"Atep? Who was Atep?"

I was in Old Town, Lansing a couple weeks ago for a photography workshop, and I spotted this baby. It was resting in planter of some kind.

I was amused by the missing and/or broken letters. I made the shot black and white, because that is just what you do when it comes to these sort of things. Right?

Yummy.

One of many photos I took while at Lansing Give Camp over the weekend. More photos, and what Give Camp is all about, over at Ginger and the Geek.

I shot this with a 1.4 50mm lens lent to me by fellow Give Camper, Betsy Weber. She also lent me her 10-22mm lens, and you can see some of those shots in the Ginger and the Geek post linked above. I had a lot of fun using the wide-angle lens, and now I want one.

Shot in RAW, I boosted the saturation, as I wanted the yellow of the cake to stick out. I then tweaked the contrast a bit in Photoshop.

I knew I wanted a shot of the light, but with it being so dark out (it was nearly 3AM), I knew I would have to try a long exposure shot. Learn all about it after the break.

I placed my camera on the floor and set it to a 20 second exposure for the shot above. I also set the timer, so I did not have to worry about camera shake, due to the long exposure.

I like the look of the shot, especially how the light ignites the white paper on the clipboard. I didn’t put anything in this shot, or move any of the objects. Everything is as I found it.

With this shot, I zoomed out and dropped the exposure down to ten seconds. I like the long reach of the blue light. It is haunting, eerie.

This shot had a two minute exposure.

I was amazed by the difference. Look at the background–you can see the light from outside pouring into the windows. This is the same set-up as the other shots, all I did was increase the length of the exposure.

I had my T2i set to Bulb, meaning I held down the shutter button for as long as I wanted. I hope by getting a remote that this will be easier, as my hand got tired fast, and I think it led to a bit of camera shake.

I’m looking forward to trying more night-time long exposure shots, especially those over a minute or so long.

Speaking of, look for a post in a few days about my trying fireworks photography on the Fourth of July.

But first, a photo.

Learn about this shot and view my links after the break.

I took the picture above in Alcatraz Prison back in April (and it is part of my Escape to Alcatraz set on Flickr). This was actually shot on one of the auto modes, the No Flash setting, I think. I had only just recieved my Canon T2i a couple of days before, so I was still learning how to use all of the settings.

Still, despite this being taken on a full auto mode, I’m happy with it. And I’m not above using those modes when needed. When you wanna get a shot, you gotta get it however you can.

I had to rotate this shot and crop it in Photoshop so that the Library sign was level. The funny thing is, I didn’t even notice that sign until I was editing the photo last week. I took the shot with the light pouring out of the window as my target. Lucky me!

On to my links:

• On Tuesday, I talked about Playing with Depth of Field. I like using the manual aperture settings to control what is and isn’t in focus.
• Wednesday had me blogging about the problems I have with outdoor photography while wearing photochromic lenses.
• Friday’s blog was about Painting with Light.
• I wrote an article for Examiner.com about Where to Beat the Heat in Downtown Lansing.
• Then I did a review of the bento box lunch at Omi Sushi in East Lansing for Examiner.com. Yummy (includes photo slide show).

Other links

• Brian Briggs over at bbspot.com gave me a bit of link love by linking to my Fictional Restaurants I Would Skip article. Thanks, Brian!
• Jeff Van Camp, aka JVC on LansingNext, claims that the Last Airbender is worse than the Phantom Menace. Bummer. I was looking forward to seeing that too.
• And Erik, another friend of mine, decided to liveblog the entire Lord of the Rings film trilogy. It is a funny, funny read.

Learn how I did this after the break

Last month, I attended the first ever PhotoCamp Lansing, which was organized by some friends of mine. The concept was we spend the weekend taking pictures, learning from each other and trying out new techniques.

One such technique, was painting with light. This workshop was arranged by one of PhotoCamp’s founders, Jon (a very talented photographer, especially when it comes to portraits of hamsters).

This shot was taken with the light set to an ‘on-off blink’ setting

Jon bought each of us flashing light stick and then told us what we had to do.

• First, we had to wait for it to get dark outside. Like a Batman movie, the darker the better.

• Next, the cameras had to go on a tripod. Long exposures are needed for this trick, and hand holding your camera ain’t gonna cut it.

