Categories
Gear Personal Life

My Dad’s Early Father’s Day Gift: A Seiko SNE593

Father’s Day came early for my dad this year. This morning, the Postal Service delivered the watch I ordered for my dad. Of course, I had to make an unboxing post (even though my mom thinks they’re weird).

I ordered this Seiko SNE593 from Island Watch last week, shortly after boarding an Amtrak train to take me back home to St. Paul from East Glacier Park, Montana.

Enjoy these 12 photos, dad!

Categories
Out and About

An Evening at the Arb

My mom and I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota, this evening. I took these photos from 6:24 to 6:39 p.m.

Acer palmatum, ‘Bloodgood,’ Japanese Maple
Fountain, Donated by Dr. Virgil T. Fallon, 2001
Philadelphus lewisii, ‘Blizzard,’ Mockorange
Bumblebee
Placard that reads “Plants Used for Making Dyes”
Placard that reads “Plants Used for Making Tools”
Unknown red flower
Categories
Out and About Personal Life

My New Job at a National Park

Last week, I took an Amtrak train from St. Paul to Glacier National Park to begin my seasonal job working in a kitchen at one of the lodges. I am living and working in St. Mary, Montana, in northwestern Montana, close to the Canadian border.

After getting off the train in the blackness of night last week, the first thing I noticed was the smell of pine permeating the air. I likened it to fictional F.B.I. special agent Dale Cooper from “Twin Peaks” asking about the smell after arriving in Washington State (the smell is Douglas fir, an evergreen tree). I foresee the pine smell becoming a Proustian madeleine for me. And I wouldn’t mind living in the Pacific Northwest long-term (it is simply breathtaking); I just wouldn’t want to be around bears or moose!

The first two photos were taken with my iPhone, while the last three were taken with my Canon EOS R.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and the weather is looking up. I will need to get used to this rainy biome, but so far I cherish it (just not the bears and moose!).

The view from my temporary neighborhood near sunset. May 26, 2023, at 9:19 p.m.
Sign for St. Mary Village. My employer is the large building on the right. May 27, 2023, at 6:43 p.m.
The view from my temporary neighborhood near sunrise. May 28, 2023, at 6:30 a.m.
Cellular tower near my temporary home. May 28, 2023, at 6:32 a.m.
A moose appeared on the road shortly after beginning my journey with my professional camera this morning, forcing me to turn around and prematurely start this post. May 28, 2023, at 6:33 a.m.
Crop of the moose in the previous photo.
Categories
Pug Life

Finally, Spring

My mom, our puggles, and I went to Rice Marsh Lake Park this evening. I took these photos from 5:59 to 6:09 p.m.

Pugsley
Pugsley
Missy
Rice Marsh Lake
Missy
Categories
Personal Life

MP3s From My Only Album, 2005’s ‘OG’

I wrote and recorded these songs in February and April of 2005 for my only album, “OG.”

Categories
Personal Life

Before and After Bard College

Today, I found some photos on my 2004 Apple iBook G4, which was my first major purchase after starting work at McDonald’s. I was so transfixed at the time with Apple computers and iPods (I might’ve even been the first person in my 9th grade class to have an iPod) that I exuberantly told my parents to invest heavily in Apple. Up to that point, I had never told my parents to invest in any company. I hope they did invest in Apple (they’ve always denied it), because then I’m sure we’d all be millionaires!

Back to the subject, I hadn’t been on this computer in 5–10 years, and I couldn’t remember the password this morning. Luckily, though, the heavens eventually let me remember it. I was most delighted to find a self-portrait I took shortly before leaving home to attend Bard College in 2007–which was also my first profile picture on Facebook–and a self-portrait I took in the spring of 2010, which was in between the times I left Bard College mid-semester in the spring and fall of 2010. I never returned to Bard College after the fall of 2010.

As mentioned, these photos are self-portraits. I took the 2007 photo with a DSLR and a tripod. I took the 2010 photo by holding my DSLR over my body while lying in my yard. The 2007 photo depicts the Temple of Eck in my hometown of 30 years: Chanhassen, Minnesota. This building is on the site of the headquarters of Eckankar, a cult-like religion. I have never joined this cult-like religion, though I believe my parents and brother are members. I did, however, write an article about Eckankar for Chaska High School’s student newspaper during my junior year of high school (the spring of 2006, to be exact) and got to go on a tour of the Temple of Eck with a member of Eckankar from my high school, his mom, and another unknown member. Otherwise, no one has ever talked to me about Eckankar, much less asked me to join.

Both of the following two photos were taken straight out of camera (SOOC), meaning I did not post-process or edit them in any way.

