June 01, 2008
Left the building
The exit sign in our old Wyoming home. It's the appropriate image to convey this: Goodbye! This site is now retired and comments are turned off. The spammers and I went to battle and the spam won. Plus, this site had just become too much of a hassle to maintain and update.
Thanks to all who visited and commented here in the two years or so that this site was active. I'd still love to hear what you have to say about any of my photos, so for the foreseeable future, please check out my photo-a-day project on flickr.
October 14, 2006
October 13, 2006
October 11, 2006
October 09, 2006
October 02, 2006
Train Crossing
A train passes through town. I don't know if the trains are on a regular schedule or not, but I've had to stop and wait for them on my way home several times...
October 01, 2006
Sunburst Spinner
Our metal sunburst that is supposed to spin in the wind outside our back door. It doesn't spin on its own that well but if you give it a twist it sure is pretty.
September 28, 2006
Lawn Mower
Our new electric lawn mower. We went for the electric version in order to avoid the hassles of gas and oil and winterizing, etc. Of course, now we have to fight w/a long power cord, but at least we're not polluting our local environment every time we mow the lawn, right? (Yeah, I know that there's pollution generated by the power plant that supplies the electricity, but I'm hoping that the amount of pollution required to generate the electricity to mow the lawn is less than the amount of pollution produced by the gas engine of a traditional mower. Am I right about this tradeoff?)
September 26, 2006
Crossing the Tracks
Looking West down the BNSF railroad tracks that cut through downtown Billings. I cross these tracks on my bike every day on my way to work. The sky is invariably gorgeous at this time of day.
It looks like if you're a train junkie, you can listen in on the train radio traffic online.
September 22, 2006
September 21, 2006
Embarrassment of Riches
Just a handful of the terrific mail I've received recently from my bestest friend, Superdilettante. As you can see, she is amazingly creative and a master of the mails. Included in this cornucopia of goodness are two great zines (one by the PodPost duo, another by Sarah Contrary), an excellent mix CD, at least two terrific letters that are more like works of art than epistolary correspondence, and the book in the foreground, which I devoured almost immediately upon receipt and highly recommend. You see how lucky I am to have such a good friend?
September 14, 2006
North Broadway
Another view of the Billings Farmer's Market. (Yesterday's pic was also from the Farmer's Market.) The market is held every Saturday and we've always been a number of times. Downtown is just about a 10-minute walk from our house so it makes a nice Saturday to stroll down to the market, get a coffee and some fresh baked good from one of the vendors, and stock up on succulent fresh produce. We got some nectarines, for example (they'd been brought in from Colorado) that were to die for! The carrots, squash, green beans, peas, fresh basil, onions, garlic, and sweet corn have all been awesome, too.
August 31, 2006
Blue-Ribbon Carrots
Award-winning carrots at the fair. I don't know why I thought this was kind of funny, but I did...
August 29, 2006
Cannonball Lady
The Cannonball Lady in mid-flight from cannon to net. You can see the tip of the “cannon” on the right, and the net over on the lft. I'm not making this up; the woman really did climb into the cannon, it went boom!, and she flew across the pond and landed in the net. Sounds silly, doesn't it? But it was actually kind of cool.
August 28, 2006
Mr. Potato Head
A giant potato at one of the carnival food stands. It has probably been made into french fries by now...
August 27, 2006
Montana Fair Carnival
A few of the rides at the Montana Fair carnival. I thought the view notable b/c of the fact of the bluff in the background behind the rides. Billings is a city that gives you interesting views like that—views you're not likely to find in other cities of this size.
August 18, 2006
Space Trading
The board for our new game, Starfarers of Catan. This game was a birthday present for L from her sister and is another in the series of Catan games that we love. What kind of geeks play complicated board games where they pretend to build space stations, trading ships, colonies, and colony ships? Our kind of geeks, apparently.
These games are a little complicated to learn, but trust me, they're fun.
August 16, 2006
Ok Computer
A sign in the mountains above Red Lodge. Why? Well, we were driving to our trailhead for our short hike and L saw this sign from a distance. “No fires,” she said. “No barbecues... but ok computer? Why would you want a computer up here?”
She likes Radiohead. What more can I say?
Also, from a distance, it really does look like a laptop, don't you think?
August 13, 2006
Mountain Getaway
The cabin near Red Lodge where we recently got to spend some time. It's a wonderful place; peaceful and relaxing with lots of nice amenities.
July 29, 2006
July 26, 2006
Bubble Filled Hell
My bubble answer sheet from a practice MBE. Today I will spend six hours filling in 200 more little circles, only this time I hope to get a helluva lot more of them right!