• Nailing the correct settings was key. Our cameras had to be in M (full manual) mode. None of the auto-modes would work here. The same went for focus, it had to be set to manual.

This was a first for some in our group, as they never really tried the M mode (and it can be intimidating). Since I had kept mine on M for a few weeks at this point (per a photo tip article I read. a great way to learn), I had no problems with the settings.

• Settings I used (but trial and error is a big part of this)

- I used my wide angle lens, set to 18mm.
- ISO: 400
- Exposure: long, at least eight seconds, or even longer if you want. One of my shots was 20 seconds long.
- F-stop: I switched between f/8 and f/10.
- Focus: Manual

This was taken with an exposure setting of eight seconds. I either walked toward or away from the camera, can’t remember.

Lastly, we set our cameras on Timer mode. I had to be able to run out in front before it went off. The timer also helped prevent camera shake.

Once the camera went off, we did our thing: waving the the lights around, trying to make shapes, writing–all that fun stuff.

This is me trying to write a H. Too bad my focus was off.

This was a great workshop (and fun!). Sadly, it was cut short due to rain (that’s the problem with shooting outside). When I try this again, I want try using different settings, like maybe a lower ISO or something.

Have you ever tried this trick?

A parking garage in East Lansing, MI. My shallow depth of field only keeps the nearest column in focus.

More after the break.

For those unfamiliar, depth of field refers to what is in focus in the shot (the same goes for shots in movies). If only a small portion of the image is in focus, it has a shallow depth of field, and if most (or all) of the image is in focus, it has a deep (or large) depth of field.

The iris (what lets light into the camera) is what controls the depth of field. If the iris is wide open with a low f-stop number like 1.8, very little will be in focus.

But, if the iris is closed down with a high f-stop number like 22, a lot is in focus.

That takes awhile to wrap your head around, but think of it like the difference between a flashlight and a laser pointer.

This is a shot of a few empty beer bottles in a row (not mine!). You can only see the first due to the shallow depth of field. The f-stop was at 5.6 (about the widest I can do with the lens I used).

And here, same f-stop (5.6), but I focused on one of the middle bottles. I cropped the heck out of this photo, the original has much more background and it is all blurry.

Here is a back alley in East Lansing, MI. I shot this with a f-stop of 22. It has a much greater depth of field because I wanted everything in focus.

As I keep learning photography, depth of field is an aspect I keep messing around with, even more so now that I use the manual settings. I like how it can shape the photo.

But first, a picture, just for you. I’m going to start doing these recap posts on Mondays instead of Fridays from here on out.

This moth invaded my bathroom last week.

• I blogged about reflection photography. I enjoy trying to snap fun shots of reflections, such as in the picture below.

• I shared a recipe for easy mini-pizzas. Yummy.
• I wrote about fictional restaurants I wish I could visit for Examiner.com.
• …and then I wrote about fictional restaurants I would skip.
• Later in the week, the edgy Fraggle Rock skit for LansingNext was given its own podcast.
• On Friday, I blogged about hoping to write for Cracked.com.
• Lastly, Saturday brought us a brand new episode of LansingNext (guests: Dominic Cochran and Philip R. Moon).

Busy, busy busy. Look for a brand new blog post to tomorrow!

Silly Seagull is silly.

More after the break.

I expressed interest in doing the same (I read Cracked Magazine a bunch in my early teens), and was surprised to learn that it is very easy to sign up and pitch articles.

What Cracked.com is looking for when it comes to articles is fact based comedy. For example, Philip had a recent article called 7 Incredible Ways Sports Improved (And Even Saved) Lives.

He lists seven ways sports improved or saved the life of a person, and includes links to the articles he used as a source.

Fun stuff.

Always up for a creative challenge (and getting paid for it doesn’t hurt), I signed up and was added to the ever-growing stable of Cracked.com writers.  I have a couple ideas for stories, and I hope I can get something submitted soon.

We have Philip on LansingNext tomorrow to chat about writing for Cracked.com, so make sure to give it a listen (9AM, download the free podcast at 10AM).

This is a photo I snapped of a barn swallow that wouldn’t leave me alone. Seriously. This thing appeared in the same spot for two days or so, just teasing me to take its photo.

Here is a color shot.

Pretty.

