Recently in random Category
i've never been big about posting personal stuffs on a blog or on a website (before the blogs were big), but after coming across someone's page that we ran into at the dog park, i'm really starting to think about it. They tracked all the cool stuff they did like climbinb 14ers and other adventures. I think that'd be a blast to do.. Wonder if it would be best to use a blog software for it though.... oh the ideas..
What i DO want though is a good wysiwyg OSX application for websites that the Girl can use to update it as we all SHE is the creative one in the family (sorry maddie)
I can admit it. I'm not a regular blogger, not the most entertaining blogger, nor is my heart really into blogging. I do however, have my heart in photography (most of the time) and my mutt (all the time).
And that is how Dog365 was born. The 365 Project is one of those internet memes that people have latched onto over the past year or so, but it's always seemed kind of vane to me. Why would anyone want to look at ME everyday. (ha, that's probably why i don't like blogging about normal stuff for the same reason) But i KNOW everyone wants to look at my DOG every day (or so she thinks).
So far i've posted about 21 days worth i think. It's evolved from just simple camera phone pictures early on to high quality ones these days. Just simple one liners about what's going on before to more detailed summary of current events (as long as something IS going on, lazy bones. I've even picked up a photoblogging buddy Lola the super cute pitmix that Hillary has in SF, doing the same daily thing.
Maybe i should start blogging each picture here with a longer description? That might turn into too long of a daily routine... In any case... Stay tuned to the flickr feed! And join the Dog365 group if you start adding your own!
So I was just thinking what was it possibly that moved me so much about the [concept of] the movie. I mean I'm a young, resonably healthy middle class member of the working world. The biggest gripes i have with insurance is the percentage they only cover for my silly fillings in my teeth. I guess I just can empathize with growing old and multiplying the cost of what's not covered in each filling ten fold when something serious happens.
Well there's that - or recent family events that very much bring this stuff to light. The future-father-in-law had his first non-invasive surgery today to begin the battle with the kidney cancer that has popped up. (long story short, caught extremely early, very good outlook, etc etc..) There's that, and my own father fighting with prostate cancer last year (all good so far). Yea our future kids are screwed. Bad teeth AND cancer on both sides. good luck, champs. I digress.
The things people have to deal with from insurance companies really is no joke. This movie really does hit close to home, if only to know that we and our loved ones really are lucky but still even not too far from teetering on the edge of dealing with horrors in the movie like the couple who combined had 3 heart attacks and cancer. Ended up living in their own kids basement because they couldn't afford the house with the co-pays.
How can anybody in the right might argue the way they do for our health care system when we're the only industrialized nation without it being nationalized. Our metrics of health are so low (life span, diseases, etc) compared to so many other nations. When people are fleeing Cuba the way they do, but we have americans fleeing TO Cuba for healthcare. It's all so sad, and overwhelming...
Now let me be clear. [checking over shoulder] I am not. I repeat, not a member of the peer-to-peer downloading community in any shape or form. Got it? Good...
It's good to see the internet still finds a way to give power to the people. Whether it was on purpose or not we may never know but the new Michael Moore movie was let out of the bag on the internet recently. And a good clean copy too. Not a crappy video camera dub, not a promo screening with the silly little numbers on the bottom. The fully thing like it was a compressed DVD. Given that he is in a bit of hot water on his visit to Cuba with the 9/11 folks (priceless) and is supposedly storing a copy of the master film in Canada for sake keeping, i wouldn't doubt this is a safe way to keep the movie from being blocked when it comes out in week or so.
All that gossip and shenanigans aside... What a damn good movie [this looks like it might be].. I can't bear to spoil anything though [from what i've read about it], i [probably] was crying like a baby thru half of it (and laughing the rest) so i really wouldn't want to give anything away [though i have not seen it of course so what do i know].
