Passions in Life

There are a few things in life I feel pretty passionate about. Technology that is accessible to all. Technology available to all school children. Technology expands options and opportunities. Teaching people that technology is not the solution, but rather the tool to find the solutions. Breaking out of the model that you need to be in a building, plugged into a wire, attached to a desk to do your work. This is certainly true somedays when you need to have access to paperwork, an ultra fast connection or a speaker phone. But what about the days when you just need to plug along, distraction free from phones ringing, coworkers, benignly stopping by for conversations, chatter around your workspace and you just want to escape to some solitude and as they say, “get shit done.” Companies need to offer more telecommute […]

Yarn Storage

A few months ago, I took advantage of the local yarn store’s closing sale. When I got home with my bounty of yarn, I stuffed a few of balls of yarn into a plastic storage bin in my office. Problem was, the bin wasn’t big enough for all of it. This weekend we did a major cleaning and overhaul of my office. I finally made it through several boxes that had been stalking me for years. When we were done, I turned around to see the coffee table empty inside and the lightbulb went off to put the yarn in there. It all fit, looks wonderful and when I want some, all I have to do is grab a suction cup, pull up the glass and take out the one piece.

Experiments with Infrared

In Photoshop CS3 there is a new feature, Image > Adjustments > Black and White. In the dialog there are several presets you can choose from, one is Infrared. I’ve always admired, Dave’s infrared photography, which he does with an attachment for his camera. I haven’t broken down yet and gotten an attachment. This experiment though has made me really want to get one though. I did a little tweaking of this photo after the basic infrared was applied. I created a slight vignetting, along with some edge blur. I’m happy with the final product. Here is the original image.

Learning to Drive: 1994

Over the summer, we embarked on transferring a bunch of old VHS tapes to DVD. Talk about a trip down memory lane. This shot is from me driving around during the summer of 1994, learning to drive in Craig’s parent’s 1986 Mercedes 190D. We had so much fun, but as I watched an hour of so of driving around town I was like, ok what the heck was I was thinking, that anyone would want to watch this. I still need to go through and pair down the footage. Recently my hometown has expanded the main road to 4 lanes, and there is more shopping malls than ever before. Now this footage we took is pretty unique. Another project…

Inspiring Views

A dream I’ve always had is sitting a desk, looking out a window in front or to the side of me and seeing trees and a field or forest. To me there’s something inspiring about looking out over nature in it’s solitude. I can see it perfectly in my head, and some day it will be true. John Hicks posted a picture of the view from his office. I can see why he likes it.

History

I was introduced to this song today. It has some points that are worth thinking on. Even if you don’t agree with it, read it and try to understand what he is saying. If your first reaction is anger, then leave and come back and re-read it. If we seek solace in the prisons of the distant past Security in human systems we’re told will always, always last Emotions are the sail and blind faith is the mast Without the breath of real freedom we’re getting nowhere fast If God is dead and an actor plays his part His words of fear will find a place in your heart Without the voice of reason every faith is its own curse Without freedom from the past things can only get worse Sooner or later just like the world first day Sooner […]