• I rapped about learning action photography on Monday. Includes photos of wet dogs, if you are into that sort of thing.
• The Magic of Eyri Podcast was nominated for two Parsec Awards! These awards honor speculative fiction podcasts (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc)
• Wednesday brought us a brand new Magic of Eyri Podcast. This is the last one until August–I’m taking July off.
• And Wednesday was another wacky edition of LansingNext. We chatted with John Palmer from Michigan Microbrews, and Mike Weber, who reviews Lansing bars. Oh, and we decided to do an “edgy” Fraggle Rock skit. You must listen to believe it.
• Thursday, I talked more photography, this time I blogged about shooting objects through other objects. Yeah.
• Lastly, a story I wrote for Examiner about Dimitri’s closing in downtown Lansing.

Some more big news–starting next week, LansingNext will be live streamed at 9AM on Saturdays instead of Wednesdays. The good news is, this won’t really hurt the podcast side of it, other than it being online a few days later. If you already subscribe via iTunes or RSS, then you won’t miss a thing.

What a week!

The above shot was taken in Caseville, Michigan. It was a bit tricky to get, but when I saw this lamp post, I knew I wanted to shoot through it. Thankfully, there was a dock in the distance I could focus on (colors tweaked in Photoshop).

autofocus fail

An earlier shot in which I didn’t focus correctly. Boring.

I took a bunch of shots with the dock in focus, heck, I even lugged out my tripod and gave that way a go. But, with it being a cheaper tripod, adjusting the shot how I wanted was difficult–and the uneven ground didn’t help at all. But, I soldiered on and finally got a shot I was happy with. I think the final shot at the top was one I just did hand-held for the heck of it.

This one was snapped in downtown Caseville.

I saw this colorful trash can that was open on both sides, and decided I wanted to shoot through it, for a sort of frame in a frame, uh, thing. I’ll admit that I’m not too happy with how this turned out, as there is too much junk (pun not intended) on the top and sides. I could have cropped it different, and I may go back and do that, but I was afraid it would be difficult to see this was a trash can.

I enjoy shooting through objects like the lamp post and the trash can, it can make for interesting images, although images that can be a challenge to get. Regardless of the challenge, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for future shots such as these.

Mo is the subject here, a very energetic, lovable pooch.

He was just crazy about playing fetch in the water. I knew I wanted to capture all of that water he was kicking up, so I set my T2i to the shutter speed priority (Tv) and tried out different speeds. Both photos were shot at 1/1000 (o.001 sec), which is very short and will “freeze” any action. Thankfully, it was very bright out, which meant that lighting was not a problem.

What I love about the first photo is trail of floating globs of water Mo leaves behind as he dashes. Likewise, I love the curve of the water being kicked-up in the second photo.

Being able to take photos such as this is one of my favorite aspects of owning a DSLR. I could never dream of getting shots such as these with my old point-and-shoot. I’m very glad I decided to stop relying on the automatic settings and “trail and error” my way through the manual camera settings. When I first got my camera, I only used the Full Auto, Action (Sports), Macro and Landscape settings.

Now, I rarely use those, and if I do, it is probably only the Landscape mode.

My one complaint about the Action setting is that my photos tend to be a bit over exposed. When I use Tv, I can tell the camera to under expose the shot by a few stops (making it darker) if I want, such as the case with the photos above.

You’ll find my camera is almost always on Av (aperture priority) or Tv. Sometimes I have to use full manual, but that doesn’t scare me–it ain’t like I have to pay to get photos developed.

Things I did this week. Check it out after the break. But first, a photo for you.

The photo above was just one of many I snapped at the recent East Lansing Art Festival. One of Lansing’s Roller Derby Vixens was promoting at the festival and was chatting with our group. I decided to snap a quick picture of her skates, and I wasn’t even trying that hard–I’m pretty happy with how it turned out (I messed with the colors in photoshop).

Anyway –

Wednesday brought us yet another fun filled Magic of Eyri Podcast episode, “Pirates!” As you can guess by the name, it is about a flat tax proposal. Wait. No.

Also on Wednesday, a blog I wrote for Elder Signs Press was published, “Writing Humor in Science Fiction and Fantasy.” I was overjoyed to be asked to contribute to the ESP blog and I was happy with how it turned out.

That’s it for this week! LansingNext was a rerun, but we’ll be back with a new show next Wednesday.

