Sunday, May 24, 2009
Gardening
lean over while she's watering them.
Frank and Marilyn
Frank came at her with the drill :>
Friday, May 22, 2009
Computing in the laundry room
shutting itself off.
Fancy!
lovely shower, and now I get to use it!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Shooting in RAW and color-correcting for the first time
I'm busy getting ready to head to the airport, so I don't have a lot of time, but I wanted to go ahead and slap up these shots I took at the Canal the other day. Below you'll find the original, unedited image, and then how I tweaked the image in Photoshop. I mostly used Saturation and Levels. I may have overdone it a little...but it was my first time. I'm allowed.
The last two pictures came out the best, I think.
There are tons more photos from the Canal, but I won't have time to go through and edit them until I get back from England. I don't have time to upload them unedited, either, so you'll just have to wait ;)
The last two pictures came out the best, I think.
There are tons more photos from the Canal, but I won't have time to go through and edit them until I get back from England. I don't have time to upload them unedited, either, so you'll just have to wait ;)
Sunday, May 17, 2009
What happened to the quarry?
longer visible.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Fringe, season 1
* This post is rife with spoilers. *
The season finale of Fringe answered a lot of questions.
For awhile I thought William Bell was dead, or that he had never existed. We never saw him.
I knew that Walter and Peter had been saved at the lake, and that Walter now owed the Observer a favor, but I could always tell that there was something more to that story and I didn't know what.
Olivia started getting flashes of what I assumed were various other universes.
Now, after the season finale, it seems there is one main alternate universe. Liv's flashes all came from that same universe...a universe in which 9/11 didn't quite go the same way, and in which there was some other, more recent attack. After seeing the finale, I speculate that her flashes are due to the fact that that universe is starting to merge with ours. The "soft points", from which radiate all manner of phenomena, are only the beginning.
It also seems likely that the kickoff point for the dimensional collision was Walter's selfish snatching of another Peter--I'll call him Peter'--from the alternate universe when his own son died. Indeed, the place where I imagine that theft took place--the lake where the two of them were saved--was the soft point Jones was able to use to open the doorway. I presume what actually happened was Peter drowned, Walter went to the alternate universe and retrieved Peter', and the Observer was helpful in some way, but told Walter that at some point he would need to deal with the ramifications. The stealing of Peter' was obviously a huge dimensional event--matter was taken from one universe to another, and has existed for some time in a place where it doesn't belong.
William Bell has been living in the alternate universe for "months", at least. (That's how long Nina Sharp claims she hasn't seen him.) It's possible that he's there in an attempt to stop or delay the merging. Perhaps he didn't realize until recently that Walter stole Peter'. Once he knew the reason for the soft spots, he tried to compensate by shifting some of our universe's matter--himself--into the other universe to replace what it'd lost.
I imagine his move will end up being too little, too late. Since Bell's a completely different person, it's not an equal exchange. And even though it's not clear what role time plays in this, the fact that the exchange took two decades to happen will probably also have an effect, unless Bell has been there longer than Nina implies.
What confounds me at this point is where the show can possibly go from here. What will we discover about alternate universes? Will we end up able to cross between them with impunity after all? Or am I right, and does dimensional travel without equal exchange cause irreparable damage that will ultimately lead to a universe-collide? If we've answered most of the questions about why these events are happening, what kind of questions can we ask next season?
The revelation that Peter' isn't from this universe adds a new layer to Walter and Peter's relationship. We know that Peter' considers Walter to have been an abusive father. I've seen some speculation that it was Walter' who was abusive, and Walter was a loving father who was too late to spare Peter' from his father's abuse. I think it's more plausible, though, that Walter didn't know how to relate to Peter' because Peter' wasn't really his son. Whenever Walter is able to connect with Peter' in a meaningful way, he is so delighted that I imagine it doesn't happen very much. Walter was trying to bring his son back, but instead he brought home a stranger, and I imagine that fact, plus the guilt over what he'd done, plus the pain over losing his real son, drove him to abusive behavior and insanity.
It will be interesting to see what happens when Peter' finds out about all this.
The season finale of Fringe answered a lot of questions.
For awhile I thought William Bell was dead, or that he had never existed. We never saw him.
I knew that Walter and Peter had been saved at the lake, and that Walter now owed the Observer a favor, but I could always tell that there was something more to that story and I didn't know what.
Olivia started getting flashes of what I assumed were various other universes.
Now, after the season finale, it seems there is one main alternate universe. Liv's flashes all came from that same universe...a universe in which 9/11 didn't quite go the same way, and in which there was some other, more recent attack. After seeing the finale, I speculate that her flashes are due to the fact that that universe is starting to merge with ours. The "soft points", from which radiate all manner of phenomena, are only the beginning.