The best-show-on-tv is now the best-show-that-used-to-be-on-tv official. The Sopranos had their finale this past Sunday and i finally got around to watching it. I knew there was outrage about it before i saw it (thank you Digg rss feed, really) but i successfully avoided knowing why. 90% of the way thru i kept thinking "what the heck were they complaining about, this is the perfect ending." the show is and has always been about family. this whole episode was about the family and keeping it together. Tony survived everything, his kids, wife, some of the crew, and that damn cat. Then came the end.. Ha.. friggin perfect. Tension mounting, cut after cut then nothing. Black. Silent. Amazing. I am not the best with words so i'll paste something i found on a random blog:
"Of all the possible scenarios -- Tony dying in an all-out assault on his safe house, going to jail, having a heart attack -- nobody expected this. And that's the point. In so many ways, it fits with creator David Chase's modus operandi for the entire series. The Sopranos consistently marched to the beat of its own drummer and broke the rules. How many series intentionally leave on a cliffhanger -- or stranger still, with five seconds of nothing?" http://www.tvseriesfinale.com/2007/06/the_sopranos_was_that_the_end_of_the_hbo_series.php
There's actually people out there complaining about the ending saying they are going to cancel their HBO subscription because of that. Listen people - the sopranos paved the way for what has become all of the HBO shows. There was no six feet under, no rome, no deadwood, on other networks - no weeds, no dexter, nothing like this that existed previously (correct me if i'm wrong though of course). The show has left it's mark. Now i ask, what is next???
Since our move from humidity filled Kansas we have successfully avoided turning on the A/C. Our townhouse-like apartment has two floors with my home office tucked away in the top in an extra bedroom. The hottest it's gotten up there has been the high 70's which i can deal with. But lately over the last few days it's gotten to the mid 80's which causes me to melt. profusely. What I have since come to realize is all of our windows face west, which may have been fun in the 100mph wind storm we got the other day, but does not do a whole lot for circulating air. Opening the garage door this morning that faces the OTHER direction caused a rush of air through the whole place slamming doors, scaring the dog, and causing utter chaos. oh yea, i thought, that's why the open windows on the first floor aren't helping. i never claimed i was brilliant....
We did it. We really did it. Arrived in wonderful Colorado on Thursday, and have not looked back to the land of Dorothy yet.
It's really funny to me how we quasi-randomly chose where we were going to live and what is nearby. The short of it is, the girl is in enviro-law-work and will get a job in either Boulder or Denver so we wanted to live inbetween. I'm working from home so i'm flexible. We almost went with Golden, but settled in Superior in possibly an over-sprawly area but very very well done. No sprawl back home comes close to how awesome this place is, so i'm sold. I soon found out AFTER we signed the lease that there is the huge technology park near by that has two sun campuses and Level3. Geez, my bosses sure didn't realize THAT when they agreed to this ;)
With great regularity i check the flickr page "Recent activity on your photos" where you will find recent comments, notes, favorites, etc.. Last night i noticed some random guy made five of my older pictures from Ironman CDA his favorites. Pretty sweet right? Until i noticed they were all of the fiance....and ALL of her in her wetsuit.. Weird, but ok i guess... So i poked around on his flickr profile - no pictures, no comments, nothing. Until i clicked on his OTHER favorites. ALL GIRLS IN WETSUITS!!!!!! Surfer girls, swimming girls, etc.. The fiance is NOT amused. Gotta love the internet sometimes.....
I picked up a very beautiful Canon 70-200 f4L over the winter (after i put a ring on the girls finger) (well technically i bought it before, but the deal was i couldn't till after) (technically, technically i did by the ring first... ahh i digress) I really didn't get much use out of it over the winter and early spring. I stretched it's legs at a mountain bike race last month but I really flexed it's muscles this past weekend at the NCAA National Road Cycling Nationals in Lawrence, Kansas.
I got some pretty decent shots this year. It's funny looking back at the previous two years of pictures of this exact same race. The first year it was pretty rainy and dark, and i over compensated WAAAAY too much in photoshop. Last year was ok. These most recent ones are starting to turn out pretty good. Now if i could only keep my manual settings straight.....
Flickr photo set
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