I tried out a photo trick last week in honor of Towel Day.  I made most of my body disappear! Learn how I made this picture happen with a bit of Photoshop magic after the break.

Ok, the trick here is that you need to have your camera on a tripod and consistent lighting.

Step 1: Find a simple background. My boring closet doors did the trick.

Step 2: Figure out your lighting. I just used the available lighting from my nearby floor lamp. Like taking your cousin to the prom, it wasn’t ideal, but hey, it better than nothing.

Step 4 3: Put your camera on a tripod.  Compose your shot. Lock your tripod down. This took some trial and error because I had to use a timer to photo myself. Had I been taking a picture of someone else, this would have been easier.

Step 4: Take a picture of the background.

Ta-da! Here is my lovely, boring background, sans Yours Truly. Again, I used the timer. I wanted to prevent camera shake (which shouldn’t happen on a tripod, but you never know).

Step 5: Everybody Walk the Dinosaur Take a picture of yourself or your subject.

Step 5: Dump both photos into Photoshop and layer them on top of each other. You have to make sure both of the images are lined up how you want them to appear in the final version. Put the ‘background’ image as your bottom layer.

Make your background image the bottom layer.

Step 6: M.A.S.K.! Not to be confused with the cartoon, but yes, you need to use a Mask (not Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) to make this trick work. Apply a vector mask to the image you want to disappear, in my case the top layer with me and the towel. Use the Add Vector Mask button on the bottom of the layer palette.

Use the Add Vector Mask button at the bottom of the layer palette.

Step 7: Start painting! When using a mask, anything you paint black disappears and anything you paint white, comes back.  This is actually better than erasing, because if you mess something up, you can just repaint it back on. You may want to change the Hardness on your paint brush so that the edges are not so rough. Work in small sections at a time. Make sure the Mask portion of the layer is selected in the layer palette (the black and white image). I used my WACOM tablet and it is very handy for this sort of thing.

Paint something black to make it go away, use white to bring it back. Make sure the Mask portion of the layer is selected.

And that’s it! Take the time to make sure your edges are clean, but most importantly, have fun. This is an easy procedure, but it is very versatile (note: this does lead to large file sizes). You can use it for way more than just making your head float.

OK, here we go. I do not claim to be a LinkedIn pro. That title goes to another TEDx Lansing speaker, Mr. John Hill. (I took this photo in Grand Ledge, MI)

LinkedIn shows professional connections between people.

You need a job.  Your ol’ fishin’ buddy Ben knows Jack, they went to undergrad together.  Jack works with Kate at the firm Laser, Otter, Shovel & Tunic.

LinkedIn shows these connections.  When you search for a job on LinkedIn, it shows possible connections at those jobs.  And these connections aid in making contact regarding job searches.

You apply for a job at Laser, Otter, Shovel & Tunic, and Kate sees that You are connected to Jack via Ben. Kate thinks “Oh, we know the same people.  And I met Ben at Jack’s Wookie Life Day party last year. ”

That’s pretty much it.  As long as I can remember, I’ve always been told that being successful, or even getting chances to be successful, relies on connections and networking.

Sure, you can get lucky and get a break here or there without knowing the right people, but knowing people and making connections helps considerably.

In regards to my injured foot, I sucked it up through most of Wednesday and dealt with the pain.  Walking it off in this situation did not really do the trick.

I was content to just “rub some dirt on it” until my situation improved, but I had more than a few friends tell me “Oh, something like that happened to me and I ended up having a broken foot/stress fracture/bone termites! You should go to the doctor!”

With Fear running through me that this could be something much, much worse, I called up the doc and promptly made an appointment for the following morning.

He did the usual tests, touching a spot “does this hurt?”, lather/rinse/repeat.  He suggested I get X-Ray’d ASAP.  Wanting to put this pedal mystery behind me, I got to nearest Bone Picture Machine.  To make matters more humorous, the doc gave me a prescription for a “walking boot.” (see photo below).

While silly looking, this device did what it promised–I was able to walk again, and without much pain. Sure, I couldn’t drive with it, which caused me to dress in the height of fashion with one shoe and one flip-flop while in transit, but I could walk again.

The obvious sad news was that I could not take part in the Detroit Race for the Cure, the sole (see what I did there?) reason I had been training in the first place. But, the silver lining was that I was able to attend the wrap party for TEDx Lansing instead of dashing off to Detroit Friday night.

