New Layout

If you're reading this, you've probably noticed that my blog has a new look. I think the whole sliding-transparent-content-area-over-a-picture-of-wood-planks thing was getting a little old. Let me know what you think about it in the comments!

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Birthday.

So I'm turning 17 today. I've got an amazing dinner planned, with roasted garlic lemon chicken, heavenly homemade biscuits, and chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Yum.

You may recall last year's birthday post:

I'm not doing anything that spectacular this year, but it's been a great day so far. Today's tea was a custom blended peach-lemon black tea from designatea.com. Really good stuff, I enjoyed it immensely. I also spent some time watching hilarious youtube videos, and incessantly playing "Happy Birthday to ME" on the piano. So I'm happy.

How's your day been so far?

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Tea.

No, Isaiah, I'm not a hipster. But I love tea. I have a twelve ounce mug of the stuff every single day. Chai, black, oolong, green, white, I enjoy it all.

What's this? My free tea sample from DesignATea.com arrived today! I'm excited! twitter.com/sethmeyers96/s…
— sɹǝʎǝɯ ɥʇǝs (@sethmeyers96) March 11, 2013

There's something awesome about a hot cup of tea at about 11:00 in the morning. I manage to stretch it out for about an hour, savoring its complex flavors while doing my schoolwork. It contains a little less caffeine than coffee, so something like Chai is a great coffee alternative if you have to go low-caffeine. And I like the whole process of heating the water, measuring out the leaves, and waiting for it to steep.

If you're looking for a great place to get some tea, check out designatea.com. They offer delicious custom tea blends for very reasonable prices. And no, this post is not a paid advertisement.


If you feel trouble brewing, or your temper is beginning to boil, you can usually solve most of your problems by spending a half hour over a cup of hot tea. It's sure to stimulate your creativitea, bring about a sense of tranquilitea, and inspire some originalitea. I guarantea it. (I couldn't resist sticking that in there. My apologies.)

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*UPDATED* Windows 8

I got the opportunity to get Windows 8 Pro on my computer for $15.81 instead of the usual $199. So that's what I'm doing right now. I will put my first impressions, etc. on this post. Here we go!

Installation Process:

Installation was as easy as a 2gb download and a few questions. Microsoft has made Windows 8 much more fluid and behind-the-scenes than Windows 7. The whole process took around an hour. After restarting a few times, Windows greeted me simply with the word "Hi." in the middle of the screen. I thought that was a nice touch. It did a quick, 15-20 second tutorial on how to get around in the new UI, and after that I was off to the races. 

UI & Experience:

I know I've criticized Windows 8 before for being too separated, as if you were running two different OS's at the same time. But this seems to be working quite fluidly. It carries the square, sharp-edged motif past the new start screen and it overflows into the desktop.

UPDATE:

Wow. I have to say, after using this for a while, it is truly beautiful. There is nothing superfluous or bulky about the Windows 8 interface. Very clean, very slick, and it's easy to use once you get the hang of it. I've heard some people complain about moving around in the Start Screen and its assortment of apps, because they think that since there is no touch interface to drag with, you have to click and drag with the mouse. Nope. Use the scroll wheel. It works quite nicely. 

Start Screen:

The collection of apps is very nice as well. For instance, right now I have my weather, Engadget feed (a must-have), Netflix, Youtube, and Google Search right there. It's like using widgets in Android. All your info is right there in front of you. Everything I need is just a click away. I might actually end up using the Start Screen more than the Desktop... 

More to come soon!

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