Time...

...goes by. I just saw that I haven't written any thing in here for almost three weeks. Either I’m that boring to myself, or nothing’s been going on. Or, most likely, I just forget to write in here, as there’s no one else who reads this.

And I’m not going to get on that kick again. Why beat a dead horse?

At least Summer’s here!! Woo hoo!! Almost 90 degrees today, and it’s about damn time.

Otherwise, I just keep on doing what I’m doing. The only thing different is that I got fired from that website job I’d been doing for a year. Oh well, if they think a newbie can handle it, so be it. Screw ‘em. They’ll be back, and then the price goes up.

Why Me?

Part sighfully complaining, part fun. Boy was this past weekend the yin and yang.

Saturday I had to work, but then open house at the hill. Jake and I premiered the new A/V show on the computer to - well I don't know how well it was received. After Dave introduced us as the ones responsible for it, I watched the premiere then went up into the dome.

Part of Sunday was good. Kendall IM'd me and said that he was installing the Gallery to the site, and asked me how I wanted it set up. Then he activated the www.astronomyguru.com. I guess I don't thank him enough for putting up with my requests, but I do appreciate the hosting and work. I've never been good at compliments where it counts. Especially when I have to thank customers at the store all day, I don't want to "thank" another person when I get out of work.

Then the day went to hell. GRAAA Board Meeting. Where we were basically given an ultimatum by one of our donors. And Dan B. was behind it all. We are all so sick of him... well, the less I write about him the better. Suffice it to say the day was ruined by this bomb dropped. And then, to make it worse, I was elected President. Which would be cool, but tainted due to this blackmail. And it's now my burden (along with the board too, but...). This is going to get dirty, and one of two things will happen: I will be remembered for being in charge when the club was brought down/disbanded, or be hailed as a great leader if we make it out alive. And although things look like they are on our side, who really knows?

Hopefully more fun news later...

Am I?

Digerati: di·ge·ra·ti [ dìjj rtee ]
plural noun

computer experts: people who have or claim to have a sophisticated expertise in the area of computers, the Internet, and the World Wide Web.

"Not too long ago, computer expertise was considered nerdy. These days, many people strive to be among the digerati."

[Late 20th century. Formed from digital on the model of literati.]

Or Not?

Think Think Think

That's what Winnie the Pooh says.:) Actually I was going to write in here about stuff, but suddenly drew a blank, as I really don't have anything going on. So I guess I'm writing this mainly because I'm in here, and nothign to do.:)

However... possible severe storms late Sunday. We'll see.

Addiction?

Recently someone said again how the internet and computers can be addicting. So I asked a friend of mine who is a doctor (MD) and who specializes in Addiction Consulting. Here's what he wrote to me...

"For something to be considered an addiction it needs to:

1. Take control of the person's life
2. Result in harm to that person or others and be continued despite the harm that it is doing
3. Be carried out at inappropriate times and to the exclusion of other important activities
4. Be associated with craving (withdrawal) when in a state of early abstinence
5. Result in excitation of the reward cascade (dopamine and endorphin) in the mesolimbic system of the brain

With these points in mind, I leave it to you to decide if this or any other activity contitutes a true addiction, or just something that takes up a lot of a person's time and energy. Just because a person devotes time and energy to a pursuit doesn't mean that the pursuit is addictive behavior."

So who's an addict? You tell me.

Messing With People's Minds

I just got a spam call (telemarketer) who was dumb as a post. Here's the conversation...

Me: "Hello?"
TM: "Hello, this is _______ from Talk America. Are you the person responsible for the telephone service at your household?"
Me: "We don't have a telephone here."
TM: "Oh, I'm sorry."

And then she hung up!!!

And they say people aren't funny anymore.

Important Strategic Note To Self!!

When doing things at the spur of the moment, take another moment to think about the situation.

Case in point: Got today off. Around 1:30pm I walked outside, where the conditions were beautiful for this time of year...

Temperature: 66 °F / 19 °C
Humidity: 46%
Dew Point: 45 °F / 7 °C
Wind: South at 15 mph / 24.1 km/h
Wind Gust: 22 mph / 35 km/h
Pressure: 29.78 in / 1008 hPa (Steady)
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy

So it’s nice out, for the last part of March.

