I make no shame of my geekery here on this blog and I have noted on occasion [1] [2] [3] [4] that I’m a bit of a sucker for Final Fantasy games, in particular having played through VII at least three times. That particular game was the motivating force behind my original purchase of [...]

I alluded to last night the fact that I was up late hunkered over a computer buying photo-related gear on ebay. Fact is, I managed to get the winning bid on not some camera equipment, but rather a studio-style backdrop.
It’s not that I’m planning some elaborate studio photography setup, but I thought I’d [...]

…I was leafing through the fliers that arrived on our doorstep last night and, well, with certain things being on sale in ways that are no less than rare and substantial, it would have been difficult to justify waiting for anything but a less painful moment which may never come. Moments of wanton purchase and [...]

Black mark on my carbon score this year, I succumbed and bought an evil page-a-day calendar. You know the kind, of course, a year’s worth of paper stacked in a sheath of attention-deficit daily entertainment.
I justify these things (likely wrongly) because I only buy calendars from the discount bin after the new year has [...]

December 12
If you don’t think contemplation on a new lens is appropriate topic for this blog, you haven’t been reading me long enough. Recently, every single one of those pretty pictures you see posted here comes through one of my three lenses. And, alas, the more one works with better-than-average, (but still below-pro) [...]

I hear now is the time to invest in American real-estate. Not only is the exchange rate great, but the property market is in something of a slump. If anyone wants to go halves on a bit of land in Washington, there is a pretty sweet deal on eBay right now. Click here.
The [...]

In the spirit of the quickly fading summer, we ordered our shed package last week. Building it will be one of two last outdoor projects to accomplish before the weather turns cool and the insides of our house echo with the sounds of parenthood.
The shed package itself — an eight foot square, barn-style contraption [...]

Karin and I spent the previous evening in the mall with a semi-automatic laser scanner preparing (upon demand) one of those dreaded-of-things, a baby gift registry. Of course, no one is expected to buy anything. But you know how this works: people tend to do that sort of thing whether we insist against it or [...]

While painting the nursery, I packed up the saxophone into it’s case and stuck it in a corner for a few weeks. When I pulled it out to play on Thursday I was greeted with an unpleasant surprise: the mouthpiece had turned from an ebony black to a kind-of turd-shaded brown, and reeked (and [...]

My priority for fashion has always been bent towards function. I’m not sure if I should brag that up, or not. Fortunately I have a wife who is much more inclined towards form on that front. The end result is that my wardrobe of late has been shifting up an steady slope: [...]

Some may recall that late last fall I undertook to plant a dozen plus two fence posts around the perimeter of our property. Over the course of a couple weeks, clamshell hole-digger in hands, I undertook to dig a series of three-foot-deep holes, plant the posts, (with some help) cement them into place, and slap [...]

December 15
Maybe I’m just lazy.
But I was awake pretty early this morning AND I was running about twenty minutes ahead of schedule. What does that mean? Though it was crazy, yes, somewhere in the deep, sleep-deprived recesses of my brain I decided to break one of my own promises: to put the [...]