July 25, 2006
DoubleTree of Doom
The DoubleTree hotel in Missoula, MT, the site of the July 2006 MT Bar Exam. Good: It has AC. Bad: It doesn't have enough outlets for us all to use laptops. The bar examiners don't allow the use of laptops, anyway, but it's only a matter of time before they do. I might just have something to do with that....
July 23, 2006
Pinecone Purple
Same photo as yesterday, just tripped out a little. The bar exam is tomorrow and I'm feeling a little ... how should we say? Green around the gills? Freaked? Purple? There's no great word to describe it but I really really really wish I had not wasted so much time in the last few weeks! I also wish I'd had more than three days since BarBri classes finished. Of course, would I have really used it? I'd like to think I would have. I'd like to rewind at least two weeks and do them differently so that now, the day before the exam, I would not feel so....
The tree has turned purple, but the fat lady has not yet sung. I'm still going to pass. I have to!
p.s.: Of course, the real and true reason this wacky, inverted purple pinecone is appearing today is that I just haven't been taking enough pics recently to have anything better to post. I hope this doesn't become common, but...
July 21, 2006
Crooked Trail, Crazy Canyon
A sign along the Mt. Sentinel fire road points hikers, bikers, and other travelers toward two of the mountain's delightfully-named hiking options. Hiking this road I learned it could take me to the “M” and/or the summit of Mt. Sentinel. Does anyone know what happens if you just keep going, say, to the Crazy Canyon Trailhead? How far can you go? I'm sure I could learn more about my Missoula hiking options online (e.g. from the Missoulian's Uncover Missoula for starters), but sadly I don't really have the time to go exploring like I'd like to. Or maybe I'd do better on the bar exam if I just chucked the books and cleared my head with a good, long, hike. It's tempting....
July 11, 2006
July 07, 2006
Inked Out
The ink cartridge for the pen I'm using to take notes while studying for the bar. I just bought this pen a couple of weeks ago when I arrived in Missoula and have used it for nothing but bar study so I was surprised to find it already running dry the other day. I wish that meant that I had been working very hard, but sadly I think it just means that this pen uses a lot of ink. ;-(
Oh well. I bought it b/c I need something that writes easily w/minmum pressure or effort from my hand. I'll need every advantage I can get for the hours and hours of handwriting required for the bar exam.
July 05, 2006
Three-Point Plug
The plug for our “new” dryer. We found a Frigidaire washer and dryer set at an estate sale for $200—a great deal when you consider that you can easily pay $400 for each piece if you buy new. When we bought them I didn't pay much attention to whether the dryer was gas or electric, but was happy to later discover that it was electric and that our house was wired for an electric dryer. So far so good. But when we got the dryer moved in and I tried to plug it in, I discovered a small problem—our basement was wired for a 220-volt dryer with a four-prong plug (pictured at right), but our dryer was a 110-volt dryer with a three-prong plug. What to do?
A quick trip to Ace Hardware and about an hour later, the problem was solved. I simply pulled the wires out of the 220-outlet and wired 3 of them (positive, negative, and ground) up to a new 110-outlet. The extra wire from the 220 line I just cut and capped with a wire nut so it's not being used. Everything seems to work fine now and if we ever do get a 220-volt dryer it won't be a big deal to wire up the 220 outlet again.
Homeownership. Isn't it fun?
July 04, 2006
Moving Tip #68
Advice on our Budget truck keychain. Smart idea, except that if you lose your keys, you won't have access to this advice, now will you?
We used the 4th of July holiday to move into our new house. Thanks so much to my hardworking family for making the move so fast and easy!
July 03, 2006
Baby Grill
Freshly-lit charcoal in our little tiny Weber grill. I got a super-sweet, huge, auto-ignition, 4-burner, stainless-steel gas grill (see image at right) as an incredibly generous graduation present from L's kind siblings, but sadly at the time we wanted to grill something we had moved the grill to our new house while all the food remained at my mom's house. So we used the little Weber and it worked fine. Not as simple, but still tasty.
My new grill is super-sweet, though. I've only been able to use it once for burgers and hot dogs, but that one time was a joy. It lights like magic and cooks like a, um, charm. According to this comment thread, recent models have had some problems, but it sounds like those have been fixed so we should have no problems. Now if I only had about 40 friends to invite over for a cookout... ;-)
July 01, 2006
Resurfacing
Our freshly-sanded floor getting its first coat of finish. The strip of floor on the right side of this image has been coated with finish, while the rest is just the bare wood.