Here is the “before” photo and some EXIF data:

Self-portrait taken by the Temple of Eck in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on June 5, 2007 (it was also my first profile picture on Facebook)

DSC_8117.JPG
Date taken: 6/5/2007 7:51 PM
Dimensions: 3008 x 2000
Camera maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model: NIKON D50
F-stop: f/9
Exposure time: 1/200 sec.
ISO speed: (blank)
Exposure bias: -0.7 step
Focal length: 50 mm
Metering mode: Pattern
Flash mode: No flash
Contrast: Normal
Exposure program: Aperture Priority
Saturation: High saturation
Sharpness: Normal
White balance: Manual

Here is the “after” photo and some EXIF data:

Self-portrait taken in my yard in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on May 21, 2010, which was in between the two times I left Bard College

DSC_4309.JPG
Date taken: 5/21/2010 6:18 PM
Dimensions: 4288 x 2848
Camera maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model: NIKON D90
F-stop: f/3.8
Exposure time: 1/160 sec.
ISO speed: ISO-200
Exposure bias: 0 step
Focal length: 24 mm
Metering mode: Pattern
Flash mode: No flash
Contrast: Normal
Exposure program: Aperture Priority
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal
White balance: Manual

Categories
Out and About

Historic Downtown Chaska in Winter

For one reason or another, I haven’t taken many photos in downtown Chaska over the years. But this says more about me than it does their historic downtown area–because it is charming.

I took these five photos today from 11:34 to 11:50 a.m.

Carver County Justice Center
Formerly known as the “Co-Op,” this is SouthWest Metro High School. I had basketball practice here when I was in middle school and took a film photography course here–which I loved–when I was in high school.
St. John’s Lutheran Church & School
Pine garland in a gazebo, which is at the center of Chaska City Square Park
Chaska City Square Park
Categories
Gear Personal Life Pug Life

After Years of AfterShot Pro and GIMP, I’m Switching to Lightroom and Photoshop

It’s probably been over five years since I last used Photoshop. I even had a blog devoted to editing photos in Linux, which is possible but not nearly as feature-rich. As of this morning, I’m excited to announce that I’m back on board with Adobe! In addition to Photoshop, Lightroom is included with my subscription. The total cost is $10 a month–a steal in my opinion.

Here are 10 photos I took this morning around my neighborhood from 9:50 to 10:10 a.m. to test out Lightroom–of which I’m a first-time user–and Photoshop.

Missy and Pugsley sit on the stairs waiting for mom to come home
Sunstars are achieved by stopping down to the smallest aperture, in this case f/22
My (parents’) house
The leaves on the deciduous trees in my front yard fall later than any of the other trees in my neighborhood
Mail truck in my neighborhood
Stop sign for leaving my neighborhood on Audubon Road
Crosswalk for the other entrance and exit in my neighborhood
Pine tree between my neighborhood and the National Weather Service Forecast Office in the Twin Cities/Chanhassen, Minnesota
Doppler radar at the National Weather Service Forecast Office
The former house of the late U.S. senator Rod Grams, located along Audubon Road in my neighborhood. He owned all the land in my neighborhood before my family moved there in 1993.
Categories
Personal Life

Some of My Scribner Cousins

While doing something unrelated on my new computer this morning, I came across a photo from 2010 with some of my Scribner cousins; we were visiting our grandparents’ home in Wisconsin at the time. I was even able to track down the original file (with some minor, automatic adjustments I made in Photoshop). See more EXIF data below.

From left: Ryan Scribner, Stacey Alston, Zara Scribner, Nicholas Scribner, and Alicia Scribner

DSC_4655.jpg
Date taken: 6/20/2010 3:50:38 P.M.
Program name: Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh
Dimensions: 4288 x 2848
Camera maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model: NIKON D90
F-stop: f/8
Exposure time: 1/200 sec.
ISO speed: ISO-200
Exposure bias: 0 step
Focal length: 24 mm
Metering mode: Pattern
Flash mode: Flash, compulsory, strobe return
35mm focal length: 36
Exposure program: Aperture Priority
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal
White balance: Auto
EXIF version: 0221

Thanks, Alicia!

Categories
Out and About Pug Life

Centennial Lakes Park in Late October

This afternoon, my mom, my puggles, and I visited Centennial Lakes Park in Edina, Minnesota. These photos were taken from 3:13 to 4:10 p.m.

Walking labyrinth/meditation maze
Prairie grass
Pugsley
Missy
Pugsley and Missy
Missy
My mom and our puggles next to a Rotary International clock at the entrance