It is obscene to think of how many pictures I take of Leo, my eight-weeker. And I am saying this as a very judicious picture taker and editor. I post many photos on the Internet, but if they don’t fit a certain set of rules, they don’t make the cut. Here are some examples:
Formal “say cheese”-type poses
Blurriness (if used unartistically)
Funny faces (if exhibited unintentionally)
Take multiple pictures of a scene, use the best version
There are more, but I won’t bore you with those right now. What matters is that my tried and true ‘photo laws’ are being tested by parenthood. Even the blurriest picture sometimes makes the cut if there’s a smiling baby in the frame. Breaking another rule, I will take essentially the same picture 10 times but post all of them because Leo has a slightly different facial expression or pose in each one.
I am a conflicted man.
Maybe my cold, (amateur) photographer’s heart has softened with the arrival of my son. Editing down a batch of photos for the day used to be easy. I just applied the rules and posted the best stuff. Now I’m having a crisis when choosing between a shot of a smirking baby or a smiling baby.
Thank God for grandmas. I know I can count on them to look at every photo.
I have a couple small bins that hold CD cases under my coffee table, and it’s where I keep all the new albums I purchase. Once or twice a year, I fill these trays up, and I have to weed through the “older” CDs and find a place to store them. In the meantime, I’ve already ripped them to my computer, and maybe only used the actual disc a handful of times. Sooner or later, the CDs find their way to these bins, and beyond that, into a larger, more unaccessible bin.
Each time, I wonder why I continue to buy CDs. It should come as no surprise to us that CDs are on the way out. Just look at the predecessors of the CD. Vinyl, 8-track, and cassettes all had their time in the sun, and although vinyl (and even cassettes to a degree) are seeing a resurgence, they are by no means the main form of distribution that they used to be. CDs soon will join these ranks. Everything will soon be digital.
Could digital be the last format in this evolution? It’s hard to imagine what may lie beyond that. Perhaps we’ll get the music injected directly–electronically–into our brains?
I love the ease, affordability, and immediate satisfaction of digital. But the music fan in me wants to continue to have a physical artifact associated with the music I love. Still the practical side of me knows that I will just rip the album to my computer, add it to my iPod, and listen to it digitally 95% of the time. Meanwhile, I’ll be adding another CD to my ever-growing pile.
Because of this, I started a policy two years ago. I would continue to buy CDs for my favorite artists and anticipated albums, while buying digital on impulse buys and newer bands I want to just check out. Going digital was an easy and affordable way to check out new music.
I officially changed this policy last month, based on a trip to the record store.
Easy Street Records was having a $1 sale on old vinyl. I picked up a lot of old favorites and took a chance on some random stuff. After all, they were only $1 a piece. I came home with a dozen LPs.
I had an LP player, but it was relegated to my chilly, windowless garage, where it was unlikely that I would hang out and listen to much music. I cleared some space upstairs in the living room and my LP player had newer, friendlier home. That’s when I saw my policy changing.
Many new artists are still putting out vinyl records, but they are also including digital downloads with your purchase. This entices to now buy vinyl from my favorite artists and for anticipated albums, allowing me the best of both worlds. A convenient digital copy, and a physical copy in a format that I’m more likely to appreciate and enjoy. Furthermore, I can now buy old records on their original format at a discounted price, rather than pay full price for a digital copy. If I do want a digital copy, I can rip the record from the LP player to my computer with one of many software programs available (or just find a free copy online). There was a time where kids would record a vinyl record to a cassette for their friends or for their cars.
If I want to make an impulse buy or check out something new, I’ll continue to buy digital. If I become a fan, I can support them down the line with my next purchase. I just hope they offer vinyl (with downloads).
Anger
I am pretty sure this station JUST had a pledge drive a few months ago. And I gave them money! Why can’t these honey-throated eggheads make that money last longer!?
Bargaining
I don’t have to listen to this. Switching to another station.
Depression
All the other stations have commercials and annoying DJs. And the other NPR is also having a pledge drive. I really hate my life.
Acceptance
They have a point. In-depth coverage… news and analysis… pennies a day. Okay, you win NPR. Here’s my donation. You can send that tote bag to…
I love my city when the sun is beating down, making mostly everybody miserable. I hear all the complaints, but I love summers in Seattle, even if that means an occasional wave of extreme temps. The temps tipped 100 yesterday setting an all-time record, and I was cheering the sun on. I went straight to Golden Gardens after work and dove into the chilly Puget Sound. I was instantly cooled. I want this weather all year. Seattle is more beautiful with it.