Our floor refinishing was an experiment that didn't fully succeed. The sanding went ok, although we didn't get a fully flat and even surface because parts of the floor were already too uneven from previous sandings or other things, plus I'm no expert drum sander. (That machine is the real monster sander. Leave it in one place for 5 seconds and you'll have a nice little groove in your floor. Not good.) But we did get a nice smooth finish on the wood, I thought. Then we swept, vacuumed, and tacked the floor using mineral spirits to get all the sawdust off and leave a nice smooth, clean surface for finishing. Then we waited about 12 hours and put on the first layer of finish. For the finish we used a product called Hillyard Uphold b/c experienced floor refinishers recommended it as especially good. It cost nearly three times what standard polyurethane costs, so we figured it must be good, right? I'm sure the product is fine, but for some reason, after four coats we still didn't have a smooth floor. It seems that the first coat raised the grain of the wood, making the floor very rough. Each subsequent coat of finish smoothed things out a bit, but it's still far from how it should be. We were in a hurry to get moved in so we just decided to leave it for now and deal with it later.
So what did we do wrong? Why did the first coat of finish raise the grain of the wood? Did we put it on too thick, or should we have done something different?
June 30, 2006
Monster Sander
The floor's view of the belt sander we used to sand the edges and anywhere else we couldn't reach with the big drum sander. At right is a shot of the sander in full profile. This little machine is a monster b/c it still works like a charm after who knows how many years. I have no clue of the vintage of this sander, but it's easily 40 or more years old. I think it looks pretty cool, too. My dad let me borrow it for this job. He's got all sorts of wonderful toys like this, which works out pretty well for me when I have a crazy idea like refinishing my floors.
June 28, 2006
I-90 Sunset
The sun sets below a line of hills on I-90 about halfway between Billings and Missoula. I'm getting a little too familiar w/this drive. It's pretty and I actually enjoy it—even if I do have to listen to bar review lectures for 5 hours. Maybe that's actually why I like it—it's about my most productive study time!
June 21, 2006
Sold!
L's cute little house. As of today she is officially a homeowner! Congratulations, L!
I think if I'm nice she'll let me live w/her for a reasonable rent, but I'll probably have to be on my best behavior. It looks like the rent is going to include watering the lawn and refinishing the floors for starters. I still dream of a solar powered attic office, but that's going to have to wait a while...
Today is also the summer solstice. Maybe this should be called “Solstice House.”
June 16, 2006
Missoula Sunset Reflection
The view from my window a few evenings ago. I don't know what that body of water is but I've seen fly fishers pull little fish out of it, whatever that means. I don't think I've ever seen any of those fishers actually keep one of those fish. But the view from my window in this student housing room is not bad—especially when the sunset is so bright. I took this picture about a dozen times hoping that I would be able to capture some of the color in the sky, but for some reason the sky always came out overexposed and washed out and all the color is in the reflection. I bet there would have been a way to get both, but I'd need to be a smarter photographer to do that.
The thumbnail picture at right shows the view from the front window of my apartment. Those clouds have been pretty common since I've been here. I think it's rained every day. Missoula sits in a deep valley so I imagine it gets weather like this quite a bit. All that rain makes everything very green. Did I mention it's a beautiful place?
June 11, 2006
Lotsa Boxes
The bulk of our possessions sitting in boxes in my mom's garage. If all goes well, we'll have a new house to move these things into in just over a week.
June 08, 2006
My Stool
The stepstool my uncle made for me and my sister when we were kids. My dad still uses this in his kitchen.
May 22, 2006
Fit Is Go
A bus stop ad for L.'s new favorite car. I gotta hand it to Honda's advertising agency for this Fit ad campaign. L. has always hated these little station wagon cars and the Fit is, aesthetically, pretty identical to at least a half dozen of its competitors. Yet these kooky “Fit is go” ads have made her forget her aversion to wagons and fall in love with this car. It has a fin! And the ads are all like video games and all your base. I don't fully understand the magic these ads work, but I do know it is magical. Now if only I could find some way to influence L.'s preferences as powerfully as these ads....
May 21, 2006
Graduation
A photo of a ticket to the GW law school diploma ceremony. I took this shot several weeks ago before I gave all my tickets away. In a couple of hours my classmates will walk across a stage and a Dean or other “VIP” will hand each of them a diploma. Congratulations, everyone! I will be happy to celebrate this accomplishment just as soon as I get a job and pass the bar. ;-)
May 13, 2006
Returned to Sender!?!
The stamp on my application for the only job I really want. My application was returned to me today, the day after it was due! And this after I put two 37-cent stamps on it! It was only about 5-6 sheets of paper folded into thirds and they're trying to tell me that two stamps was not sufficient!?
I rushed to FedEx to overnight it so it will arrive on Monday morning (one business day late) inside the original envelope marked “return to sender.” My hope is that they will see that I made every effort to be on time and will still consider my application along with those who did make it on time. (I'm sending an email to explain, as well.) I'm not sure I would do that if I were in their shoes—deadlines can be pretty crucial in the law biz (i.e. the deadline to file a motion in a case is something you have to meet regularly as a public defender and it's not usually something you can fudge). Still, maybe they'll be more lenient than I would be.
