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Spring Fever is Busting Out All Over

Living It Up, Pictures, Ramblings No Responses »

Feb 262011

When I woke up this morning, I was faced with a fairly mundane Saturday. I was going to do a little cleaning, spend some time learning Objective-C, work on some music, and maybe play some video games. Oh yeah, and go grocery shopping. So, I woke up at my normal time (7:30), took Luke for a walk, went over to the complex office for my weekly hot chocolate and muffin at the Saturday community breakfast. Then I came home. As I was sitting in my living room, harvesting my magic cauliflower in We Rule, I had a thought.

I don't really want to work on music in my studio as it stands right now. It's just too disorganized. There's no room for my keyboard, there are cables everywhere, and it needs a desperate cleaning.

I get like that sometimes. I can't be productive in a sloppy environment. Sometimes, when I'm on a deadline, I find it's just easier to take a few minutes to clean up my work area, get my space in order, and then get back to work. I can be more productive that way. Sometimes, however, I start on a simple clean-up project, and before you know it, it's 12 hours later, I have completely ripped apart my entire studio and rewired the whole thing, but only after making two trips to Ikea, and bribing my neighbor with a loaf of homemade bread to come over and help me move my piano.

It started like this: I have an 88-key keyboard that I use to sequence my music. For the actual piano part, I use my beautiful piano. For all the other instruments, though, I need something that's much closer to the computer. I got this keyboard years and years ago from my friend Ken, who bought it as a Christmas Present for me when my existing keyboard had been repossessed because of the bankruptcy, and I was in danger of losing about half of my meager income if I couldn't teach voice lessons from home. Ken deserves blessings forever and ever for that one act of generosity alone. (Thanks, Ken!) It's moved with me five times, and still works just as good as the day I got it. It works wonders on most of the orchestral instruments in my sampling program. And since what I'm working on is orchestral in nature, I really need to use it.

The problem with this keyboard is that it's HUGE. It's a full-sized piano keyboard. It's 55" long. And there's just no room for it in the room I'm using as my studio. When I had started working on this new song a couple of days ago, I pulled it out of the closet and got it all hooked up. The thing is a beast. But it was just sitting out in the middle of the room, one leg on the carpet, the other leg off the carpet, so it was off balance and wobbly. When it comes to working I get pretty particular about my setup, and this just wasn't working. So, in a fit of reorganizational madness, I disconnected every single piece of equipment in my studio, moved the futon out into the living room, and tried to find a way to get it to work. And I couldn't. I just didn't have the furniture for it.

I wanted to find a specialized studio desk that had a slide-out drawer long enough that I could put my keyboard on it. And I did find one. For $1500. That would have to be shipped from Indiana. For $300. And wouldn't get here for 10 days. Also, it was $1500. So that was out. Then I thought about ways that I could repurpose the furniture I had around the house. I have an old library table that has been sitting out on my patio for the last four years, that I've used to hold my container garden, but it was in pretty sad shape, and it wasn't long enough. I searched through websites of all kinds of places, and couldn't find anything that would work for what I needed and that would also allow me to fit my keyboard in the room.

Eventually, I decided that I would give Ikea a go. Unlike a certain sister of mine, I don't really like Ikea all that much. Most of their stuff is pretty crappy quality, and the cold, modern design aesthetic is starting to wear a little thin with me. But, there is no denying it. They have a LOT of crap. And cheap Swedish meatballs.

They also have these modular table systems. You can get a table top in a variety of sizes and color, and several different kinds of table legs, all of which work interchangeably. I found a table top that was the perfect size: 78" long and only 21" wide. The table top was only $40. The legs were only $3.50 each. So, I spent 30 minutes trying to get through the rest of the store to the warehouse area, found my table top and four legs, bought them, and went home. (Oh, and I got some meatballs).

