I self medicate by drinking

I’m having a hard day, I am down, I can’t concentrate, I can’t deal with all my problems or everything I need to do, a couple of mugs later I am positive, and relaxed.  I get what I need done and don’t melt down from stress.  It is a way to cope, sure it might be addictive and there is a real chance I could become dependent on it, but if it lets me get through one more day I think it is worth the risk.

Besides even if I do get addicted, having a cup of coffee every day isn’t going to kill me.

Armed to the Teeth!

So my mom is officially packing heat. I’m not really sure why, she doesn’t like guns, they make her nervous, but never-the-less she now has one. You can tell she is nervous because she has it locked up in her room with the bullets in my room. This is good from a safety point of view, but less good from a home invasion point of view. Potential burglars beware, if you break into the fortress that is this house all she has to do is open the case, undo the lock on the gun, run to my room, get the bullets out of the box, load the bullets into the clip, put the clip in the gun, stop shaking and hyperventilating, and then start blasting. This should only take five to ten minutes. Personally I find this reassuring as it puts my chances of accidentally being shot upon returning home late at night comfortably close to zero.

Waste of Time?

Perhaps, but most things people do are probably a waste of time. I have spent a significant amount of time on this, unfortunately I lack graphic design skills so it isn’t all it could be, but I still think it is cool.

My Shiney New Blog

I have finally quit messing around and got a modern web page/blog. I was waiting to get my own server and host one of these myself, but I finally came to my senses and decided to have it hosted here (for free) and redirect my url (samuelbarnes.net) here. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier. I hope this puts an end to my constant redesigning and moving my web page. I think I finally have something I am happy with, all of my normal content here, and all of my pictures on Picasa. I will be adding in all of my old content over the next week or so. I fervently hope this is the last time I will have to move all my stuff around.

Online Gambling

As of yesterday I am officially an investor, I have put half of my savings in the stock market. When I started this project I planned on buying some stock and then leaving it for a few years. As I pulled up my chair to my computer this morning and watched the stock ticker as I ate breakfast I realized that I wouldn’t be able to leave it alone that long. I also realized how addicting it could be. Watching the flickering colorful display it suddenly reminded me of something.

There is a striking resemblance. The flashing colors, the allure of easy money, you can see how people lose their fortunes doing both.

The last 10%

You can spend and extraordinary amount of time and money chasing the last 10% of improvement in anything. Recently I have been playing with my new camera. It is very nice and takes great pictures, but they could all be a little better if tweaked in Photoshop. At some point however, you have to ask yourself how long you want to sit in front of your computer lightening, darkening, removing red-eye, cropping, and removing flaws. Yes, they look better but do you really want to spend three hours to get that last 10% of improvement?

Over spring break I had the opportunity to take some engagement pictures of Jeremy and Jessica. Usually this kind of thing is better left to professionals, or at least someone that has had their camera for more then one month. Not wanting to disappoint I settled on a strategy getting a good shot by sheer weight of numbers. Some 400 pictures later I had more or less accomplished this. I didn’t get anything spectacular but there were at least a few good ones.

Jeremy and Jessica

Windy City

Eric Brown and I went to Chicago this last weekend. It was a rip roaring good time. We did everything. First and foremost we appreciated the local art.

Affectionately known as the bean. Apparently it was either made by a very pretentious artist or acquired by a money grubbing city with no scruples, or both. It is actually pretty cool, fun to look at, and very fun to photograph. At some point though you have to admit that all it really is, is a huge funny mirror.

In addition to art, there were some wild adventures meeting the local wild life.

One thing we didn’t expect was to see somebody we knew at the museum. We were wondering through the photography section and lo-and-behold there is a picture of Kenny!

    

Green Machine

I watched an Inconvenient Truth a few days ago. It was good, I enjoyed it. I think it stayed mostly on track, but did exaggerate a little at points (not so sure global warming causes more diseases). The most frustrating thing that it highlights is the resistance of the American government to do anything. This is due to two things, the vested interests of large business who employ very well paid lobiests, and the apathy of the American people. No one wants to pay an extra $15 a month for electricity produced by wind, hydro, or solar plants. Instead we buy cheap oil which ultimately leads to us to Iraq, twice. Whether or not global warming produces a catastrophic event, we are destroying the world we know. Soon there won’t be any more fish in the ocean, the rain rain forests will be burnt, and we will be out of water, all without any global warming.

Our opulent life styles cost. It might cost a significant climate change for the entire planet, or just living in a depleted shell of the Earth’s former glory. Either way it is depressing.

Who Moved My Cheese?

I have recently made some new acquisitions. Some excellent, some…educational. Most recently, to get into the Christmas mood, I conducted a mighty scourging of the stores of Detroit in search of a small Christmas tree for my apartment. I had a very nice one last year, but unfortunately I found myself in need of a new one this year.

Three Targets, one Home Depot, one Walmart, one Trader Joe’s, two florists, and one Garden Shop later I met with success.

At the same time I stumbled upon this orchid. It was on sale, and after the grisly fate my other two met with last summer I found myself in need of a new one.

Now some say variety is the spice of life, by that same logic variety in your spices and on your palette must be pure life. In this vein I found my way to Trader Joe’s to sample their fine cheese selection. Trying to shop for cheese in the city of Detroit reminds me of this Monty Python sketch.

“Finest cheese shop in the district sir.”

“Explain the logic underlying that conclusion please. ”

“Well it’s so clean sir.”

“It is certainly uncontaminated by cheese.”

So I must drive out the the suburbs to get my wheel of high society. As I looked over the options of cheese to go with my Mexican food my eyes lighted on one. English Cheddar with Mango, Chile & Lime. Ummm, cheddar, chile, and lime, that sounds good with a taco. Oh and mango. But hey it is English, European, they are known for their fine cuisine right?

Nope, that’s the French, maybe the Italians. As my brother was quick to point out the English are not known for fine food unless you really like black pudding.

See those chunks of flavor? Ummmm, looks like fruit cake. If you think those chunks of fruit are good in cake try them in cheese, even better!! I endeavored to enjoy this wedge of life, but in the end even I had to concede defeat.

Colbertado

As some of you may know Hungaria is naming a bridge after Stephen Colbert, one of the great moral leaders of our country. I have also heard that a bill is being pushed through congress to honor him here in the states by renaming Colorado, Colbertado. Don’t look this up on the internet, ask your gut and it will hurt with truthiness.

If you like this clip search YouTube.com for clips of Colbert at the White House Correspondents Dinner, priceless.