I love to travel. Seeing new places and experiencing how other people live is something I will do for the rest of my life. But the airport experience is something I loathe. A recent NY Times article got me thinking more about the subject.
I actually enjoy flying, and being on airplanes. It’s the all the auxillary airport nonsense that bothers me. Waiting in lines to check bags, waiting in lines to go through security, taking off your shoes, and so on. Once past security, you are essentially in a prison. I had a 9-hour layover at Incheon once… it was maddening.
Let’s talk about airport security. Last week in Minnesota, my backpack was searched for reasons that were never explained to me. Two weeks ago in Montana, a security agent gave me a snide “Nice try” when they found a can of soda in my bag that I honestly forgot was there. Another time, a small multi-tool was confiscated in Bangkok despite making it through three other airports with no issues.
Everyone will say these security measures are in place for good reasons, but have you ever thought about the statistics behind them? Think about how many innocent people just want to get from point A to point B, compared to those who want to cause trouble. We are enforcing inane rules at the expense of the 99.9999% travelers who just want to visit their grandmothers or take a vacation.
Clearly, a better system is out there, and it’s part of the broader question of how we can make airline travel less annoying.
The NY Times had an article that touched on these frustrations and reached out to some airline experts on their opinions on how to make air travel less annoying. My favorite bit is from a pilot, who sums up my opinion on airport security:
“Let’s begin with an overhaul of airport security. Certainly it’s important to screen for bombs and firearms, but the majority of what goes on at the concourse checkpoint is wasteful, tedious and does nothing to improve security — from the senseless I.D. checking to the three-ounce container rules to the confiscation of butter knives from crew members ( it happened to me). The amount of money and time spent on this absurd theater is stupefying.” –Patrick Smith, commercial airline pilot
Sure, it has changed other peoples’ lives too, but in the mid- to late-90s, when I was in high school, the Internet opened up a new universe of music for me.
I grew up in northeastern Montana, hours away from any mall or legitimate record store. The highlight of trips to “big” cities like Billings or Bismarck was going to the mall and getting some new CDs at Sam Goody. I learned about new music by watching MTV or listening to the one rock station, Power 95 (the other three stations played country). Power 95 was great for a couple years, but then got bought by a big radio company and the format turned to shitty adult contemporary. They had a policy of playing at least one Phil Collins song every hour.
Everything changed when I convinced my parents to get dial-up Internet in 1997. All of a sudden, I could find music and connect with other fans of the bands I liked (Foo Fighters being one of my favorites).
This is how I discovered Sunny Day Real Estate.
As I dove into Internet Foo fandom, I learned about their connection to a band called Sunny Day Real Estate. I had never heard of them, and thought they had a funny name. I looked them up and found their first album, Diary. There was no way to describe this music in relation to all the alt rock I was feasting on, and I absolutely loved it. I had to hear more.
Back then, I used a web site called CDNOW to purchase CDs online at a much better price than at Sam Goody. The web site was clean and simple (it’s now an Amazon subsidiary). The best part was that I didn’t have a credit card, so I would send them a check, and two weeks later, I’d get my CDs. Looking back, I find this to be hilarious.
Throughout the next few years, I picked up a few more SDRE albums, but none of them really hit me the way Diary did.
The band wasn’t doing much when I discovered them, and I never caught them when they reunited in the 2000s. Now they are reuniting again and playing at The Paramount theatre in Seattle. I just bought tickets and can’t wait to see them, 12 years later after finding them on the Internet.
I’m always excited to see people try new ideas with stop motion. But sometimes, when I’m watching the latest stop motion viral sensation on the internet, I wonder: am I impressed by the use of stop motion or the knowledge of how much work was required to make the video?
Taco Del Mar is selling a 5 lb burrito for $18. If you eat it within 30 minutes, you get a $20 gift certificate and some TDM schwag. At first, I maybe thought I could do that. But I was having trouble picturing a 5 lb burrito in my head. It seems like normal burritos are at least a pound… this one can’t be much bigger. But then I found this video:
I’ve taken food challenges before, and I’ve learned my lesson: NEVER AGAIN. At a large group dinner in college, I was coaxed into getting the mega Italian platter at a local restaurant. It had a pile of spaghetti, lasagna, a sausage, chicken Parmesan, sausage… it was $25 if you couldn’t eat the whole thing. I obviously couldn’t do it. I was stuffed before finishing my second sausage, and still had enough leftovers that sustained me for three days. And believe me… I love sausage.
I made everyone chip in $1 because I was poor, and they got some entertainment out of the deal at my expense.
I think I’ll be skipping this challenge. No thanks, TDM!
