Grey Matter Gruel

Happy Holidays, Assholes

2011-12-18T22:31:00.004-05:00

At the end of dinner at a local Italian-American restaurant, our server sheepishly said something to the effect of, "I think this will be ok with you guys... so, happy holidays." We certainly didn't have any issues with it, and the SOOTTAD went on to tell her that she thought that people should just wish people whatever it is they're having and that it should be taken in the spirit of the season. She responded with "Happy Chanukah." We reciprocated.

She came back a bit later and explained that she had been scolded by previous customers for wishing them a "Happy Holidays" because, she was told, she was supposed to say "Merry Christmas."

Yeah. So to all those people who are saying there's a "War on Christmas?"

Happy Holidays, assholes.

13/52 Fuzzy Buds

2011-05-29T21:40:00.002-04:00

13/52 Fuzzy Buds
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Taken April 3, 2011, at the Smith Botanical Garden in Northampton, MA.

12/52 Kitteh at Rest

2011-05-24T22:47:00.002-04:00

12/52 Kitteh at Rest
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Week 12, taken March 26, 2011.

Hard to believe this is the same guy who would hide, terrified, under a chair with his buddy when we first got him.

11/52 Pho Hoa pho

2011-04-01T23:12:00.003-04:00

11/52 Pho Hoa pho
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Week 11. Taken March 18, 2011.

10/52 Plethora of Paws and Pads

2011-03-24T14:32:00.002-04:00

10/52 Plethora of Paws and Pads
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Week 10. Taken March 12, 2011.

9/52 Big Top in Denver

2011-03-24T14:27:00.002-04:00

9/52 Big Top in Denver
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Week 9. Taken February 28, 2011 on our departure out of Denver International Airport after a fun weekend at the 4th annual Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout.

8/52 Waiting to Dance

2011-03-24T14:25:00.003-04:00

8/52 Waiting to Dance
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Week 8. Taken February 23, 2011 at the free Wednesday night swing dance at MIT.

7/52 Stuck

2011-03-24T14:24:00.003-04:00

7/52 Stuck
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Week 7. Taken February 20, 2011.

Took a random side trip to grab a few pictures along the river on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It might have even been above freezing, if only slightly.

6/52 Dual Track

2011-03-24T14:21:00.002-04:00

6/52 Dual Track
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Week 6. Taken February 8, 2011.

This is one of the reasons I wouldn't want to have a dog... walkies. In the snow.

5/52 Boy Band

2011-03-24T14:19:00.002-04:00

5/52 Boy Band
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Week 5, taken February 4, 2011.

52 weeks and the first four

2011-02-20T17:54:00.007-05:00

1/52 Deck dusting
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted here. Lots going on keeping me busy and it seemed hard to justify the time to sit down and compose something worth posting when there were so many things that needed to get done.

So anyway, the other day, I wandered over to my Flickr stream and ended up wandering through a bunch of my Project 365 pictures and it made me remember how cool an exercise it was. The downside, of course, is that it totally burned me out on taking pictures and 2010 was largely a wash. I also found I was trying to take "interesting" pictures, which was great in that it was a great way to work on my creativity and sense of visual composition, but also a problem because I'd often find when we saw friends that afterwards I'd have a bunch of pictures of food or things I'd see in our surroundings but no pictures of our actual friends. Oops.

I decided that it was worth doing *something* this year and I figured I'd take what I learned from the last experiment and take the pressure down a notch. So this year, I'm going to try and have at least one postable picture a week and cut myself some slack when it comes down to what I mean by weeks. (I'd say that I might get creative, but I'm pretty sure there's that OCD part of my personality that isn't going to let me pull any fast ones, except maybe the first week which actually worked out to 9 days.)

So here are the other pictures from the first four weeks:

2/52 Fenced
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

3/52 Arrivals
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

4/52 Leaf in the Snow
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

OH HAI...

2010-05-22T20:37:00.004-04:00

Busy
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
So, yeah, haven't really been doing much with the blog in a while. I think the Project365 business really burned me out on the whole post every day thing, even if I was only generating a post for every day and not *actually* posting everyday. (details, details) Tweets have still been happening, so if you're really craving that tall, asiany goodness, peek on over there, since things are still going to be sporadic over here for the time being.

