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