Du Punt

Happy last day of work, Howard!!!

I have known Howard for about 15 years now, and we've had some crazy times. He's heading off to retirement land due to 1) his highly advanced age and 2) deterioration in the global plastics market.

Howard will be filling his days with cigars, cognac, and photographing skunk cabbage in the mud pools around Lake 16 (I kid you not).

Please join me in wishing Howie all the best!!!

My Sister / My Brother

More Zoo Goodies...

Cough, Cough

Well, my honey has gone to the doctor and the diagnosis is clear, she's got one of the worst cases of pneumonia he's seen in years. Poor girly! She's off work for at least a week while she rests and hits the pills.

Please wish her a speedy recovery and an end to the terrible coughing and generally yucky way she feels!

Get well soon, Heatherbaby!

In The Light Of An East-Facing Window

Eater

Our little Brooke, in the words of Heather, is "an eater now, and not just a drinker!"

We let her try whole grain rice cereal, and aside from a momentary look of profound surprise on her face, she liked it!

Facebook Fears

"Your profile pic is scaring my profile pic." - Written on my Facebook wall by Mary

Whatever could she mean?

Happy Tree Friends

"HTF is not recommended for small children or big babies"

Imagine the old Coyote & Roadrunner cartoons of our youth taken to their extreme and shocking conclusion. Unedited and with no punches pulled. Now replace the coyote and roadrunner with bunnies and other cute fuzzy characters.

That's Happy Tree Friends, Zach and his school buddies' newest obsession. I haven't decided yet if this Flash-based cartoon series, found up on YouTube, is gruesome or funny. I'm leaning towards gruesome, and I think I am going to hand him a "cease and desist" letter on these. They are starting to haunt me.

I'll let you know in ten years if it was a bad idea to let him watch as many as I did.

The Wild Zoo

Brooke went to the zoo for the first time on Sunday! Of course, she decided to bring us all along too.

I have a couple pictures of her at the zoo, but she's in her carrier and you can't really tell she's at the zoo! :)

So here's a yellow bird instead...

18x24

Here's my poster to advertize the dance packages for the big shoot I have coming up in April. It's getting close and everything is falling into place. The event will be two days of straight shooting, so I may be sparse during that time.

Spicy Stripes

I made this curry over the weekend, shown here with all the various spices lined up topside and waiting to be incorporated.

Livin' Large

We got the Flex last night, and everyone loves it. Yards of room, very quiet interior (I can actually hear Zach talking all the way in the back because there's no road noise), and gobs of square coolness.

It's Official!

Kudos to Madison, who now answers nature's call exclusively via the "Big Girl Potty", and who has shunned diapers forevermore. She's learning the skills of life at a rapid pace, and her desire to be grown up is at an all-time high.

Congratulations, my sweet (not so) little girl.

Funkmaster Flex

Our loving family has now officially outgrown its arsenal of transportation modes. Our "big car", the Escape, leaves precious little back seat room for Zach after we load up a bulging child seat on either side of him.

So yesterday we crammed the family into said vehicle, stopped at Baja Fresh to quiet the rumbling tummies, and then scooted over to the Ford dealer to meet our new car.

We're getting a Flex, which in comparison to the Escape seems to be about the size of a Great Lakes ore freighter. It comes very highly recommended by Zach, who leapt into the far back seat of ours and promptly claimed it as his new home away from home. He's got cup holders, storage bins, magazine racks, map lights, AC controls, vents...in short everything a jaded back seat dweller could possibly want, and more.

And with the current desperate state of auto sales, the 5-grand rebate combined with the A-Plan discount makes this car very affordable indeed.

This will be our first car with the Duratec 3.5L engine, which is the engine I work on and am very familiar with.

So we told Zach he only has to brave one more ride in the over-crowded Escape, to the dealership this afternoon, before he can run free, stretch his legs, and read magazines in his spacious new digs.