For those keeping score at home, I did finally finish the acorn flour project, although there still needs to be a post about that. Or at least a recipe. Perhaps I'll put that up over on FoodNerd's site. I mean, it's hers, but y'know, I get some privileges for setting it up at least.

I guess I do owe y'all a quick recap, so here's a quick list of what I've been up to:

Dancing -- I'm trying to get to more of the local dances on a regular basis, but we're also attending local workshops as well as traveling for workshops and exchanges in other cities.
Running -- I was getting my mileage up in preparation for running the Chicago Marathon this year, but that fell through when some friends decided they were going to get married that same weekend. Nevertheless, I was reintroduced to a few guys who work locally and have been running pretty regularly with them for the past few months.
Guitar -- been working on my finger-style country blues using this book. Good so far. Occasionally picking up the Uke, but it's been mostly guitar recently.
Massage Therapy -- happy to finally be covering expenses this year, but still not a practical source of income, but enough to keep my hands busy, so to speak.
Studying up on my perl and C++ to work on a random OCD data-collection project focused on shopping for organic food. I've been collecting the data and building a back-end perl-based parsing app, in part to exercise some of those coding muscles I haven't used in a while, but also because I'm tired of keeping all the data in my head. Obviously still a work in progress.
studying Chinese -- some nice online services have popped up making it a lot easier to practice listening and reading skills. I'm currently using Popup Chinese, although it's taken a bit of a back seat recently since...
I started a new job last week -- engineering, 3 miles from the house, nice people who run (same guys I've been running with, actually. Worked out quite nicely.) Still getting up to speed, but interesting to observe how my body is adjusting to the new schedule. (or rather, how it's not)

So, yeah, kind of busy. And we've also been having a lot of work done with the house -- blown-in insulation and a new roof while exterior painting in the queue and plans to rejigger the back deck. And jeez -- disc started a few weeks ago and there's some more travel coming up, a couple of weddings and... well, you know the drill.

Hopefully I'll see you guys around, even if it takes a bit of time for me to hit equilibrium again.

365/365 The Dome

2009-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

365/365 The Dome
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Reluctantly saw Avatar, and yeah, inconsistencies, plot holes and the potpourri of tropes and cliches, was still kinda awesome. Damn.

In other news, that's a Project 365 wrap. Worthwhile, but kinda glad to be done.

Off to the next project which will get rolling once we get back to Massachusetts.

364/365 Soupy San Ji Bao

2009-12-30T23:59:00.000-05:00

364/365 Soupy San Ji Bao
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

We usually expect our xiao long bao to have a bit of broth, but even the guo tieh and san ji bao (shen jian bao?) dumplings at "Shanghai Restaurant" in San Gabriel are soupy enough to squirt on your shirt, into your teacup or up your nose without proper eating technique. All dericious, but our favs were definitely the pan-fried guo tieh.

363/365 Tempura at 1000 Cranes

2009-12-29T23:59:00.000-05:00

363/365 Tempura at 1000 Cranes
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

362/365 Not Your Average Joe's

2009-12-28T23:59:00.000-05:00

362/365 Not Your Average Joe's
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

LA Balboa Night at Great American Joe's Bar and Grill in Burbank, CA. (not to be confused with the New England "Not Your Average Joe's" regional chain or the national and thoroughly average Joe's American Bar & Grill franchise.) Live band, no cover (2-drink min, donations accepted by band), great dancing.

361/365 Dancing at the Cicada Club

2009-12-27T23:59:00.000-05:00

361/365 Dancing at the Cicada Club
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Finally got to one of the dance venues in Los Angeles.

360/365 Friend and Fam

2009-12-26T23:59:00.000-05:00

360/365 Friend and Fam
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

359/365 Holiday Treats

2009-12-25T23:59:00.000-05:00

359/365 Holiday Treats
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

358/365 Flight Distraction

2009-12-24T23:59:00.000-05:00

358/365 Flight Distraction
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

357/365 Hung and Lit

2009-12-23T23:59:00.000-05:00

357/365 Hung and Lit
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

356/365 Actually, I had them all cut...

2009-12-22T19:55:00.002-05:00

356/365 Actually, I had them all cut...
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

10...

Yes, I still make this joke all the time.

