Went to visit the sister’s new puppy that was supposed to be a bichon frise/terrier mix, but is obviously not, haha. Anyways, dropped by for a bit to pet the puppy… this one’s gonna be a big one. =) I think I’ll like it more than the stupid one, Oompus too.

Now this post is for Andrew! Andrew finally unveiled his new blog, which was rather unexciting, expecially compared to his previous blog’s unveiling. So, now you can find links to Andrew’s blog on the sidebar. =)

I think there was something I was going to blog about, but I can’t remember… dreams? No… hmmm… well, maybe I’ll remember later.

In other news, waking up feels like breaking through a concrete wall again. =( Man, it was nice being able to wake up easily… I even got a good amount of sleep last night…. hmph.

This one’s for Kathy because she bugs me that my blog is boring (it is =p), and I have nothing else to do at the moment. =)

I don’t know why I was never really into music in my middle-years (I think I really liked it when I was really small… I have scars to prove it probably =), but I apparently like it a lot now. I think listening to songs is closely tied to emotions that conjure up while listening to those songs… so maybe I just didn’t have enough experiences under my belt until this point to appreciate music. Sometimes I find myself wanting to wander out into some random grassy area, lay on the ground staring into a starry sky and just listen to the many random tunes on my iPod portable music player (I’m not an Apple fanboy ;). I like songs that remind me of middle school, when I was a short dweeby fellow and make me laugh at how horrible I looked. There are songs that are so dramatic, they’re funny and remind me of how people can be such drama-whores sometimes, heh… they make me laugh too. =)

Then, sometimes, there are those songs that are like prayers that make you realize how much you need God… sigh… I need to find that grassy field… =)

Oh yeah, I’m looking for a good digital camera (point and shoot) for times when bringing a DSLR is just not practical… I’m really interested in one that records video into a format that isn’t retarded (i.e. Quicktime’s Motion JPEG) and sucks up a 1GB CF card in 10 minutes. I haven’t been able to find many good ones that encode into MPEG4… guess I’ll have to wait a few months…

On Thursday, I went to do community service with the other “ERPs“ at the Heart House which is an after-school/daycare type thing for low-income children. I really like this picture I took because (almost) everyone looks so happy, haha.

I wasn’t originally going to go and instead stay at my cube at work, but I really didn’t feel like sitting there the rest of the day (usually doesn’t bother me), so I decided to take it easy and go last minute. Rushed back to the apartment to grab my camera gear and showed up. Little did I realize that kids drain energy from you like no other, haha. Compounded with the fact that I had a 7AM conference call that day, I was completely pooped at the end of the day, but I think this picture makes it all worth it. Yay kids. =)

At one point in our activities, people were throwing water balloons everywhere, and I’m (pleasantly) surprised no one smacked me with my camera. That would not have been cool, but I guess that means I’d just have to get the weather resistant body so that isn’t a problem anymore. =) (j/k)

I’ve been having a much easier time waking up recently than before. Today, I had a 7AM conference to call into and I actually woke up reasonably well for it. Maybe it’s because I’m waking up pretty regularly now or I’m just not sleeping as deeply anymore. I’m not really going to sleep at consistant hours of the night, so I don’t think my body’s quite got a schedule down, but it’s refreshing to not feel like I have to kick down a brick wall to emerge from my slumber.

I remember the many years I knew Van where I never ever actually saw him sleep. I’d always be the one to sleep first and wake up last and he’d be the one whacking me with a pillow or something. Now I always see that lazy bum in bed when I get up (haha, j/k). =)

On a similar note but not nearly as fortunate, I think I messed up my eating schedule with random naps and snacks this last weekend and I’m finally recovering from it. I always get the feeling that I’m hungry, but don’t really feel like eating (the hunger, but not appetite thing) and I feel like not eating shortly after I start eating. Also, towards the end of the meal, every bite is a chore and I have to make an effort to not throw up everywhere, haha. Ok, I think I make it sound worse than it is and I don’t think I’m sick… anyways, it’s fading and I think I’m eating okay now. Really need to find out what’s around my new apartment to eat…

I know this is all very exciting news to you. =)

To counteract the sappiness and sadness of the lyrics previously, I’m going to post Every New Day by FIF again (?) because I actually mean the lyrics, haha:

When I was young, the smallest trick of light,
Could catch my eye,
Then life was new and every new day,
I thought that I could fly.
I believed in what I hoped for,
And I hoped in things unseen,
I had wings and dreams could soar,
I just don’t feel like flying anymore.
When the stars threw down their spears,
Watered Heaven with their tears,
Before words were spoken,
Before eternity.