Green & Red

So, here's the scene that went down yesterday afternoon:

I'm sitting in an elementary school chair that's four sizes too small for my butt, talking up at Zach's teacher, Miss O'Brien. She and Zach had just gone over his report card and performance with me for this past grading period. He did very well, much improved in the behavior department over last time.

Except...

We started talking about St Patty's day and since Miss O'Brien is obviously Irish she said she did not forget to wear green on Tuesday. At which point Zach thought it would be really clever to say:

"My dad wore green...green leather underpants!"

There was an awkward moment of silence as Miss O'Brien looked at me and tried hard not to picture in her mind whether or not this rather embarrassing act of Irish solidarity might actually be true.

Then we all laughed nervously and I silently resolved to strangle Zach later in the day, slowly and at my leisure.

Wound Up Like Spring

Not wanting to waste the warm weather Tuesday, I took Zach and Maddie to the park. Needless to say, a winter's worth of pent-up cabin fever exploded into pieces all over the wet brown grass.

Spring is coming...

Tabhair póg dom, táim Éireannach

In accordance with long tradition, I ate my St. Patrick's Day lunch at a sushi restaurant.

What? "That's not traditional" you say?

Au contraire...this place is called O'Sushi!

No, I am not kidding. I ate lunch at an Irish sushi place. Well, there's not very much Irish about the place other than the "O'" prefixed to the name, but I did have green tea and that's gotta count for something.

A Long-Overdue Burlap Bag From The Foothills Of The Himalayas

Ahhh...after a long dry period devoid of Basmati, we finally got a new sack and we're back in business with the world's best rice. I can almost smell the nutty aroma from here...

Carbon

[JULES]
Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.

[VINCENT]
But bacon tastes good, pork chops taste good...

[JULES]
Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy motherf***ers.

Although I don't share that particular hit-man's aversion to eating filthy animals, I am nonetheless not a big bacon eater. It's a little salty for me.

But my lovely bride loves it and every now and then she gets a craving for it and I am more than happy to make some.

Ahhh...sometimes life doesn't come out as we plan. As you can see, I burned it silly. I burned it rotten. Super-crispy-plus, it turned into a black steaming pile of smelly carbon. Extra, extra, extra well-done.

I post this as a kind of public humiliation to both document and commemorate my shame. I have since paid my private penance by buying more bacon and frying it perfectly golden crispy the way my lover likes it.

So, now I am cleansed.

Jack Attack

Mommy's Shoes!

Late Afternoon Sun

I rarely have any idea what I am going to make for dinner until the very second I start pulling out pots and lighting fires. I grocery shop the same way...I buy basic ingredients that can make almost anything and then when the time comes to cook dinner I just take inventory of what I have and create something from it. My "grocery list" literally says: Veggies...Beans...Rice...Fish...it's hilarious if you think about it, why even make a list?

I like working like that, I have a hard time planning out a menu beforehand. Once you've made a million different concoctions with every ingredient known to modern man, you get a feel for what works and what doesn't. The hard part is making sure you mix it up and learn new things, and I force that creativeness by varying what I buy at the store.

Heather's breastfeeding added another series of constraints that forced me further out of my box and into a whole new set of ingredients, because she couldn't eat any kind of beans or legumes and those are the bedrock of our diet. No milk or spicy hot foods either. Now we are back to "normal", but I still have an almost overwhelming drive to never make the same exact thing twice.

Here is my latest composition. I had Tilapia, black-eyed peas, fenugreek leaves, and luscious green Lebanese olives to work with. This came out great, topped off with a little olive oil and lemon juice.

Very Mediterranean, and very good, perfect for a sunny day. I also made a tossed salad with white balsamic vinaigrette and we opened a Spanish sparkling wine and toasted to the coming spring.

Out On The Town

Heather and I went on a date Saturday. It's very hard to unwind when you are used to chasing children around and it took a while to relax. But we had fun, going to IKEA to buy office furniture (it's more romantic than it sounds, try it sometime), and then on to Slumdog Millionaire which we both really liked, hard as it is to watch (I bought the soundtrack while walking out of the theater, I liked it so much).