355/365 This Blows

2009-12-21T23:59:00.002-05:00

355/365 This Blows
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Blow test before the blow-in cellulose insulation installation. Actually, it's pretty awesome -- the house was noticeably warmer when the work was completed.

10 days to go...

354/365 Here we go again

2009-12-20T23:59:00.000-05:00

354/365 Here we go again
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Third snowfall, but first serious storm this winter -- probably about 16" and about 2 hours of shoveling.

353/365 The Tree

2009-12-19T23:59:00.000-05:00

353/365 The Tree
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

352/365 A Silly Wine

2009-12-18T23:59:00.001-05:00

352/365 A Silly Wine
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

In 1996, I worked on a project with a Camelot theme -- and at its completion, all the members received a bottle of this wine. I was never much of a wine guy to start with and lost my taste for chardonnays shortly after college, and it was too dorky a brand to be regifted. (seriously, Camelot wine?) We finally opened it up as a lark at a friend's birthday gathering -- a 16-year-old poorly-stored, no-name chardonnay. It was... interesting -- kinda weak and flat with some dried fruitiness you'd associate more with a port or brandy, I guess. I think I found more entertainment in it than anybody else who tried it, of the few who did.

People really didn't want to go there -- because after all, it is a silly place.

351/365 Too Many Cheesey Choices

2009-12-17T23:59:00.000-05:00

351/365 Too Many Cheesey Choices
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Picking out cheese and cured meats at Formaggio Kitchen in Huron Village for a birthday meal. Really, it's more difficult to go wrong than it is to get carried away.

350/365 Candying Oranges

2009-12-16T23:59:00.000-05:00

350/365 Candying Oranges
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

UPDATE: The dried oranges were actually more photogenic, but you take what you can get on a given day.

349/365 Portrait Day

2009-12-15T21:37:00.004-05:00

349/365 Portrait Day
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Finally got a decent close up of the scaredy-kitteh, needed for another project.

348/365 The burden

2009-12-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

348/365 The burden
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

17 days left.

I'm kind of ready to be done with this project.

347/365 Hem Stitch

2009-12-13T23:59:00.000-05:00

347/365 Hem Stitch
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

finally redid the hem on some pants myself (with the help of a friend's sewing machine) after the one done (and redone) at the shop came out a second time.

346/365 Aftermath

2009-12-12T23:59:00.000-05:00

346/365 Aftermath
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

from our holiday cocktail party, citing the it's-still-the-same-day-if-I'm-still-awake rule.

345/365 Bad Nuts

2009-12-11T23:59:00.000-05:00

345/365 Bad Nuts
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Yes, apparently I AM f'ing nuts as I'm at it again. While still excruciatingly time-consuming (1 hour to shell 100 nuts, before even dealing with removing the skins), overall the process has been slightly less frustrating due to better nut selection, despite having to pick out a few bad ones like those shown above.

Probably won't get to the finished product until next weekend, but I'll post something when all is said and done.

344/365 Lights Up

2009-12-10T23:59:00.000-05:00

344/365 Lights Up
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

343/365 No Charge

2009-12-09T21:58:00.003-05:00

343/365 No Charge
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

...for fish frames. It's hard to say no to free, especially when you can make delicious fish soup with it.

342/365 The Last of the Geraniums

2009-12-08T23:59:00.000-05:00

342/365 The Last of the Geraniums
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

still going, but we had to dump it before the pot froze and cracked. Kind of sad, really.

And, just for the record, I was having a heck of a time trying to decided on which picture to use for the day, because I thought this one captured part of the whole post-snowfall garden cleanup in the cold, but how can you resist ... KITTEH!

341/365 Reflected Towers

2009-12-07T23:58:00.002-05:00

341/365 Reflected Towers
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

We always see these towers on our drive into Harvard Square along Mem Drive. Not quite the picture I was shooting for, but still pretty happy with the result.

340/365 North Side, South Side

2009-12-06T18:36:00.002-05:00

340/365 North Side, South Side
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

339/365 Snow after dark

2009-12-05T23:59:00.000-05:00

339/365 Snow after dark
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

We actually missed the first snowfall back in October because we were out in California at the time, but I think this was the first actual accumulation for this season.

338/365 Melvern and his Meltones

2009-12-04T23:59:00.001-05:00

338/365 Melvern and his Meltones
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Melvern Taylor opening for Miss Tess at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA.

