Picture of the Day–FAIL!

 

If you haven’t noticed, there hasn’t been a picture of the day since March 20th.

So here come the excuses. 

I knew this would be tough for me since my life consists of the following routine nearly everyday:

Wake up, go to work, go home, eat, sleep, repeat.

Nothing changes, same route, same day, over and over.

Then my laptop died (see last photo) and the routine became:

Wake up, go to work, go home, eat, cuss laptop, replace hard drive, cuss laptop, reformat hard drive, cuss laptop because Windows is corrupt, reinstall Windows Vista, cuss laptop because drivers won’t load, copy cloned image to hard drive, cuss laptop because cloned image is corrupt, purchase and install Windows 7, sleep.

This went on over the course of 6 days.

So now that this ordeal has been resolved I should be able to get back to my photo challenge, right?

Probably not.

I start school on Monday and my routine will be:

Wake up, go to work, go to school, maybe eat, maybe sleep, repeat.

So here’s my lame solution. The challenge was supposed to be take a picture a day and post it. Instead I will be posting pictures from my archives. I can still say I took them and there are some really great shots, they just won’t be new.

So here’s one for today. I hope you like it.

It’s almost a self portrait.

 

 

While writing this I was listening to " Deep in the Heart [*]" from "The Joshua Tree [20th Anniversary 2-CD] Disc 2" by "U2"

Picture of the Day - March 20, 2012

This can't be good.

Picture of the Day–March 19, 2012

 

Ok, so they aren’t photos and I didn’t take them, I scanned them.

I was a little lazy today.

These are the birthday cards I received this year.

The Age of Miracles: A Novel by Karen Thompson Walker

A LibraryThing Review

 

The Earth’s rotation has rapidly slowed and the days are getting longer, much longer but 12 year old Julia’s life is still going at full speed.

In spite of the tragedies going on around her she still hangs onto the hope that she will be accepted at school by the other kids and that someday Seth Moreno will notice her. She worries about her parent’s health and their relationship. She also dreams of growing up to live a long life.

This is a well written coming of age story set against a backdrop of world apocalypse.

But don’t expect the usual zombies and such. This is a well researched and scientifically sound end of the world scenario. The “slowing” has affected everything from the tides and weather patterns to the food supplies to human emotions. The story also delves into human psychology and the fight for survival instinct by exploring the clash between “real-timers” and “clock-timers”.

The quick switches in the story from calm to panic, from good times to tragedy, and then back again kept me glued to the pages waiting to see what would happen next.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reader’s copy of this book so I didn’t have to wait until its release in June of 2012. I highly recommend you order a copy for yourself today.

Picture of the Day–March 18, 2012

 

 

I spent my Sunday immersed in a good book.

Picture of the Day–March 17, 2012

“Road Through Despair”

 

Today Evelyn and I drove down CO 67 from Decker, CO to Woodland Park, CO.

I had not been down this road since before the Hayman fire.

This is just a small portion of the total 138,144 acres burned.

Over 130 homes destroyed.  Over 5000 people evacuated.

6 fatalities.

Oh yeah, and it happened 10 years ago.

We spent the months of June and July of 2002 watching the glow and smoke of the fire from our balcony.

 

 

I can’t begin to describe all the emotions and feelings I had driving through the “forest” today.

The first was total disbelief.

I mean the damage is unreal. There is very little new growth which means very little wildlife.

Speaking of wildlife, I can’t imagine how many animals, birds, etc.. were lost in the fire.

Next was extreme sadness followed by anger.

Anger?

Yes anger.

This wasn’t some accident, a spark from a train wheel, or a lightening strike.

This was arson.

By a U.S. Forest Service Employee….who wanted to be the hero for reporting the fire and saving the forest.

10 years later it still makes me mad.

 

 

While writing this I was listening to "Resistance" from "Catch and Release [Soundtrack]" by "Alaska!"

