Read my thoughts about it after the break.

As a newbie photographer, I can certainly relate to the guy stumbling to explain how he captured his photos.

I try not to just use the auto settings with my fancy camera, I do make the effort to learn the jargon and how to use the manual controls.

But, some times you gotta use the auto settings, and if you snap a great shot–who cares how you got it? And technically, the Aperture and Shutter priority settings on my camera are both auto settings (although not full auto).

What this ad did best was remind me to not take things too seriously, the last thing I want to do is come across as some pretentious amateur photographer.

I do enjoy viewing a shot’s EXIF data though, so I probably would ask similar questions to the audience in this ad, as a way to learn and improve my skills.

What did you think of this ad?

More after the break.

I’ve had to wear glasses most of my life (I think since Kindergarten). This makes some tasks a bit more difficult for me than someone without specs.

Examples:

• Sports. Although, that didn’t stop me from playing street hockey in my youth. But, I popped out more than a few lenses. I also have to wear those dumb looking glasses-rope-things when I kayak or canoe.

• Swimming is a pain, because I have to stash my glasses somewheres, and hope they don’t get stepped upon.

• I can’t wear cool sunglasses. Sure, I could get fancy prescription lenses, but they are pricey and a pain to replace (speaking from experience).

This last factor led me to get photochromic lenses for my most recent pair of nerd glasses.

One problem:  I can’t stand them when it comes to taking photos on sunny days (or bright snowy days).

And I can’t just ‘take them off,’ smarty pants–because then I can’t see. I’m far sighted, so putting a camera next to my face without glasses ain’t gonna work. Stuff gets blurry real fast.

First, my LCD screen is nearly impossible to read. I have to crank the brightness up in order to read any of it (and shortening my battery life in the process). Yes, I realize this an issue for any LCD screen in the sun, but tinted glasses don’t help.

Second, and most annoying, it affects how I see exposure. More often than not, I have to look over/under my glasses to double check how dark or light something looks (and being far sighted, this doesn’t always work). The problem here is, I forget my lenses are dark most of the time and I often have overexposed shots.

Thankfully, as I get accustomed to using my camera’s built in light meter and histogram, this is less of an issue. But, it still annoying.

This commercial is just silly (and inspired this post). When I first saw this commercial, I cried foul.

Photochromic lenses and photography just don’t mix, at least not for me. My next pair of glasses will not have them.

Do you have these lenses, and do they bother you when taking pictures outside? I’m curious if other people have this issue.

I ran the 5K (a hair over three miles) in 25:25. I came in 351st place out of over 1200 competitive runners, and 41st out of 68 runners for my age group. My pace was 8:12/mile. Not terrible. Certainly room for improvement.

I’m not bragging about that time, as it is anything but record breaking, but it was a big deal for me. My personal goal was under 30 minutes, and my previous best, a training run last week, was 26:43.

But more importantly, I beat my younger sister.

She was not amused.

My sister has been training much longer than I, and even ran a half-marathon (13 miles) this past fall. I even asked her for training advice when I decided to do this crazy thing. I think I beat her by five minutes and change.

I don’t know if I could handle a marathon though. I think I’m better suited for shorter runs relying on speed, not endurance, and I’m certain she’d leave me in the dust in a half-marathon. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll start training for a half-marathon myself.

I know one thing for certain: this will not be my last 5K. I enjoyed the heck out of it, and I’m ready for the next one. Look out Race For Education, I’m commin’ your way. I may do the Capital City River Run this Sept. as well (the 5K though).

I want to see if I can get my time under 25 minutes for the next race. I probably can, as I took a few “breaks” while running today. By “breaks” I mean, I slowed my pace down to a pseudo-powerwalk for thirty seconds to a minute (I wore a stopwatch). If I can keep my endurance up for the full time and not slow down too often, I’m confident I can improve my time.

Being able to improve my performance is quickly becoming my favorite aspect of getting into running.

I never really did any kind of organized sport, save a bout of rec league floor hockey in the third grade, and, amusingly, in college. There was plenty of street hockey thrown in there, but that was anything but organized.

Today I experienced, on a small scale, what other athletes must feel: the rush of a crowd cheering you on. It was great. It fired me up when I was wearing down. It inspired me to stick with this. As my sister said, “Running is addicting. You won’t want to stop.”

What I learned:

-My uncle’s pre-race meal suggestions worked. “Light breakfast. Toast and a banana for lunch.” I had zero cramps. I ate half an energy bar about an hour before the race too.