337/365 NOEL?

2009-12-03T23:59:00.000-05:00

337/365 NOEL?
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Y'know, trying to get into the holiday spirit and all.

336/365 Residual Evidence

2009-12-02T22:46:00.002-05:00

336/365 Residual Evidence
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Clearly, this is no longer my bag.

It's his bed.

335/365 Tasty Star Cluster

2009-12-01T23:46:00.002-05:00

335/365 Tasty Star Cluster
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

I may or may not have made a (sadly inadequate) late lunch entirely of these cookies today.

334/365 Wisdom Filled

2009-11-30T23:59:00.000-05:00

334/365 Wisdom Filled
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Had my first filling in probably 20 years -- still not the most fun I could have had, but definitely an improved experience from the last time. It did take almost 6 hours for the novocaine to wear off though...

AEDM Journal, week 4

2009-11-30T15:51:00.002-05:00

AEDM Journal, week 4
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Still struggling, but just one more day. Hopefully I'll be able to continue drawing or pursue some other creative activities once the challenge is officially over.

333/365 Reading by the Autumnal Light

2009-11-29T23:59:00.001-05:00

333/365 Reading by the Autumnal Light
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

It's a little harsh, but at least it's warm and bright.

332/365 Swans on the Charles

2009-11-28T23:59:00.000-05:00

332/365 Swans on the Charles
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

seen on a walk about town on a beautiful and sunny autumn day.

331/365 A trap of his own devising

2009-11-27T23:59:00.001-05:00

331/365 A trap of his own devising
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Also, for your consideration:

330/365 A Full Plate

2009-11-26T23:59:00.001-05:00

330/365 A Full Plate
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

The tradition continues, and the results improve year after year...which we didn't think possible.

329/365 Transfixed

2009-11-25T23:59:00.000-05:00

329/365 Transfixed
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

328/365 (un)Screwed

2009-11-24T23:59:00.000-05:00

328/365 (un)Screwed
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

I noticed what appears to be a growing collection of screws, bolts and nails amidst the acorn caps on the roof of our bulkhead; not really sure what to make of that, but it doesn't seem like a particularly good thing.

327/365 Special

2009-11-23T23:59:00.001-05:00

327/365 Special
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

We actually diverged from our standard (the double cheeseburger plate) and went with double cheeseburger specials. It feels a bit like cheating.

AEDM Journal, week 3

2009-11-23T16:23:00.002-05:00

AEDM Journal, week 3
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Barely hanging on -- almost completely forgot about AEDM last night until after getting home from a pre-Thanksgiving party.

So far, the best inspiration came during a long run on Friday -- lots of mental connections on ... making mental connections and its role/relationship with mindfulness and serendipity. I thought I might be able to spin it into an illustrated essay but I managed to get a few notes down in my journal before it flittered away in the noise of the day to day. Only the image of a winding stone wall that I saw on my run managed to get translated to paper, and even then, I wasn't all that happy with how it came out -- but I remind myself this is about process and not outcomes. (other than what comes of putting pen to paper every day)

326/365 Iris Fronds

2009-11-22T23:59:00.000-05:00

326/365 Iris Fronds
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

325/365 Kitty at Rest

2009-11-21T23:59:00.000-05:00

325/365 Kitty at Rest
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

324/365 Crescent Moon

2009-11-20T23:10:00.002-05:00

324/365 Crescent Moon
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

323/365 I must be F*$%ing nuts

2009-11-19T23:19:00.007-05:00

323/365 I must be F*$%ing nuts
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

So, I was encouraged to try and make acorn flour by someone who stumbled on some of the pictures in my Flickr stream. I was sucked in by her enthusiasm, the apparent ease of the process and the success of her result (pancakes!), but I'm beginning to regret that decision.

I had actually considered it a few weeks back when it first became clear that we were getting overwhelmed with acorns and it seemed like a waste to simply throw them all away. I poked around the interwebs and found a few descriptions of acorn bread made from acorn flour, but it seemed like a lot of work to leech the tannins out of the meat and then realizing that we were dealing with tannin-rich black oak acorns pretty much killed it at the time.