The good news is that the deadline was not firm. The original ad listed a closing date of 5/12 and said something like “we encourage you to apply by May 12 but we will accept applications after that until positions are filled.” The ad now lists a closing date of May 26 and says the jobs are “Open until filled. Application materials will be reviewed on a weekly basis. The application pool will be considered for employment opportunities up to November, 2006.”
Still, I wanted my application on the very top of the pile. Here's hoping things still work out that way...
May 04, 2006
Final Final Blurry Board
A quick snap of the chalkboard telling me where my final law school final was held. As usual I walked in just barely in time so I didn't have time to make sure I got a good shot. The point is: I never have to look to this chalkboard again to see where I will spend three hours of my life regurgitating from my notes or memory in order to pass a class. That's because I never have to take another law school final. Ever.
Of course, that's assuming that I passed this final, which, well, it didn't seem that bad. I would be stunned to see anything more than a B on the old report card for this class, but I'm sure I got at least a C. Ok, you can never be sure, but you get the idea. For now I'm going forward on the assumption that I passed and I'm done. Done! Yeah.
May 03, 2006
House Hunting
A needlepoint welcome inside a house in Billings, Montana. L. was there recently for a job interview and she checked out some houses, as well. Prices are obviously much lower than in many larger markets, but the selection in our low low price range is not the best. Still, it's fun to contemplate being able to afford a house rather than throwing thousands of dollars away every year on rent.
May 02, 2006
Charging Gadgets
L's collection of gadgets gulping power in preparation for a recent business trip. We heart gadgets.
April 21, 2006
Eazy Breezy
A spring sky over D.C. a few days ago in the late afternoon. To me it suggests a sense of freedom and ease, which is what I feel today after turning in my last academic papers ever. Law school is so close to over for me it's not even funny. Yay!
April 17, 2006
Blue Movie Burning
My iBook making a DVD as seen through the bottom of a glass. I've been transferring some mini-DV tapes to DVD for some friends and while I'm impressed w/how easy this is to do w/iMovie and iDVD, I'm very disappointed in how long the process takes. If you have a full mini-DV tape it takes about an hour and a half to copy it onto your hard drive, then you might spend 10-15 minutes making chapters and setting up menus in iDVD. That's all fine. The big wait comes when you actually click “burn” in iDVD—be prepared to wait at least 8 hours while your computer crunches that video.
Now I understand why people have been crying for faster macs. My iBook is a 1.2Ghz G4. I once thought that was more than sufficient.
(Note: These movies I've been burning for my friends aren't the least bit “blue” in the usual sense of that word w/regard to movies. It was just descriptive and a nice alliteration for the title of today's shot.)
April 08, 2006
I want to ride my tricycle
The winning bidder of a shiny new (well, slightly used) racing tryke takes his new ride for a spin near the end of the 2006 GW EJF Public Interest Auction. The auction was again a huge success, raising more than $30,000 (we're still awaiting final totals) to be given as grants to law students working for free this summer to provide legal services to people in underserved communities. As you can see, a good time was had by all! Thanks again to everyone who came and bid so generously, and also to all who donated goods, services and time to make the auction so successful.
April 04, 2006
The Poet at Work
Poet R.J. McCaffery (aka, the Scoplaw) reads from his new book, Ice Sculpture of Mermaid With Cigar, last night at GULC. The reading was excellent; it was sheer joy to just sit back, relax, and let the language of the poems fill the room and your mind. R.J. is a great reader and an excellent poet. I got there a little early and bought a copy of the book to snack on before the reading started. I read three or four random poems, chosen by how loudly their titles called to me from the table of contents, and then had the very pleasant experience of hearing R.J. begin his reading with those very same poems! Favorites for me included, “ Causes of Death in London, 1632,” “How To Move for Love,” “Expedient Mechanics,” “Lahar” and “The Great Molasses Flood” (an odd pair of unusual flood narratives), and “Watching a Former Lover Make Tea.” But my very favorite was one of the poems on poetry called “For Hannah.” I love it because it includes the vivid image off “the persistent unhappiness of the moon,” (the idea of that!), and because of its beautiful and demanding conclusion. “People use so many words they do not know”—indeed! R.J.'s poems demonstrate that he works hard to know the words he uses as well as he can, which is what makes reading them—and even better, hearing them—such a joy.
February 14, 2006
Not-So-Lucky Hearts
My non-winning Michigan lottery ticket. This was a Valentine's Day gift from L's parents. A great thought, but sadly, not a winner.
Happy V-Day or Anti-V-Day to everyone!