And I know from the past few days that we have flowers coming up: crocuses, etc. So, seeing it was great outside, I grabbed camera 1, the macro lens, the only roll of slow film I had (Portra 160), and headed out to the front yard.

There were purple flowers, white flowers, and yellow flowers. Lots ‘o flowers. And I proceeded to lie down and take some really close-up shots.

I’m clicking away, checking settings, composition, etc., when suddenly I say, “Hey, why is my ass all wet?” D’oh!! It’s Springtime, you idiot. The ground is still sopping wet from the winter, and the recent rains.

Sure enough, I get up and my whole shirt is muddy, and so are my pants. In fact so bad, I went straight downstairs and threw them in the washer.:)

Ah, the tortured life of a photographer. How we suffer for our art! :)

Coming to Grips

Words still fail me about the events of Saturday, when the Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed minutes before landing. The words wont’ come. I know what I want to say, but I can’t say them. Just writing this is making me cry all over again.

So, until that time when I can put down my thoughts, here is a link to a little “tribute” I put up, plus the lyrics to the Rush song “Countdown” which Neil Peart wrote when they (Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson) watched a shuttle launch. The words in brackets are NASA transcripts from the first mission of Columbia in April of 1981.

For the Columbia Seven – You will be missed, honored, and never forgotten.

STS-107 Tribute

"Countdown"
Lyrics by Neil Peart


Dedicated with thanks to astronauts Young & Crippen and all the people of NASA for their inspiration and cooperation

[Coming up on 45 minute point in out countdown. Everything going smoothly... T minus 45 minutes and counting…]
[Coming up on T minus 40 minutes. T Minus 40 minutes and counting… This is shuttle launch control.]

Lit up with anticipation
We arrive at the launching site
The sky is still dark, nearing dawn
On the Florida coastline

Circling choppers slash the night
With roving searchlight beams
This magic day when super-science
Mingles with the bright stuff of dreams

[…we are go for launch. At the present time, we know of no major problems, as we enter the final hold.]

Floodlit in the hazy distance
The star of this unearthly show
Venting vapours, like the breath
Of a sleeping white dragon

Crackling speakers, voices tense
Resume the final count
All systems check, T minus nine
As the sun and the drama start to mount

The air is charged - a humid, motionless mass
The crowds and the cameras,
The cars full of spectators pass
Excitement so thick - you could cut it with a knife
Technology - high, on the leading edge of life

[T minutes 27 seconds… sequencers start, T minus 20 seconds and counting…. T minus 15, 14, 13…
T minus 10, 9, 8 7 6 5 4... Main engines start, we have liftoff.]

The earth beneath us starts to tremble
With the spreading of a low black cloud
A thunderous roar shakes the air
Like the whole world exploding

Scorching blast of golden fire
As it slowly leaves the ground
It tears away with a mighty force
The air is shattered by the awesome sound

[T plus 30 seconds... 35... Columbia, Houston. you’re go at 40…]

Excitement so thick - you could cut it with a knife
Technology - high, on the leading edge of life
Like a pillar of cloud, the smoke lingers
High in the air
In fascination - with the eyes of the world
We stare...

[Columbia is now turning for it’s precise window in space for main engine cutoff…]
[Plus 2 minutes 40 seconds, Columbia now 39 nautical miles in altitude, 42 nautical miles downrange…]
[Columbia you’re looking a little hot and all your calls will be a little early...]
[Young and Crippin really moving out now – velocity now reading 6200 feet per second…]
[“What a view! What a view” “Glad you enjoyed it”…]
[Columbia Houston, we have 40 seconds to LOS, after LOS you’re looking good
for an over-the-hill and we’ll see you in Madrid…]
[“And we enjoyed the music Bob, thank ya.”…]
[“We enjoyed it. We just wanted to share some with ya.”…]

How Fast is Fast

I'm now online via ATT Broadband. Nice speed. Plus the network my brother and I set up in the house. In fact, I think Dad's upstairs still online. We'll turn him into an Internet junkie soon.