My mind was changed when the correspondence effused about the tastiness of black oak acorn meal, but after investing several hours of selecting, hammering, shelling, sorting, skinning and sorting again and then ending up with maybe a cup of acorn meat is making me reconsider. I may go through one more container of sorted acorns just to have enough to bake or cook something, but I think this is going to be a "learning experience" kind of project. (i.e. I've learned that I never want to do this again, unless maybe if I'm trying to torture some hypothetical future children with their own "learning experience" or something.)

If I had to do this back before colonization/industrialization to feed myself, I'm pretty sure I would have already starved to death by now.

322/365 To Seed

2009-11-18T23:42:00.002-05:00

322/365 To Seed
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Garlic Chive

321/365 Bare

2009-11-17T22:17:00.004-05:00

321/365 Bare
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

FYI, this isn't the oak tree (which still has leaves on it)

320/365 Perspective

2009-11-16T23:47:00.002-05:00

320/365 Perspective
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

AEDM Journal, week 2

2009-11-16T01:14:00.002-05:00

AEDM Journal, week 2
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

This week has still been a struggle, but things would occasionally come a little easier than last week -- I'm finding small moments of inspiration here and there, so that's good. Hopefully, it will continue to improve. Hopefully, it won't go completely overboard and I find myself, I dunno -- videoblogging music or dance performances -- because frankly, while I think getting outside the box is beneficial, a complete loss of self might be a little more than I can handle right now. Unless that happens to be my optimum trajectory, I guess.

319/365 Targeted Snack

2009-11-15T23:59:00.000-05:00

319/365 Targeted Snack
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

I am weak in the face of overwhelming olfactory popcorn assault.

318/365 West Wind

2009-11-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

318/365 West Wind
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

The SOOTTAD didn't care for my original title: "Passed Wind."

317/365 Reservation vs. Exuberance

2009-11-13T23:14:00.002-05:00

317/365 Reservation vs. Exuberance
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Actually, you could probably guess who started this business.

316/365 Lookin' Up

2009-11-12T23:59:00.000-05:00

316/365 Lookin' Up
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Also, a few outtakes:

315/365 Survivors

2009-11-11T23:41:00.002-05:00

315/365 Survivors
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Last strip clubs remaining of Boston's old Combat Zone nestled between renovated areas and construction.

314/365 Killing me slowly

2009-11-10T23:59:00.001-05:00

314/365 Killing me slowly
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

...one leaf at a time.

3rd day of raking and not much to show for it. The primary reason for this is the giant oak tree in our neighbor's yard which insists on holding its leaves longer than any other tree in the neighborhood. Last year, it didn't drop all its leaves until after several snowfalls and the last yard waste pick-up for the year.

It doesn't look like it will be much different this year but I keep raking because we're trying to get as much taken away by the street vacuuming which is supposed to start this week (and starts in our neighborhood).

313/365 Color Refraction

2009-11-09T23:59:00.002-05:00

313/365 Color Refraction
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

AEDM week 1

2009-11-09T00:44:00.007-05:00

AEDM journal, week 1
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

So I started Art Every Day Month a day late, but it does make for nice weekly updates that start on Mondays. Not that I drew in the day planner every day this time around. But I think that's good -- I'm trying to be more flexible and adapt to my needs. While I liked having all the contributions to the project in one place, and I liked the way a full week looked, I'm realizing that it's not what's important.

So it looks like there won't be a post for every little bit of art that I do every day, but I'll try to post a summary at the end of the week and highlight anything that I liked in particular.

It was particularly good to remember that while I was doing yardwork this afternoon. Trying to rake leaves out to the street for leaf vacuuming this coming week, I wanted to gather the acorns separately, which led to an attempt at sorting:

and then...play:

yard work, yard play
a little art, every day.

Of course, because I was playing, I didn't actually finish raking the yard before it got dark, but I'll hopefully finish up tomorrow afternoon (and hopefully before the street vacuum comes.)

312/365 Leaf Spiral

2009-11-08T23:59:00.000-05:00

312/365 Leaf Spiral
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

and also part of my art every day month exercise.

311/365 Dusk in Wrentham

2009-11-07T23:59:00.000-05:00

311/365 Dusk in Wrentham
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

taken in the parking lot of the Wrentham outlet mall. Sometimes you can find a little peace in the midst of the chaos. But, holy crap, that place is a zoo.