Picture of the Day–March 16, 2012

 

“Big Boy” by Wilbur Craig

Wilbur's 6 foot long steam locomotive, "Big Boy," is on exhibition at the Cheyenne, Wyoming Depot Museum. It has approximately 8,000 parts and was created from photographs of the real locomotive sitting in the Cheyenne railroad yard. Many parts move and it can be taken apart and reassembled.

(borrowed straight from Mr. Craig’s website.)

See more of his work at http://www.woodartinmotion.com/index.html

Picture of the Day–March 15, 2012

 

Stratton’s Independence Mine and Mill

Victor, CO

Be A Superhero!

Ok, I’m shaving my head again this year to raise money to fight childhood cancer.

We all know somebody who has lost the battle to cancer. All types of cancer.

You know who they were.

Was it Mom or Dad?

Your best friend?

Your partner in life?

I lost both my parents, my grandfather, a couple of aunts and uncles and others.

It hurts to be so helpless.

All of those I’ve lost were diagnosed as adults. They had a chance to live full lives.

How old were your loved ones?

Can you imagine being 4 years old and having to fight something like this?

Alone?

I can’t either. That’s why I’ve decided to participate again this year.

 

So with all that said, I’ve got a couple of challenges for you.

1. Donate at http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/participantid/521478 and be a hero for these kids.

2. Find a local event in your area and participate. Be a hero for the kids.

 

I know what you’re thinking. What if I feel uncomfortable? What if someone laughs at me?

What if I don’t look good?

Guys, you know you’ll look good and macho with a shaved head.

And ladies, you’ll look hot too. Or if you don’t want to shave your head and have long hair, why not donate to Locks of Love?

All these questions ran through my mind last year too.

But after I participated and realized how much I was helping the kids I didn’t give a damn what anyone thought. I felt good.

So help the kids out and make yourself feel like the best person on earth.

Believe me it’s worth it.

 

Donate here:

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/participantid/521478

http://www.locksoflove.org/

 

Come on. Be a hero.

New Year resolutions update

It’s March 10th. In 5 days it will be March 15th. My 49th birthday. In 1 year and 5 days I will be 50.

Good Gawd!

With that in mind, I thought I would revisit my New Year resolutions and see how I was doing. A sort of quarterly review if you please.

You can read the full resolution post here.

 The motto, Be Positive – Be Healthy – Be Active – I have managed to be more positive so far this year and I have adjusted my eating habits to become more healthy. Being active is still a challenge because over the last couple of months I have been dealing with some chronic fatigue-like issues. Quite frankly, there are some days all I want to do is sleep.

The Resolutions:

Less elevators –  Failing so far.

Less sweets -  Doing ok in this area. I’ve had a lot less cookies and such lately. I also gave up all soft drinks for Lent and am planning to keep that up after Easter. (side note to those of you who know me: No hell has not frozen over and I am not going back to church. I just think the idea of giving up something for Lent is a good idea.)

Less web surfing – Failed. But there is hope on the horizon. I have recently began pursuing funding for school and plan on going for Microsoft Certification in the very near future which will take up all my spare time.

More writing\blogging – I guess I’m about the same on this one but I have a few projects in mind that should help me out with this.

Less procrastination – Overall, I think I’m doing better with this. We’ll just have to wait and see.

More photography – So far this year I have only been out shooting once but I have a plan for that as well. I thought since this is my last year in my 40’s, I would commemorate it so I have accepted a “365” challenge and will be taking a photo each day starting on March 15th, my birthday, and ending on March 15, 2013. I’ll try to post them each day but if I get behind I will make sure they are posted by the end of each week.

Reengage – This has turned out to be my biggest goal for this year and I am diligently working on it.

 

So that’s it for now. Come back next week for the photo of the day. I’ll try to get a separate page set up so I can post all the photos on one place.

 

 

While writing this I was listening to "I Love You (Original Performance Series)" from "Emotion” by "Martina McBride"