morrowlife

Here’s our mutually favorite blogger taking a very artistic selfie from his hovering quadrotor. Great art courtesy of the exclusive quadrotor-cam, taken this afternoon at the great big soccer park across the road from my neighborhood, and part of my famous Electronics and Machinery series.

The park across from my neighborhood may be huge, but I managed to find one of its few trees with my quad. While I was trying my hand at a few expert maneuvers (while not yet quite an expert, by the way), I managed to get disoriented with it and fly it into a tree. It was pretty well stuck and I couldn’t get to it by climbing, so I decided to try throwing it a line. After extremely numerous attempts, I managed to snag it and bring it back to earth!

Sadly, it fell hard on one of its arms and snapped it right off. Luckily, Bob, my flying-buddy, had spares to replace the broken frame and LED lens, which he gave me in exchange for new ones I ordered tonight. I’ll tear it apart Real Soon Now and get it back in the air.

Anyway. No post yesterday evening. I was up in Summerlin for the evening. Joanne had an important appointment there this morning and didn’t want to risk being late, so we stayed there. Had a nice dinner together and a lovely evening.

Her appointment went very well, apparently.

Mark and I went for sushi with the sushi group this evening. We went to a restaurant I hadn’t visited previously. The people were fun and the food was passable. Not great, but passable. Mark and I agreed we probably won’t go back there again, but we didn’t hate it.

Today was the first day of Mark’s semester! He reported some good and some bad, so I’m taking that as average. Good luck, Mark!

Nice weekend. We had a couple nice meals out and spent most of the day on Saturday working on Joanne’s house and yard. We got a few things fixed up and a few others straightened up and a few more ignored completely. Maybe some other time.

Tomorrow night, we’re going to see the UNLV basketball team play. Joanne got a couple of free tickets at work. I’m looking forward to the game. I wonder where our seats are.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: exploding baked bean tins!

See you tomorrow.

Here are Joanne and a new friend at Treasure Island the other night. He’s out in front of one of the restaurants there – Gilley’s, to be specific. The whole casino is sea- and island-themed. And then there’s Gilley’s. Why a country/western-themed restaurant in a nautical/pirate themed casino, I don’t know. We didn’t go inside the restaurant, so Joanne didn’t have an opportunity to ride the mechanical bull She doesn’t seem to have missed it. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam and part of my famous Joanne, Las Vegas, and Statue series.

I’m not sure I would want to play that slot machine. It’s just a bit too lifelike for me, I think.

Had a busy day. I got some work done! There’s lots more to get to,mouth I made a bit of progress on preparing for the February conference. It’s just a bit more than a month away!

Mark’s feeling sick today. He woke up very sick to his stomach and continues to have a very hard time of it. He’s finally having a few okay moments this evening. I’m hopeful!

Mark wasn’t sure he could handle the smell of cooking food this evening, so I had cereal for dinner. I complemented my Rice Krispies with a delicious banana. I’m thinking of adding a cup of tea as a nightcap.

The battery on my iPad is getting a bit low, so I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: wedding buffet pork pie fight!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s a crucifix I saw in the Catholic cathedral in New Orleans’s French Quarter. The odd thing is that it didn’t look nearly this good in real life. The light was kind of low in the little room where I found it. My trusty iPhone beautified it for me. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken inside the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, and part of my famous Statue and Vacation series.

I hope it wasn’t inappropriate to photograph inside that beautiful building. I asked Joanne if she thought it was a problem and she said no. I didn’t use my flash and I tried to stay unobtrusive and respectful. Nobody seemed concerned.

Missed two days of posting last week. So my new habit isn’t off to a particularly rousing start, but I’m being patient with myself and continuing to strive for success. The thing is that I really want to do it, but I never get to it until bedtime. I need to post in the morning. Maybe I’ll try that for a while.