January 18, 2006
Colorful Tradegy
My Palm z22 after being run over at least three times by three different cars. Yes, I had to watch my nearly brand new toy (got it less than two months ago as a gift) get run over by passing cars after it fell out of my pocket as I was crossing Calvert street last night. Here's what happened:
Someone had turned the crossing light so that it was partially obscured from the corner where I stood; I couldn't see what it said, only that it was still counting down for “walk.” So I started across the street. Halfway across I looked up to see that the “walk” countdown had changed to the “don't walk” hand, and I know from experience that on this street, that means your time is up. So I sprinted the rest of the way across the street. About two steps from the corner I heard what sounded like something falling to the street. I quickly patted my pockets—had I dropped something? Turning around I saw the traffic was starting to move and my z22, which had been inside my coat pocket, was right there in the middle of the street! I watched in agony as at least a half dozen cars passed right over my precious without touching it. “Maybe I'll get lucky,” I thought. But of course that was not to be. The next car ran right over it with both front and rear axles. Whap whap. I figured it was dead. Then another car hit it with just one tire causing it to fly into the air and spin around, then bounce again on the pavement before being slammed again beneath the cruel and uncaring tires of at least one more vehicle. Whap whap. By that time, the light had changed and I was able to walk back out in the middle of the street to retrieve my toy. It was on, with the screen as you see above, and the stylus nearly falling out. My precious was dead.
Miraculously, other than the screen the unit still looks like new. The rubber “air case” protected it very well and the case didn't get a single crack or scratch. As far as I can tell, the actual computer inside continues to function normally—it turns on and off, makes beeping noises when I hit the buttons, and the alarms I had set have continued to ring as if nothing was wrong. Of course, all of this is useless w/out a screen to display what's going on or with which to enter feedback via the stylus. I'm guessing if I could find a replacement screen everything would be fine, but I'm also guessing that that's about the most expensive part of the whole unit so I might as well just get a new one. And I think I am going to have to get a new one because I really do miss this one already. It was such a handy little toy! But alas, for now, I am toyless and joyless. *sigh*
January 09, 2006
Thirds
A chocolate-covered caramel waffle cookie from the Caramel Cookie Waffle store in Billings, MT. My mom, sister, and I divided this into thirds to share over the holidays. Yum!
Since today is also the first day of my third and final semester of law school, this seemed an appropriate picture. I'm ready for all three sections of this school process to be over, but I guess I have to read a few more cases, attend a few more classes, take a few more tests, and work on a few more clinic cases before this final third is complete. Time to get to it.
January 08, 2006
Pocket Puzzle
A racoon hangs in a pair of pants in this small puzzle. Visiting grandma often involves lots of puzzles, and since her puzzle-abilities aren't what they once were, most of them are simple like this.
January 06, 2006
Frantic Fish
The fishy tesselations of the Frantic Fish create a colorful design on my mom's kitchen table. My sister gave me these fish for Christmas and we spent a couple of hours fitting them together in all kinds of beautiful ways.
January 05, 2006
Dusty Dress Form
A very old dress form that my parents found for my sister at a yard sale or auction. It's quite elaborate—all those pieces you see can be expanded and contracted via sliding rails and wingnuts on the inside of the form.
January 02, 2006
Settlers of Catan!
A macro shot of the Settlers of Catangame board in the middle of a game. It may look a little odd (full shot at right), but trust me, it's one of the best board games I've played in a while. It's part Monopoly, part Risk, but just generally a good time for 3-4 players. One of the best things about it is that there are so many variations on gameplay that you could play a thousand times and have a very different game each time. At least it seems that way after playing only twice.
The game may seem a little complicated in the beginning (it did to me), but once you've played one short game you'll see its basic rules are relatively simple. Anyway, if you enjoy board games generally, I highly recommend this one. And if you find you like it, you can also get an expansion pack to add 1-2 more players, plus the Seafarers of Catan is another add-on to add entire new levels of play. I'm guessing if you played with 6 players and the Seafarers expansion you'd be playing for hours but that may be exactly what you'll want to do once you've tried this game.
(No, the game-maker didn't pay me to lavish praise on the game; it was just surprisingly entertaining.)
December 21, 2005
Orphan Crackberry
The keyboard of a Blackberry handheld device that my dog found in a nearby park. The little bugger was still on and its screen was locked (see right), but the screen helpfully said “if found please return to...” and gave an address and phone number. Apparently it belonged to a Guardian newspaper correspondent who I think actually is based in the U.S., but I mailed the thing to the UK anyway. I hope it finds its rightful owner again before RIM (the company behind the Blackberry service) gets shut down. ;-)
(Ok, I know RIM probably won't get shut down, but it's fun to talk about the possibility b/c it makes crackberry heads quake in their boots.)
