My mom and I went to the first day of Chanhassen’s 40th annual Fourth of July celebration this evening. We’ve gone for the last three years now. I posted photos I took last year with my Google Pixel smartphone, which obviously limited image quality. This year, I made sure to bring my Canon EOS R. I also coordinated our time so I was able to take photos at the golden hour and the blue hour. The golden hour is the hour before sunset, and the blue hour is the hour after sunset (as an aside, it works the opposite way for sunrises). The sunset was at 9:04 p.m. tonight; these photos were taken between 7:58 and 9:25 p.m.
Fan at one of the carnival games (according to Alexa, the high was 89 degrees Fahrenheit today)My mom by a snow cone standFerris wheel at the golden hourBeach Buggies signThere was mostly empty seating. This could be because it was late in the day on family night.Carnival foodMini DonutsPick-a-DuckBam BamFerris wheel after sunsetCarnival food and Ferris wheelMy mom looking at carnival food and the Ferris wheelAnother photo of my mom by carnival food and the Ferris wheelFerris wheelMy mom by a carouselFerris wheel II
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.
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
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 homeSunstars are achieved by stopping down to the smallest aperture, in this case f/22My (parents’) houseThe leaves on the deciduous trees in my front yard fall later than any of the other trees in my neighborhoodMail truck in my neighborhoodStop sign for leaving my neighborhood on Audubon RoadCrosswalk for the other entrance and exit in my neighborhoodPine tree between my neighborhood and the National Weather Service Forecast Office in the Twin Cities/Chanhassen, MinnesotaDoppler radar at the National Weather Service Forecast OfficeThe 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.
I am starting a series this autumn titled “Leaf Peeping 2022.” I plan to document various stages of fall colors and the eventual falling of leaves (phenology). For this inaugural post, I went to Lake Ann Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, from about 11:20 a.m. to noon today.
Trees by a fence for a tennis courtTrees behind a fence, which is the bokehThe same fence in the above photo, but this time the trees are the bokehAmbulance bayMixture of coniferous and deciduous trees by a parking lotTall conifer growing by a parking lotMetal halide lights (or are they LEDs?) above trees by a baseball fieldYellow tree growing by a baseball fieldBirch trees (left) growing on a hillConifer that somehow has red leaves insideConifer with conesLodge overlooking Lake AnnWatercraft Rental next to Lake AnnDock for Watercraft Rental on Lake AnnFall colors are well underway on Lake Ann
(I sent this letter to President Biden, via WhiteHouse.gov, at 6:00:00 p.m. CDT today.)
September 3, 2022
Dear President Biden:
My name is Nicholas Scribner. I have not contacted the executive branch under your administration yet about the issue of needing–not wanting–a new identity in WITSEC. I should also note I did vote for you in 2020.
While I understand I can’t demand when I get into WITSEC, I think an ideal time would be between now and the middle of October, since my brother, Marc Scribner, is getting married in Knoxville on Oct. 22.
My brother manually strangled me for a long time on my dad’s 54th birthday on Dec. 30, 2012. It’s likely it was premeditated attempted murder. I have significant trauma from the crime, which should have landed my brother in a federal prison. But the Carver County Sheriff’s Office decided not to even arrest my brother and just left me stranded in the E.R. without a ride home.
I believe other attempts have been made on my life since then. The worst attempts seem to happen when I am around my brother (I am not going to his wedding for this reason).
My parents are abusing drugs and alcohol on a daily basis; I have been sober since the night of Oct. 30, 2021. Worse yet, my parents’ nearly constant intoxication is causing them to abuse me more than they probably ever have in my life.
No one will hire me for a job because I don’t have a work history. I am very intelligent and able to work, however. I have a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. I was even told by Sid Bedingfield, Kate’s dad, that I was perhaps his best student ever (at least the best JOUR 1001 student) and was his first student to get 100% on one of his multiple-choice exams.
If I am not given a new identity in WITSEC, I believe my parents and/or my brother will find a way to carry out a true 187.
I think good people (such as people in the F.B.I.) will breathe a long sigh of relief and be very happy indeed if you use your presidential powers to give me a new identity in WITSEC.
Sincerely,
Nicholas Albert Scribner
My letter in Text Editor in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, though I used the text box on WhiteHouse.gov to write the letterProof that my letter was submitted via WhiteHouse.gov
Lately, I have been active on my Facebook profile. I will try to update this post as I add more photos on Facebook.
09/19/2022: Even though I’ve lived in Chanhassen, Minnesota, for close to 30 years and been to Lake Ann countless times, today is probably the second time I’ve been to Lake Lucy—which is a stone’s throw away from Lake Ann. The first time was probably a week or two ago, when I didn’t even realize it (caption from Facebook).09/11/2022: Heron Dr. & Audubon Rd (with the National Weather Service’s Doppler radar in the bottom-left corner) at 7:46 p.m.09/11/2022: I took this photo of a baseball field at Lake Ann Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, at 7:30 a.m.09/07/2022: Taken at 6:39 a.m. in Chanhassen, Minnesota, this photo shows three trees in foggy Sunset Ridge Park with Powers Ridge Senior Living in the background09/06/2022: This is me inside the historic Red Barn at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota. I took this photo at 4:31 p.m.08/31/2022: You know you’re destined for throne work when the Current plays Trip Shakespeare, the Velvet Underground, and Yo La Tengo for three out of four of the last songs. And all you want is Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola. #NQTD (caption from Facebook)08/29/2022: CNN announced at 8:38 a.m. EDT that Artemis I is not launching today. “This is good news they caught it [the fuel leaks and engine problems] in time,” according to Michio Kaku (caption from Facebook).08/24/2022: There are just three weeks left of Chanhassen, Minnesota, holding the title of “Best Place to Live in the U.S.“08/23/2022: Lake Ann in Chanhassen, Minnesota, at 8:18 a.m.08/21/2022: At 5:55 p.m., I took this self-portrait at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota08/17/2022: I took this photo at 8:06 a.m. across the street from the National Weather Service (NWS). It shows the City of Chanhassen putting a wind-damaged conifer through a woodchipper. The tree was growing sideways for years, and I always respected NWS for keeping it alive.08/11/2022: My neighborhood two minutes after sunset08/11/2022: Audubon Rd (the road outside my neighborhood) seven minutes before sunrise
TROPHY? Approximately six months before my dad’s 60th birthday in 2018, I surprised him with a framed photograph with the autographs of the Minnesota Vikings’ Purple People Eaters. He acted like he didn’t want it when I showed it to him and just kept it in bubble wrap on the floor of our living room.
Today, I told him I wanted to sell it on eBay, and he became aggressive. He said he would steal all my computers if I sold it. My mom said she would cut off my cell phone connection and prevent me from using our cars if I sold it.
Therefore, I decided not to sell it. I am concerned my parents are saving it as some type of trophy, since I think my brother attempted to murder me by strangulation on my dad’s 54th birthday, which was on 12/30/2012.