It also seems likely that the kickoff point for the dimensional collision was Walter's selfish snatching of another Peter--I'll call him Peter'--from the alternate universe when his own son died. Indeed, the place where I imagine that theft took place--the lake where the two of them were saved--was the soft point Jones was able to use to open the doorway. I presume what actually happened was Peter drowned, Walter went to the alternate universe and retrieved Peter', and the Observer was helpful in some way, but told Walter that at some point he would need to deal with the ramifications. The stealing of Peter' was obviously a huge dimensional event--matter was taken from one universe to another, and has existed for some time in a place where it doesn't belong.
William Bell has been living in the alternate universe for "months", at least. (That's how long Nina Sharp claims she hasn't seen him.) It's possible that he's there in an attempt to stop or delay the merging. Perhaps he didn't realize until recently that Walter stole Peter'. Once he knew the reason for the soft spots, he tried to compensate by shifting some of our universe's matter--himself--into the other universe to replace what it'd lost.
I imagine his move will end up being too little, too late. Since Bell's a completely different person, it's not an equal exchange. And even though it's not clear what role time plays in this, the fact that the exchange took two decades to happen will probably also have an effect, unless Bell has been there longer than Nina implies.
What confounds me at this point is where the show can possibly go from here. What will we discover about alternate universes? Will we end up able to cross between them with impunity after all? Or am I right, and does dimensional travel without equal exchange cause irreparable damage that will ultimately lead to a universe-collide? If we've answered most of the questions about why these events are happening, what kind of questions can we ask next season?
The revelation that Peter' isn't from this universe adds a new layer to Walter and Peter's relationship. We know that Peter' considers Walter to have been an abusive father. I've seen some speculation that it was Walter' who was abusive, and Walter was a loving father who was too late to spare Peter' from his father's abuse. I think it's more plausible, though, that Walter didn't know how to relate to Peter' because Peter' wasn't really his son. Whenever Walter is able to connect with Peter' in a meaningful way, he is so delighted that I imagine it doesn't happen very much. Walter was trying to bring his son back, but instead he brought home a stranger, and I imagine that fact, plus the guilt over what he'd done, plus the pain over losing his real son, drove him to abusive behavior and insanity.
It will be interesting to see what happens when Peter' finds out about all this.
Friday, May 15, 2009
More on The Great Santini
When I first finished The Great Santini, I mentioned that there seemed to be a lot of random violence towards the end. I now believe I know the purpose of that violence, but I'm not sure the purpose makes it any less random.
What's interesting to me is that the majority of the violence came from people who were not the titular abusive character.
I went into the book expecting first-hand depictions of horrific child abuse. I described the indirect mentions and tension fully anticipating that they were leading somewhere dreadful. But the book was not that facile or straightforward. Most of the abuse was in the past; it guided the present but didn't appear in it. It led the reader to the conclusion that if Bull's kids would have just done things his way, everything would have been fine, and he really wasn't that bad a guy after all.
It's brilliant. Because this is exactly how Ben Meecham was feeling.
The random violence and killings stripped Ben of his support systems. His best friends were either killed or jerked away from him. He had nothing when the final blow came, and he ended up filling the hole in his life with the one man he knew best. At the end of the book, in a twist on the archetypal "mentor dies, hero accepts his destiny" story, Ben started becoming Bull.
He started becoming the man he'd spent the entire book resisting, hiding from, and going along with to appease. He started becoming what he insisted he never would. And it happened because that was all he ever knew, and when that was gone--when Bull died--a part of Ben needed that presence, and the only way to get it was to bring it back himself.
If Ben had had Toomer around, or Sammy, when his father died, I imagine things would have gone differently. He would have had other men in his life to remind him of what he wanted to be. Mr. Dacus was a father figure, the father Ben could never have, but ultimately he approved of Bull, and Ben took that approval to heart.
And with Bull dead, without the constant reminders of fear and uncertainty to guide Ben, it would only be that much easier for Ben to forget what he had hated and embrace the love he wished he felt for his father when he was alive.
This story felt true because it was true, and I think that truth greatly added to the experience. There are flaws. I pointed out a perspective problem in my original post; I never found anything later to disprove my view that it wasn't intentional. And there was that feeling, again, that the violence in the latter half of the book came out of nowhere solely for the purpose of guiding Ben down a path towards his father.
But the prose was startlingly poignant, and the dialogue was sharp. I imagine that writing this novel was both cathartic and instructive for Pat Conroy, and I look forward to seeing how he pairs that experience with his natural gifts in later books.
What's interesting to me is that the majority of the violence came from people who were not the titular abusive character.
