One Word 2016

It's time again to choose a word to help inspire and motivate me for 2016. For 2014 I chose the word Adventure, and I actually was adventurous that year (as you can see from that year's Mayfly Project entry).  My word for 2015 was Create, and I failed miserably at that. I created next to nothing, with the exception of a few Christmas cards, and I was lucky to get them done! I actually spent most of 2015 in doctor's offices finding out what was wrong with me (final diagnosis: degenerative arthritis bilaterally in shoulders, wrists/hands, hips, pelvis, and knees), and getting treatment that works consistently enough for me to be able to get back to exercising regularly, and actually looking forward to doing stuff again.

Last week I visited the One Word 365 website for inspiration, and came up with a few words I've been contemplating: Enjoy, Simplify, and Go. Each word has meaning for me: Enjoy - obviously to encourage me to enjoy my life more; Simplify - something I've been working on all of 2015 and plan to continue this year; and Go - simply put: Go somewhere and do something.

So after much consideration, I have decided that my word for 2016 is (drum roll, please!):

Continue reading "One Word 2016" »


Legacybox Unboxing

Well, I was pretty excited to receive my Legacybox Saturday, and planned to do a quick video showing you all what comes in the box and how Legacybox works (with plans for a follow up unboxing once I received my stuff back!). BUT, as has been the case lately, my computer's web camera, which was suddenly there yesterday afternoon after being MIA for a week or so, decided to vanish again today, so you're all stuck with a blog post with photos instead.

le sigh!

Anyway, in a nutshell, Legacybox is an awesome service where you send them some of your old-school stuff like photos, negatives, filmstrips, audio and/or video cassettes, and they will convert them into a digital format. I have recently been trying to reduce the clutter in my house, and one way was to convert my hundreds of film negatives to digital using the VuPoint converter. It's pretty cool, but for me at least, it was a frustrating and time consuming process. I had a lot of trouble getting negative images to save to the mini SD card, and sometimes I ended up with three or four copies of one image, and zero copies of others. I'm sure it was just operator error, but it was still more than I felt like dealing with on my weekends, so I did some more web searching, and found Legacybox. Problem solved!

They have four different box sizes depending on how much stuff you have to convert. I chose the Collection box, which is $375.00, and will cover 375 negatives (or a combination of other things; right now I'm only concerned with the negatives!). I'm hoping that will just about cover all the negatives I've held on to over the years! I have always been a prolific photographer, and before the digital cameras came about, all I had was film. I started taking pictures in the mid- to late-70s with my Kodak 110, later moving to a Konica 35mm and a Ricoh automatic 35mm in the 80s, before discovering (and being able to afford) digital cameras in the late 90s. So, I have a LOT of negatives!

Legacy1

The box itself measures 17" x 12" x 6 1/2", and contains two interior boxes which measure about 8" x 11" x 5 3/4", and comes with a pre-paid return shipping label for FEDEX. You also get a Welcome Card, Reference Card, and an Order Card which I will return with my negatives.

Legacy3

So, now all I need to do is grab 375 negatives, put them in the interior boxes, tape it up, slap the label on, and drop it off at my local FEDEX place, or I can even drop it at the Post Office, which is probably what I will end up doing.

Legacy5

 Despite knowing I had a lot of negatives, I was surprised at the actual amount. After loading up with 375 negatives (and I'm hoping I did it correctly!), I found I still have 126 negatives left! These are mostly shots for the photography classes I took in college, and therefore only have one or two pictures worth saving per strip, unlike my vacation and holiday ones where I want everything! So, I will deal with the remaining negatives myself.

Legacy6

 I love that Legacybox includes a checklist so I could make sure I had everything I needed, and will keep this card on my bulletin board until I receive my digital copies and original negatives back. Once I see that the images are okay, I plan to shred the negatives and be done with them forever!

Legacy7

 

Legacy2

So, there you have it! I'm dropping my Legacybox off to the post office tonight after my workout, and in about four weeks or so I should have my smaller, more convenient digital copies! I'm very excited about it, and I look forward to showing you all exactly how it all works out! For now, have a great Monday and a wonderful week! Cheers!