December 20, 2005
Treadmill Steal
Our new treadmill in the backseat of the car. L. went shopping on Craigslist the other day and found this fully-functional, foldable treadmill for sale for $75. These things typically start at $300-400 if you buy new, so we snatched it up and it works great. The only problem is that now I really have no excuses left for not keeping up with my runs.
December 19, 2005
Sugared Cork
The bottom of a cork pulled from a bottle of wine apparently past its prime. The cork was covered with a layer of sugar, which suggested to me that the bottle had been stored upright for too long, the cork had dried out, and some of the sugar from the wine had condensed onto the cork. This doesn't seem like a good thing. Isn't this why you're supposed to store wine bottles on their sides?
December 15, 2005
Pitiful Pulls At Cupid's (Rain)Bow
A photo of the best new CD I've heard in a long time. The CD is the latest gem from Elevator Ride: Pitiful Pulls At Cupid's Bow. I still want to listen more and more closely before I write a full review, but I do know that for me this is the best Elevator Ride release yet. It shows much more range than previous releases in terms of subject matter, musicianship, tone (by which I mean the "feel" of the songs or the sort of emotions they conjure), and production polish. I highly recommend this as a great Christmas gift for all the independent music-lovers in your life! (Yeah, I know the band, but take a listen for yourself; I think you'll agree this is great stuff!)
December 12, 2005
Porcelain Moo
A porcelain cream pourer in search of a good cup of coffee. I obviously get a little bored in malls so I have to entertain myself somehow...
December 11, 2005
Bunny Candy
Just a random shot of a packet of Japanese candies seen in a store. Don't they look fun? This was in a video game store in at Tyson's Corner Mall. There must be a reason why a video game store would have a fairly large selection of Japanese candy, but I'm not sure exactly what that reason might be. Is it simply that most of the games come from Japan so real game geeks want more of that culture?
November 05, 2005
NaNoWriMo D.C. Write-In
Writers turned out in force last Tuesday for the first write-in for this year's NaNoWriMo. iBooks appear to be popular noveling machines, but there was also an Alphasmart, a variety of Windoze laptops, and some good old fashioned pens and paper, as well.
October 31, 2005
Finisher!
My 2005 Marine Corps Marathon Medal. I think I'm going to carry this around in my pocket for the rest of my life to convince the doubters when I say I've run a marathon.
Of course, for the record, I didn't “run” the marathon, exactly. I mean, I ran and walked it and most of it was a run, but still, I kind of hope someday to be able to do 26 miles running the whole thing. For now, I'm glad of what I've done and I think I'm going to rest a bit before deciding what to do next (other than NaNoWriMo, that is).
October 30, 2005
Race Day
My Aids Marathon Singlet with attached race bib. I'm ready to run, I think. I have lots of “goo,” my water bottle, bodyglide, my Champion Chip is tied to my shoe, I have clothes to wear in the early morning cold that I can discard along the way to leave for the marines to pick up to donate to goodwill. What else? Oh yes, thanks to M I have fun and colorful bouncy balls to wear on my head for as long as I can stand it so it will be easy for everyone to pick me out of the crowd. I also have a mask to wear so I can look like Zorro, but I“m afraid it may chafe a bit too much. Anyhoo, wish me luck and I'll see you after 26.2 miles!
October 29, 2005
Marine Corps Marathon Expo
Banners hang outside the DC Armory for the MCM Expo. The Expo started yesterday and continues today; all runners have to visit the expo to pick up their race bib and Champion Chip, and that's where things went wrong for me. I got in and out of the Expo in about 15 minutes because I had other things to do yesterday, but in my rush I apparently missed the “scan booth” to “activate” my ChampionChip. The ChampionChip is a little plastic doodad you tie to your shoe so that when you cross the starting line the computer registers that you're there and starts your own personal race clock. Then, at certain intervals along the race, your chip will get “scanned” as you run along and the computer will calculate your pace and send email and text message alerts about your progress to people who want them (friends and family who sign up for this). So it's all neato and techno, but I guess if you don't get your chip “activated” at the Expo, it might not work. At least that's what I'm told. (My AIDS Marathon coach and co-runners have confirmed this.) So, back I go today.
October 25, 2005
Dancing Raaar!
A monster in bronze (I think) dances on a stump at the University of Maryland University College art museum.
October 24, 2005
Dynamic Spaces of Larry Chappelear
An abstract collage and painting by Larry Chappelear from the Dynamic Spaces show at the University of Maryland University College art museum. I think you can see from this photo that the collage includes corrugated cardboard, thin strips of wood (much of it from broken up hollow doors, apparently), shingles and tarpaper, all on a bed of burlap. Pretty cool stuff, actually. His traditional landscapes are also terrific, but I don't think I got any pictures of those...
