Season 4 finale ("The Leap"). Although the field is still architecture, teaching is an entirely different career. With the help of his friends, he took the metaphorical leap and left the architectural practice to teach. My situation is different, but the action is the same: I also took the metaphorical leap by moonlighting as a freelance editor and by studying editing. I actually remember telling my old boss (from the one that laid off the entire Burnaby finance department) that I want to go into the literary/publishing field. Ten months after, I finally made good on that statement. Let's hope I become successful enough so I only have to work part-time as an accountant. Hehehe...

iTunes Hates LOST and Fringe

Of course, I'm exaggerating. (The title is also a parody of the way some publications sensationalize news items.)

But downloading LOST Season 5 and Fringe Season 1 from the Canadian iTunes Store has been very frustrating!

It's been more than a week since I bought LOST S5 and Fringe S1, but I still haven't been able to download both the HD and Standard Definition versions. I keep getting this error message:

Unable to check for available downloads. The network connection timed out.

Make sure your network settings are correct and your connection is active, then try again.

So, I did. Still doesn't work. I tried every kind of troubleshooting I know and the ones that iTunes Support suggested, but nothing has worked so far. I even tried buying and downloading songs and applications, and then attempting to download the episodes, but it has not worked.

Most recently, I tried buying How I Met Your Mother's Season 4 finale ("The Leap," because I relate to it) to see if it works. As of 8:15am, both the HD and SD versions are downloading nicely and steadily.

Crap.

I just thought of this: It could be the amount of time it will take to download the HD and SD versions of LOST S5 and Fringe S1. HIMYM's Season 4 finale will take approximately three hours to download; that's just the HD version of one episode. Think of how long 78 episodes (one SD for each HD episode) will take. Nonetheless, I should have been able to download the episodes, even if it takes forever.

*Sigh* I wish iTunes Store would just refund the amount I paid for the order, so I can retry it.