Random Neuron Misfirings

You would think with this full blown recession going on that there wouldn't be a 45 minute wait at a restaurant. And this isn't a cheap restaurant either. Not a single table in the restaurant was empty more than 2 minutes, while we were eating.

Remember to celebrate the wondrous order of life, because today is "Square Root Day".

3 x 3 = 9

If you have HBO, I urge you to watch this program, premiering tonight (Thursday), and with repeats in later days.

www.hbo.com/events/trialsoftedhaggard/index.html

My partner, Jordan, used to be a pastor at the New Life Church in Colorado, and knew Ted well. Ted excommunicated Jordan from the church, in dramatic form in front of the entire congregation, when he found out Jordan was gay -- obviously at great devastation to Jordan. But, as it turns out, Pastor Ted, had some secrets of his own. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m very curious about how the documentary portrays him. I thought you might be interested too.

-Todd

Wow, I haven't posted on LJ in a long time! On Monday, I had the privilege to take some photos of Mark, who was visiting from London for Rodeo weekend here in Phoenix. I hadn't done a photoshoot in several months. It was nice to get back into the hobby again. Click on the pic to link to the higher-res photos on flickr.

Cheers!
-Todd



From todd's flickr photostream.

Our company had a pumpkin carving contest today. One of the entries was "Solar Palin," which I thought a lot of my LJ followers would enjoy seeing.

The pumpkin is there, it's just wrapped in aluminum foil.

The caption reads "I want to give a big shout-out to all my friends at Oaisys." (Oaisys is the name of our company).

There are a couple other pumpkin photos on my flickr page too.

On a rather spur-of-the-moment call, Craig and Jesse (yieldsigns) invited Jordan (denverjordan) and me to the Arizona State Fair this last Saturday night. We almost didn't go because Jordan and I were both working some overtime. He didn't get home until 6 and I was tired, so we almost backed out.

But I'm glad we went, because Craig and Jesse are great guys and we all had a fun time. I especially liked the big monster Ferris Wheel. It was old and rickety, and having four big guys sitting in one of the baskets certainly gave us all some chills. Especially when Craig started talking smack about "Final Destination 3," LOL!

Click on any of the thumbnails above for a larger look, or you can traverse my flickr page for more photos of the fair too.

Jordan (denverjordan) is taking his Insurance exam today, so I'm trying to send him good vibes to help him along his way. I read some of the questions from the sample tests, and they are very tricky. I hate those multiple-choice questions that say something along the lines "All the following are true for so-and-so situation EXCEPT".

Won't you all wish him some good luck too? Thanks!

And, P.S. I know Jordan won't post a photo of himself, because he's very humble like that. So I thought I'd post one up. Check out his journal, if you get a chance.

 

I took my lunch to the park and walked around afterwards taking some photos.

I had to walk off my anger because I went to Wendy's drive through for a simple burger and fries. I was so excited to take a walk in the park that I forgot to ask for ketchup. Nothing worse than dry fries without any ketchup!

Long exposure with trails of car lights during sunset in Phoenix.

Look for the cactus hidden in the silhouetted mountains, by selecting the large size.


We were driving home, heading West, when we saw the moon setting. I rushed to the house, grabbed my camera and tripod and zoomed back out to a desert area 1 mile from the house, setup the tripod and snapped away.

This one goes to Richard, who just bought a nice heavy tripod. The majority of photos I took had camera shake, because my tripod and mount aren't sturdy enough to hold the camera and zoom lens steady. This one, taken at 3200 iso was fast enough to avoid camera shake. My other shots were at lower iso and slower speed, resulting in significant blur.

Be sure to be vigilant and watch out for the many GM trucks (and occasionally cars) that are driving around with one of their daytime running lights burned out. It's a road hazard!

I still see many of these travesties driving around here in Phoenix. Surely y'all have noticed it in your neighborhood too?

Howdy! I hadn't posted in a couple weeks, so I thought I'd update y'all.

Jordan (denverjordan) and I drove down from Denver last week and he's now officially moved into the house. The drive was longer and more tedious than we originally thought it would be. We left around 8:30am and arrived home in Phoenix around 12 midnight, with a few stops along the trip.

He's settling in nicely, although maybe a bit bored since his job hasn't started yet. They moved his start date back from today (8/11) to the beginning of September. So he's now interviewing at other companies to see if he can begin working somewhere else sooner.

P.S. This is not my house (or ranch). I was "commissioned" to do a photoshoot for homorodeo.com, and Jordan came along to help out. Here he's posing while I setup the lights. The photo came out nicely so I thought I'd post it.

Here's a photo of my tattoo, after it's had a couple weeks to heal. I'm going back to the artist to ask him to make the circle more round on the right side of the "J", since I'm not happy with that part of it. The circle seems very jagged on that side too. Maybe he was as nervous as I was?

This photo shows some of the inspiration for getting it in that location.

And so does this photo.

Jordan returned home this weekend, and the following movement by Beethoven was running through my head the entire time:

Beethoven's Sonata No. 26 in E Flat Major (Les adieux), Op. 81a - III. Das Wiedersehen

I was going through my photos from July 4, and found these two, which seemed to go together perfectly as a diptych. The photo is cute and all, with the doggies paying attention to Jordan's (denverjordan) food.

But then the meaning of it hit really me. Not that I needed it, because I already knew. But it's just another reason why I love this man so much. He's so good with animals and seems to have a way with them; an attraction and calming aura that animals can sense. They were so obedient sitting there watching Jordan eat his lunch. Usually the dogs are rollicking around, and rarely seem to come together like this. But Jordan's demeanor and soothing personality united the dogs.

I love you.

 

For many of you, this is probably nothing, and will likely scoff at how small the work is. But it was a big step for me to take, being my first time. I had always considered it, but never had anything of personal meaning to display. Until now.

( At the shoppe )

I subscribe to Merriam Webster's word of the day (because I'm a geek and I like geeky things like that) and today's word was quite apropos. The word was (drum roll please) trichotillomania. Follow the link for the full definition.

As you can see from "my secrets" photo on flickr, this word has quite a lot of meaning to me, as I've battled this type of OCD behavior for most of my life. I know, I'm a freak. Freakazoid. The Freak Meister. But we all have our vices, no matter how small, don't we?

Well I hope I provided a modicum of entertainment for your day.

Cheers!
-Todd

"I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills..."

The movie Out of Africa starting Meryl Streep and Robert Redford begins with that line, with Merryl emoting it in such a tender, melancholic, and longing way, that I was instantly intrigued to find out the lengths, hardships, and loss she went through to get that farm and eventually lose it. Very touching movie, but as I recall, it was a bit slow as well. It's been a long time since I've seen it.

Dust storm blowing in, combined with some of the remnants of the smoke from the field fire of a couple days ago, made for this very colorful sunset.

I was fortunate to have my tripod and wide-angle lens in the trunk when I was driving home tonight. I stopped by the side of the road on Chandler, hauled out the tripod, switched lenses to the wide angle, and started shooting away.

Some woman was walking her dog nearby and gave me a look. I love it when that happens.

HDR in three images, -1.7, 0, +1.7

Follow the link to Flickr if you want to download or view the larger versions.

-Todd

As some of you may know, Jordan and I have been dating for the last several months through a long-distance affair. During one of his last visits, he brought me a ring and asked to have my hand in marriage. I accepted with great honor and vigor.

Though our time together has been more brief than with my past relationships, I feel a bond and connection with him more than I've ever felt before in my life.

So yes, I do, Jordan. I love you.