So Far, So Good

I think we managed to fix my Aperture issues, and I think the pool is ready for the arctic front. I hope you enjoyed my pool residents from the photo in the previous blog. Hopefully, there won't be anymore issues with Aperture so that I can bring you images like these:

 This is not my house.

 This is part of the backyard.

 Some tree on the side of the house.

Doorknob to MY studio room.

I can actually see the thumbnails I am choosing from the upload box. I am hoping to start taking photos of more people soon. My dogs won't stay still, and I'm running out of stuff to photograph at my house.

I'll keep you posted.

BLAHG you later!

Maintenance

This morning's topic is about maintenance. Today I have to take my Mac in for some maintenance. I know everybody has heard that Macs don't get viruses and never break down. Well, mine DOESN'T have a virus. I think the update for my imaging software, Aperture,  didn't load correctly, and I am having trouble generating thumbnails.  It still works very well, though. I still believe Macs are far more efficient and better than most PCs. Hopefully, once this issue is fixed, I can resume editing photos. I don't want to start my photography hobby with my new lens with Aperture not performing at 100%.

I maintained my pool this morning. Even though the weather has been cool and even mild at times, the pool water is very frigid! I think I got frostbite on my fingers. It's making it very difficult to type. I had to do it though. The last time it froze around here, the pool lost plenty of water from evaporation, and I needed to fill it up with water again. (The pump keeps running when it gets to a certain low temperature to keep the water from freezing in the pump system.) When I went to fill up the pool, the water in the hose was frozen. No water means low water in the pool which means the pump starts sucking in air which equals to things breaking down. Not good. Seems like we're getting another batch of arctic weather coming in for tomorrow. I will be prepared this time.

(L to R) Sunny Shades, Frogger Shades, and Celsius Shades

waiting for the cold weather. (Taken with my new lens.)

I miss living in an apartment, but only when it comes to maintaining a residence. I need to hire a full-time maintenance guy/gal that will maintain my residence for $25 a month. Any takers? Sexiness required.

BLAHG you later!

The Photography Hobby Begins

Hello everybody! (And by "everybody" I mean you who accidentally stumbled onto my blog.)

I bring good news. I have begun my photography hobby today. I have no excuse now for not going out and taking pictures. I just purchased (and traded-in for) the lens that was high on my priority list of lenses. It is a really nice lens. I'll expand on it later. No more saying, "Well, I can't because I don't have this or that..blah, blah, blah." Now it is a matter of dedicating time to learn the lens and its capabilities. I think most photography instructors will tell you to learn your equipment and shoot, shoot, shoot! That's how you'll get better. "Bad" photographs only teach you how to get to "good" photographs.

The good thing about my digital camera is that I get instant feedback from experimental settings, and I can always delete the ones I don't like. I have ideas of what my photography style is. I just haven't been able to translate it to actual photos. Until now. I am closer with this new lens. The AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8GII ED VRII.

It's about the size of a new Trenta drink cup at Starbuck's, except 1.5inches taller. It really gives you that professional look on your photographs with the blurry background. It's great in low light, like indoor events, but also does well in bright sunlight. Far superior to the previous zoom lens I had.

The lenses I traded in for this one were standard lenses that came with the package when I bought my camera. I realized after I got more serious about photography that those lenses in my package were NOT specialty lenses. They did a good job. But now, I am ready for the next level and need to equip myself accordingly.

It is an investment. A good investment, as long as I keep taking photographs and shoot for my goal to produce income with it.

I will post photos taken with my new lens when I have new photos to post.

BLAHG you later!

Junk Mail

I just spent the entire night sorting through mail that was up to my knees, literally. OK, so it wasn't all night. It was just an hour. But, it was up to my knees. Of course, I was kneeling down. But still, there was a lot of mail. I think 76% of it was just junk mail. (Yes, 76%. I'm 40% sure of it.) Guess what CitiBank? I DON'T WANT YOUR CREDIT CARD! Quit pre-approving me! Am I going to have to screw up my credit score just so that I won't be pre-approvable and you'll quit sending me your credit card applications?

All this junk mail is tilting my poor mailbox to one side. I've got the Leaning Mailbox of Pizza coupons and other junk mail. My poor mailbox is the only one that has foundation issues because of the astronomical amount of junk mail I receive.