I went into the book expecting first-hand depictions of horrific child abuse. I described the indirect mentions and tension fully anticipating that they were leading somewhere dreadful. But the book was not that facile or straightforward. Most of the abuse was in the past; it guided the present but didn't appear in it. It led the reader to the conclusion that if Bull's kids would have just done things his way, everything would have been fine, and he really wasn't that bad a guy after all.
It's brilliant. Because this is exactly how Ben Meecham was feeling.
The random violence and killings stripped Ben of his support systems. His best friends were either killed or jerked away from him. He had nothing when the final blow came, and he ended up filling the hole in his life with the one man he knew best. At the end of the book, in a twist on the archetypal "mentor dies, hero accepts his destiny" story, Ben started becoming Bull.
He started becoming the man he'd spent the entire book resisting, hiding from, and going along with to appease. He started becoming what he insisted he never would. And it happened because that was all he ever knew, and when that was gone--when Bull died--a part of Ben needed that presence, and the only way to get it was to bring it back himself.
If Ben had had Toomer around, or Sammy, when his father died, I imagine things would have gone differently. He would have had other men in his life to remind him of what he wanted to be. Mr. Dacus was a father figure, the father Ben could never have, but ultimately he approved of Bull, and Ben took that approval to heart.
And with Bull dead, without the constant reminders of fear and uncertainty to guide Ben, it would only be that much easier for Ben to forget what he had hated and embrace the love he wished he felt for his father when he was alive.
This story felt true because it was true, and I think that truth greatly added to the experience. There are flaws. I pointed out a perspective problem in my original post; I never found anything later to disprove my view that it wasn't intentional. And there was that feeling, again, that the violence in the latter half of the book came out of nowhere solely for the purpose of guiding Ben down a path towards his father.
But the prose was startlingly poignant, and the dialogue was sharp. I imagine that writing this novel was both cathartic and instructive for Pat Conroy, and I look forward to seeing how he pairs that experience with his natural gifts in later books.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Breakfast
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Small Settings Update
We've updated the Timeline to better reflect how folks are using Twitter. Based on usage patterns and feedback, we've learned most people don't read every tweet. However, receiving each and every tweet from the people you follow makes it hard not to read everything. Today's update removes this undesirable and confusing option.
The Importance of Discovery
Spotting new information in tweets is an interesting way to check out what's going on with your friends. Despite this update, you'll still see the most important information from your friends; you just won't see it all. For example, you'll continue to see tweets that Twitter has deemed relevant or accurate. We'll be introducing better ways to manage your Twitter experience as we release more features in this space.
This post is a parody of this announcement from Twitter. For more information: #fixreplies
The Importance of Discovery
Spotting new information in tweets is an interesting way to check out what's going on with your friends. Despite this update, you'll still see the most important information from your friends; you just won't see it all. For example, you'll continue to see tweets that Twitter has deemed relevant or accurate. We'll be introducing better ways to manage your Twitter experience as we release more features in this space.
This post is a parody of this announcement from Twitter. For more information: #fixreplies
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Frustrated
I have so much to say and so many things I want to do, but I have no time or energy! BAH!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Here's where I am
Sorry I haven't written up my blog redesign process yet. I have been extremely busy at work and that has drained me for the rest of the time. All my projects are suffering because of it. But I'm not discouraged, really; I know that after this craziness is over I'll have more time and brainpower. Of course, I'm going to England in under two weeks, so it may be awhile before I'm back to a decent routine.
One thing that has been bothering me is the fact that the design of my blog right now is not the design I wanted. It's more like a design I conceived and never finished in 2004. When I put this thing together, the look was secondary to getting the structure workable. Now that I have the blog set up with an external stylesheet, I will hopefully be more easily able to change the look.
A redesign of this blog will need to take a backseat to other things, though: my website project with Mike, my webcomic project with Sam, the redesign of and new shopping cart implementation for my parents' business website, etc.
I'm also rereading (or rather, reading, since I never actually finished it) Getting Things Done. Hopefully I will learn some techniques to better organize my time and keep from stressing out over everything I want to do!
One thing that has been bothering me is the fact that the design of my blog right now is not the design I wanted. It's more like a design I conceived and never finished in 2004. When I put this thing together, the look was secondary to getting the structure workable. Now that I have the blog set up with an external stylesheet, I will hopefully be more easily able to change the look.
A redesign of this blog will need to take a backseat to other things, though: my website project with Mike, my webcomic project with Sam, the redesign of and new shopping cart implementation for my parents' business website, etc.
I'm also rereading (or rather, reading, since I never actually finished it) Getting Things Done. Hopefully I will learn some techniques to better organize my time and keep from stressing out over everything I want to do!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Finished with The Great Santini
I'm still digesting it. I read a lot of it all at once the other night to get to the end. My marathon reading session coincided with a lot of seemingly random violence in the book. It's going to take me some time to process.