We had a pleasant weekend. Joanne and I went to the Kahunaville Island Heat show at Treasure Island on Friday night. It was fun! It was a quasi-luau. The venue was tiny – we sat right by the stage – and there were just a few performers. They had an Elvis-like singer who wasn’t an impersonator. He just had Elvis’s haircut and sang vaguely like Elvis. But he was good. They had two male dancers and five or six female dancers. Their dancing wasn’t exactly Polynesian, but it was kind of close. They had a couple of drummers in the background and piped-in music. The dinner was quite good and we had a very nice time. Not necessarily an authentic time, but a nice time. I’m glad we went.

Friday afternoon, I flew my new quadrotor for the first time. I like it! I haven’t broken it yet, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. I’m glad I had plenty of time to learn how to fly on my much-less-expensive first quad; I think that will greatly lessen the risk to the new one. I took videos and still photos with my fancy little camera and enjoyed watching them. When I get a little more skilled, maybe I can follow children and stray dogs with my camera.

We spent most of the day on Saturday taking down and putting away Joanne’s outdoor Christmas decorations. There were a lot of them, and he have them very nicely organized and stored for next year. We also got her little indoor Christmas village put away. I think her kids may be working on getting the rest of the indoor decorations taken care of.

Saturday evening, we took Mark out to Boulder City Brewing Company for a hamburger, a refreshing beverage, and live bluegrass music. It was fun! One small criticism: I think bluegrass music is best played without amplification when you’re in a small room, and this band was amplified. So it was louder and less personal than it could have been, but the band was very good and we enjoyed it.

Yesterday, we just spent the day together and enjoyed each other’s company. I cooked a nice breakfast at my house. We were planning to go to a place called Du-Par’s in the Golden Gate casino, but we got a bit of a late start, so we stayed at my house instead. We’ll try Du-Par’s another time.

John and I are finishing up our prep work for the February expo where we’ll show PhotoDoc. I spent a few minutes Sunday evening with Ken, talking about how to market it (Mark and I ate Sunday dinner at their house, by the way; it was excellent, as always). I’m working on putting a few ideas down on paper and will share them with Ken.

I’m really nervous about this show. John is encouraging me not to do anything but have the software on our computers in our booth, but I’m positive I need more. I want a banner in the front of the booth, probably some pictures in the back of the booth, some brochures to give out, an invitation to our June training seminar, and something else to give away. Ken keeps suggesting things that will make people want to stop by. We have some ideas, but I’m just not sure yet what will work. I desperately wish I had been able to attend the expo before the first time I have a booth there. I wish I had done a booth before at all!

We’ll figure it out. If we have nothing but our computers and monitors and we don’t sell anything there, it will be an expensive lesson, but it will be a lesson nevertheless. I hate learning the hard way, but that seems to happen a lot.

And it’s time for bed. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: surfing pig!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s something kind of rare in this blog: some actual art in the Great Art section! I’ve titled it “That Guy.” I drew this with my finger on my iPad in about two minutes using an app called Procreate. Maybe I should stick to photography. Great Art courtesy of me, my iPad, and Procreate, created this evening, and part of my famous Art series.

I had to invent a new famous series for that one. I had never entertained the idea of actually including Art in my Great Art. I think the picture may grow on my Loyal Readers. Just in case that happens, signed, numbered prints will be available at a reasonable cost.

I’m really impressed with Procreate. It costs five bucks and is an incredibly capable drawing tool. Highly recommended for art-loving Loyal Readers.

Not a whole lot to discuss here tonight. Truth be told, I used the Wonders of WordPress to write yesterday’s post today. So not that much time has gone by.

But one really nice thing happened today – Joanne and I went out to dinner. It was our second time eating at a place downtown called The Market. I think we enjoyed it even more than our visit last month. They have revamped their sandwich menu, making it just a bit more traditional while retaining their high-quality ingredients and preparation methods. Recommended. And it was nice being together for a little while.

I decided to write a blurb this afternoon on the PhotoDoc website about the upcoming release of version 3.0. As I contemplated what to write and how to write it, I decided to try my hand at writing it as a press release. It’s lacking a quote and could certainly be done better, but I think it’s a start. I may improve it a bit tomorrow, but I don’t want to put too much time into it. There’s so much to do right now.