-Study the race route ahead of time. I only got a brief look at the route about an hour before it started, but what little knowledge I gained was helpful. I knew which streets made up the final stretch.

-Going full throttle and passing people in the last few yards of the race is awesome. Amusingly enough, Eye of the Tiger was playing on track speakers in the home stretch. It was meant to be. I hauled, unleashing a primal scream all the way (not kidding). I’m sure any photos of me at this point are hilarious.

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.

I’m a fan of this zoo and I usually go at least a few times a year. I love going in the late fall not only because it is free, but because a lot of the animals are more active due to the colder weather (I usually throw a couple bucks in the donation box even when it is free, and I’ve adopted animals in the past).

I went into the “cat house,” where the lions and tigers are kept–and I happened to be there around feeding time (I saw a few of the smaller animals being fed).  I approached the lion exhibit and saw one of the lions (a lioness, I’m pretty sure) pacing back and forth.

She knew it was feeding time and she began roaring.

I gotta say, having only a few inches of glass (OK, maybe more) separating me from a hungry, roaring lion was quite the experience.

It made me think a bit too, just how we kind of take this stuff for granted.  Here is an amazing animal that I would never see in Michigan under normal circumstances, mere inches from me.  I watched the lion continue its pacing and its roaring, and took it all in–what an amazing creature.  Nature is awesome and scary.

And as it tends to do, my imagination began to drift to thoughts of this animal chasing after prey in the wild.  Then I thought of it (or any lion really) chasing after me and how helpless I would be.

I know a lot of people don’t take the time to savor the sights of  animals at a zoo, I’ll watch people stop for a second and then move on to the next exhibit.  I try to be good about stopping to study the animal and watch it for a little while. I like watching how the larger animals move–it is great research for writing and other creative outlets.

I certainly recommend spending time at a zoo if you ever write about animals, made up or real.  Sure, you can find a zillion and a half videos of animals on YouTube, but some times you need to see an animal eye to eye.

Potter Park Zoo is a great resource and I’m glad it is here in Lansing.

Just got done reading your blog. Kudos.

Prior to that I was watching “Shine a Light” & had a thought. At my eulogy, you could open with:
My Dad & I were roadies for the Rolling Stones. He was in the pit, I was on sound crew. The stories
we could tell.

You can take it from there.

Have to get back to the garage to dry my wood.
dad

My dad is obsessed with having the coolest funeral ever. I’m not making this up. I have an envelope containing his final wishes.

Not that Dad is dying or anything.  He just believes in being prepared.

He also speaks the truth.  We were both “roadies” for the Rolling Stones half-time show at Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit.  He was part of the crew that assembled the stage and I was part of the team that setup the giant speakers and ran the connector cables to them.

The best part? I got to be on field during the few minutes of the 2nd and 4th quarters–and I was mere feet from the Seahawks and their cheerleaders. Dad and his crew were stuck in the bowels of Ford Field until half-time.

Here’s where we were:

I was on the side lines and dad was in the middle under the "tongue" of the stage. Image © original source.

As you can see, I was off to the side and dad was in the center of the action.  The cool part was that we got to go to Ford Field for dress rehearsal a few days before–and the Stones drove within a few feet of me on golf carts, smiling and waving to our team. Very cool.

That stage is actually a bunch of tall metal carts that had to be snapped together in very little time.

Being downtown for the Superbowl was magical.  Nothing else describes the feeling or look of the city.  People filled the streets and there were millions of interesting things going on around me.

It was worth getting a call from Dad at 6 AM on a Saturday morning telling me to go online and sign up to volunteer.

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I had the pleasure of being a guest at the science fiction and fantasy fan convention, ConClave once again this weekend.  I had a great time like always,  running into  Jim C. Hines, who was there promoting his latest release, Mermaid’s Madness, and the always entertaining M. Keaton.

It is fun to reconnect with writer friends and to make new ones at these conventions.  I was a part of nine events, including the Writer’s Workshop (I read and critiqued stories), panel discussions (ranging from zombies to werewolves to comic books) and I was even a contestant in a Last Man Standing Sci-Fi/Fantasy Trivia Contest–and I came in 2nd place.

My prize for coming in second is that my name will be used for the name of the president of the CDC in an upcoming zombie novel (The Ravening) by Stewart Sternberg. Stewart said that there will be a quote at the start of a chapter, which will be attributed to said CDC president, so something along these lines perhaps, to give you an idea:

“I see no reason to panic. As long as none of them bite you, you’ll be just fine.  Oh, and wash your hands.  Seriously, people.”