310/365 Cangelosi Cards at the German Club

2009-11-06T23:59:00.000-05:00

310/365 Cangelosi Cards at the German Club
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Pawtucket, RI

309/365 Reusable Girliness

2009-11-05T23:59:00.000-05:00

309/365 Reusable Girliness
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

As a backup plan to acquire a pair of red jersey pants for my Halloween costume, I had ordered a pajama set which actually arrived several days too late; but it turns out that the SOOTTAD doesn't hate it, even though it seems much girlier than I come to expect in her tastes, so no returns after all.

308/365 Next-Gen Shoulder Surfer

2009-11-04T23:59:00.000-05:00

308/365 Next-Gen Shoulder Surfer
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

forgot to reset the white balance on the camera, but I kind of like how this came out anyway.

307/365 Garden's Last Remnants

2009-11-03T23:59:00.000-05:00

307/365 Garden's Last Remnants
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

306/365 In Search of Inspiration

2009-11-02T23:59:00.000-05:00

306/365 In Search of Inspiration
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

It's the second day of the month, but the first day for me to participate in Art Every Day Month which was started by my friend Leah. The last time I was successful with this was in 2005.

I gave myself a break and started on the second day because we were completely sleep-deprived over the weekend (dance event in North Carolina). I think technically, I could think of my photography as art and fulfill the requirements for the challenge, but the point isn't to check something off a list but to get me to stretch my limits. For me, I'm hoping it will get me to draw more, and if that works, to maybe push myself beyond sketches and drawings in pen and ink; but we'll see. It's good to stretch, but it's also good to keep goals achievable.

305/365 Packing Vintage

2009-11-01T23:59:00.001-05:00

305/365 Packing Vintage
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Getting ready to head home after a long night of dancing. Packed more ties than needed, just in case...stupid balboa nice-dressing culture... stupid liking balboa and getting into dressing up.

304/365 Priceless

2009-10-31T23:59:00.000-04:00

304/365 Priceless
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

This actually seemed to require a lot more effort than expected.

303/365 Watch Out for Ninjas

2009-10-30T23:59:00.000-04:00

303/365 Watch Out for Ninjas
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

First night of EBC, the Eastern Balboa Championships. Not here to compete, just to dance and take workshops.

302/365 Frayed

2009-10-29T23:59:00.001-04:00

302/365 Frayed
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Gotta clean up the Halloween costume for Saturday.

301/365 High Quality Cheap Shelves

2009-10-28T23:59:00.000-04:00

301/365 High Quality Cheap Shelves
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

I spent a lot more money on the wood for these shelves than planned (accidentally bought "select" pine boards and couldn't return them because I had had them cut. *sigh* $80 stupidity tax -- which doesn't even buy peace of mind), but we are successfully bringing order to the chaos of the attic closet. We haven't finished repopulating the closet but it feels good to see actual progress being made.

And I have to admit that I get strangely giddy just looking at our new crappy, unfinished shelves.

300/365 Saturated Hues: Orange and Blue

2009-10-27T23:59:00.000-04:00

300/365 Saturated Hues: Orange and Blue
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

We saw Andrew Bird at the new Lupo's in Providence, RI.

Awesome show as usual, but I've really been struck with how the production value of the show has increased over the years. I can remember seeing him play as Bowl of Fire at Johnny D's (which he was doing more of a gypsy/hot jazz kind of thing) and perform solo at the Middle East with his violin, a beat up electric guitar he was just learning to play and his sampler. Tonight's show was a full on production with band, multiple hornspeakers and a full-on light show which added additional texture and accentuated the immersive experience his music creates.

A great night out and also a good break for the SOOTTAD who's been having a lot of stress at work recently.

299/365 Bristly

2009-10-26T23:59:00.000-04:00

299/365 Bristly
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Actually had to bust out the brush -- time for a haircut.

298/365 Helping Out

2009-10-25T23:59:00.000-04:00

298/365 Helping Out
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

297/365 Wet and Yellow Fall

2009-10-24T23:59:00.000-04:00

297/365 Wet and Yellow Fall
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

296/365 Finding Common Ground

2009-10-23T23:59:00.000-04:00

296/365 Finding Common Ground
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

295/365 Inadequate Protection

2009-10-22T23:59:00.001-04:00

295/365 Inadequate Protection
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Stupid mice.