I got home at about 3:30PM, and started putting together my table and I realized that I had purchased four legs, but my table top, because it was so long, needed 5 legs. So, I took Luke for another walk, then threw him back into the car for another 90 minute trip to Ikea. I went in, got my table leg, and got a hot dog and a frozen yogurt (the hot dog for me, the frozen yogurt for Luke…I should have reversed that. That dog was nasty.), and went home. Then I spent the next five hours putting my studio back together. I've rewired my studio so many times, I'm getting pretty fast at it. It used to take me a day and a half to rewire the studio. Now I can do it in five hours. Of course, it also helped that all the cables I needed were already out. I just had to untangle them from the giant wad of cables in the middle of the bedroom.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the rearranged studio:

Note that I even managed to tie most of my cables together. We'll see how long that lasts. Considering it usually lasts until the next time I buy a piece of equipment to add in, I'm guessing about 30 minutes. All in all, I am fairly pleased with my setup. It's not the custom-built studio console desk that I really want. But it also didn't cost $1800.

Oh, and eagle-eyed readers may notice something particularly disturbing in this photo. Yes, the images on the computer monitors are, in fact, generated by a Macintosh computer. That STUPID little white keyboard is an Apple product. I broke down and purchased an inexpensive Mac for learning iPhone app development. and that just happens to be the machine that I had on at the moment. It is NOT my main computer, and my utter loathing of the Mac operating system has been so permanently cemented by my experiences with this machine, that it will never be my main computer. You can't see them, but there are two computers hiding underneath the silver keyboard that will make up my main studio machine and my main personal use machine. Now the only thing I need to make my studio complete is a MUCH better office chair, some artwork in the wall, and enough drive to actually finish at least one of the myriad half-done projects sitting on my hard drive.

So, instead of doing fun stuff, I spent the day satisfying my sudden and nearly OCD-like need to rearrange my life every six months or so. I am exhausted, but I feel a little better. I just with I could get my Saturday back now.

Obligatory End Of 2010 Post

Being Existential, Pictures, Reminiscing 1 Response »

Dec 312010

Well, here we are at last. End of the year. Um. Yeah.

2010 was, by all accounts, a strange year. But in retrospect, it was a pretty good one. For me, there were really only two major events in the year that made a big impact.

1) I got a new job in June

2) I had an emotional meltdown in October over thoughtless words delivered over a pulpit.

The first item had been a long time coming, and I was fortunate to find what I believe is a pretty good fit (albeit with less-than-stellar health care. Grumble.) The second issue was indicative of a much larger and much deeper internal struggle that I’ve been dealing with for the great majority of my life.

I spent most of 2010 alone. Not in the “OMG I’m so lonely I’m going to sit in the bathtub in the dark and listen to Sarah McLaughlin while eating Rocky Road ice cream and crying” kind of way, but more in the “I enjoy being in my own company” sort of way. I spent a lot of time trying to get comfortable in my own skin. I wasn’t completely successful, but 2010 ushered in a level of self-introspective peace that was new to me.

I spent the year taking photos, playing games, watching TV and movies, reading, cooking, shopping, cleaning, working, walking the dog, programming websites, fast forwarding through commercials, and wishing for things that weren’t to be…and some that were. I watched friends and family members find joy in life, and struggle through the heartache of disappointed dreams. I was much more of a spectator than a participant in life, and I think that, overall, it was a good thing for me to step out of myself and just watch the world. I’ve learned a lot by watching this year.

I started with my usual “set a butt-ton of goals and report on them once a month.” Then I abandoned it. I came to realize that my goals were all about making me a better person, but my insistence on focusing on my goals meant I wasn’t happy with myself the way I was.

I talked on the phone with my parent probably 250 of the 365 days in the year. I tried to talk with my brother and sister at least once a week. I went to Utah in May for a short visit. My sister came to Seattle of visit in July. My friend Mukluk came in February to check out the University and spent a few days here. I went to the zoo three times. I drove into Seattle more times in 2010 than I have since I moved out of the city in 2007. I watched far fewer movies at the theater, and a lot more of them at home.

I stopped watching TV almost entirely. I swore off Facebook and Twitter, and still only manage to check in once a week or so. I got a piano, and try to play at least 30 minutes every day. I got an iPad, and use it much more than 30 minutes a day. I read and/or listened to at least 30 books, and only seven of them were repeats of the books I’d read before. (Guess which seven that would be?)

2010 was the 7th wettest year on record for Seattle. It was cold and rainy until July 5th, and then started again by September. It rained so much the dock at my apartment was underwater by December 10th. It snowed on Thanksgiving week and brought the city to a halt.

