Year In Review: 2008

I know, this is a little late, but… on our trip down to visit family in Ohio, all seven of us compiled a list of the best things we could remember from 2008. (OK, maybe not too much from Emma…)

This is what we came up with: (in no particular order, except for the first one!) πŸ™‚

  • Emma Caroline was born! – Mar 13, 2008
  • Started working for Apple – first selling computers, then training people to get more out of them
  • Jen started working for IBPS (in her spare) time) πŸ˜‰
  • Ian turned 10!!!!
  • Celebrated 5 years of owning our house. (Well, 5 years of paying a mortgage anyway…)
  • The Vs Moved Away πŸ™ (This was a pretty big event for us in 2008, too!)
  • Greg’s sister and family moved to Clarence – much closer!
  • Got our first membership to Strong Children’s Museum
  • Made the decision to completely stop using credit cards. So far so good.
  • Got a new computer!
  • (and Madden 08!) πŸ˜‰ … seriously, that was a major part of 2008 for Alex, Ian … and Dad πŸ˜‰
  • Went to a couple Bills games – Lions, Chargers
  • 4th season of Buffalo Bills Review: featured shows with Steve Christie, Jerry Sullivan, Donte Whitner, Tom Calderone, and added some Ball Burglar friends
  • Didn’t go to Ohio to visit family! Crazy!! (Did get there on 1/1/09… πŸ˜‰
  • basic: sang with Scott & Leah at ABY Convention, but not much else! Was a quiet year!
  • Kirstie made friendship bread! πŸ™‚
  • Enjoyed watching: Psych, Monk, and the BUFFALO SABRES
  • President Obama (not really a Campbell family thing, but was a big event from 2008…)
  • Leaped a Year! πŸ™‚
  • Sabres weren’t in the playoffs, Bills weren’t either, but the UB BULLS ARE! πŸ™‚
  • Boys played baseball and soccer!! (And were awesome!)
  • Went to our first Amerks game!!!
  • Watched the Summer Olympics: Diving, Running (Track & Field)
  • Kept various friends children for a few days at a time

And that was our 2008! πŸ™‚

Music Added to our Library in 2008

And, just for fun… been listening to our “Added in 2008” playlist the last could days. Here’s a sample of some of the music we added to our collection in the calendar year 2008. (Again, random order.)

  • Chris Tomlin: Hello Love
  • Santana: The Anthology
  • Wings: Wings Greatest
  • Derek Webb: The Ringing Bell
  • Chris Rice: Short Term Memories
  • Paul McCartney: Give My Regards to Broadstreet
  • Sixpence None The Richer: My Dear Machine EP
  • Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken: Ampersand
  • Alex Mejias: Alex Mejias
  • Michael Jackson: Thriller (with video!) πŸ™‚
  • Watermark: The Purest Place
  • Sandra McCracken: Gravity | Love

And some other stuff, too. πŸ™‚

University at Buffalo – BOWL GAME!

UB BullsI am actually an alumnus of three different universities. All undergrad. All within four years after completing high school. That’s kinda strange, but does give me a few teams to root for.

One of those is playing in a bowl game today!

At 1:00pm on ESPN2, you can see the UB Bulls take on UConn (do they have a football team?) in the International Bowl (I think) up in Toronto, Canada. (What is it with Buffalo teams playing in Canada???)

UB actually is not only competitive this year… they’re pretty good! We’ll be rooting them on here.

Also, as a little piece of trivia… way back in the spring of 1994, the UB football team roster included this name: Greg Campbell.

It’s true! But I gave up my career in football to pursue a degree from Cincinnati Bible College and helping people learn to live with Jesus. That’s been an interesting ride! Not what I would have expected. But, I definitely wouldn’t change anything.

I just might be picturing me out there catching passes in the UB blue today… πŸ™‚

No Steve Jobs = No Fun?

Today at 1pm EDT, Apple fans all around the world will be tracking the always greatly anticipated announcements to come from the keynote presentation at the annual Macworld Convention and Expo in San Francisco, CA. But this year, the keynote will be a bit different. And perhaps less highly anticipated than usual?

No Steve Jobs.

