say carrot!

say carrot!, originally uploaded by pr9000.

I think I want to be a photographer.

Not that I'm not already -- I heard my wife say "My husband is a photographer" on the phone the other day -- but I want to make money at it. Maybe not a ton, but definitely something that can supplement my current "income," such as it is.

What I don't understand is (1) the business model, and (2) setting up a home studio. All those little things like lighting, strobes/flashes, proper camera backs, etc, are totally foreign to me because I've never been around a studio before.

And the business model is a bit tough for me as well, as I don't understand how one makes money at it. I'm sure it can be done, but until someone shows me I don't know that I could "get" it correct.

All I know is that I love taking pictures, and I think I've got a pretty good eye for what makes a nice picture.

So this year's goal, besides running a 10K or two, is to be making some meager income by photography by Christmas.

Stay tuned.

happy birthday to you ...

, originally uploaded by pr9000.

It's my lovely wife's birthday -- 34, I think, though she might yell at me for disclosing state secrets like that. :)

ps the Word Verification to post: eaulve. Yes, eaulve me and eyelve you ...

dirkus

dirkus, originally uploaded by pr9000.

My lovely wife is sick.

Not just "sniffles" sick, but "raging fever" sick. In a few more days, she'll have full-blown bubonic plague. I'm really worried about her, especially because tomorrow is her birthday and we normally celebrate "birthday week" -- except this week she's been sick. I feel sorry for her.

***

I'm watching "Office Space" and this line just resonated with me:

PETER
The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy. It's just that I just don't
care.

BOB PORTER
Don't, don't care?

PETER
It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now, if I work my ass off and
Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime. So where's
the motivation? And here's another thing, Bob. I have eight different
bosses right now!

BOB SLYDELL
I beg your pardon?

PETER
Eight bosses.

BOB SLYDELL
Eight?

PETER
Eight, bob. So that means when I make a mistake, I have eight different
people coming by to tell me about it. That's my real motivation - is
not to be hassled. That and the fear of losing my job, but y'know, Bob,
it will only make someone work hard enough not to get fired.

poor miss eliza day ...

poor miss eliza day ..., originally uploaded by pr9000.

my manager kind of threw me under the bus today on a conference call, then made a point to call me after to apologize, and explain his reasoning -- which was valid and understandable, though not exactly heartwarming.

i don't blog about my job, because it's just not worth the risk, and because it has more drama than my last job but only a tiny fraction of the total employees -- so if it's found out, it's found out ... whereas at target, the risk of discovery was much, much lower.

***

It snowed last night -- one of those nice, quiet snows that leaves a blanket of fluffy cotton all over the ground. And as I sit here in the late-afternoon twilight, the sun is giving everything an orange and blue glow. It's days like these that make me like winter.

Of course, having Mr. Plow visit your driveway in the morning makes it that much easier to take.

That Mr. Plow ... he's a loser, and I think he is a boozer. So call KL5-4796!

barkley II

barkley II, originally uploaded by pr9000.

Thank goodness it snowed tonight ... at least three inches. Now I can run Trotter out on the lake -- we tried it today on Lake Minnewashta, and the poor guy couldn't get any footing. At one point he turned around and looked at me as if to say "You've got to be kidding, right?"

***

Earlier in the week, I wrote:

My picks for this weekend's NFL extravaganza: NE over SD; IND over BAL; NO over PHI; CHI and SEA are a push.

And lookee what! New England was a hard-luck winner ... Manning and the Colts continue to cut that meat ... Nawlins beat the Iggles ... and the Bears and 'Hawks went to overtime, with the Bears winning. I was 3 for 3 -- 4 for 4 if you count my chickenshit "maybe both, who knows?" pick in Chicago.

For next weekend, I like IND over NE definitely; I think CHI can beat NO, but I'll need to think about that one a bit before making up my mind.