So, 2010 wasn’t an amazing year. It wasn’t (for me anyway) a horrible year. It was just a year. A year where nothing major happened…just living. And for the first time in my living memory, "just living” was enough for me.

2011 is here, and I look forward to see where it carries me, and where I manage to go on my own. My theme for the year is “Simplify,” and I’ve already started in. Happy New Year to everyone, and best wishes for a wonderful 2011.

And now, to round off the year, here are a few of my favorite photos from 2010:

Happy New Year!

The Day I Take the Tree Down

Family, Food, Friends, Holidays, Pictures 3 Responses »

Dec 292010

Well, it has been a wonderful Christmas Holiday. Aside from the fact that there was a distinct lack of white surrounding my Christmas, it was nice to spend time with family and friend, take some time off work, and, of course, give and get presents. My parent’s house was beautifully decorated, as usual.

But, for someone who loves to decorate for Christmas as much (and as early) as do I, once Christmas is over, I’m not overly sentimental about leaving my decorations up. I got home from Utah very early Monday morning (12:30AM), and by 2:30PM that same day, my decorations were boxed up and in the storage unit. I’m ready to move on. And, quite frankly, the sooner summer gets here, the better.

While I was home, my sister, brother-in-law, father, mother, and I had a long discussion about food and the food system in the US. For the last six months, I have not been particularly kind to myself food-wise. I’ve put on even more weight, and as of Monday morning, topped the scale at a pudgy 202.3 pounds. (It’s about 30 pounds too much for my 5’10” frame.) A large portion of that has come from fast food combined with my utter loathing of any and all forms of exercise. Part of our discussion was about how to eat more in line with what our bodies really need. None of us are likely to become hard-core vegans or anything like that (most especially because I believe that veganism or hardcore vegitarianism are NOT in the best interest of our bodies from a health perspective.) However, we all largely decided that we need to eat less meat overall.

So, when I got back, I dove right into my plan. The overall goal is to lose 25 pounds by the end of April. I’m going to do that by cutting out 95% of my fast food eating (I’m not going to give it up entirely), tracking my calories using the awesome MyNetDiary.com website and iPad app, and forcing myself to exercise at least three times a week.

At my last grocery trip, I tried putting together at least a few vegitarian/vegan options, and saving my meat for only a couple of times a week. I bought healthier pre-made foods that I can eat at home, since I think we all know that it’s extremely unlikely I’m going to cook a ton of food every night for myself. I just don’t have the time or inclination anymore. I also bought a juicer so I can try to increase my vegetable and fruit intake somewhat. (Thanks for the Kohl’s gift card, mom & dad!)

There’s one main reason I am trying to make this change: I feel disgusting. I get out of breath climbing a few flights of stairs to my office. My lower back hurts all the time. I get frequent heartburn. I’ve gotten sick more in the last year than I have in the last five years put together. I don’t have very much energy. I need to drop this weight and start feeling healthy again.

There’s also one other reason that I’m making this change: I’ve picked my vacation for the year. I’m going to go swim with the wild dolphins off the northern coast of the Bahamian island Bimini this year in the autumn, and I would just as soon they didn’t mistake me for an injured manatee. It’s bad enough I’m going to be Casper-The-Ghost white when I get there, I’d just as soon not be bloated as well. It’s going to be a trip of a lifetime, and I want to make sure that I’m not self conscious about my fat rolls the whole time I’m down there.

So, I’m looking for good low-calorie meals…particularly those that are either missing or light on the meat. I would also prefer to have recipes that take advantage of the foods that are currently “in season”—something of a misnomer in the middle of winter, but you know what I mean. Let’s just say I’m not going to be cooking with fresh strawberries right now.

So far, I’ve got a few recipes scheduled to try out, and if I find any that are any good, I’ll re-post them here for anyone else who happens to be chugging along the same path.

After that, the only thing left to do is try to avoid the siren song of the Dairy Queen…the shrill little Harpy.

A Problem of Shoes

Angry Matt, Pictures, Ramblings, Whine No Responses »

Nov 262010

I hate cleaning. I’m pretty good at it, but I just don’t like doing it…especially because I can’t seem to stay on top of it. But, the one time I feel it absolutely mandatory to thoroughly clean is when I get sick. I somehow feel like I wouldn’t be sick if only there were the fumes of Formula 409 and Pine Sol wafting through the air in my apartment. In reality, it likely has more to do with the fact that my co-workers all have kids and carry their germs to the workplace, but it’s one of the things I feel capable of doing to help alleviate my sickness, so I do it.

