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Tonight was an exceptionally relaxing evening.  After connecting with Taryn at Helios after work, we came home and spent the evening out in the backyard.  We setup the lights so we could find our drinks & chips after dark, the fans to keep the mossies away, and the chair & couch cushions to keep our butts from getting sore.  Taryn relaxed on the patio-sofa and listened to a Grisham novel, while I worked on a consulting project (gotta love wireless internet and a good laptop) and chatted on Meebo.com (using the Meebone application) with Jen & Baron, and Andy.  Eventually it was too cool for T, so we called it a night.  I’m looking forward to sleeping like a baby and getting an early start on the day tomorrow, beginning with a 3 mile run at dawn.

IMAGE: I recently joined the ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) and participated in a small “challenge” the local chapter ran.  The theme was “yellow” and this was my entry.  Due to unforseen circumstances, I only had 3 hours to develop & execute this image.  All things considered, I’m not displeased with the outcome.  I was definately impressed by the others’ entries though.  Those folks got some skeelz’.

Although we attended several parties this past weekend, the majority of the time (including all day Sunday) was spent working around the house.  The unseasonal warmth made clearing the roof, gutters, and yard of leaves a sweat provoking activity, which was actually quite welcome and enjoyable.  I was able to get a fair amount of wedding photo editing done as well, and I’m approaching the end of the edit phase of this particular job.  I expect I’ll be able to finish the editing this week and begin work on the album, which will be another welcome milestone.  I’m sure I am not alone in feeling a sense of pleasure and accomplishment in ticking another item off my “to do” list.

Last night Taryn and I watched a really amazing, and profoundly sad movie called “Dancer in the Dark”.  While the film had a terrific cast of performers, Bjork was the star and delivered a jaw-dropping performance.  It was heart-wrenching to watch, but impossible to look away from.  While I do like, but only occassionally listen to, her music, if given the opportunity to meet her, the first thing I would do is thank her for this piece.  My reaction to this film was similar to that of “Spitfire Grill” and “Nobody’s Fool”.  It is a strong, quiet, and profound awareness that the world is not a kind and nuturing place, and that in our life and in our suffering it is up to us to find the strength to do what we have to do to be at peace with ourselves and our fate.

IMAGE:  Last weekend I got a set of cheap fluorescent lights to use in my portraits.  This was a test image I did that first night.  It’s a neat effect, and I’ve seen it used by several pro shooters to create compelling images.  We actually shot a bunch of really funny pictures with these lights on Friday night, and I’ll be posting them in the next few weeks to my Flickr account.

After spending most of Saturday under the house cleaning out our ducts and replacing the filter in our A/C unit, the compressor crapped out on Sunday.  After a long hot day without A/C, we had a long hot night without A/C.  Monday, with the forecast for temps in the low hundreds, we hopefully turned the system on again.  There was a *bang* and a flickering of the lights.  Taryn ran outside and found smoke coming out of the unit.  Our air-conditioner is dead.  Taryn is melting, I’m turning into Mr. Crankypants, and the dogs just can’t muster the will to move from the downstairs tile floor.   We’ve been told by the ARS guy that the thing is kaput, and we need to replace it… to the tune of eight thousand bucks.  I’m looking into all the replacement options out there (since we need to replace our 20+ year old furnace too), and the various ways of paying for this kind of thing (our home warranty, power company programs, gas company programs, etc).  If anyone out there has any experience in this area, I’d really appreciate getting a bit of advice.  Thanks!

We’ve all had long days, and yesterday was one of mine.  For some strange reason, otherwise known as insomnia, I had to face yesterday on two and a half hours of sleep.  I was in the office by eight thirty and knockin’ heads with a dysfunctional database.  I took a break around three in the afternoon to run an errand that involved carrying $10,000 in cash (just call me Big Daddy Gates) and to grab a bite to eat.  Then there was a three hour interview (sadly the highlight of my workday), which resulted in me not leaving work until ten o’clock.  The lovely drive home was in rain falling hard enough to make even the ducks want an umbrella.  

It was nice to finally be home and enjoy a bit of dinner with Taryn.  Later, while I was checking Flickr & Twitter before going to bed, Taryn shouted some unladylike words from downstairs.  Looking into the room from the top of the staircase, I could see our cat stranded on an island of dry floor, surrounded by a two inch deep lake of water and mud.  The leak we have been dealing with since buying the house last fall has been growing steadily more severe, and the torrential rain last night was more than our sievelike walls could handle.  We could actually see the water gurgling into the room through the wall, and it was visibly flowing across the floor.  That’s right, our basement had an undertow.  There wasn’t anything we could do, so after unplugging everything, we went to bed.  Note that I didn’t say ‘to sleep’.  In spite of my leaden blanket of fatigue, I could do nothing but listen to the rain falling outside and contemplate building an ark out of old milk crates in my basement.

IMAGE:  This is Ty Siscoe.  He was our host for the weekend in Virginia.  He is “da man”.