Tag: self-portrait

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 Personal Life

Recent Photos From My Facebook Profile

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 background
09/06/2022: 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).
08/28/2022: I recently discovered the Libertarian Party—which my brother, Marc, worked for while in college in Washington, D.C.—has official colors. My brother is also getting married on 10/22/2022; October 22 is celebrated as the spiritual new year in Eckankar, a cult-like religion with its headquarters in my family’s hometown of nearly 30 years (since 1993). My brother attempted to murder me by manual strangulation on my dad’s 54th birthday (12/30/2012), a crime for which no one in my family was arrested. #politicalterrorism #religiousterrorism #attemptedmurder Cc: Carver County Sheriff’s Office; FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation; The White House (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, Minnesota
08/17/2022: 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.
08/13/2022: Me at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in the Twin Cities/Chanhassen, Minnesota
08/11/2022: My neighborhood two minutes after sunset
08/11/2022: Audubon Rd (the road outside my neighborhood) seven minutes before sunrise
Categories
Personal Life

My Dad Agrees to a Rare Family Photo, With Conditions

Sometime within the last week, I bought flags for my mom, my dad, and myself. I did this because I wanted a family photo on the Fourth of July, since I realized there weren’t any photos of my dad on this blog.

I almost forgot about my photo opportunity this evening, but luckily remembered just as my dad was about to go upstairs to his bedroom. When my dad came outside this evening for the family photo, I told him where I wanted the photo—by a tree—but he started yelling loudly at me and saying he can’t go down that far in our yard.

My dad is in a walker and likes to stay at home in the kitchen, presumably because it’s hard for him to get around. (With that said, he always liked spending most of his time in the kitchen even when he wasn’t in a walker, which basically amounts to all my life.)

Back to the story, he said he needed to be in front of my mom’s flower garden. But not only that, he insisted that he rotate his walker such that a compost bin and his old SUV in our garage are my background. Yet my parents got to have flowers as their background. When I asked if we could rotate ourselves a different way—so that the compost bin and his old SUV in our garage are not by me—my dad started crying loudly. Interestingly, he stopped crying immediately after I let him get his way.

Indeed, I acquiesced, since I wanted a photo with the flags on the Fourth of July. The photo below, which was taken by me with my smartphone, is probably the one where the compost bin and garage show up the least (my head is blocking most of it).

My dad’s T-shirt reads, “RUNNING THE COUNTRY IS LIKE RIDING A BIKE,” which is apparently a reference to President Biden falling off his bike. Most of my dad’s shirts have a political message.

In other news, I’m eight months sober. No alcohol, no nicotine, no drugs. Also, a hard pass for Delta-9 THC, which became legal in Minnesota on July 1. If everyone else in my family followed suit, many of our problems would dissipate. #NQTD

Note: The backward flag was unintentional (at least on my part).

My family holding flags in our yard on the Fourth of July

UPDATE, 07/04/2022: Since I’m not one to end a holiday (or any day, really) on a bad note, here is a photograph of the grand finale of Chanhassen’s fireworks display at Lake Ann. I stood across the street from Paisley Park to get this photo. It’s where I was last year as well.

Chanhassen’s fireworks display at Lake Ann (I was standing across the street from Paisley Park)

UPDATE, 07/05/2022: I took a portrait of just my dad this morning. Now I have recent portraits of my mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma. Although I recently visited my grandparents’ house, my dad stayed home. This portrait was taken in the same place as the photo with the flags from yesterday evening. The lighting is harsh and could have been ameliorated by using fill flash, but I currently do not have a flash for my Canon camera. It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to get one.

Portrait of my dad

UPDATE, 07/08/2022: While watching “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News (with Raymond Arroyo filling in), I discovered my dad’s shirt is a reference to a video taken by a reporter named Nikki Schwab.

Categories
Out and About

Chanhassen’s 2022 Fourth of July Celebration

My mom and I went to Chanhassen’s Fourth of July celebration two times today (it is free, after all). It was sprinkling the first time we went at about 2:30 p.m., but otherwise the weather was nice; the precipitation was over by the second time we went at about 6:45 p.m. The weather is significant because, for Independence Day, there will be heavy rain and a chance of thunderstorms.

All photos were taken with my smartphone.

Coin pusher game with a memento mori
Water Hogs
Break a Bottle
Prizes
Balloons
Tickets, ATM, and Ferris wheel
Fair food
Lemonade concession stand
More fair food
View from the Ferris wheel
Self-portrait from the top of the Ferris wheel. I also took photos of my mom and myself on the Ferris wheel last year.
Pirate’s Fury
Various stuffed animals for prizes (including pugs!)