It's finally up after a few days of wailing and gnashing of teeth. It was installed Monday, but we (Kendall and I) couldn't get it to work. Good thing we didn't get them to come out again - the problem was on our end. Plus, my computer has a (in)famous Windows problem: a TCP/IP error. The only way to fix it is to reformat the drive. Oh well, I was going to do that and put XP on my system, but only after I got a new scanner (my Mustek won't work with XP). I just have to live without it for a while. Tomorrow I'll back up all the stuff on the drive onto CD, then work on reformatting.

But I'm "speedy" now.:)

The Need for Speed

Unbelievable

How does that saying go? "Fortune Favors the Bold?" or "Fortune Favors the Foolish?" Nevertheless, on Monday I'm going to "feel the need for speed." I'm getting Broadband here at Casa Kevin.

Who knows what I'll do with it. It's not like I download porn or anything. I'm too clean cut and straight-arrowed for that stuff. Probably download Buffy episodes and movie trailers.:)

The countdown has begun....

Worth 1000 Words?

I'm currently watching a new documentary on Ansel Adams, probably (well, not probably. More like definitely) the best American photographer that will ever live.

Seeing his images strikes a visceral chord in me. I can just completely lose myself in the photographs, even those of subjects I personally don't really care for.

If I can ever be 10% of the photographer Ansel Adams was, I'll consider myself good. But, since I am my worst critic, I will never be really sure.

Feel the Power!!!

I have my powers back. I am lord of the photograph.

After almost a month of bad photographs, I finally have the "monkey" off my back. Today's photos of the moon and venus, moon and mars, have turned out wonderful.

Now on to better things with portraits and stuff.

Orbital Mechanics

What might have been...

First, a few quotes:

"We are planets to each other
Drifting in our orbits
To a brief eclipse
Each of us a world apart
Alone and yet together
Like two passing ships"
-- Neil Peart

"The other Yoda spoke of was your twin sister."
-- Obi-Wan Kenobi

"Wendy, Wendy what went wrong..."
-- Beach Boys

Tonight I spent a few hours with a woman (she of the name Wendy) who was probably the closest thing to my other half, but knowing that it was just this one night.

Tuesday was the first night I met her, out at the observatory, when the group she was in visited. Someone made a comment that elicited a response from both her and I at the same time, quoting the movie "Airplane." All of a sudden I looked up and had a flash. I asked her, "Python?" To which she started quoting Monty Python! Amazing! We spent the next hour throwing episode and movie quote at each other.

Cut to tonight. I was hoping she was going to be back with the group tonight. Sure enough she was. And we took up right where we left off the other night. We were in such "synch" it wasn't funny. Well, actually it was really funny, and we were throwing one-liners, movie quotes, etc., back and forth. It was really weird. In fact, a few people commented on that it seemed that we were twins, causing her to say, "I found my brother!" and me saying "Sis?" It was that intense.

We quoted the same stuff... laughed at the same things... made the same gestures... and what's really intense, we were easily able to finish each other's sentences. Almost like we shared the same consciousness/brain. It was the most enjoyable time I have had in (possibly) decades.

But that was it – just one night. She left around 10:30, and I know I won’t ever see her again.

After her whole group had left, I wandered over to the west lawn, where one of the guys was telling the others how "Kevin and this girl were really hitting it off. It was amazing how they were connecting." I only wish.

“Yes we’ll never know… what might have been.” If only…

Good and Bad

The good news: I won my court case about my ticket. If the officer wants to appeal, I will be getting a letter by next Monday. If I don't, I'm home free, and can use that $80 for something else.

The bad news: Indiana lost the NCAA Championship. First time they have ever lost when they played in the big game.

In other news, boy was Mindy mad at me Sunday evening when I brought in the photos Kendall shot for me for my court case. Whew. But do I care? I don't know.

Soothing.....

Ahhh. Finally. A chance to relax after a hectic week. The skies cleared this evening, allowing me to go out to the observatory and relax under the stars. I took the opportunity to shoot Comet Ikeya-Zhang, the Orion Nebula, and the Horsehead nebula with my 400mm lens.

After a few false starts, I hope I got some good shots. I’m going to take the film in to the lab tomorrow and see what I got. Maybe I broke the jinx on my photo-mojo. After that, I got back home around 10:30 to find out that my guys – the Indiana Hoosiers – won their game and will be going to the big dance – the NCAA Championship Game. Go Big Red!

