Lunar Eclipse - Feb 20 2008

I took a bunch of pictures of the lunar eclipse, and definitely learned about "shooting the moon", because I havent really tried before. Its definitely hard to focus in the later phases of the eclipse when it gets much darker. The regular moon is actually bright enough that you can probably shoot at night without a tripod (you can get up to 1/400 of a second shutter speed, or more). If you want a sequence, you definitely want to use a tripod, though you have to keep moving the camera, because the moon moves (of course).

flashback

I ran into this photo and thought it was fun. This was in Poland circa 2005. Yes, thats a real bug/beetle. It was a dare, and I could not back down. The bug actually got stuck on my tongue (it had little barbs on its feet). My son probably has no idea what he's getting himself into, with all this manliness he'll have to live up to (although, Kevin Antlitz had a frog in his mouth at one point during the trip. I dont think I could do that).

Christmas

We enjoy nice frosty, windy December days. This was after the Navy Band Christmas concert at Constitution Hall.

Recent Happenings

I'll be updating my photo page soon. Here are some highlights:

Paul and Vashti's wedding in Birmingham, Alabama

Our Trip to Ocean City, MD in September. Friendly Seagulls (imagine that)

Here is our new house (thats me trying to get in)

Our Trip To Boston in June

Baby Blogs

Lots of people are having babies these days, and ours is coming soon. Here are some recent ones if you want to check them out. We might put a few pics up when the time comes, but I'm not sure how much we will journal about the whole thing.

Tom and Brooke Clarke:
www.theclarkefamilyspot.blogspot.com

Adam and Jessica Grievell:
http://ilovelladro.blogspot.com
http://tortfeasorg.blogspot.com

If I get motiviated, maybe I'll throw a pic or two up here of our recent adventures.

Changes

Its been eons since I've posted and stuff. Mostly because I actually do stuff at work. So, we moved to Gambrills, and my job is changing (working in DC permanently now), and now we'rehaving a baby in March. So lots of stuff goin on. Its very exciting though. I guess I could throw a few pictures up, but I dont have any on me. With the whole move I havent really done much with my cameras or my home computer for a while. I did start using facebook at lunch sometimes, thats pretty cool. Anyway. not too much interesting to report right now....but ask me for our new address if you dont already have it.

Snow!!

accident

my dad was just in an accident in his van where a large amount of lumber went through his windshield, and entered the van. It tore the passenger seat in half and kept going almost to the back of the van. He was the only person in the van. He's very fortunate, he only has a few scrapes on his hand and his shoulder is sore. I dont know if I should post a picture of the van because its kind of disturbing....but we're very thankful that God protected him!!!!

more than life size

I just read that at a recent AARP (american association of retired peoples, or something like that) convention, they had a giant, inflatable, walk-through colon. I guess when you get old you have to worry about colon cancer...so they wanted to make it very apparent what it can look like. When the aged visitors walk through, they get to see examples of healthy colon, then examples of not-so-healthy colon with polyps, which are apparently bad.....

and here when I first saw the picture, I thought it was a moon bounce....

something new

I learn something new every day....yesterday I learned that the Dead Sea in Israel is at the lowest point of dry land on earth...at 1,200 feet below sea level. Interesting.

Today I learned that the Brontosaurus wasnt really a dinosaur, Its discoverer had put the wrong head on a body that had already been discovered...with the proper head on it can be identified in the family of Diplodocus. Whoops...

Hallowweeen

Don't hug swiss cows

this is a bizarre article about a phenomenon in Switzerland...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14570685/?GT1=8404

the weekend

If somebody asked me what I did this past weekend, one of my instincts might be to respond with "well, I had my arms nearly pulled out of their sockets, I was stung by jelly fish, and I had the skin on my hands sanded off until I bled. But before that I had large objects dropped on my toes." It almost sounds like a torture chamber, but it all happened...