Dear Father, I need you,
Your strength my heart to mend.
I want to fly higher,
Every new day again.

When I was small, the furthest I could reach,
Was not so high,
Then I thought the world was so much smaller,
Feeling I could fly.
Through distant deeps and skies,
Behind infinity,
Below the face of Heaven,
He stoops to create me.

Dear Father, I need you,
Your strength my heart to mend.
I want to fly higher,
Every new day again.

Man versus himself.
Man versus machine.
Man versus the world.
Mankind versus me.
The struggles go on,
The wisdom I lack,
The burdens keep piling
Up on my back.
So hard to breathe,
To take the next step.
The mountain is high,
I wait in the depths.
Yearning for grace,
And hoping for peace.
Dear God…
Increase.
Healing hands of God have mercy on our unclean souls once again.
Jesus Christ, light of the world burning bright within our hearts forever.
Freedom means love without condition,
Without a beginning or an end.
Here’s my heart, let it be forever Your’s,
Only You can make every new day seem so new.

Man… what an awesome song.

I have no idea what to blog about, but I really need socks.

Which reminds me, remember The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks books? Those were awesome.

I think I’m making up for my many years in middle school/high school of not really listening to much music because now I’m just having a blast listening to stuff other people would probably classify as horrific (and decades old =). I’m a bit over my 80’s craze (though I still enjoy that decade of music very much) and I’ve grown a new appreciation for how much stupid fun boy band songs can be. Is there something wrong with me? =)

For some reason, I really like over-dramatic songs. Songs where love and/or heart-break (heart-break’s usually more fun =) are so exaggerated, it’s ridiculous. I really like songs that are easy to sing along to, ones that are fun and silly.

In that tune, I leave you with some Richard Marx (“Right Here Waiting”)… lol:

Oceans apart day after day
And I slowly go insane
I hear your voice on the line
But it doesn’t stop the pain

If I see you next to never
How can we say forever

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you

I took for granted,all the times
That I thought would last somehow
I hear the laughter,I taste the tears
But I can’t get near you now

Oh,can’t you see it baby
You’ve got me goin’ crazy

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you
I wonder how we can survive
This romance
But in the end if I’m with you
I’ll take the chance

Oh,can’t you see it baby
You’ve got me goin’ crazy

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you

For some reason, this song just reminds me of when I was a kid and never worried about anything this song is about, haha…

I went ahead and played around with the demo version of Photomatix since they’ve got a universal binary now and promptly broke down and bought it. The above image was generated with one RAW image processed multiple times with different exposure compensations. I think it looks pretty neat. For comparison’s sake, the original is here.

I also did another one with Andrew and Van that’s pretty cool too (that was my first attempt). I tried it on that one bridge picture that I thought would work well HDR, but I actually didn’t like the result that much. Maybe I’ll play around with it more…

So Superman Returns was enjoyable, though not as good as I had hoped it would be. I think Bryan Singer got close, but missed a few elements here and there that kept it from reaching “awesome.” Oh well, I still have hope that the next one will be good. I think Brainiac as the villain would be cool. =)

Kathy says that my blog is boring, and I think it is too. I just don’t know what to blog about anymore (this has been a problem for a very long time). I can’t really blog much about work because well… I can’t mention a lot of the things I do, at least not specifics. I think it’s also that since I see all my friends on a regular basis, there’s not a whole lot to blog about that people don’t know already. I had a vision of OliverWEB kinda being my online scrapbook… so I guess I should blog about things even though everyone already knows about it already…

So, tonight Chad finally moved out of The Legacy and after this weekend a decent chunk of us should be living at the new place. We don’t get our internet activated until the 7th, so we’ll be leaching wireless off neighbors with varying success in the mean time.

Hrm, well that’s all for tonight. Sorry, nothing exciting. =)