I heard back from the doc on Thursday afternoon, and thankfully I was in the clear in terms of broken foot/stress fracture/bone termite fears.

I just have to look like a weirdo with a robofoot for the next couple weeks. And I won’t be able to sneak up on anyone, as my stomping around sounds like something out a campfire ghost story.

Is my 5K racing season over before it started? I don’t think so. There are plenty of races well into the fall, and with any luck, I can still run in the Race for Education in mid-June, but I may play that one by ear…or perhaps, foot.

Ivy, my editor while she was at Capital Gains, asked me a few weeks ago to contribute a blog for the TEDx Lansing website. I of course said yes.  For those who don’t know, TEDx events are related to the TED talks.

My blog entry is pasted here, but you should check it out on the TEDx Lansing site as well. I decided to write about leaving the suburbs of West Lansing and moving downtown.

I’m moving in July.

No, not out of Michigan. And not out of Lansing either. My move is more inward. I’m moving to downtown Lansing, and leaving the suburbs to the west. Yes, I’m becoming an urban pioneer even though the only river I’ll have to fjord has plenty of pre-built bridges.

Why am I moving downtown? Lots of reasons. But more importantly, why not?

I went on a trip to San Francisco recently and it was my first time in California and in such a dense, urban city. I was there nearly a week and stayed with a friend in his apartment. I noticed a few things about urban living. I liked that he could easily walk to dozens of amazing things. I enjoyed the proximity of the cafes, bars and restaurants.

Do I want to move to San Francisco? No. It is a lovely city, but a bit too fast paced for me. I like how things are bit slower here in Michigan and I enjoy Lansing’s quirky blend of a big city and a small town. But I did decide I wanted to move downtown.

I’ll be a mere nine-minute walk to work (so long parking fees) and the City Market and Roma Bakery are but a hop-skip-and-a-jump away (…what’s that in meters?). I can make use of the River Trail right outside my door. I can walk to a Lugnuts games with friends and swing by the Tin Can or Michigan Brewing Company afterwards. On a lazy Saturday morning, I can wander down to Decker’s Coffee on Washington Square and maybe buy a comic book to read at Clem’s Collectibles next door.

There is this feeling I get when I’m downtown with my friends, a feeling like something is on the horizon and we’re going to be a part of something special. A change. A metamorphosis. A gear shift. It is coming.

And in some ways it is already here.

We have business incubators. We have downtown redevelopment. A new generation of community leaders is changing the city for the better.

And I’m glad I’ll be here to see how it all unfolds.

Daniel J. Hogan is a blogger and the co-host of the Internet talk show LansingNext.

My goal after running in the Lansing Race for the Cure 5K was to meet or beat my time at the Detroit Race for the Cure less than a month later.  So, I decided what I wanted to focus on my endurance.

I wanted to run for longer with fewer (or no) breaks.  Training went well at first, I would run for 10 minutes straight, take a short power-walk, and then continue running.

It was working.

I also decided to run in different locations. I visited Woldumar Nature Center (a great place) and did my first nature trail run. Let me tell you, that was a whole other animal. But I survived and enjoyed  running there.

More recently, I was chatting with a friend about running and was talked into joining him for a run at a park near his home.  It is a trail built on a wet land and it is very pretty.

Last Friday, we had our first run together after work. It was great. We did (give or take) four miles.  We kept an even pace and didn’t slow down.  We decided to run again this past Sunday.

Another four miles, everything was fine–or so I thought.

We ran at 8:30 on Sunday morning and by the middle of the day, I noticed my right foot was a bit sore.

By Sunday evening, I could barely walk. It was bad. And painful.  I promptly purchased a bag of frozen peas and started icing/elevating my leg.  Monday wasn’t much better, because I was at work all day. I iced/elevated my foot when I could, but I was still moving very slowly.  This inspired the title of this week’s episode of LansingNext, “Dan and his Pimp Limp.”

By Wednesday I was feeling a bit better, but I was starting to (finally) take over-the-counter pain pills to fight any inflammation.  But, upon hearing from a few folks who had similar problems, only to find out they were much more serious than a sprain (including broken bones), I quickly called up my doctor and made an appointment for tomorrow morning.

We’ll see how that goes.

