Sunday, May 4, 2008

Blog-ops in May

Recent events have come together nicely that should result in excellent blogging opportunities for the editorial staff at jtChatter:

(1) Our technical writing team finished the book they've been working on for many months, Robin Williams Cool Mac Apps, Third Edition: 12 apps to enhance creativity and productivity. The book went to press last Friday and should be on bookstore shelves by the end of May.

CMA3e_cover.jpg


(2) Several interesting trips have been scheduled, including Chicago (May 6th), Los Angeles (May 13th), Nicaragua (May 23), and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, (May 30th).

In Chicago, a special dinner event has been created by ChicaGourmet on Tuesday evening. Robin gives a Mary Sidney presentation at the famed Newberry Library on the evening of the 7th, and on Thursday evening we get to attend a production of Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier.

Robin travels to Los Angeles on the 13th for several events, including a presentation at the Beverly Hills Library, a UCLA Affiliates presentation, a Book Club luncheon, and a reception.

The Nicaragua trip came about while having dinner with friends John G. and Marcia — Mac-pals who, like me, are intrigued with digital photography, video, and the power of video editing and DVD authoring. Marcia lives and works most of the year in Nicaragua, and they suggested that I come down with John G. on his next trip.

So, John G. and I are stocking up on cameras, lenses, and video supplies so we can spend a week shooting in Granada, a city near Lake Nicaragua. We have plans to throw together a movie/slideshow on a DVD, starring the local people and scenery, then give an outdoor movie presentation (projected on a sheet) in the neighborhood streets where Marcia lives on one of our last nights there.

That inspired another trip. Robin had the idea that she and I should meet in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, when I leave Nicaragua, and spend several days there. When we told our friend Elizabeth our plans, she, being a frequent San Miguel visitor from way back, jumped on board with her friend Boris. Meanwhile, pals John G. and Marcia, who had made plans to go to Oaxaca after the Nicaragua trip, decided "Hey, why are we going to Oaxaca when the party is in San Miguel?" So, on May 30th, John G., Marcia, and I are flying from Managua, Nicaragua to Leon, Mexico, where we'll arrange transportation to San Miguel de Allende (just about an hour from Leon), where we'll meet Robin, Elizabeth, and Boris, who will have arrived several days earlier.

Don't be surprised if our entourage grows even larger in San Miguel. Elizabeth has serious party connections.