So, today, when I woke up with my stuffed sinuses and Barry White voice, I decided it was time to do a deep. One of the things I decided to do was to clean the floor of the front door closet where I keep my jackets and shoes. I’ve been here since February, and I haven’t cleaned it out once. And you can imagine that, with the constant rain and mud here, it had gotten pretty gross.

It was during this cleaning period that I realized something: I have too many shoes. I don’t particularly like shoes. I don’t enjoy shoe shopping. In fact, despite how much I love shopping, I’d rather clean the toilet than shop for shoes.

When I was in college, my shoes were limited to 1 pair of tennis shoes for everyday wear, Jazz sneakers, Ballet Slippers, and Tap Shoes, and, of course, my one pair of dress shoes for church.

As you can see, my shoe collection has, um, expanded since those days. And the biggest problem is that I hate every single one of my shoes. As I have expanded along with my shoe collection, I have found it increasingly difficult to find shoes that don’t make me want to cut off my feet at the ankles.

Tennis/Running shoes are the worst. I used to be that I would buy Nike shoes exclusively. They were the only ones that felt comfortable. But the last pair of Nikes that I bought had a problem where the insole wasn’t tapered on the sides, and so I could feel the edge of the insole—rather like my sock had folded over on itself. It was so uncomfortable that I wore the shoes for a week and then donated them to Goodwill. (Don’t know why I didn’t notice the problem in the store…)

The next pair of shoes was an expensive pair of Asic Gels that I tried on and that felt really comfortable. I liked these shoes a lot, but less than four months later, they sprang a leak, and would squeak every time I took a step on my left foot…which is enough to drive a person crazy. For a pair of shoes that cost $125, they really ought to last more than 4 months. I mean, it’s not like I’m running any marathons or anything. I don’t even like walking to the mailbox.

The next pair of shoes, I decided to go with another pair of Nikes. This time, I did check to make sure that the whole insole edge issue wasn’t a problem. And it wasn’t. Until two days after I bought the shoes. Now they’re used only to walk to the dumpster to take out the garbage.

Then I bought another, less expensive pair of Asics. This time, the shoes are pretty comfortable, but the insole of my left shoe won’t stay in place. It keeps sliding back toward the heel until it’s sticking out of the back of the shoe. Essentially, I can feel the toe of the insole underneath the arch of my foot after about 2 minutes of walking. I have temporarily remedied the situation by sticking double-stick tape in between the sole and the insert, but really, these shoes are less than a week old. That shouldn’t be necessary.

I’m not really sure why I’m having such shoe trauma. Perhaps I’m getting more sensitive feet ever since I stopped cramming them into over-small dance shoes and beating the ever-living hell out of them. Maybe in steadily increasing girth is the culprit. All I know is that I am really starting to hate shopping for shoes. It shouldn’t be this difficult to find a decent pair of shoes at a decent price that will be comfortable to wear and will last for more than a week and a half.

And that doesn’t even include the drama surrounding my work shoes…But that’s another blog post.

Good Golly, It’s Cold.

Pictures, Ramblings No Responses »

Nov 242010

That’s right. I said Good Golly.

I’ve said this before, but if I were given the choice between being burned alive and freezing to death, I choose being burned alive. I don’t like being cold. I suppose it’s a holdover from my ~~torture~~ childhood in Michigan. It was a combination of the nutcases at the school not cancelling said school unless there were three feet of snow on the ground, having to deliver newspapers on foot in December, exiting swim practice in the middle of winter with wet hair, living with especially cheap (Um, I mean, um, frugal. Yeah. Frugal.) parents whose idea of an ideal indoor temperature is 62 degrees, and the cold, barren wasteland that is my soul—all of which combine to make me severely dislike the cold. Cold weather is like a dementor: I feel like all happiness has gone from the world and I’ll never be warm again. There are few feelings in this world less enjoyable than getting into an ice cold car on a winter morning.