Our dinner plans changed when Rojo couldn't fit us in this side of the apocalypse, so we found an Italian place and juiced ourselves up with sangria instead.

It's weird going back to a time before kids, if even only for an evening. They inhabit every corner of your brain for so long that when they are not around you can't help searching for them in a most unsettling way.

All the same, these dates are something I really want to keep doing, because we both need them!

In A Row

Tickling Ivories & Brushing Pearly Whites

As a part of my ongoing quest to grow the photography business, my photo partner Sandi and I have been going to networking meetings in Royal Oak, various events run by the Chamber of Commerce intended to allow small business owners to meet up and exchange ideas and referrals.

This morning's meeting was at a recording studio called "Detroit School of Rock", quite an impressive place full of instruments and mixing boards and digital recording hardware, things that looked too fragile and expensive to have people drinking coffee over, as the nervous expression on the face of the owner often revealed.

As is usual in these events, I saw my dentist there. This guy has more network than NBC. He shows up at every occasion I find myself at with more than three people. I would think he was stalking me but I know he is very involved in community activities. He "customer mines" these things and does very well with it. I need to learn from him. He's a master.

Edward

This Edward fellow from Twilight must be some guy, he's stealing all of our wives away. For a book series that is aimed at teenagers, it sure is getting it's share of 30-something readers.

Heather read half of book 1 yesterday and she shows no signs of slowing down.

Edward is all I hear about lately. I know Carol and Alisa are both knee-deep in him. Four of the top ten bestseller slots are occupied by him, and that's just because there are only four books in the series. Seems every wife I know is reading and thinking and talking about Edward.

Not to fear, I have a solution.

I will become a vampire. Then I will win them all back for us.

You can owe me.

Nuts, On Dates

For the first time in quite a long, long while, I have a date this weekend! Now, before you go starting ugly rumors, this date is with my lovely redheaded wife. So why the big deal? Well...

...everyone who has children knows that your social life goes right down the toilet along with the flushable wipes and the occasional toy. Heather and I have not been out on a real date, with dinner and a movie, for...well, we can't remember the last movie we saw together that wasn't made by Pixar.

Sissy was kind enough to offer to take the girls for "a long time" on Saturday so my bride and me can paint the town red. We're going to IKEA, just for fun, and then dinner at Rojo and a movie!!! A real date!!!

So out of touch with modern culture are we, that it took us a while to go over the current crop of movies and we waded through the swamp of chick flicks and superhero films until we settled at last on Slumdog Millionaire. Seeing as this may be the last movie we get to see this year, we wanted to pick a good one.

I'm nervous! Will she like me? Where is that flower store again?

Honing In

I made another iteration of "House"* curry this week, and I'd like to propose a new version of this recipe. It's very similar, so the changes are in bold.

1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup peanut oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2" ginger, peeled
1 29-oz can tomato puree
1 Tbl cumin
1 Tbl coriander
1 Tbl fenugreek
2 tsp turmeric
3 green finger hot chilis
4 cups water
2 tsp salt

(meat, veggies, lentils, chick peas, paneer, etc)

2 cups basmati rice
3 cups water
1/2 tsp salt

Fry the onion in the oil until golden brown. Transfer to food processor along with garlic, ginger, spices, chilies and tomato sauce. Process until smooth. Add tomato mixture and water and stir. Bring to a boil, add meat, veggies, lentils, etc, as desired. Simmer and cover. Cook rice. Simmer curry for 30-40 minutes, stirring. Serve!

* House of India

Cover Girl

I finished the "magazine" cover last night...the one I'm using for the dance shoot. I wanted it to look real enough (hence the barcode, which I got from the internet and surely codes for something, I should really find out what...), but also modular so I can swap the picture and name out fast. Everything except those two items, even the corner burns, are already in place and generic.

So...what do you think, mammals?

