Shooting You, Shooting Me

Deja vu! I have seen this somewhere before.... Apparently, this is something Cory and I do often enough that I now have a few shots like this. Oh, and for the record, I got off 5 shots to his 1.... Figure that thing out, dude!

Tonight I had a nice dinner over at Cory and Harmony's house. There were a few of us there, including Rich, Brandy, Mia and Addison, Tim James, and our hosts, Cory, Harmony, Emily, and Brook. Steph wasn't able to join us, but it was probably for the better. She's been sick for about a week now, and the last thing I would want to see is those little girls getting ill. It was really nice to see everyone again, especially Rich and Brandy, who I rarely get to see anymore. We talked a little about Belvedere Company, and I told Tim to pass it on that I'd come back to build the Mirage. I was only half kidding.... :)

Beowulf

Tonight I went to see the movie Beowulf with my Dad and sister Amanda. It never ceases to amaze me how every time I go to the movies, the price seems to have risen by a dollar or more. It was $9 for the show, and of course the concessions are what the concessions usually are- crazy expensive. Regardless, I do enjoy going occasionally, and going with my Dad and sister was pretty cool too.

The movie was stunning. A visual masterpiece, it was often that I forgot completely that it was animated. The writing and acting were quite good, but it was a long movie, and I didn't really feel like it needed to be. This story has been around for 1,600 years, they managed to turn it into a pretty great action flick without lessening the historic aspect of the story. Unless you're on a larger HDTV with killer sound, I'd recommend seeing this one in the theater. It's one of the few movies that would be worth the price of admission.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and just like every year, I stuffed myself beyond breaking point. We didn't do the traditional meal this year. Instead, it was much more casual, much more like a simple family gathering instead of an elaborate dinner. It was great. Steph's sweet potatoes were a hit, and the deep-fried turkey was awesome.

Tomorrow Steph, her sister Melanie, and her Mom will be braving the hoards of bargain shoppers in Rockford. I used to go out in the morning to snag a couple specific deals, but since many of them are now available online, I'm not going this year. Frankly, I really didn't see much that interested me this year. Maybe next year will be better.

Here's a couple more shots:

Top 10 George W Bush Moments

Brilliant.

Chopping

I spent about an hour tonight cutting veggies. Celery, radishes, green peppers, broccoli.... Loads of fun. Don't get me wrong- I don't mind, but it sure was boring.

Traditionally, the Alexander side of my family all gathers on Thanksgiving day at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Grandma usually goes crazy, cooking a ton of awesome food. We all stuff ourselves senseless, then just hang out for a few hours. This year will be different. Grandma's health has not been so good recently. She had a brief stay at the local hospital due to some breathing problems, and she's now on Oxygen most of the time. Seeing how Oxygen is fairly flammable, she can't spend a lot of time around the stove. This year, we're all chipping in and bringing the food to them. Bob and Sandy are bringing a ham, Mom's bringing a turkey (which will be deep fried- freaking awesome, in case you're wondering), and we're bringing the veggie tray and a sweet potato dish. We're trying to be vegetarian friendly for Steph, but it's sometimes easy for people to forget that she just can't eat the same food as everyone else.

I should have some shots from tomorrow to share, especially for my readers in Morro Bay....

Pot Luck

Tonight at work, our team and the team up the line are having a pot luck dinner for the holidays. I've volunteered to bring in the beverages, so that at least saves me from trying to cook something. Tonight is the last night before a 4 day weekend, and I'm really looking forward to the time off.

I've spent the last few days checking all the online sites for a job, and I have sent out my resume to a couple of places. At this point, I'm being pretty picky as to which jobs I'm applying for. I can afford to do that now, but as time goes on, I'm going to have to gradually lower my standards to ensure I have something before the lay me off. The last thing I want is to be looking for work at the same time as about 2,000 other people. It's really too bad that the job I interviewed for doesn't look like it's going to pan out. It really seemed like an ideal situation for me.

A Manly Meal

This concoction is something I make occasionally, that Steph would call "man food." It's really simple, and really good. I'm sure it's been done before, but I like to think of it as something I created.

Peel and slice 3 red potatoes and a medium sized onion. I like to use olive oil to cook them, and I season it with Lawry's Season Salt. I could happily eat this alone. The potatoes cooked this way are delicious. When the potatoes are nearly cooked, you can throw in some sliced sausage. I usually get smoked, but you can use pretty much anything. I think next time I'm going to try it with sliced steak. Just brown the sausage and you're good to go! Quick, easy, and delicious.

Favorite Shots#19: Infrared Punkin in the Grass

Back in May, I talked about shooting infrared film for a class project. It was a really great experience shooting the film, processing it, then making my own prints. I shot 2 rolls, 72 shots, and only got four great shots. The film is so sensitive and finicky, you really have to shoot a lot to get something great. This shot is one of the great ones. The original scan wasn't the greatest, but through the magic of Photoshop, I was able to clean it up and make it look much better.

Back to work tonight. Another 10 hours of fun. Fortunately, this is only a three day week. The job search continues, and I sent off my resume over the weekend to two more places. One in Sycamore, one in Rockford. Hopefully I'll have an interview again soon.