This year, one of the most famous CEOs on the planet will not be presenting the reports on Apple’s progress, the new products, and he most certainly won’t be uttering his now-famous line, “One more thing…” Does that mean Apple will not be announcing any new products of any significance? Is it just because this is the last Macworld that Apple will be attending?

Will it still be FUN????

Seriously. This day just after Christmas has been just as big (and fun) as any holiday for Apple fans around the globe. It used to be even more, but Apple has begun announcing product updates and releases much more on their own schedule, and throughout the calendar year over the past several years. They have already diminished the significance of the first Tuesday in January, but … still…

My thought is that it’s a little bit of everything. Life changes. Obviously, Apple has decided that the big trade show/convention deal is not in their best interest. (Even one with their name in it!) So, that is a change. Eventually, Steve Jobs will move on from Apple. That will be a change. Life is change.

Today, I, along with Apple fans all over the world, will be following along (as we are wont to do) as Apple moves forward. A bit unceremoniously (last Macworld keynote… no Steve Jobs…) but I’m sure to more FUN in the future. πŸ™‚

I may have a report here later regarding whatever “FUN” Apple announces today.

[NOTE: I am writing this as a fan of Apple, not as an employee of Apple, Inc. I have no special knowledge, or inside information on products or personnel or anything of the sort. So don’t ask.] πŸ™‚

Macworld 2009: Some Pretty Cool Updates

Well, the keynote is over, and the announcements have been made (iLife ’09, iWork ’09, iWork.com, new 17″ MacBook Pro, and even a DRM-free iTunes!) And while there was no Steve… there were some pretty neat things.

Check out the extensive video tutorials for both iWork ’09 and iLife ’09. Some really amazing new features in iLife like face recognition, amazing integration of geo-tagging, and a greatly improved iMovie app.

No time to go in depth here, but definitely worth the upgrade. Both iWork and iLife are $30 off through April 20 with the purchase of a new Mac. And you can buy a Mac Box Set (Leopard, iLife 09, and iWork 09) for $169. (That’s a really good deal, actually.)

Come by my Apple store and check it out! πŸ™‚

Not Relaxed

I never feel relaxed. Ever. I have been noticing this for a while now. It’s rather disturbing, actually.

I can’t pinpoint the exact reason(s) for it, but mainly it stems from the fact that I never complete anything. I always feel like there are 7 other things I need to be doing at any point in time. I bet some other people feel that way, but I wonder if they really do have that many other things they need to be doing? I am beginning to feel quite alone in that way.

Not sure what can possibly change. We have expenses, and we need income. My seven (plus) endeavors don’t bring in enough money (individually, or cumulatively), so I continue to seek out more sources of income.

“It’s a bad economy,” you might say. And some do. And, to an extent, it is. But the “bad economy” is not personally affecting me. This is just how it has always been for me. I’m not good at making money. I’m very good at everything I do, but not good at translating that into a fair wage. Which… is frustrating.

So, I continue to work insane hours and days… and I am tired, and my family is tired (from not having me around much). It’s an endless cycle it seems.

We are investigating a few potential new sources of income. Hoping they will bring enough money for time invested so that bills can be paid, maybe hours can be used differently, and maybe… perhaps… I can ever relax?

Not sure about that. That might be more of a condition of my heart. But whatever it is, it’s no fun. Not at all.

I just needed to say all that. If I ever learn anything from it that’s helpful… I’ll share it here. For now, I’ll just keep feeling not relaxed.

"Surprise" Guest on This Week in Tech

Geordi La ForgeI often listen to podcasts while I work (at my home office), and frequently, they are produced by twit.tv. This afternoon, I began listening to the latest episode of the main show, This Week In Tech (TWIT), and there was a surprise guest… Geordi La Forge! πŸ™‚

Didn’t know he was so much of a tech guy. AND, a Mac guy! Very nice. Knew I liked him… πŸ˜‰

Speaking of Inaugurations…

Hulu has over a dozen of the most recent presidential inauguration speeches uploaded to their site (Eisenhower’s was the oldest one). Pretty cool to watch history like that. Unedited, uninterpreted. But looking back after we know the outcome. It was the present – speaking of the future – when they were giving those speeches. Pretty fascinating.

Here’s a link to the page with all of the speeches:
hulu.com/inaugural-speeches