Inside the Mind of Suz

As someone who has run fan sites for a decade, and also is obsessed with their smartphone, being able to take video and put it on my device is extremely crucial. I think I just aged myself again! DOH!

I mean, how often do you see a video on YouTube and wish you could have it on your phone for easy viewing any time you like? Probably a lot, right? There are a lot of browser add-ons and tools that can help you download video, in various forms, but what happens when you want to move said files to your iDevice? (I’m going to concentrate on Apple since a lot of people, even if they have a Blackberry/Android phone, also own an iPod) iTunes probably tells you to pump your breaks and try again. Am I right?

Well, this is where the fine folks at ImTOO’s iPod Movie Converter comes in handy. I’ve actually used ImTOO products before, specifically their comprehensive Video Converter, and they are legit. The iPod Movie Converter will not only take your downloaded video and convert it to an iPod-friendly format, but it will also transfer it to your device for you, if you so desire! Easy peasy, right?

So, if you have a collection of downloaded TV shows, cat videos, movies, or anything lying around your computer, but would like to have them on your mobile iDevice, I’d give the ImTOO iPod Movie Converter a shot. Who doesn’t like multimedia tasks being made a little bit easier? Exactly. I’m pretty sure even my parents could use this, and that’s saying something!

I had no idea that Obama could sing! Not only do I love Al Green “Let’s Stay Together”, but he sang it so well. Nicely done, Mr. President. I only wish he’d sung a little bit more!

ETA: The President has received such a positive response from this that you can now download it as a ringtone for your phone!

DISCLAIMER: I typically steer clear of politics/religion on here, not because I don’t have beliefs and ideas, but because I’m aware a lot of different groups visit and I don’t want to be too polarizing. This is a happy and positive place (for the most part LOL). Just a personal decision. So, don’t think this means that I’m going political now. I’m not. This post is about music and nothing more.

Whenever winter rolls around, I always feel the need to change up whatever theme I’m using. This was especially true this year because I realized the theme I was using, Bueno, is super popular! I can’t blame my fellow bloggers. WooThemes puts out breaktaking themes and Bueno was free and wonderfully done. But I don’t like my blog looking so much like other’s. It’s harder to stand out that way!

So, behold my new theme! I added a wintery background in addition to the yearly snowfall. I like it and hope you do as well!

Enjoy!

I don’t know what it is about Basketball star commercials, but more often than not they are simply awesome! Case in point, Kobe Bryant’s latest for The Kobe System. Lots of high profile cameos were a very nice touch!

LOL at Kobe saying “you got here by accident” to Aziz Ansari. Dead.

Note: I had stopped posting about sports here because I was thinking about doing a completely separate blog for it. After a year, and not having ever set up said new blog, I returned to my senses. Not gonna happen. So my obsession with sports shall return here! Deal with it!

I waited months to upgrade my iPhone to iOS5. I’m part of the Jailbreak Nation, so I wasn’t upgrading until there was an untethered jailbreak available. I don’t want to have to connect my iDevice to my computer every time I reboot. That’s no bueno!

So, with my freshly jailbroken phone running smoothly on iOS5, I decided to go ahead and set up my free iCloud account. Pretty neat! As someone who can’t afford to jump to all Apple products, I still own a PC, and we all know those things are prone to crashes and other random malfunctions that we don’t always know the cause of.

Previously, backing up your iDevice to your computer was the best option we could muster. But what if something happens to your computer? Looks like Apple took this into consideration with the inclusion of iCloud. It now routinely backs up your iDevice to iCloud for easy syncing and restoration whenever you need it! Read more »

Remember how you used to sing along to the FreeCreditReport.com commercials? You probably know people who dressed up in pirate costumes for Halloween. Just me? Ok.

Anyway, FreeScore, a different company, has a new spot for your viewing pleasure. There’s no singing, but you don’t have to sing in a Credit Score commercial to make your point. Yes, singing is fun, but they don’t really tell you anything in those commercials. The folks at FreeScore keep it simple, but you actually know what you’re getting should you sign up with them. No nonsense folks, like me, appreciate that!