Thank you, Mr Postman, (which I know for a fact your name isn't Mr. McAfee) for jamming all that junk mail in my box that it takes me ten minutes to empty out. I purposely leave that junk mail in the mailbox so that you can return-to-sender in the same manner that you take my Netflix DVDs back.

I got spam in my emails. I got spam in the mailbox. I got Spam in the pantry. When will it end?

On the good side, I did find that important tax document I needed several months ago.

BLAHG you later!

Expensive Hobbies

It's good to have hobbies. They help release stress you may accumulate throughout the week, days, etc. Hobbies keep you sane in some sort of way that only you understand. And, it can sometimes lead to a new career that you thought you would never have, or at least make some money from it. I personally don't have that experience.

It seems I need to keep my job to keep my hobbies. I don't know why I like expensive hobbies--you know the hobbies whose supplies aren't cheap (art, painting, photography, guitars, recording equipment, certain sports, etc.). All those hobbies call out my name. I've noticed that my hobbies mostly gravitate towards electronic gadgets. Even the art supplies (the least expensive on the list mentioned) can quickly rack up a bill that will require me to work overtime to pay for it all. So do I work extra so that I can afford to buy the supplies for my hobbies, but not have the time to do my hobbies because I'll be working all the time? Or do I dip into my 401K retirement fund and use it to buy thousands of lottery tickets in hopes of hitting it big? That's what I'll do. Buy lottery tickets!

One ticket and BOOM! I quit my job, sell the house, I buy an RV, get supplies I need for doing every one of my hobbies, take the dog and her biscuits, and travel the world! (And by "world" I mean the good old USA where most of the roads are paved, people still speak some sort of English, and I can still make a phone call from within my mobile service plan.) I'll be driving the countryside, going from bar to bar on open-mic nights, drawing pictures of myself taking pictures of my dog on stage while I'm playing my Spanish music to an audience that can't understand a word of it. Sort of like a picture within a picture within a picture kinda thing. I'll call it the Inception Tour. And I'll blog about it to the world. And by "world" I mean my one reader. Yee-Haw!

Maybe I could just save up the money and buy the stuff little by little, but what's the fun in that? 

BLAHG you later!

Sore Ness Monster

I woke up today feeling great, until I started moving. Then I realized I had been chewed up and spat out by the Sore Ness Monster. It took several minutes just to get some coordinated movements back. And to think, I worked out at the beginner's stage, with beginner's weight (universal weights, they look like the 45lb weights, except they're made of 1" plywood. Yes! Plywood weights! How embarrassing!).

Like I've said, we all start off as a newbie/rookie/fresh-meat at anything new to us. I can't wait to get to the level where I can be seen using actual weights. This way, I can say,"Why yes, I AM sore from lifting those big 45lb weights!" And not,"What!? Wooden circles ARE heavy! Just ask that 80-year-old grandmother over there."

BLAHG you later!

Exercising

PHYSICAL EXERCISE

Monday morning at 06:00 was my first CrossFit training session. What was I thinking? First of all, it was 28°F at that time. I had already been up for the entire night and part of the previous day. I figured I would work out, get exhausted, and go straight to bed before 08:00 came around. I was wrong. I didn't go to bed until 12:00 and woke up around 23:00hrs. I think I will be doing the CrossFit workouts when I wake up instead. Otherwise, I will be useless working nights if I don't get enough sleep during the day.

I will be doing CrossFit three times a week on my days off from work, along with my regular cardio-workouts on the days I do work. (Six total, one rest day). I am hoping to see marked improvements in my fitness and health with the addition of CrossFit. What is CrossFit you ask? Check it out: www.crossfit.com What I know is that this workout is like P90X on steroids. I can't wait to get out of the newbie, rookie, beginner stage. Maybe I'll even have a muscle or two to show you in the months to come. But, don't hold your breath. We'll see.

I hope the photo slideshow works. The layout on my computer screen is different from others. I'm guessing the monitor size has something to do with it. I've conveniently placed the slideshow at the top and bottom of the blog for your viewing pleasure.