All signs are pointing to me not running the Race for the Cure in Detroit this weekend, which bums me out quite a bit.  Even if I am feeling better by then, I don’t want to chance making things worse.

But, I’m hoping I’ll be back in shape for the Race for Education here in Lansing come June.

Normally, I break everything up. I’ll record all of the lines for each character in a batch. For example, I’ll record all of Steve’s lines. Then I’ll start over and record all of Uncle Shameless, Zeroth, etc.

I then tend to do the Narrator lines last. I do not read straight out of the book. I adapt everything to document that resembles an audio drama script.

I put all of the sound files for each character into a folder, and when I assemble the episode in GarageBand, I follow the script and drag the files in that I need and edit accordingly.

I did it this, in part, to ‘stay in character’ the whole time. I voice act for multiple characters that a) sound different and b) talk in different styles/mannerisms–I do Steve a bit higher pitched and winy/sarcastic, while I slur and stumble my words with Uncle Shameless.

I decided to give recording ‘live’ a shot after being on a podcasting panel at Penguicon a couple weeks ago. My co-panelist mentioned that she did everything that way. I figured after 24 podcast episodes and 13 episodes of LansingNext, I certainly had the chops to try.

I’m glad I did. The process went very smoothly, and I was able to carry energy all the way through, because I wasn’t starting and stopping along the way. This was probably one of my better recordings, especially when it came to the Narrator lines (which I’m trying to make more ‘energetic’).

The real test will be in the editing. Will this make chopping an episode easier? Most likely. I just hopes it makes it faster. Episode 025, “Pirates!,” will be available on June 2nd at magicofeyri.com.

I was hooked right away.

I loved the capabilities of the site, from tagging to creating notes on the images to even recording the location of where I took it.

About a year or so ago, I kind of fell out of photography a bit, partially due to my out-growing my point-and-shoot. But, this past January I decided to take part in the Year in Pictures challenge on Flickr.

The goal is take a photo every day, so you will have a journal of the past year, and–at least for me–see how your skills have developed.

This project pushed me to invest in a DSLR camera, a Canon Rebel T2i, this past March. A DSLR, with its changeable lenses and manual settings, is a whole other animal.

But I’m learning.

And Flickr is helping.

Because your photos store data, called EXIF, Flickr can show just about every dang statistic about your shots. The type of camera, the focal length, the ISO and more. Just click on the More Properties link of a photo, it is all there (unless the Flickr user has it turned off).

A photo I shot at the San Francisco Zoo in April.

And that shot’s EXIF data, displayed on Flickr. Note: this photo was taken with the Sports auto setting.

This allows me to do a bit of studying. I can search out other T2i users, look at their photos, and see which settings they are using to get that shot.

Yes, part of any photo depends on the lighting and the lens, but at least the stored EXIF data points me in the right direction as far as settings.

I’ve been keeping my camera on the M (Manual) setting for this past week and I’m loving the results so far. I didn’t spend all this money just to use the auto settings. I’ll confess that the Sports, Macro and Landscape settings do come in handy sometimes.

Flickr is not only a fun site, but an invaluable learning tool. It is also great way to connect with other photographers, either hobbyists like myself or professionals.

You can also join groups, and submit your photos to “pools,” so that other users can see and comment on them.  A photo I submitted to the Great Lakes Urban Exchange (GLUE) pool was their Photo of the Week this past week. Check it out.

This photo was taken with my point-and-shoot and tweaked in Photoshop, using a process called redscale.

If you ever wanted to learn about photography, I highly recommend opening up an account on Flickr.  It is  a great place to learn and play.

There, I thought to myself, my duties are done. Mom will have a nice gift for Mother’s Day and all I have to do is write a check. Period. End of story.

Not really.

I arrived at my sister’s place today for a Mother’s Day family dinner (which guest starred our maternal grandmother and one of our great aunts). Hugs and hellos were handed out, as well as the aforementioned check.

After dinner, it was time for gifts.

Lauren (sister) entered her family room, where we were all seated, holding a bag for mom.

“Is that it?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Y’know…what we got mom.”

A pause that lasted for years. “…That was for her BIRTHDAY. You know, in JUNE.”

I nearly dropped my margarita. “Uh…What?”

“I said so in the email. AND in the text message I sent you today.”

I had sent Lauren a text earlier double checking that I didn’t have to get anything additional, such as a small gift for under $10.

