I am a computer geek and part time photographer hoping to make it in the cruel world out there....

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Posted by Dominic Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:05:00 GMT

It occurs to me that I’m not doing too well on this whole post-one-blog-entry-every-day.

I think what happened, is what seems to happen with every committed project that I start.

I did 365 days of self-portraits. And after about 50 pictures, I lost my drive.

I did the daily blogging. And after less than a week, I lost my drive.

Ugh.

I wonder, sometimes, if the reason for my art-exploration failures, is because I am not surrounded by creativity. As a matter of fact, I’m surrounded by anti-creativity every day. Computers, predefined things, pigeonholed-ness, and lots else.

You can’t further one part of your being without immersing yourself in things that help enforce whatever you’re trying to grow.

Ach. Such a simple solution, and yet not-so-simple after all. I am comfortable in my job as a techie-robot-junkie.

Maybe I really should take a leap of faith - change to doing something different… doing something that interests me, instead of doing something that I’m good at.

I think this has been a realization-in-the-making for a long time. Now to pray that I’ll have the courage to jump when I see the opportunity.

I’ll keep you posted, folks.

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What do you get...

Posted by Dominic Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:31:00 GMT

When you combine the following:

  • 30-40 foot waves
  • a small ferry (that’s a car-carrying boat)
  • motor trouble
  • The semi-truck of doom

… Carnage:

Basically, a small ferry was on its way from Norway to the Faeroes, and ended up having motor trouble due to the height of the waves. (Waves too big, boat too small, propeller comes out of water when boat is on top of a wave) This led to some extra swinging around, which toppled the truck, and damaged some-160 cars.

Click the picture for the full story (in Norwegian.)

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4:45

Posted by Dominic Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:44:00 GMT

Sometimes I wonder what is going on.

Right now is one of those moments - it’s 4:45am, and I’m still awake, sitting around wondering what’s going on.

I monkeyed around with making another video, then I read in my Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card.

Then I got hungry and crawled out of bed.

Now I’m just hungry. And tired of being up all night.

My alarm will go off in 30 minutes.

I’m considering getting breakfast. Nothing like a 5am run to Kerby Lane to make things new and interesting, neh?

Neh - a phrase I just stole from the book… A sort of “Don’t cha think” combined with “No” Or just neh, similar to hehn.

Anyway, it’s now 4:48, and I should get dressed for breakfast.

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Time Lapse

Posted by Dominic Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:32:00 GMT

Earlier tonight we had a deck warming party at Peter’s place.

Earlier today I’d rented a 8mm fisheye lens, mostly to have something to play around with, photographically, this weekend.

It’s a fun little lens to mess with - it makes me want to buy the cheap(er) Pelang - the russian knock-off.

Anyway, as part of playing with the lens, I followed a tutorial I’d found online.

And without further ado, I present to you 28 minutes compressed into a few seconds:


Peter’s Deck Party by Dominic on Vimeo.

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Cheater

Posted by Dominic Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:19:00 GMT

A few words from the future:

You are such a cheat. I knew it would come, but didn’t realize how soon it would happen.

This will be your first backdated blog entry.

Yep - that’s right. You’ll be writing Nov 6th’s entry in the future… Err, for the past… or something like that.

You’ll end up being so tired after work, You’ll go home, go on a date with Rebecca, pray for the Peeks , have more date with Rebecca, then crash straight to bed.

And wake up the next day.

NO BLOG ENTRY! GASP!

Shame on you, you cheater.

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Footsteps and Concrete

Posted by Dominic Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:26:00 GMT

There he walks, the little child, plodding along.

One step, hundred steps, a thousand steps.

Plodding, on and on, neverending.

Where is he going?

. . .

As I look around me, all I see is concrete, dried grass and dead leaves.

All around me is death and destruction. Void of any life.

Then, at last - sign of life!

Shades of green, shades of white.

… It was a potted plant.

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Astroglide and Ex-lax

Posted by Dominic Mon, 05 Nov 2007 04:26:00 GMT

Earlier this evening, a friend of mine was on his way from his car to the restaurant. Approaching a couple who had been talking near their car, he noticed they went quiet as he approached.

Then, as he passed no more than 5 feet from the couple, he heard the gentleman utter the solidary phrase

Well, I’ve got astroglide and Ex-Lax

This is one of those moments where you really do NOT want to know what is going on - or pretty much anything related to the situation. Let imagination lie (dormant, preferably) - and just keep on walking….