My next read is The Book of Night Women
by Marlon James (suggested by Marie). I started it last night.
My next read is The Book of Night Women
by Marlon James (suggested by Marie). I started it last night.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Dream
I had a dream last night that my boss and our two main anchors got swine flu. I was the one who noticed and I told them to go home. They refused, even to the point of working really late and then all sleeping in the same bed together.
Because I stayed around them trying to convince them to take care of themselves and stop risking others' health, I ended up getting sick--though I'm not sure it was swine flu, because my face was covered in boils.
I also dreamed last night that Tom Welling guest-starred as Superman in a musical episode of a sitcom. When he started to sing, Neil Patrick Harris' voice came out.
I always have the best dreams when I'm off the CPAP. Or at least, I remember them...
Because I stayed around them trying to convince them to take care of themselves and stop risking others' health, I ended up getting sick--though I'm not sure it was swine flu, because my face was covered in boils.
I also dreamed last night that Tom Welling guest-starred as Superman in a musical episode of a sitcom. When he started to sing, Neil Patrick Harris' voice came out.
I always have the best dreams when I'm off the CPAP. Or at least, I remember them...
The real issue with swine flu/H1N1 flu/whatever's PC now
The main reason health officials are worried about H1N1 is not because it is somehow deadlier than other flus. The flu is pretty deadly. It kills around the same number of Americans each year as car accidents. That's why we have flu vaccines; we try to predict which flu strain will be the most common and then prepare ourselves for it.
The issue with swine flu is that we don't yet have a vaccine. We had no idea it was coming, so we were unprepared. As with any other flu, people who are very old, very young, and who have health conditions are the most at risk of actually dying, but anyone is in danger if they don't take care of themselves.
Because we weren't prepared for this, there's more of a chance that it will affect more people. And the more people who end up sick, the harder it is for the nation to go about its business. If no one at a certain factory is able to work, for example, that's a huge hit to that company and to all the other companies that depend on it. If police, firemen, doctors, and/or nurses get sick, that's a safety issue. We need to have enough healthy, well people in our society to function.
So you can stop worrying about dying from swine flu. Instead, worry about staying healthy. Wash your hands and encourage others to. Eat right, get enough rest. And don't let fear of the flu cripple your life.
The issue with swine flu is that we don't yet have a vaccine. We had no idea it was coming, so we were unprepared. As with any other flu, people who are very old, very young, and who have health conditions are the most at risk of actually dying, but anyone is in danger if they don't take care of themselves.
Because we weren't prepared for this, there's more of a chance that it will affect more people. And the more people who end up sick, the harder it is for the nation to go about its business. If no one at a certain factory is able to work, for example, that's a huge hit to that company and to all the other companies that depend on it. If police, firemen, doctors, and/or nurses get sick, that's a safety issue. We need to have enough healthy, well people in our society to function.
So you can stop worrying about dying from swine flu. Instead, worry about staying healthy. Wash your hands and encourage others to. Eat right, get enough rest. And don't let fear of the flu cripple your life.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Thai Chicken Salad
Funny
Occasionally a newspaper employee will joke that all local TV stations do is read that day's newspaper on air. This is silly for a couple of reasons. First of all, all news organizations read/watch each other for tips. They'd be stupid not to. There are plenty of times that TV breaks the story first. This was true even before the web.
But what makes this joke a little dangerous is the fact that it ignores a perhaps uncomfortable truth: all local news organizations make heavy use of Associated Press content. So sure, TV might have repackaged an AP story for air. But how many newspaper stories are copy-and-pasted from the AP wire?
This post contains the opinion of Heather Meadows and no one other than Heather Meadows. The above should not be construed as the perspective or conclusions of anyone but Heather Meadows. Heather Meadows!
But what makes this joke a little dangerous is the fact that it ignores a perhaps uncomfortable truth: all local news organizations make heavy use of Associated Press content. So sure, TV might have repackaged an AP story for air. But how many newspaper stories are copy-and-pasted from the AP wire?
This post contains the opinion of Heather Meadows and no one other than Heather Meadows. The above should not be construed as the perspective or conclusions of anyone but Heather Meadows. Heather Meadows!
Where is all my time?
This week has been both the longest and the shortest in recent memory. Laborious things drag out and fun things fly by--or I don't find the time to do them at all. I've been wanting to post on various topics for quite some time, but I've barely even turned on my laptop this week. Last night I finally pulled her out of standby, only to lie down to stretch my neck for a minute and then find myself waking up blearily at 4 am.
I'm not discouraged--yet--but I am irritated.
I'm not discouraged--yet--but I am irritated.
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