It’s late, so I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: special cut filet assault!

See you tomorrow.

Here are Andy and Joanne enjoying a delicious Pho dinner on a very snowy day in downtown Denver. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken during our recent trip to visit Andy in Denver, and part of my famous Food, Joanne, and Vacation series.

I had Com Ga for dinner – chicken with rice – and enjoyed it thoroughly. I think that was either the second or third time I’ve eaten at that restaurant and I will definitely go back again. It’s a short walk down the street from Andy’s apartment and it’s an excellent Vietnamese restaurant.

We spent an excellent weekend in Denver, by the way. It was very cold and there was a very nice snowstorm on Saturday, which is perfect for a brief visit to snow country. Joanne hadn’t ever really been in a snowstorm and she was tickled by it. We stayed in one of the guest apartments in Andy’s building. I’ve stayed in that one before and loved it, and I felt the same way this time. I think the price is very reasonable, the apartment is luxurious and nicely appointed, the building is absolutely amazing, and the proximity to Andy is excellent. We visited the Natural History Museum (or whatever they’re calling it these days) and drove around to look at our old houses and my work. We also had some excellent meals, including a Saturday evening stop at a little New Orleans-themed restaurant/bar for drinks and beignets. Excellent! This was the third time in the last few months we’ve seen Andy. I’m already looking forward to our next Denver trip.

Next up in the travel plans: Sonoma, California and a highly-anticipated birthday visit with Katy, Cliff, and Mia! We’re going there later this month.

Not much going on today. Spent a lot of the day reading. I bought a new sound bar for the television in the office. The little Vizio TV’s speakers are so horrible as to be unusable, and the 5.1 surround system I had bought when the TV was new has never been any good. It was a cheap RCA system and had an extremely defective amplifier that made a terrible humming sound after it warmed up. It was a great pleasure to throw it away. The new sound bar is the smallest Vizio I could get and it sounds just fine. It integrates well with the Vizio TV, allowing me to use the TV’s remote control to operate it and just working. It sounds just fine and I’m pleased with it.

I got the sound bar at Walmart. I hate that store, but they have things I can’t get anywhere else. And I’d much rather go there than Best Buy. Their price was exactly the same as Amazon’s and this time I decided not to wait two days to get the goods. So I went and bought it during a trip for a few groceries.

Speaking of which, they were pushing cake mixes for a buck at Walmart, so I bought a yellow cake mix and baked it this evening. I baked the cake, took Mark out to Rubio’s for dinner, and then came home and frosted the cake. I found a recipe for an excellent cream cheese chocolate frosting, so I made that. The cake’s pretty good! I think it possibly baked just a bit longer than it needed to, which is strange, as I baked it for the minimum time specified on the box. I think maybe the pan was dark enough that I should have set the oven 25° cooler, but the box didn’t give a different time or temperature for dark pans, so I didn’t do it. I’m learning, though!

My new powered antenna for the TiVo arrived today. To my surprise, it’s much larger than my existing patch antenna, but it looks like it will fit okay behind the TV. As long as I get good reception there, it should be fine. Otherwise, there’s no way I would put that thing on my wall. We’ll find out tomorrow. An antenna is necessary because I haven’t been able to figure out how to get the TiVo to recognize the local channels the cable company puts on the cable for me. The TV can recognize them, but the TiVo box can’t seem to figure them out, so the only way for it to work is to hook it up to an antenna. Sheesh.

But I sure love not having cable TV bills to pay.

Speaking of which, Dish Network has announced a $20/month service they’re putting on Roku and other systems that will deliver some very popular cable channels, including ESPN, Food Network, and HGTV. It’ll be a month-to-month service and I just may buy it. If they included TCM, I think I’d do it for sure. I’m excited for the service to become available so I can see the details. Even though (or possibly because!) I’ve worked with Dish people on a few rocket launches, I’m still deeply suspicious of their business practices, so I won’t just sign up without contemplating it a bit.

And that’s about it for today. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: chocolate heist!

See you tomorrow.