There’s a new FreeScore commercial, titled Prison Lineup. They do a good job of showing you that just one low credit score, even if your other 2 are great, can hurt you financially. It’s like it’s stealing from you. In the commercial, the customer picks out the bad score from a prison lineup. Check it out! And don’t let one outlier (criminal) score ruin your life!

Has anyone used one of the Credit Score services? I’m always tempted, but haven’t taken the plunge… yet!

This is a quick post to share my thoughts on Maybelline’s new SuperStay 14 Hr Lipstick. Before I get started, let me just say that I won’t be switching my allegiance to Maybelline from Revlon.

I was walking through Walmart looking for a specific shade of Revlon’s Lip Butters (I’m still obsessed) and spotted a Maybelline display with new products. I read about them, before-hand, so I knew what they were. I haven’t tried their StainGloss yet due to some negative reviews I’ve read. (The idea is really cool!) But I probably will as curiosity shall get the best of me!

Let me rundown the things I loved:

• The color. I picked Ravishing Rouge, which was a bright red. I lucked out because you can’t really tell from the packaging what shade you’re getting.
• The application. It went on really smooth!
• The color payoff. Very pigmented. So, if you’re looking for a toned-down look, these may not be for you.

These are kind of like my beloved Revlon Ultimate Liquid Lipstick in that you should let them set for a couple of minutes, then you’re good to go. I only had it on for a little while, but I started drinking some pop, and there was very little transfer. More than the Revlon lippie I just mentioned, but not much at all.

I want to say that these could last 14 hours, but I’d be lying because I wasn’t able to test it that long. Let me tell you why… Read more »

Last year, I publicly shared that my New Year’s resolution would be to read more. I bought a Nook Color in hopes that would help with my quest to increase my reading activities. Guess what? IT WORKED!

If you add a tech-y toy to just about any activity, I’ll probably be a little more interested in it. That’s the bait for me.

So, with that mission accomplished, I’m turning my attention to 2012 and something that can actually be attainable. It’s not practical to say your resolution is something HUGE, and then you fail and feel bad about yourself. After a few years of reasonable goals, you can start to up the ante. But to many people set themselves up for failure. I’d rather not set a New Year’s Resolution, than one so massive that I may not be able to accomplish it!

If you know me, you know I do freelance design. And since I can do that whenever I want (my own hours), I’ve tended to gravitate to “Vampire Hours”. That’s not so good. Because going to bed after 4AM usually means waking up in mid-afternoon. I know, I know. Terrible.

So, my Resolution is to get back into more “normal” hours, as I call them. Eventually I want to be waking up between 11 and noon. I know that’s still really late to most people (lol), but if I don’t have to be awake in the early AM hours, I’m not going to be!

The point is I’m going to do whatever I can to get into bed a little earlier each night until I’m able to get up at that target time. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, so why not now? Small life changes lead to more productivity and more (bigger) changes!

Here we goooooooo!

Thanks to Olga Quinn

My husband and I moved to Texas two years ago from Florida, and I was worried that it was going to be hard for me to make friends. I am really shy, and I don’t always have the easiest time in social situations. I get really nervous around new people, and sometimes just thinking about talking to strangers makes me uncomfortable. I was reluctant to leave the comfort of my hometown, but I knew that it would be better for my family’s future. I was shocked when we first moved into our home and our neighbors were so friendly. People really embraced us and tried their best to show us the ropes of our new town. One of our neighbors told us we could get extra savings on power bills from Gexa Energy. I thought it was really nice of her to make suggestion to our family. I’ve been invited to several neighbors’ homes for coffee and play dates for the kids too, which has made me feel at home. It’s so nice to feel like part of a community and I’m so glad that we were embraced. It has really made things so much easier on me.

…is nearly complete! I’m still on the hunt for Red Velvet, then I think I’ll be finished. Below are the shades that I own!

I wear this product, at some point in the day, every day. I really do treat it like a chapstick and my lips are in great shape as the temperatures start to dip down into the 30s.

With the exception of Tutti Frutti, the shades I own are very pigmented. They would very well, IMO, on women of color. I might have to swatch my collection because all of the swatches I saw, prior to purchase, were only on fair-skinned women. Not such a great indicator for WOC lol. Luckily, I happened to choose well! Generally, I go for the bolder colors, as a rule of thumb. It worked out for this product as well. Read more »