Unless perhaps it’s getting into a ice cold car on a winter morning after having huddled in your bed for the last 9 hours shivering because the stupid electric heater in your apartment has decided that it’s going to overheat after 30 seconds or so and shut itself off, thus preventing your apartment from getting above 44 degrees inside because it’s 17 degrees outside, your windows and door leak like a sieve, and your floor is built directly on a concrete slab with absolutely no insulation. Oh, and the apartment complex office is closed, and will be until Saturday because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

I think that’s a little worse.

If I may dust off an old chestnut of my father’s, It was so cold in my apartment this morning (how cold was it?) that when I pulled back the covers, I found this hard, blue, round thing in my bed. I took it into the kitchen, threw it into a frying pan, turned on the heat, and a fart came out. (This joke is much funnier with an aural example. Therefore, I am proud to present to you the Fart Soundboard. I personally like the “Bean Dipper” as a sound effect for this joke. Just read it again, and when you get to the part where I said, “a fart came out”, instead say, “and it went…” and then press a button. Comedy gold.)

So, tonight I had to do one thing I loathe doing, and another thing I promised myself I would never do. First, I paid retail for firewood. Second, I bought slippers. One is an epic waste of money. The other makes me feel like I belong in a nursing home. But it’s Thanksgiving, dang it. And I’m not going to spend Thanksgiving huddled under a Snuggie watching QVC and eating popcorn just to survive the weekend without a trip to the hospital to have my frostbitten toes removed before the gangrene sets in. Besides, how in the world will I get my bread to rise (not a euphemism) if it’s warmer in my refrigerator than it is in my kitchen?

I may just have to make brownies or something to heat up my apartment. Yeah. Brownies. For heat. Because, um, the oven… Yeah…

I mean, even my Xbox can’t seem to keep up with heating my apartment.

Ah well. I am, at least, grateful that I have an apartment (albeit a poorly insulated one with janky heaters) that has a fireplace so if my heater happens to be janky (ahem) I can at least camp out in front of the hearth. I’m also grateful, again, for the best Christmas present I have ever received, the electric fleece throw that I got for Christmas last year. Because you can bet your sweet bippy that I’m going to be completely disregarding the manufacturer’s instructions, and throwing that thing on my bed and falling into a dead sleep. And tomorrow, Kaspar’s!

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

P.S. The photo above was taken on the same day as the photo from yesterday’s post. Now do you see why I live here? I don’t know about all y’all, but my winters were never this pretty in either Michigan or Utah…

Snow Day in November

Media, Pictures, Ramblings, Work No Responses »

Nov 232010

So, um, yeah. It snowed. Not very much. But enough to freak everyone right the hell out and shut down the roads for a day or two. It did get muy cold, though, so what snow had fallen got turned to ice pretty darn quickly.

I work up this morning fully prepared to brave driving in to work, but when I woke up, my throat was sore. Like I was getting a cold. And I was extra tired and felt kinda week. So, rather than brave the storm, I decided to work from home today like pretty much every single one of my co-workers.

I took Luke out in the morning though, and while we were walking around, I wanted to run down to the lake to see what it looked like while the sun was rising up. Snapped off a few shots, including the one above, before heading back inside to warm up.

Working from home sounds like a good idea, and sometimes it is. But many times, not so much. It can get hard to focus. And since I struggle focusing most of the time anyway, it’s really a struggle for me. I was able to get some stuff accomplished today, but unfortunately, the system was a little unstable, so I had to help with a lot of troubleshooting.

Today, I also FINALLY gave up on Final Fantasy XIII, the game that I’ve been playing for the last two months. I’ve put 60 hours of time into it, and I could tell I was getting close to the end, but I just didn’t care anymore. The only reason I was interested in continuing the play the game was so I could see how it ended. But when they decided to throw in this ludicrously complex maze-thing just to draw the game out even further, I had reached my limit. I already sank over 63 hours into this stupid game. And while my time certainly isn’t the most valuable in the world, it’s more valuable than continuing to throw it away on a game I don’t like playing. So, I went to YouTube, watched the ending, and sent the game back to Gamefly. Next up, Fable 3 or possibly Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Man.

And for those of you who don’t care about video games, you may now return to your regularly scheduled Internet browsing. Meanwhile, I’m going to go use my Netti Pot, take a bath, put on my PJs, and curl up in front of the fire with the dog.

Only one more day until Thanksgiving!