Apparently I stopped reading at “No.” Upon additional viewing, I now see she explained the situation in great detail.

Oops.

At this point everyone is starring at me as I realize I do not have a present for Mom.

The tense moment is broken by Mom’s laughter. She finds the whole situation hilarious. I joke about hoping she likes lottery tickets.

Mom, ever the Saint, shrugs the whole thing off. She jokes about her forgetting things as well, and tells me not to worry about it. I offer to buy her breakfast the next morning. She laughs again and says that would be just fine.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom,

from your forgetful, loving son.

…and at least your birthday present is taken care of.

- This week’s episode of LansingNext: 012 “Of Moose and Mentor.”

- This week’s special episode of the Magic of Eyri Podcast, “Adapting a Novel to a Podcast.” This was a panel talk I did at Penguicon last weekend (which I still need to write about, sigh). Joining me on the panel is the super-talented Mary Robinette Kowal.

- Oh, and that podcast made it on BoingBoing. Woo hoo!

- I threw together a story for Examiner about where to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

- And lastly, this week’s development stories for Capital Gains. One. Two. Three. Four.

Have a fun weekend.

But, the price was right (free) and being desperate for furniture at the time of moving into my apartment (and a being a cheapskate), I could not turn it down.

A couple months ago, I noticed that when I went to recline, the foot rest did not raise up as high as it used to, and that the chain tended to angle downward when I used it.

Last night I finally had enough.

I flipped the thing on its side and inspected the reclining mechanism. I promptly found a bolt, nut and spacer (I don’t care if I have the vernacular incorrect, deal with it) laying on the floor. Closer inspection showed me that the bolt had fallen out of the front end of the mechanism, and therefore it was no longer properly attached to the frame.

After a few tests of the lever on the side of the chair, I realized as well that the mechanism that rose the foot rest, had moved too far forward. It was on the other side of a bar running through the middle of the chair. This is what had caused the chair to angle downward when activating the foot rest (and also created the loud, odd creaking sounds when the chair was rocked).

The rear of the mechanism had also lost its bolt, which I could not find (this could have happened any number of years ago). The stress of not having both bolts likely worked the other loose–as well as pushing down on the foot rest instead of using the lever (kids, use the lever).

I had a plan of attack.

I took my great-grandfather’s hammer (circa early 1900s, built to last) and pounded the heck out of the mechanism until I got it back to where it was suppose to be. Then, I replaced the bolt on the front end. But I added some insurance. I used super glue all over it. Then, I packed putty around it (in hopes of minimizing its moving around). Lastly, I wrapped the whole section in Gorilla Tape (love that stuff). Sure, it didn’t look pretty, but it is the bottom of the chair, and it worked.

Then came the rear of the mechanism and my lack of a proper bolt. I thought about it and tried to think of something I could cannibalize.

Now, you’re probably thinking “Why didn’t you take the bolt from the front to the hardware store and buy one just like it?”

A. Shut up. It was late.
B. I was in the zone and I was going to solve this, by hook or crook.
B. Shut up. Seriously.

I improvised. <that’s what she said>I had a long screw  that would fit through the holes, but it wasn’t thick enough to hold everything together.</that’s what she said>

I came across one of those metal-ball-chain things they have for dog tags (the kind for soldiers, not for dogs) and used the screw to push the chain through the hole. I wrapped the thing around the frame a few times and latched the chain (with the screw in the hole as well). I essentially “tied” the pieces together with this metal chain. The screw at least kept something everything from sliding around too much.

Once again, I applied putty around both ends of the screw and covered the whole mess with Gorilla Tape.

After my MacGyver-ing was finished, I sprayed WD-40 on all of the mechanisms moving parts.

The chair back to its old self once again.

I like fixing things like this and the problem solving/thinking on my feet aspect. It is a good mental exercise. Keep in mind, because I do not live in/own a house, I don’t own a large amount of tools and/or supplies. I have to make due. My two main tools are the aforementioned hammer and my Gerber multi-tool (related story: I found out the knife is still sharp while clearing the super glue tube free of blockage. That was fun). I’m just doin’ what I can with what I got.

And I’m glad I fixed this sucker–the NHL playoffs start today.

Here’s a tentative run down of the panels I’ll be on, as like any convention, my schedule is subject to change. Penguicon is Apr. 30th thru May 2nd.