Here is a list of other hobbies I would like to exercise on a daily basis, or more frequently than just sporadically, and report to you my progress:

Music - hoping to write more songs and record them at home on my computer

Guitar - need to practice both guitar and bass to make better recordings

Writing - at least gather ideas for a short illustrated book; write lyrics for the songs

Photography - work on taking better photos, and master a photo editing software

Drawing - start with pencils, charcoal; get sketches for the book I want to write

Crafts - find junk and make it work again

(Blogging: a newer version of the old book diary, except it's online and it's public for everyone to see.)

Dear Blog,

These next couple of months, I will try to organize my time to allow for everything I just mentioned. It's amazing what we can do if we take some time to organize our time. Most of the time it's not about adding more hobbies to what you already have scheduled. It's about trading the less productive hobbies for more productive ones. It's a lifestyle change. You'll be surprised at how much time we waste being unproductive. Sure, we are allowed a lazy day or two. As long as laziness doesn't become our hobby.

BLAHG you later!

A Slide Show

I figured out how to share some of my photos in a slide show format (see the above slide show) for all of my one reader to see. Not too sure about how the page looks, but I guess it'll suffice for now. I'd like to know what happens when you click on View All.

The slide show consists of some of the photos I have taken of friends, family, myself, and other stuff. I will keep adding to the slide show and hopefully won't have any issues. I'll try to keep them interesting so that I can have your undivided ADD attention for the full one minute.

My fingers are cold and it's getting difficult to type.

BLAHG you later!

Modern Technology

I think I have set up my mobile phone for blogging. That should make things interesting. All I need now is to figure out how to get it to automatically show up on my Facebook page. I'm sure someone out there knows, but my one reader out there probably doesn't.

In the meantime, I'll keep jacking around with the blogspot. At least now I can post some photos. Hopefully, I can create a better page for viewing my stuff.

BLAHG you later!

It Did Work!

Here's the first photo I tried earlier.

Let's Try it Again

So the first photo didn't load. I'm trying this one. Let's see if it works.
BLAHG you later! (or maybe sooner)

Mobile Blogging

I'm trying to figure out how to blog from my phone, in case I find myself in an emergent need to blog. Also, I'm attaching a self-portrait photo. The bathroom was my photo studio as you can see by the reflection on my sunglasses. 

BLAHG you later

Galileo

My Second Blog!

This is my second blog. I am starting to find out that coming up with topics for discussion is not as easy as bloggers make it out to be. Sure, it's an open forum, a stage for my thoughts. But I would like to be helpful in some way, not just soap boxy. I could just write what's in my head, but sometimes the thoughts just jump around like a racquetball ball in play.

I'm sure I'll have better titles to my blogs. I'm just starting. Speaking of starting, football is about to start so I'll make this short.

CLEANING. I need to do some cleaning to help me gather my thoughts, keep them organized, and under control. Cleaning is also therapeutic for me. I like the feeling of accomplishment you get when a room goes from dirty to almost sparkling clean, almost. Organization helps things move smoothly on a daily basis. I love to be organized, but I can get very messy very quickly. I like to blame that on my brain.

My brain is in a civil war, left-side vs right-side. Neither wants to give in to the other one. That's why I love the analytical job that I do, but struggle to satisfy the artistic side that is always hungry. I find it's difficult for me to remain on a steady diet of either.

I hear football on the TV. I've got to go. Good thing I've got DVR.

BLAHG you later.

My First Blog

I am so excited! This is my first blog ever. I have absolutely no idea what I am doing, but I guess that is how we all start at whatever we have an interest in.

My goal with this blog is to keep me accountable to myself. I have gone too long without doing the things I loved to do when I was younger. I also "want" to do many things like becoming a better-than-average photographer, drawing or painting useable art, expanding on my music career (right now I don't have one), getting healthier, even do some traveling. However, I have ended up doing nothing. Hopefully, I can start doing some of those things, possibly more, and share my struggles and achievements throughout this new journey that I have set myself on with maybe one reader.

A warning first. English was never my strongest subject. So, don't expect a perfect-punctuation, proper-English, well-written blog. I'll try not to kill the English language too badly.

OK, that's it for today. My brain has been squeezed of almost every awake, functioning brain cell right now. Until next time, maybe I'll have something new to say.

BLAHG you later.