Today was a hellish day at work – a full 8 hours of busy customer service. Most of the time it was okay, but very draining. The day ended kinda on a downer, as a lot of the people left there working were kids not bothering to even do their jobs, and a bunch of my other “fellow workers” talking about a party they were all having. I tell ya, it made me feel real good to know I wasn’t invited. Almost seemed like I was back in high school, having the classmates there ignore me while they planned their big weekend gigs. Oh well.

Hopefully tomorrow will be okay, and I can put March behind me and look forward to better months ahead.

It's Really Bad

Saturday had to be the worst day of my life (at least recently).

Everything was fine this morning getting ready for work (yes, some of us have to work on the weekends). I then decided just before leaving that I would take the roll of film that was in my main camera to be developed, as there was only 3 shots left of the roll. On said roll I had shots of the moon/Jupiter conjunction, some SFX shots of the moon with the telescope at the observatory, and a bunch of shots of the blizzard from last weekend - snow on the branches, sun shafts, etc. I was anxious to look at them.

I started to rewind the film, but something didn't feel right, so I took it in the dark and opened the camera. What I found shocked me to the core: There wasn’t a roll of film in there! Everything from the past two weeks was gone: it never existed! I have never made that mistake in all my years as a photographer. It was a mistake an amateur would make!

Needless to say that ruined the day completely. Work was just as bad, as the film mistake screwed up my karma for the day. Nothing went right at work, and I barely made it through the day.

Man, if I’m making amateur mistakes, how can I even think about teaching people about photography? Heck, how can I think about shooting Julie anymore, let alone Kat, Kate, Samantha, or anyone else? Or Sharon’s wedding? I’m ab-so-f*cking-worthless! Who have I been kidding?

Now we’ll see what fate has in store for me in the days to come…

A Train?

Too funny.

Watching a program on TLC about tornadoes. There's footage of the May 1999 F5 in Oklahoma City, and a guy in a baseball cap trying to describe the sounds. He says "they all say it sounds like a train, but it went by with a lot of noise, and we never did hear no "Woo Woo!" sounds." Hah! What a yokel!

They always seem to find the strangest people to interview.

Arise Storm!!

Wind, snow, freezing rain, ice.

The storm has arrived in force.

For those of us who understand these dynamics, there was no way we were going to miss this.

God, I want summer to be here (doesn't help I'm coming down with a cold).

Fight!! Fight!!

Tonight is the "Battle Of The Local Meteorologists"

In this corner, Peter Chan from WXMI TV-17.
In the other corner, George Lessens from WZZM TV-13.

Peter has taken some of the snow out of the forecast for later in the week. He thinks that we will be in a "dry slot" on Thursday, with the freezing rain a little farther north, maybe affecting Grand Rapids. He has also said it's "uncertain" and he will know more tomorrow night.

George says that starting late tomorrow night we will see heavy snow through Thursday. A slighter chance of freezing rain up here.

Who will be right? Who really cares. I want it to be sunny and warm during the day, and clear and warm during the night. I don't want to wait until July.

Oh yeah. And what does Craig (this isn't my real name) James from WOOD TV-8 say? Who really gives a rats' ass? I don't watch him or his flunkies. They're a bunch of snobby jerks.

Told Ya So!!

Now the other shoe has dropped. I knew we were going to pay for the nice weekend (and yesterday)....

Statement as of 5:40 am EST on January 29, 2002

...A Winter Storm Watch Has Been Issued For Wednesday Night And Thursday...

Light snow is expected to begin in earnest Wednesday evening and last into the day on Thursday. Accumulations in excess of six inches are possible. The snow may mix with sleet and even freezing rain late Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The snowfall could be quite heavy and for this reason a Winter Storm Watch has been posted for Wednesday night and Thursday.

A Winter Storm Watch is issued when severe winter weather is possible...but not imminent. At this time...there is a potential for significant snow and/or ice accumulations for southwest Michigan. Future driving and walking conditions may become hazardous...so it is important to monitor the latest forecasts from your National Weather Service.

Stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio and other local media for further details or updates...as this weather event unfolds. Remember... slight deviations in the track or strength of this winter storm could greatly alter the ice or snow potential at any one location.