Potlucks, Photos, and Payments

Food, Luke The Dog, Money, Pictures 1 Response »

Nov 112010

We’re having a potluck tomorrow at work. I’m generally not a fan of potlucks. First of all, let’s be honest. Most of the food at potlucks isn’t that good. Especially when you’re having a potluck where there’s no stove or oven, and you can’t heat up your food. I’m taking my famous (to me anyway) no-knead bread. It’s in the oven right now. And, considering it’s 35 degrees outside and I still haven’t turned on my heat, it’s also warming my apartment at the moment.

(On an unrelated note, last year for Christmas, I got an electric blanket made out of a fleece material. This may be the best present I’ve ever received. And it wasn’t even on my Amazon Wish List. It’s awesome to throw that on the top of my bed and preheat the bed before I go to sleep, and keep it icy cold in my room, but be toasty and warm under my heated throw. I sleep so much better during the winter when it’s cold.)

Anyway, being a food snob and an attention hog, Potlucks, to me, are simply another avenue to show off your culinary prowess. Unfortunately, I don’t think everyone feels that way. I remember one year, for a major’s meeting in college, I baked this epic chocolate cake with candied orange rind and marbled chocolate shards across the top, and covered in a chocolate ganache icing. It was amazing. And everyone else brought store-bought cookies and bags of chips. I know I should be more accepting, but come ON, people. At least put a LITTLE effort into it.

And since I’m such a judgmental bastard, that’s why I don’t like potlucks.

***

Here are a couple more photos from my most recent photo walk. I’m putting them here just because I can, and as mentioned above, I’m an attention hog.

I know there are a lot of people who don’t like squirrels. Consider them little more than tree rats. First of all, I think rats can be adorable. Secondly, to those people I just have to ask this one question: You eat babies and murder unicorns don’t you? How can you not love squirrels. Yeah, I know. They get into bird feeders. But they’re so cute! Especially when they’re big and fat and lazy just soaking up the last rays of sun before winter. I mean, look at the little paws and white belly!

Back in Michigan where I grew up, we didn’t have grey squirrels like this. We only had black squirrels. I think the grey ones are much cuter, I have to say. Especially with their red/brown faces. These squirrels don’t have the big bushy tails that the squirrels back in Michigan had either. If I were a squirrelologist, I’m sure I could go into some in-depth discussion of the differences of squirrel anatomy, but that’s taking it a bit to far even for me.

This may well be one of my favorite photos that I’ve ever taken. I can’t really say why I like it so much, but I really do. I’m actually considering having this one blown up and framed to hang somewhere in my apartment. What do you think? Is hanging your own photos on the wall the height of pretention? And should I care? Especially when I almost never have anybody in my house? I mean, really, who’s going to judge me? Me? And who am I talking to anyway?

***

I sat down with my old friend, Excel, and did some calculating today, about how long it will take me to pay off all of my debts except my student loans. It wasn’t heartening. If I could up my monthly debt payments by $200 or so, and did the whole “pay off your debts with the smallest, highest interest debts getting paid off first” thing, then I would be able to be out of debt (except for student loans) in August of 2013. Of course, that is assume that nothing ever goes disastrously wrong, or I don’t have a major lapse in self-control. On one hand, 2.5 years isn’t so bad. On the other than, 2.5 years feels like an eternity. And that doesn’t even begin to take into account the student loans, which I don’t believe will be fully paid off until 2038 at the rate I’m going.

But, so far, so good. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Eventually I will dig myself out of this hole of my own making.

***

Luke the dog is having a nightmare in the other room, and I think he’s being tortured in a Turkish Prison or something. It’s the most pathetic sound I’ve ever heard. But if I go over there and try to wake him up, he’ll growl at me. So, I’m just going to turn up the audiobook of Harry Potter and continue making bread.

Indian Summer

Being Existential, Gratitude, Holidays, Living It Up, Luke The Dog, Media, Pictures, Random, Television 1 Response »

Nov 072010

I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. What does that even mean? Just a sec…

According to the Internets:

This proverb is based on the fact that a horse’s value is determined by his age, which, in turn, can be roughly determined by an examination of his teeth. The message conveyed is that a gift should be appreciated for the thought and spirit behind it, not according to its value. St. Jerome, who never accepted payment for his writings, first used the phrase in reply to his literary critics. His exact words: "Never inspect the teeth of a gift horse."