294/365 Meow Mix

2009-10-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

294/365 Meow Mix
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Our new kittehs are both young (~2 yrs old) and old (~9 yrs old), and they're all kinda overweight, so we've been mixing fatty food (science diet light) with old man food (max cat senior).

293/365 Touching Down in New England Town

2009-10-20T23:59:00.000-04:00

293/365 Touching Down in New England Town
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Yes, another ubiquitous picture out the window of the plane, but y'know slim pickin's. This one is from the final approach to Logan Airport which means it's probably Revere... no wait -- it's Winthrop.

Counting this one for the new day because I actually fell asleep for a few minutes on the flight. Surprising, given that the legroom on Virgin America is pretty terrible and the leather seats actually make me sweat. What we'll do for a $200 ticket to the west coast, damn whores we are. (Geez, those tickets were actually cheaper than the ones for our flight to North Carolina next week.)

292/365 Leaving at Light Speed

2009-10-19T23:59:00.000-04:00

292/365 Leaving at Light Speed
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

291/365 Below Scale

2009-10-18T23:59:00.000-04:00

291/365 Below Scale
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

290/365 Baby Bump

2009-10-17T23:59:00.000-04:00

290/365 Baby Bump
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Our official excuse for visiting the bay area.

289/365 Dock

2009-10-16T23:59:00.000-04:00

289/365 Dock
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Wasted pretty much the whole day away in front of the computer. Oops.

My only excuse is that we didn't have wheels... although I still probably should have read a book or something.

288/365 Boarding

2009-10-15T23:59:00.000-04:00

288/365 Boarding
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

287/365 Fall Twilight

2009-10-14T23:59:00.000-04:00

287/365 Fall Twilight
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Last game of the fall club season, and unpleasantly cold, which wasn't helped by the wet field -- toes were really complaining by the time we were done. But at least the light was pretty, I guess...

Sad to miss the tournament this weekend, but not that sad since I won't be playing in cold rainy weather and it looks to be in the high 60s where we're going for the weekend.

286/365 Escaping Kitteh Escapes

2009-10-13T23:59:00.000-04:00

286/365 Escaping Kitteh Escapes
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

He snuck out the window as I was removing the A/C unit and trying to get the storm windows in place. And then he cried the entire time as he wandered from end to end of the porch roof. We eventually lured him back with toys.

285/365 Ruffles

2009-10-12T23:59:00.000-04:00

285/365 Ruffles
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

284/365 Half Completed

2009-10-11T23:59:00.004-04:00

284/365 Half Completed
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Finished my 3rd half-marathon -- a respectable 1:42:40, especially given that my training paces (and sadly, my age) would suggest I would have finished a few minutes slower and I was worrying that I was coming down with a cold. (apparently not)

A few thoughts and observations:

Almost missed the start of the race waiting in line at the port-o-johns. (thankfully, it wouldn't have been a complete disaster because of the chip-timing)
It was a bit cold at the start, but it was a beautiful day to be out -- sunny, blue skies and a few white clouds for contrast.
I would have probably enjoyed the scenery more if one of my contacts hadn't been acting up all morning.
Because it's an out and back looped course, it's sometimes possible to see the elite runners, which is cool. I think this happened somewhere around mile 5.
What I also thought was cool was seeing runners cheer on the elite/front-runners.
I've lived in the Boston area for about 18 years now, and this was my first visit to the Franklin Park zoo. (all of maybe 10 minutes)
I saw CAMELS!
Passing the aid station from the other direction, I was entertained to hear a group of younger women runners (from the sound of it) getting vanilla bean power gel.
I saw someone lose a shoe in the middle of the race -- I still don't understand how that happens.
as much as I love my GPS watch for helping me keep track of my pace, it's really only good for ballpark estimates. According to it, I ran a 13.3 mile half-marathon (and a 26.45 mile marathon last year).

283/365 Race Prep

2009-10-10T23:59:00.000-04:00

283/365 Race Prep
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Chip timing has gotten all technological 'n stuff. Pretty cool.

282/365 Dancing Shoes

2009-10-09T23:59:00.001-04:00

282/365 Dancing Shoes
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.