add podcasts to your creative zen player

I used to use the media manager tool that creative supplied, but I think it’s easier to just use windows explorer. (this works in vista as well, but I’ll explain XP here)
1) get to your iTunes podcasts folder in one instance of explorer:
mine is at: C:\Documents and Settings\myNameHere\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Podcasts

2) open the zen in another instance of explorer
mine is at: My Computer\My Zen

3) drag a podcast mp3 file to your zen (for example My Computer\My Zen\Storage Media\Music\stocks)

4) open a playlist by clicking on it
(look in My Computer\My Zen\Storage Media\My Playlists)

5) from the zen explorer, drag a file into a playlist.

I think this is a lot faster than using the creative supplied tool, but I’m glad they supplied us with it.

Poetic calendar

I’m trying a new way to schedule projects, and I’m calling it “poetic calendar”, because the dates aren’t numbers, they’re images. Or seasons. For example, I’m trying to finish a piece of a project I’m working on before my forsythia bushes bloom. And I want a beta version of the entire package done before the dogwoods bloom.

So the good news is, it’s hard to get depressed about being late because how can you be late when you’re competing with a flowering forsythia? And also, when you associate your project with a living icon, then I think it tricks your mind into working more productively. At least I hope so.

The bad news is, can you imagine what your boss or your accounting department is going to say when you say their project will be built before first frost?

		Goal
Maple sap runs
Forsythia in full bloom
Crocus in bloom
Plum
Dogwood
Cherry
Blackberry
ripe dewberries
wild blackberries
Iris
Hydrangea
Day Lilies
Black Eyed Susan
Coneflower
first ripe tomato
ripe peach
harvest moon
Sugar maple peak colors
first frost
first snow in mountains
pumpkins
Thanksgiving
Rockefeller Square Christmas tree
Winter