update from Western Mass

I just hopped on Rachel's desktop with the friendly and fast cable connection for this morning's update and email check.   :)  

This weekend has been really mellow but nice.  Rachel had to work for most of yesterday :( so my Dave and I spent Saturday keeping her Dave awake when we all really should have been taking naps to recover from the Friday night wine and tequila extravaganza. :)  (I managed a catnap during a coversation about baseball or something...)  Rachel is a massage therapist at a local spa.  We went to school together at the Swedish Institute in NY a couple of years ago.   I was at the top of the class.  She barely passed Assessment. (I was her practical partner during the final and it pained me when she stressed out and couldnt answer the questions.)  She's still massaging.   I fell back into the office.  Im a little jealous of the life, I have to admit.  Her Dave works at a bank as a commerical lender.  Their rent is $750/month for 1/2 a house (basically a large 1 br apt plus a second floor with a guest room and another room used as the indoor smoking/ mini library and picture storage room)  Im already fantasizing about life where the I can massage again, in a place where the rent is normal, where I can have a squash-growing sized garden, and maybe (just maybe) I can come home and Dave will be there instead of miles and miles away on a slow and expensive train.

Since Rachel doesn't have wifo, I've been running off of EVDO for most of the weekend.  I was able to hop on some unsecured wireless connections at the diner yesterday and at the coffee shop last night.  Viewership jumped immediately.  People dont have much patience for shitty connections and I dont blame them.  I applaude the 25 base that stuck it out through Trivial Pursuit last night.  In case you missed it, Team Ustream kicked Team Nekos ass (Dave Dave and Lisa--Rachel wasnt feeling well and was napping)...which in turn booted Team JTV down to last place.   Fun stuff even if we did get sleepy towards the end.   But I have to say it's a real bummer when the signal is so weak that we have to read the questions over 3-5 times due to cut outs.   I can see newbie's are unhappy when i get the 1 out of 5 star rating on Ustream.  That and the 24/7 broadcast does not lead itself to action packed drama all of those 24 hours.  I understand.  Believe me!

I was emailing with a viewer about how webcasting is boring to watch.  And I will hands down agree that watching my webcast passively all day long is probably not the best idea for exciting one's neurons.    But, Im hoping people will get involved...get to know the other viewers in the chatrooms...read my journal, see my pictures, come to my "shows" and generally get to know me.   I see the 24/7 webcast as a social hang out...a coffee shop.  You walk in, grab a coffee, say hello, see what going on.   If theres something fun to watch or your friends are around and interacting (me or other viewers that you know) hang out, if not, stretch and check back later.  The 24/7 webcast is a COMPLETELY different beast than the the "show" format or event the semi-continuous broadcast.   Viewers have to have more to come back for besides what is going on RIGHT NOW on the stream.  A successful 24/7 webcast has to have a strong community, strong traditional website content, and a compelling stream at the same time.  That's my mindset right now and i think that compelling content is different for everyone.  I am still working out what I need to do with my own webcast (around workcast all day-poo) to make it compelling for me (cause if i get bored, it's all off) and for others.  I have ideas, but they are slow to come about due to my limited time to do anything these days.   And cash.     

Which brings me to my next topic: Paypal.  After much deliberation and debate and polls, I opened a Paypal account this last Friday.  I plan to post the icon this week.   I have plans and fun projects in the works, but I know that my credit card is not going to be able to handle them all.   I am not asking for a handout.   I work a full time job and have spent about $3,000 of my own funds to create what I've done so far.   I'm asking for a tip if you like the programming.  A donation to the cause.  Yes, if for some reason I received 3500$/ month in donations, I might consider getting  part time job (yay, massaging again!) which would free up more time for the webcast.  And TIME is an essential part of the project that I am seriously lacking now and I consider it one of the most important resources along with computers and cameras and "props".   But Im not asking anyone to pay for my life while I stow away in a apartment.   THAT concept is 90's camgirl, and while I do not judge it or anyone who whose income stream comes for that model (in fact I have some wonderful friends who do just that!), I  PERSONALLY am not comfortable with it.  And I dont expect that $3,500 is something that will ever come about.  Anyway, expect this icon on the JTV site and know my reasoning behind it and let others know why Im doing it.  I am expecting negativity with this decision even as the polls showed much support.    

Well, my Dave has crawled out of bed and is impatiently waiting to pee.  He's sitting on the step and he just farted!  He's proud of the loud rip and is laughing right now.  Rachel just beat him into the bathroom and is enjoying a shower.  I borrowed her Dr. Bronner (?) soap yesterday and I think Im converted.   Alright, off to check email.  (TOOT!  goes Dave's ass)