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 11:34–11:50 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
Personal Life

Cop Murders Witness

I wasn’t murdered by a cop today, but I did have a near miss as the result of bad driving advice from a 20-something deputy for the Carver County Sheriff’s Office.

What my vehicle looked like three and a half hours after the incident in question

Here is my report of the incident, which I wrote on Facebook about an hour after the cop left my house without even saying “sorry.” In fact, he blamed the incident on me not putting the vehicle in park (I did, of course, and showed it to him):

I almost got murdered this morning at approximately 10 a.m. after following a deputy’s instructions on how to get my mom’s vehicle up our driveway in this awful weather. My vehicle started rolling back down the driveway as I was getting out. I consider myself lucky for getting out of the situation without so much as a scratch.

Please contact the U.S. Marshals Service’s headquarters at (202) 307-9100, and tell them I need WITSEC.

Barry Scribner (my godfather in Armonk, New York), help!

#murder

Cc: Carver County Sheriff’s Office; Jones Lang LaSalle; FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); The White House

Posted at 11:25 a.m. Central time

I was still mad at him, so I made another post:

I hope the 20-something deputy who nearly killed me today never forgets about what he did. If he thinks he’s F.B.I. material, he better look at my current profile picture, which I made this morning, of the F.B.I. seal—namely, the words “fidelity,” “bravery,” and “integrity.”

The Orb – Rush Hill Road

Cc: Carver County Sheriff’s Office; FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation; The White House

Posted at 5:46 p.m. Central time

Here is the YouTube video linked in the above post:

If a deputy told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?

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 9:50–10:10 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
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 3:13–4:10 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
Categories
Out and About Pug Life

Leaf Peeping 2022: Excelsior, Minnesota

For my third outing leaf peeping this year, I visited Excelsior, Minnesota, with my mom and our two puggles. I took these photos today from 11:42 a.m.–12:11 p.m.

Small plane that started flying over the Excelsior Commons as soon we got there
Scarecrow in someone’s yard
Licks Unlimited
Port of Excelsior
Tommy’s Tonka Trolley
Staircase to a pier
Pier Four
Missy, Pugsley, and my mom
Categories
Out and About

Leaf Peeping 2022: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

For the second installment of “Leaf Peeping 2022,” I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum today in Chaska, Minnesota. I took these photos from 8:19–9:35 a.m.

Main road
Rose Walk sign
Main road (again)
Red flowers
House with picnic tables
The beginning of the Three-Mile Walk
Pond with green algae
Brick path
Signpost
Purple flowers
Crabapple tree
The Canada goose on the right is eating a crabapple
Paul Granlund; American, 1925-2003; Swimmers, 1990; Bronze
Acer saccharum, the sugar maple
Acer platanoides, the Norway maple
Acer saccharum nigrum, the black maple
Rosa ‘BUCbi’ (Carefree Beauty)
Pine Tree Exhibit land art
Pinus nigra, the Austrian pine
Maze Garden
Douglas Freeman; American, born 1952; Family, 1989; Bronze
Sunlight on an oak tree
Vista over Green Heron Pond
Categories
Out and About

Leaf Peeping 2022: Lake Ann Park

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.–noon today.

Trees by a fence for a tennis court
Trees behind a fence, which is the bokeh
The same fence in the above photo, but this time the trees are the bokeh
Ambulance bay
Mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees by a parking lot
Tall conifer growing by a parking lot
Metal halide lights (or are they LEDs?) above trees by a baseball field
Yellow tree growing by a baseball field
Birch trees (left) growing on a hill
Conifer that somehow has red leaves inside
Conifer with cones
Lodge overlooking Lake Ann
Watercraft Rental next to Lake Ann
Dock for Watercraft Rental on Lake Ann
Fall colors are well underway on Lake Ann
Categories
Out and About

A Mid-September Afternoon at the Arb

Today, I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (the Arb) in Chaska, Minnesota. I hope to visit the Arb many times this autumn (I’m an inveterate leaf peeper!).

These are my first professional-camera photos taken this September.

Gate where the Three-Mile Walk and Three-Mile Drive meet
White and yellow wildflowers
Diseased tree
Pinus strobus, eastern white pine
Malus, ‘Jubilee,’ Crabapple