I was moving furniture, and of course what goes up, must come down. That's enough to explain what happened to my toes. The rest....basically I was getting used to the idea of wake-boarding behind Jeff's boat. It takes lots of practice.....and I'll get up on plane next time I try. I'm sure of it.

apparently, this blog has gone dry. perhaps I'll start a Xanga again, and point people here....

Cameras

Jenn and I both have new Cameras now...mine from my dad...and hers from me. She really loves hers!!

fear

thought of the day....

Its okay to fall, its not okay to stay down, to not rise back up. When we fail or fall, we learn how to succeed. We learn through failure, mostly about ourselves. Failures destroy illusions. Don't fear failure. Use it to your advantage.

Tuna

My thoughts recently have reverted to those of practicality (in times of great stress or struggle, we tend to dwell on methods of survival). So, for your benefit, and my own future reference, please consider the following:

Rule #1: Do not prepare tuna while wearing newly cleaned pants
Rule #2: Do not prepare tuna while wearing a tie
Rule #3: Do not prepare tuna before 6 in the morning
Rule #4: Failing to bring the proper utensil for lunch can be horribly frustrating

This last rule is not from my own experience, but I'm thinking clearly enough now to be smart about it:
Rule #5: Do not ever attempt to eat tuna with your hands

Eqyptian Discovery

sorry if the spiders overwhelmed you....I know after a while they started to bother me. Anyway, moving on. I used to love reading about Eqypt while growing up, I still do, theres just lots of other stuff going on too. I have a nice big picture book with historic places in Egypt in it...very cool. Even cooler is that they recently discovered another tomb in the Valley of the Kings, very close to where Tut was buried. Its named KV63 (Kings Valley, 63rd tomb discovered). Theyre even having a special on the Discovery channel soon. This is big stuff, like the biggest discovery over there since Howard Carter discovered Tut in 1922.

I also found a really cool mapping site that lets you see aerial shots of Egyptian ruins. It works best on faster computers, with fast internet connections.

Follow these cool links to check it out:

http://www.kv-63.com/

http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/

more spider pix

yep, he was a big one. I guess leaving a dirty sink is one way to find these guys (this is the actual spider in my sink)

Disposal of the Biggest

I dont know why, but I am repeatedly called on to clash with nature head on around 5am a lot these days. This time....a wolf spider in the sink. Seriously, this boy was 3 inches wide. No joke (about the size of the one in the pic above, see the scale). Somebody left a pot with water that perhaps it enjoyed drinking from..I dont know. It was there, next to the pot in the sink. It was dark, you see, then I turned on the light and there it is. That will really wake you up.

I took a picture and a short video clip that would probably remind you of the Blair Witch Project (I was scared), and then I approached it armed with a pitcher of water, and I flushed it. I was not sure what it would do, but I overturned the pot on it, and then added my pitcher water to the mix, and down the drain it went. Then I turned on the disposal and hopefully took care of the problem. I dont know. I repeated this about 3 times with more water and more disposal action. I think its pretty nasty, but I didnt know what else to do.

restaurants

I posted this a year ago, but after a discussion of favorite restaurants last night, I need to again. the two that I told last night arent on the list...its hard to capture them all...should I update the list with new favorites?

-Pizza Nova, Harbor Drive, San Diego CA
-Huck's Waterside Cafe, Pascagoula MS
-Busara (Thai), Tysons Corner VA
-Yama (Japanese), Chain Bridge Rd, Vienna VA
-Grace's Fortune, Bowie MD
-Rivermill, Draper St, Blacksburg VA
-The Homeplace, Catawba VA
-Steamers, Chincoteague VA
-Squatters Seafood, Indian Beach NC
-Old Town Mexican Cafe, San Diego CA
-El Guadalupe's, Blacksburg VA
-Anthony's, Harbor Drive, San Diego CA
-Pot Belly's, Harbor Center, Annapolis MD (also in Crystal City VA)
-Burrito Brothers, Rte 7, Mclean VA
-Bottoms Up Pizza, Richmond VA