Which doesn’t actually apply to what I wanted to write about, but never mind. Idiomatic usage trumps actual meaning always. So let it be written, so let it be done.

Anyway, what I meant to say before I rode the Google horse off into the sunset forever is that today was beautiful. Stunningly beautiful. This week, winter took a little siesta and let us enjoy just a little bit more autumn. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday it was warm and sunny. It got up to 74 on Thursday. Then, Friday and Saturday, it went back to winter: cold and rainy. Then, this morning I work up and there was sun. I suppose, if we still have to continue to practice the arcane tradition of Daylight Saving Time (note: NOT Daylight SavingS time), then a beautiful fall day is the least that could be expected in return.

I took Luke down to the park, and let him off his leash, since we were up at the butt crack of dawn (see: Daylight Saving Time). It was so nice outside, and the clouds so interesting that as soon as we got home, I loaded up my camera a tripod and went back to the park to take some pictures of the last of the fall foliage. I also wanted to use my new tripod to take some HDR photos. The picture above is one of the results of that.

Then, a couple of naps, a few loads of laundry, a loaf of homemade bread, a piece of key lime pie, another couple of dog walks, and four solid hours of video game time, I figured I should come back to the blog.

It was a very, very good day.

***

On a completely unrelated note, I wanted to revisit my blog post about giving an anonymous gift at Christmas. So, the morning after I wrote that blog post, I got an email from an old high school friend. He sent a very generous donation to my Christmas Project, but wanted to play "devil’s advocate" a bit. Basically, there were a few things that he wanted me to think on:

What if giving this family money would offend them.
I don’t KNOW for sure that they’re needy
I probably shouldn’t get other people in the complex involved because I don’t want them to become "the family that’s poor and needs help."

I had actually been thinking along those same lines, and came to a couple of conclusions. First, I agree that getting a whole bunch of other people involved, no matter how well-intentioned, probably isn’t the best of ideas. I think I’m going to rely on the good old postal service.

Secondly, I’m not going to turn it into a big production number. (I have a tendency to do that sometimes…who know that all those years in theatre would influence me so negatively?)

Third, I will include a quick message saying something along the lines of "If you can use this money to help with your holiday expenses, my only ask is that you remember this and try to ‘pay it forward’ some time in the future when you are able. if you don’t need this money, please pass it along to someone who does." Only I won’t use the phrase "pay it forward" because, for some reason, I just really hate that phrase. I think it’s from watching The Biggest Loser where it gets said 374 times each episode.

Fourth, and most importantly, I’m going to stop talking about it. I didn’t originally bring it up on the blog to toot my own horn, but mostly to see if anyone else out there wanted to help. (PS, if you want to help, read how HERE!) But, if I keep talking about it, then really, it just sounds show-offy. And goodness knows I can’t do that well enough all on my own.

***

On the recommendation of Orson Scott Card, I have started watching the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. I have to say…I’m actually fairly impressed. I despise Anime and Anime-style shows, but I’m really enjoying this. I think that, because it is an American-made show, it helps significantly. The stories, writing, and acting are quite good. The animation style is a little primitive, but not so much so that I bothers me. If you have Netflix streaming, I’d recommend it. It’s very good, and has that Harry Potter-ish young-child-trying-to-take-on-a-task-that’s-far-too-big-for-him-and-save-the-world thing going on.

A New Tripod, and Thus, a New Photo

Pictures 3 Responses »

Oct 102010

So, I bought a tripod yesterday. I’ve had a tripod, but it’s a very poor tripod…and I can’t use it to take pictures with a portrait orientation. My camera is too heavy. So I finally broke down and upgraded to a nice little carbon fiber tripod (quite light) with a ball head. Cue the choir of angels. Shooting with this thing is awesome. Adjustments are so easy.

Anyway, to best my tripod yesterday, I took some pictures of the bloom on my houseplant…which I have since learned it called a Spathiphyllum. I couldn’t decide whether I preferred the photo in color or black and white, so I’ve put both of them below. (There’s not a LOT of difference…the bloom is completely white, after all. Vote for your preference in the comments.