October 23, 2005
Cranium Turbo
Playing the Turbo Cranium at a friend's house last weekend. I think this version is better than the original for reasons I can't really pin down. Perhaps it just seems more streamlined or something.
Do you like Cranium? I can't decide. It can be a heckuva lot of fun w/the right group, but awful w/the wrong one.
September 01, 2005
Because Property Is What Really Matters
A screen capture from MSNBC.com's coverage of Hurrican Katrina aftermath. I just don't get the obsession with the looting in the press and elsewhere. Um, hello? People are dying. The vast majority of those left in New Orleans are probably only those who could not afford to leave, and never will be able to afford to leave. They are effectively Third World citizens in a “first world” nation. Is anyone surprised that those who have somehow escaped death are taking opportunities to get a little of what consumer culture has to offer—a little of what they see all around them day in and day out, but which is generally far out of their reach? Sure, there are good reasons we have laws and law enforcement under normal conditions, and eventually “law and order” will be restored in the storm-affected areas. However, it seems to me that every ounce of energy or resources expended on stopping or preventing “looting” at this point is precious energy and resources wasted. Save lives, let the property go.
August 22, 2005
e-Keys
My new eKeys 37-key keyboard. I bought it so that I can learn to play the piano and have more fun w/Garageband. The music teacher software is Windows-only, which means I have to drag out the icky old Dell to lean my lessons. The keys are also pretty small for big fat fingers like mine. However, the lessons work well and I've learned a bit already. Beware! I may soon know enough to torture you with my own compositions!
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PIWIT: I just caught up with some recent archives at digital obscura and I highly recommend you visit for some truly great shots. For example, today's photo is a cool study in depth of focus and something I don't think I could do w/my camera. This shot of Adams Morgan captures a sweet reflection, and this July Self-Portrait is just cool—subtle, understated, and probably because I'm familiar w/the location it evokes Washington D.C. for me. Very nice.
August 04, 2005
Powerbook Detritus
A Powerbook box sits atop a barrel of sand in the Kalorama neighborhood. I have this thing with the boxes my computers come in and that thing is: I save them. I still have the original box from the computer I bought in 2002 because I still have the computer. This is dumb, I know, but I always have this idea that I'll pass my computers on to someone else—either by sale or gift—and that they'll want the box. Nevermind that that computer from 2002 doesn't really work anymore; I still have both the computer and the box.
So what's the story with this box? I envision someone picking up a Powerbook at the Apple store. Then perhaps they got on the train and took the computer and whatever else they wanted to save out of the box. Then they were walking home with their new computer and just had too much to carry so they ditched the box.
Who knows?
July 24, 2005
Half-Blood Prince
The latest Harry Potter as it first came out of its special Amazon shipping container. Thank you, M, for letting me read it!
July 17, 2005
Bowtie and Cobalt
Our new car in the shadow of the giant Chevrolet bowtie. I know both are clipped, but I was a little distracted. The big bowtie comes from an old Chevy factory around Flint, I believe, but it now lives at the dealership where we bought our car.
Pretty orange, huh?
UPDATE: I added links to Vic Canever Chevrolet, the dealership where we bought our car. They were extremely helpful and I'm pretty confident they gave us the best deal they could. If you're ever in the market for a new GM (primarily Chevy) or a good used car, and you're in or near the middle of Michigan, Canever's is a great place to begin your car search.
July 16, 2005
Sign Your Life Away
Signing the paperwork to buy the new car. The saleswoman pushed the paper in front of me and said sign. I said, “What am I signing?” L's dad said, “You're signing your life away.”
Oh man.
“And you may ask yourself-Well...How did I get here?”
July 04, 2005
June 29, 2005
Tired Tires
A display of tires inside the lobby of a Midas store where I waited for three hours for a new muffler to arrive. I think they had to fly it in from China, which makes sense when you consider it was going on an “American-made” car. Sheesh.
June 28, 2005
Thumb Update
My thumb about two weeks after the noodle—because I know you all care. ;-) But seriously, I think it looks kind of cool—almost like I painted it or something. For the record, although the initial “surgery” hurt like hell, the pain diminished steadily each day to the point where, after about a week, I hardly noticed it and was able to use my thumb normally again. I'll never know whether that might have eventually happened w/out medical intervention, but oh well. I'm just glad to have two opposable thumbs again!
June 26, 2005
Crayon Tokens
Handmade game pieces for a rousing game of new-parent “Wise and Otherwise”. Yeah, I didn't get it at first either, but here's the deal: Some friends are having a baby and it was also just about the new dad's birthday, so another friend pulled all the questions from “Wise and Otherwise” that had anything to do with babies or getting old (and there are lots of those, it turns out), then she made a custom game board featuring D.C. scenes (and also Pittsburgh scenes, since the new parents are soon moving there). The above tokens were our game pieces on that custom game board? Make sense? It was actually great fun. “Wise and Otherwise” turns out to be a great game to play with a few drinks, although it gets a little slow w/too many people.
