Expand Your Life

I may have taken the week off from writing for spring break, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t out trying new things to write about on my blog! My new thing for this week was simple: I finally went on a “real” spring break. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been on spring break before. However, these spring breaks often constitued a shortened stay with dull parents and grim weather. Usually I opt out of the “college spring break” to either save money or work. This year was my chance to go to the spring break hotspot: Panama City, Florida.

I had never been to Panama City before, although I had heard a lot about it from friends. A huge group of friends and I (seventeen to be exact) booked a magnificent beach house one block from the beach in this classic beach town. The house was three stories and had two balconies, including a sun deck. There was a pool in the backyard and multiple bedrooms and bathrooms. We were vacationing in style, even if there were five people sleeping in each bedroom (air mattresses helped somewhat).

The weather was beautiful. The beach was sunny and the ocean was sparkling. Each day we would pack our beach bags and head to the beach until dark. Let me just tell you: there is nothing better than lazing around with your best friends all day and playing football and frisbee in the sand. The beach was filled with fellow spring-breakers and we even made a few new friends to share in our daily excursions. I can definitely see how Panama City can be classified as somewhat crazy. There were people everywhere. Advertisements for events and things to do flashed in every direction. Even the rainy days were fun; we spent them shopping at unique island gift shops and watching movies at our house. We were even lucky enough to go to a free Kenny Chesney concert on the beach one afternoon outside of Club La Vela! Talk about a new experience! The crowd of anxious students on spring break excitedly cheering for top country star with the beach in the background was an unforgettable atmosphere. From the restaurant we went to that was shaped like a boat to the long walks we took past the endless array of hotels, the entire trip was a unique experience. I now know what it’s like to have a ”real” spring break and have a new appreciation for that week-long vacation in the spring when I hear the words “Panama City” uttered.

With midterms and papers this week, I was so busy that I didn’t have time for much else. Therefore, I decided to make my ”new thing” be going out to eat at a new restaurant for a study break. My pick? The Last Resort. I’ve always wanted to go there, but can never stomach the long wait. This time I decided to be tough and wait it out.

I went with two of my best friends, one who has eaten there before and the other who has not. Upon entering the restaurant, I was immediately impressed by the somewhat eclectic decor. The restaurant had a quaint yet hip feeling. The inside was dimly lit and the tables close together; however, each table felt like it was in a world of its own. Down a few steps led to a separate room with more tables and the bar, which displayed impressive varieties of alcohol.

We were sat at a table on the side. The waitress was incredibly knowledgeable, as she was able to list what side dishes go best with what and had an extensive knowledge of wines. I ordered the crab cakes with mashed potatoes and asparagus. I was so hungry that the food seemed to take forever. However, once it finally came out, it was well worth the wait. Not only was the service good, the food was fabulous. I could have probably eaten five of those crab cakes instead of just two. The asparagus was tender and the mashed potatoes delicious. My friends, who had ordered steak and crab cakes, respectively, also relished their plates. For great food, the prices were reasonably within a college student’s budget. I wouldn’t be able to dine there every night, but it is a wonderful idea for the occasional night I want a little something more than fast food. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience that I would recommend to anyone.

This past weekend the Edelman Digital Bootcamp was held at UGA. I decided to make shooting a video and putting it on Youtube my ”new thing” for the week. Well, maybe I should say attempt putting a video on Youtube. The process proved to be quite tedious and difficult, much to my dismay.

Sadly, I had never even operated a true video camera before. I have a very nice digital camera that is capable of taking decent videos and even better pictures. However, for the bootcamp, a university camera was provided. After a quick tutorial, I was on my own. I attended a seminar on tactic and strategy, presented by Monte Lutz. I tried to pretend like I was a professional journalist trying to capture the essence of the lecture. I tried strategically stop and record his speech at the right times. I played with the zoom and practiced holding the camera steady. Once I decided I had filmed a pretty good amount of content, it was time to put the video on Youtube.

This was supposed to be the ”easy part.” Little did I know, it was going to be an incredibly frustrating endeavor. The first thing that went wrong was that the cord to connect the camera to the computer would not fit in my computer’s USB port; it would only fit a Mac. After much scrounging around, I finally found someone with aMac who was willing to let me use it. After the video finally downloaded, I began trying to edit it.

The editing program was confusing and difficult to use. After spending much time creating a title screen, cutting out unwanted clips, and playing with transitions, I was ready to save. The computer had other plans. It decided it didn’t want to save, and forced me to exit the program. Thus, downloading attempt number two began. I sat throught the eight-minute video once again and waited for it to download. Once it finished, I tried to save it immediately. No such luck. After the third time of downloading the video, it finally appeared to save. I gave up on editing it and tried to just go ahead and put it on Youtube. I was exhilirated to find that the video was the only thing the browser wouldn’t let me click on to upload (please catch my sarcasm!). I clicked on another saved item that appeared to be the video, only it was the wrong clip. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway, because Youtube never finished uploading it. I finally had to call it a day. As I was leaving, someone asked what I had learned about uploading videos to Youtube. My reply? Make sure you have a lot of time and patience!