***

I started using Quicken 2007, in Parallels, tonight, and had a little flashback to 2000, when I was running 998 Productions out of my bedroom and had to learn the intricacies of Quickbooks Pro. The only hard part of it was doing the "split" on all checks -- categorizing the amount paid into different areas ... some were easy, like phone bills and utilities, but the hard one always was my AmEx, because I did almost everything on my AmEx.

Well, we do a lot on one of our cards, and I split that one this evening. It took me almost 45 minutes to do it ... but it's one of my 2006 LifeGoals™ to get a handle on where the money goes, and why. Soon I'll have all sorts of nerdy pie charts and line graphs (or pie graphs and line charts, whatever) to show my lovely wife.

What color in the pie should I make "crap we buy that we don't exactly need?" ...

suspension bridge II

suspension bridge II, originally uploaded by pr9000.

I spent hours and hours getting this photo just right, because it's two shots stitched together in Photoshop. My smallest lens wasn't wide enough to get the whole bridge in one shot, and after my wife got me a kick-ass tripod for Christmas, I was finally able to get a decent night shot with my D70.

I went to Wheeling Island -- not usually a good idea in daylight, and never one after dark -- and hung out in some rest home's back yard, trying not to get kicked out by security (I'd already been approached by the good people of Wackenhut Security while taking this shot). Nobody came to bother me -- a strange man, in a backyard on Wheeling Island at night? Must be business as usual! -- and I managed to get off some nice, long-exposure shots. I think this one is made up of a six-second exposure on the left, and a four-second exposure on the right.

I'd done an earlier version and kept obsessing on how the cables on the left weren't matching. I spent hours and hours trying to get them to line up, resizing, angling ... nothing worked.

Yesterday, I had a brainstorm -- don't be a moron and spend hours with little lines. Use all of the photo on the left, and just match up the right at the other side of the shore. So I used that "Marsh Wheeling Stogies" sign as a guide, and it took me about 30 minutes to finish up.

I like the shot(s). Reminds me of what the bridge looked like that night, which is all I can ask for, I guess.

suspension bridge II

suspension bridge II, originally uploaded by pr9000.

lombard

lombard, originally uploaded by pr9000.

Apple released a phone. Their stock jumped; Palm and the Blackberry company both dropped.

We haven't seen it yet, we don't know any facts about some key features (can you install your own software? what kind of OS is really under the hood?) ... and yet Apple stock soars.

I think Fake Steve had it right: "I really do think I'm descended from Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The resemblance is just too strong to be ignored."

***

My picks for this weekend's NFL extravaganza: NE over SD; IND over BAL; NO over PHI; CHI and SEA are a push. In fact, so might NO/PHI as well. And I don't know that Manning can beat BAL's D. And come to think of it, I really want SD to win this game.

So forget I said anything.

***

I'm watching some contrived ESPN show about the 40 minutes that define the Super Bowl, and they're focusing on the 1991 SB where Whitney Houston sang the National Anthem (and where "Scott Norwood" became an insult for the ages). I didn't get to see that game, because I did my first radio show on WDUB that evening -- some senior DJ didn't want to do his time slot. It was probably the best show I ever did; I chased that performance for three more years ... and I got out in time to see Norwood shank that kick. All in all, it was a good day.

They just showed Bart Oates talking about that kick, and it reminded me of one of my favorite "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" episodes. And now they're talking about bad halftime shows, which reminds me of Homer yelling out " This sucks. Come on, snipers, where are you!" in "Lisa the Greek.

crab IV

crab IV, originally uploaded by pr9000.

I've been a bit crabby over the past few days.

Not sure why, to be honest -- nothing is really bothering me, outside of the usual work-exercise-housecleaning trifecta. I've been snappy with my lovely wife, with my dog and cats ...

Wait. Maybe it's the exercise. Four times in the past week, twice with weights. I think my body is telling my mood "Act the way I feel" and I'm just being a bastard to everyone.

Hence, this will be a short post.

Oh, and OSU sucking ass isn't helping. :(

Pam and Tony Romo

Long weekend ... so for my required post, I present:

Pam and Tony Romo, originally uploaded by pr9000.

it's not mine, but i wish it were.