The Cute Cup, Running Over

Wings, Always

Sometimes I wonder if she's getting ready to fly away on us.

Zach The Beanstalk

My Brown Eyed Girl

Megapixie

Brooke, with her winning smile in full effect.

Taken with the new 5D Mk II body and 70-200L lens.

Green Is Gone

I know you are all probably sick to death of hearing about my adventures in photography.

Well, too bad, it's my blog. If you want to talk about cats and uncle Fred's back problems, get your own blog...

...just kidding, lighten up! :)

Anyhow...

Our skin, no matter what race we happen to be, is mainly reddish in nature. And looking at the handy-dandy color wheel, we see that the color furthest from red is green. Our skin has almost no green in it, unless of course you are a particular witch from Oz, but if you are then you've got worse problems.

This one property makes green (and yes, blue is close enough) backgrounds very useful. If you record someone in front of a green screen (technically called a Chroma Key screen), you can use computer software to later filter or "key" the green color out, leaving the subject intact with no background. It's then an easy task to add in whatever background you like. Note, the subject cannot wear green, or they will end up with holes in them!

We've all seen it, not just in high budget special effects-laden movies, but on TV weather forecasts. That big map behind Sonny Elliot is just a green screen, all the graphics are added in on the fly by computer. And it's not just for backdrops, you can add green to anything you want to dissapear, that's how they do invisibility cloaks, holes in people, hide wires and cables, etc...just color it green and it's gone!

Many photographers today are using the Chroma Key techniques in their portraits, and I'm sure you can imagine many cool possibilities. No more buying different colored backdrops, just add them in digitally.

This is already being done frequently, and pretty soon I'll be doing it too, because I ordered a Chroma Key green screen today!

Holidays In The Sun

(CNN) -- Nearly 7,000 Mexican soldiers and federal police arrived in the U.S.-Mexico border city of Ciudad Juarez this week to restore security to a city plagued by a long-standing, bloody drug war.

You know, call me an optimist, but I'll bet there are some really decent bargains on hotel rooms in Juarez right now. Anyone up for a mini-vacation?

Random Story Fragment

"I can't believe this!" Tom shouted as he lifted the shovel over his head once again. He was sweating profusely, his shirt soaked and heavy.

He hadn't counted on being sensed by the guardian. He thought the scout party had taken care of that eventuality. Apparently not.

Ryan glanced back nervously. A rough shadow appeared at the end of the hallway, dancing in the light of the torches. It was less than fifty feet away now.

"Hurry up Tom" he said in a low voice without unclenching his teeth.

The shovel whacked the door hard, bending the latch and splintering the wood. They both knew there wasn't much time left. Maybe one more strike...

A terrible shriek froze the blood in their veins. They both looked up to see the creature lurching down the hallway towards them. They could smell the charred stench strongly. Tom looked dazed.

It was too late...

...Ryan grabbed the shovel from Tom's hands and brought it down onto the door with all the strength he could gather.

The door shattered in a hail of splinters. Tom's look of immediate surprise was broken as Ryan shoved him rudely through the door. He landed hard on a stone floor about ten feet down, hurting his ankle badly. Ryan came down right on top of him. They untangled themselves, got to their feet in a flash and started moving. Tom reached back and grabbed the pack slung behind him.

The book was still there, he could feel it.

They heard a loud ripping crash as the guardian broke through what was left of the door not far behind them.

The room they were in was dark, and very hot - more so even than the temple, if that was possible. There was a light at the far end, at the top of a stone stair. They made for it amidst a horrible racket as the beast came crashing towards them in the darkness.

Despite the throbbing pain radiating from his ankle, terror helped Tom keep up with Ryan and they went fast across the big chamber. They reached the bottom of the staircase and allowed themselves some measure of hope. Their pursuer was not yet upon them. They were almost out.

That's when they saw the second guardian.

Silly Goose Down

Lex

The Jandas were over last weekend for a photo shoot. Here's one of Lexie with Jon's 50D and the 70-200L.