Obligatory Weekend Post

Food, Living It Up, Pictures, Ramblings No Responses »

Sep 262010

I don’t know about you, but ever since I got a "big-boy job" and started working traditional Monday to Friday hours, Sunday night always becomes a very sad time for me. Starting at about 5PM on Sunday night, I start to slip into a bit of a torpor, wherein I try to stretch out the time I have left not to do anything as much as possible. I always approach Sunday evening with the intention of being productive or doing something fun, but invariably, I end up in front of the TV and eating junk food.

I really need a vacation.

Anyway, the weekend was a pretty low-key one, but enjoyable. Friday night after work, I kicked off an effort to re-gain the five pounds I had lost in the week up to that point. I grabbed a personal pan pizza and went home to watch Date Night. And no, the irony of getting a personal pan pizza and then coming home on a Friday night to watch a movie by myself and that movie is called Date Night…yeah, that’s not lost on me. The movie was okay, but man, I do love me some Steve Carrell and Tina Fey.

Saturday was the traditional farmer’s market/grocery store run. I got the fixins for the week’s meals, then I came home and took a little nap. After that, Luke and I piled into the car and we went back to the market. He’s been a little weird around me and other people lately, so I wanted to make sure he got some practice socializing. Plus, I wanted lunch, so I went to get one of the awesome sausage, pepper, and onion sandwiches that are sold there.

I love this time of year at the market, because everything is in full production…the apples are in, but the peaches haven’t gone yet, all the veggies are still in their prime. And goodness knows where I’m going to manage to find the amazing fresh mozzerella that I use in my cooking and the existence of which makes life worth living. Plus, the colors!

After that, I came home and took another nap. Then I sat down at my computer and downloaded a demo to the new version of a computer game I used to play all the time in High School called Civilization. It was a great game, and I’ve got a version for my iPad and my Xbox, but there’s a new version that’s out for PCs only, and I’ve been wanting it for a long time. The game was a lot of fun, but it cuts off play after a certain amount of time, so I decided that I wanted to buy the full version, which I did. While that was downloading, I made dinner.

A yummy stir fry with marinated and grilled chicken thighs, udon noodles, peppers, snow peas, carrots, and edamame. I got the recipe from the Epicurious app on my iPad, and it was good, but the flavoring was off. I haven’t been able to find out why my stir fries (frys) don’t taste quite right, but nevertheless, this was pretty darn good. And it will be dinner for a couple of nights this week.

After dinner, it was back to Civilization. I played and played, and then, somewhere around 3:54AM, I realized that it was, in fact, 3:54am. Then I went to bed.

Today, I finished the game of Civ that I had been playing (only 18 hours…won’t be launching that one again for a few months), vacuumed, did several loads of laundry, three loads of dishes, and ate four cupcakes. There’s a cupcake shop that opened just a little way from my apartment, so I decided I’d give it a try. They were good, and the frosting was well made, but there was just too much of it. I’m the kind of person who likes the cake to icing ratio to be weighted far more heavily toward the cake. This was about even. It was excellent icing, though.

Here’s the thing, though…Cupcakes are okay, but they are SO easy to make at home. SO EASY. I’m glad I went, but I just don’t understand why this whole cupcake shop thing is so huge. And why, for the love of all things good and holy, does every cupcake stand have to be pepto pink, brown, and teal? Isn’t it possible to sell cupcakes with another color scheme, like pink and black, or pink and orange? (Seriously? Is pink paint mandatory to the sale of cupcakes?) If I’m going to shell out $3.00 for a little tiny dessert, I’ll go get a banana split at Dairy Queen.

Then again, I’m not really a cake person. I’m a pie guy. Which reminds me…I still need to make a peach pie before peach season is over. Oh well, I guess there’s always next week at the farmer’s market.

At least the work pager didn’t go off all weekend. And I get to hand it off to the next ~~sucker~~ coworker tomorrow. Happy weekend everyone. Here’s to hoping the week goes fast to get us back to next Friday afternoon!

Older Entries Newer Entries

Spring Fever is Busting Out All Over

Obligatory End Of 2010 Post

The Day I Take the Tree Down

A Problem of Shoes

Good Golly, It’s Cold.

Snow Day in November

Potlucks, Photos, and Payments

Indian Summer

A New Tripod, and Thus, a New Photo

Obligatory Weekend Post

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