This moment in time just might be overshadowed the moment later - when, after a lengthy discussion of Nugget’s mother talking his cousin into moving down to Austin so she could meet dB - when Moonwick silently asked where Nugget’s stepfather fit in this new picture.

For those who need a few seconds to contemplate the connection between this, pause for a few seconds.

Ah, yes… done thinking? Well, in case you did not make the connection - the confusion arises regarding the distinction between Nugget’s mother, and Nugget’s cousin. They are, you see, not the same.

This, however, summarily escaped Moonwick at the time.

The rest of the evening went over well - I am struggling with the recent change from summer time to winter time (it is presently 2247, bedtime was 47 minutes ago) - but hopefully getting up in the morning will be not too difficult afterall.

Happy Birfday, Nugget.

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The Angel

Posted by Dominic Sun, 04 Nov 2007 03:08:00 GMT

Today, I saw an angel.

I was in the middle of nowhere, sitting on a bench outside some no-name gas station.

The car: Nondescript, with an uneven wear pattern to the left front tire. Probably out of alignment.

The girl: Young, stumbling on insecure feet, her face disfigured by some strange birth defect.

The Angel: The mother. The love she feels for her daughter is tangible - you see it in her smile, you see it in her eyes. She has one of the most gorgeous faces I have ever seen.

As she helped her daughter into the car, she signed to the girl, before walking around the car to the driver side.

I’ll be right there, stay.

The moment between mother and daughter was so precious - it just made me smile.

And as I smiled, our eyes met. My eyes were opened, and I could see.

There is a story there to be told - a missing father? An abusive husband? Who knows. But in the brief moment that our eyes met, I could sense there was something.

What is that something? We may never know. But what I do know, is that in the middle of nowhere… there is an angel, taking care of the most precious little girl in the world.

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Screw the World (Remix)

Posted by Dominic Sat, 03 Nov 2007 04:28:00 GMT

I suppose some of you might wonder what the deal was with the whole “Screw the world” topic yesterday….

Yeah, I wondered that myself. All I remember, was that the name of the brilliant blog entry that I lost (may it’s soul rest in peace), was “Screw the world” - and that it marginally had something to do with an IM conversation with Rebecca.

Aha! After sufficient digging around in my history, I figured out what the reference was from. I was grumbling about the nablopomo site not having an easy way to import/rss-suck-in your real blog posts, instead providing a means to post blog entries (thus requiring you to double-post, in essence).

To which my response was: Maybe I’ll just blog… and screw the world :)

So yeah, I’m not double-blogging - heavens know I am having enough trouble keeping up with this blog, I don’t need yet another blog to worry about.

So keep watching this spot, people. It might actually get interesting. :)

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Screw the World

Posted by Dominic Fri, 02 Nov 2007 04:19:00 GMT

So I had this great beginning of a blog post worked out earlier this afternoon. It was well written, witty, and with just enough edge to suck you, dear readers, in.

And then I lost it. In a fit of un-cooperativeness, my web browser hung, and I had to watch with tear-filled eyes as I manually killed it, and tried to restart.

Of course it restarted - it always does. But this edit box - the very one that I am typing in RIGHT NOW - was empty. Poof. Gone.

And there was much gnashing of teeth - grumbling, growling, cursing of the computer-gods… All in vain.

So I am starting over. A clean slate, a fresh start - new possibilities to woo you, to squeeze one more ounce of reader attraction out of my meager writing skills….

It is odd, really - I spent the last few days trying to come up with something new to write. It had been just the right amount of days since my last post - not too long (well, it has been too long now). I had several days worth of material to write about… Halloween, Maker faire, my day-to-day living.

But fate would have it that none of this inspired me. Not at all. Amid the previously-mentioned gnashing of teeth, mutterings about my muse, et cetera - the fountain had dried up. My muse, where was she? (I suspect she was enjoying a cup of late-night coffee at one of our most excellent coffee shops nearby.)

And that brings us here. To this. It is nowhere near as funny as older writings, and yet somehow, I hope you have made it all the way through to the end. Or the almost-end. The this-would-be-done-if-you-would-only-shut-up-dom.

And that’s what I’ll do now.

Good night, and thanks for making it through.

Oh, and screw the world. :)

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