June 18, 2005
Pasta Thumb
My thumb with a dissolving piece of pasta underneath the nail. Yes, that's right—I got a piece of pasta stuck under my fingernail last weekend. And how, you'll ask, did I do that? By washing dishes and using my thumbnail to try to scrape a piece of dried pasta off the bottom of a pot. As you can probably guess from the photo, it hurt something awful, and it only got worse as the days passed. This happened on Saturday (a week ago) so I went to the doctor on Monday. The doctor said I had to see a surgeon, which was not really good news for someone w/out insurance. I asked what would happen if I just left alone; wouldn't it just sort of work its way out, maybe pop the nail off or something? They couldn't say, but recommended against that course of action.
I saw the surgeon on Tuesday and he had the pasta out in about four minutes. The worst part was the anesthetic he shot into my thumb. He stuck the needle in and when he pushed the plunger on the syringe it felt like he'd placed my thumb on the sidewalk and smashed it with a sledgehammer. I don't remember feeling that kind of pain before. Ever. Then, w/no pause, he grabbed some sort of curved sharp implement and started scraping beneath my nail until he thought he'd removed all the foreign stuff. I felt each scrape and jab in a sharp yet distant way that made it difficult to breathe. Finally, he flushed the area w/water (or saline, maybe) by sticking a needle under the nail and squirting around. By that time, the thumb was pretty numb and I was pretty glad about that.
I don't know which hurt worse—having the pasta under the fingernail or having it removed. Ok, the removal definitely hurt worse, but for a much shorter time. By Wednesday it was feeling much better, and by now it's pretty well healed. Still, I recommend you a) wear gloves when washing dishes, and b) never use your fingernail as a food scraper. I'm sure you're smart enough you don't need to be told these things, but, well, I'm just saying.
June 17, 2005
After Party
The scene around the campfire on the morning after the bonfire at Deep Creek Lake. What you see in the foreground is a vodka watermelon—take one melon, scoop a little out, then fill the void with vodka, then let the whole thing sit in a refrigerator for a few days. When you eat the fruit you won't even be able to taste the vodka anymore. That's what I was told, anyway. I didn't try it; I chose to drink sangia instead, which was also quite good in its own fruity way.
At right is a simple shot of the clouds above the lake one day. They were puffy and pretty and hard to capture w/a camera so I guess you'll just have to trust me. This was another time it might have been cool to have a tripod to try to take a grid shot of the huge sky. Maybe someday I'll try that.
June 14, 2005
Library Self-Checkout
A self-checkout machine at GW's Gelman Library. I rarely enter Gelman since it's the undergrad library at GW and law school generally doesn't demand a lot in the way of library research anyway. But I've had reasons to visit a bit recently and have enjoyed the self-checkout machine immensely. The self-checkout combined with the online catalog means I can get the call numbers for the books I want before I go to the library, walk in, grab the books from the shelves, slide them through the self-checkout, and be on my way w/out ever having to interact w/another human being. It's kind of strange, actually. The first time I did this I sort of expected the alarms to go off as I left the library with a bag full of books that no librarian had even touched. But no; the self-checkout machine has the alarm desensitizer thingy, too, so it's all good.
Do librarians like these machines because they free librarians from the mundane task of checking out books, or do librarians dislike these machines because they threaten library jobs?
May 24, 2005
Smooshtri-Grain
Close-up of a smashed strawberry Nutri-Grain bar. This little snack rattled around my book bag for most of the semester until it was smashed flatter than most pancakes. I was just going to throw it away but I was curious what it would look like after being repeatedly smashed by Hart and Wechslers for a couple of months. I thought it looked kind of cool in its shiny little tunnel.
Yeah, I do need to get out more.
May 23, 2005
Old Technology
Branding badges on the aged computers I use at work. These badges make me think these computers are about 3-4 years old or more. Can anyone remember when the Pentium III or Windows 98 were things Intel and Microsoft were bragging about? The machines work remarkably well despite their age, but the tiny and extremely crappy monitors (shown at right) are no fun to deal with. Also no fun to deal with is the fact that the computers are administratively locked down to within an inch of their lives, which means no Firefox for me. ;-(
May 22, 2005
Tossed Tassel
A discarded or lost graduation tassel on the brick sidewalk in Old Town Alexandria. Was this tossed intentionally in some graduate's fit of pique, or was it tragically lost by some graduate who will forever mourn its disappearance? Such are the mysteries of life around graduation time...