This series of What’s In Your Bag? has contributors opening up their own tech bags and sharing with the world actual devices that they regularly use within their own blogging and professional lives from various backgrounds all over the world. The hope is that we can give you guys some great insight into some useful tools that we already are using in the day to day.
You want to know what’s in my bag?
Okayyyy, but remember…you asked for it.
Cause I’m like the church tech version of Mary Poppins—my bag is bottomless, ya’ll.
- 13″ MacBook (early 2008) This museum piece is no longer produced by Apple, but it still does the job for me. I’m currently rocking a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM and just upgraded to OS X Lion back in May.
- 32 GB iPhone 5 on AT&T This is only my second iPhone, and I love it. I always get the 32 GB model because I have such a huge music collection (22 GB), but lately, I’ve been toying with “iPhone minimalism.” More on this later.
- MacBook MagSafe Power Adapter with Wall Adapter, Extension Cord, and Quirky PowerCurl What’s a MacBook without power, am I right? And with the PowerCurl, I can keep it all together in style. In fact, I can honestly say that the PowerCurl is one of my favorite tech purchases I’ve ever made.
- iPhone 5 Lighting Cable w/ Wall Charger and Apple EarbudsI know I’m a huge Apple fan, but the Lightning cable is really a lot faster than the USB. I noticed the speed increase right away. Now, the really perceptive among you might ask why I don’t have the EarPods that come with every iPhone 5. Short answer: they broke. I have a problem with Apple ear-based audio products wherein the right channel always breaks. I haven’t had this problem with other headphones. It just must be something about how I use them versus how they were made. Either way, I’m using my generous wife’s new earbuds that came with her iPhone 4S while she keeps her 3GS earbuds.
- Cocoon GRID-IT Organizer containing a 4 GB USB drive, a mini-composition notebook, a pen from a hotel, an Apple Mini-DVI to S-Video/RCA dongle, a USB extender, and the cable/charger for my Kindle Keyboard I can’t remember where I saw the GRID-IT, but it was featured on one of the Mac blogs I follow. I absolutely love it! My wife wanted me to buy a larger one, but I’m prone to change bags on a whim so I wanted one that would fit in most bags. The USB drive is used a file transfer backup when I’m not getting the speed out of the network I’m on. The notebook and pen are also backups. I never want to be anywhere without a writer’s most basic tools.The adapter was a gift from a friend who got one with his new MacBook Pro a few years ago. It gets used a lot more than one might think, given its age. The USB extender is just one of those things I just happen to have. And of course, the Kindle charger does exactly what it says on the tin.
- Kindle Keyboard with BUILT Neoprene Sleeve I love my Kindle! It makes reading fun, and it’s about to get a ton more use thanks to ClippingsConverter! My BUILT Sleeve is my preferred way to keep my Kindle secure. They don’t manufacture this case anymore, but it was much cheaper than some of the fancier alternatives and just as good.
- Fake Moleskine notebook with a Paper Mate InkJoy pen I love notebooks and pens! I’m definitely a writer by calling and a blogger by profession. I have about two dozen notebooks filled with poems, essays, etc., and I have about a dozen or so more waiting. I haven’t been doing a lot of writing by hand over the past two years. That’s when my iPhone sort of took over as my main writing tool. I’m trying to reverse that now. And though I love notebooks, I’m not a real snob. I’ll float from Moleskine, to imitators, to composition notebooks. However, I am a snob about pens. My current favorite are the Paper Mate InkJoys. They are fantastic!
- IKEA notebook with an assortment of makers and a pen I use this notebook for diagramming, charting, brain-dumping, etc. It has nice, thick pages that allow me to use pens or markers or both, depending on what I need. I bought it at the IKEA in Schaumburg, Illinois last June, but as of now, I can only find it online in Russia.
- Non-Digital Reading I don’t usually read more than two books at a time, but right now, I’m churning through three. (I always have one book going on my Kindle, and they come and go quickly.) As far as physical books are concerned, I’m reading The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee and The Good Life by Trip Lee. Both books are fantastic. I’ve never read Watchman Nee before, so I’m intrigued by his unique look at theology. I’m not sure I agree with him completely, but I’m definitely being challenged. (As for the book’s condition, I’m borrowing it from my grandma. It’s not a newer printing.) Trip Lee’s book is a much simpler read, but it might also end up being much more useful for me as I might just use it for a sermon/small group series in my youth group. Basically, it presents the gospel simple and yet systematically. Can’t get much better than that! I always have a few books with me because you never know when, in the midst of a tech project, when you’ll have a long wait time. It’s good to always be productive, right?
What’s in your bag?
[…] written before about how I have a Cocoon GRID-IT in my laptop bag, which I use for keeping various cords and adapters handy, and this easy bit of prep did come in […]