We Made It to the Oscars!
2009 had an unprecedented number of sci-fi films nominated for Academy Awards. Does this mean sci-fi is going mainstream?

Saturday 11AM
Daniel J. Hogan (m), Doselle Young, Catherine Shaffer

I’m looking forward to this one and it looks like I’m the moderator. It should be a fun chat and hopefully all in good fun. I like that they are listing moderators ahead of time. Since I’m modding this one, I had better come up with some questions or notes ahead of time.

Humor in Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Science Fiction is about Serious Things. Fantasy is about Causes and Quests. Wait, you mean they can be funny too? Puns, jokes, and running gags abound on this panel that pokes fun at works that take themselves a tad too seriously.

Saturday 2PM
Daniel J. Hogan, Jim C. Hines, Brian Briggs (m)

Jim, Brian and I were on this same panel last year and it was a hoot. I’m very much looking forward to this one as well. I think this would be the third time Jim and I have been on a panel focusing on humor in sci-fi and fantasy.

Publicity 101
You have a book coming out and a shoestring to promote it on. What’s an author to do?
Saturday 5PM
Daniel J. Hogan, Cherie Priest, Patrick Rothfuss (m), Brian Briggs

I certainly know a lot about this. The Internet and social media has made it easy and affordable to market yourself and your work.

Adapting a Novel to a Podcast
With our constantly-on-the-go culture, why not make your work even more available (and safe!) for our commuter-based society! Two veterans of aural performance help you get started.
Sunday 9AM
Mary Robinette Kowal, Daniel J. Hogan

I like that I’m described as a veteran of aural performance. That made my day right there. But, I guess with over 20 podcast episodes under my belt, that is an honest description. Heck, how many dozens of character voices have I done? Too many. But I love it. I was on a few panels with Mary last year and I’m looking forward to chatting with her again.

I’m only on four panels this time around (unless something changes) but that’s fine by me. I tend to over do it at some conventions and it’ll be nice to have time to relax (and I don’t have to worry about rushing down there on Friday either). Plus, I’ll have a girlfriend in tow and it wouldn’t be much fun for her if I was on panels all day and night.

I’ve scaled way back on how I do conventions vs. one and especially two years ago. I’m not even bringing any books this time. It is just isn’t cost effective any more and I feel I’m better off burning a bunch of podcast CDs and giving those out. I typically get a few online sales after any convention I’m a guest at, so I’m hoping that trend continues. I’ll confess that I’m always a bit nervous about being on panels with well-known writers and I kind of feel out of place at times, but typically everyone is very friendly and my worries are for not.

I really enjoy conventions. They are a great recharge to the creative batteries and I get to meet folks who have bought my book and/or listen to the podcast in person. Nothing in the world tops a stranger stopping you in a hotel lobby and saying how much they loved your book. Nothing.

In this version you can see me work the stage and rock the mic*.

You can join the hundreds of viewers in wondering “Why is he wearing an eye-patch?” or “What’s with the one glove?”

In other news, I just go back from a (much needed) vacation in San Francisco. I’m still “on vacation” today, even though I am home. I wanted a day to recover from jet lag and the red-eye flight back to Ol’ Mitty.

A day-by-day blog series about the trip, with plenty of photos will be happening soon.

*results may vary.

Julielyn and I were interviewed this past Monday night at TalkLansing HQ. I like the article a lot, and Tricia Bobeda did a great job of capturing a bit of the show’s humor and antics in print.

I was happy that she devoted a portion of the article to our producer, Jeff, who is an invaluable part of the LansingNext team.

It took some doing, but I managed to track down a few print copies of the issue. Seeing my face on the cover was a surreal experience, especially in the Noise boxes around town.

Me doing my best Mr. Scream impression

If you can find a print version to read, do so, as there are way more pictures of us in action at the studio.

It is great that the show got this kind of press, I am curious what our listen stats will be like for Wednesday’s episode (which can be streamed and downloaded indefinitely).

This plays right into why JL and I wanted the show to also be a podcast–when people can hear about, they can go to the site and check it out right away. I know we got a bunch of downloads and listens today because of that article, and the linking to it on Twitter and Facebook.

That is a key thing in media today–being able to sample something on demand. If people had to wait until next Wednesday at 11 AM to hear the show, many would totally forget about it.