- Daniel Hogan, President of the CDC.

I’m excited to see what Stewart comes up with–he’s threatening to make it something that will cause an angry mob to show up at my door. Hey, I can use the publicity.  The novel will be available in stores and obviously I’ll do a post once that happens.  The grand prize winner will be made into a character that gets ripped apart by zombies.  Lucky.  Amusingly, I lost my shot at first place by not knowing the name of Barbara’s brother in the original Night of the Living Dead (Johnny).

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Speaking of Mr. Sternberg, we were on a panel about werewolves at ConClave, which I recorded for this week’s podcast.  Check it out. I’m glad I recorded it, because between late nights at work this week and getting ready for the con, I didn’t have the next episode of the Magic of Eyri finished. Hooray for filler. Give the panel a listen, it is a fun time. Jon David, Rick Moore, Charles Zaglanis and William Jones join us as well.

Thankfully, I’m in a league with at least a few people I know, unlike the league of strangers I was in last time (note: League of Strangers is a cool name for something, must remember that one…)

I’m in a head to head league–meaning, all of my players’ stats go up against my opponent’s players’ stats for the week, similar to the way most Fantasy Football leagues are run (ex: I have 10 goals at the end of the week, Player B has 7, I win that category). In the past, I’ve mainly done what are called rotisserie leagues–your points fluctuate based on your ranking regarding each stat, usually based on how many teams in your league (ex: if I’m leading in goals at the end of the day in a 14 team league, I earn 14 points. But, if I drop to third the next day, I only have 12 points in that category).

Each type of league has its advantages and disadvantages. It is easier to come from behind in a head to head league, as if you have a great couple of weeks you can jump to the lead. But in a rotisserie league, if you get in a rut from the start, you might never climb out.

We had an auto-pick draft for our league, forgoing a live draft due to our crazy schedules. However, I customized my pre-draft rankings and I think I did pretty well considering we had a fairly large league of 14 teams.

I drafted 2nd overall–which is good, but also bad. The draft order is serpentine, meaning that while I get to pick second in round one, I pick second to last in round two, 27th overall (the person picking 14th overall gets two picks in a row: 14 and 15). By the time I get my second pick, 26 other players have already been picked (assuming my math is correct).

My crew, in the order drafted:

The Yellow Scarfs

My team’s logo and patron Saint, Proto Man. Image © Capcom

(my team name, named after Proto Man, which in turn inspired the character Zeroth in my novel/podcast The Magic of Eyri.  Zeroth also wears a yellow scarf)

1. (2) Evgeni Malkin – MVP candidate last season, keeps getting better and better.

2. (27) Dany Heatley – Disgruntled sniper that demanded a trade to a new team. 50 goal scorer.

3. (30) Joe Thornton – Great set-up man, line mate of Dany Heatley. Wins lots of faceoffs.

4. (55) Steve Mason – Rookie of the year winner last season.  Goalie.  Getting a great goalie or two is key in fantasy hockey.

5. (58) Sergei Gonchar – Scoring defenseman.

6. (83) Scott Gomez – Capable center playing on a line with two sniper wingers, could be the center of one of the best lines in the league.

7. (86) Henrik Sedin – Another high scoring center.

8. (111) Tomas Kaberle – Decent scoring defenseman.

9. (114) Mikko Koivu – Developing scoring center, 60+ points last season, wins lots of faceoffs.

10. (139) Petr Sykora – New team, could be a sleeper winger. I’m hoping he is.

11. (142) Mathieu Schneider – Scoring d-man, hoping playing with the Sedin twins will help him rack up a bunch of points.

12. (167) Marco Sturm – So-so winger, but Boston has been playing really well as of late.

13. (170) Andrei Kostitsyn – Another so-so Left Wing. Sub-par season last year. Hoping he rebounds.

14. (195) Ryan Whitney – Scoring d-man, will get more minutes with Pronger not being on the team any more.

15. (198) Jose Theodore – An OK goalie, probably good for 30 wins. But, could lose his starting gig to a young upstart rookie goalie.

16. (223) Derick Brassard – Was in the running for Rookie of the Year until injury/surgery shortened his season.

17. (226) Mike Comrie – Meh. A prime example of someone I wouldn’t have drafted had I been running the draft live.

18. (251) Sergei Samsonov – Another possible sleeper winger.

19. (254) Ville Leino – One time scoring leader of the Finnish hockey league, now a rookie with the Red Wings.  After losing three wingers to free agency, it is looking like Lenio will have lots of chances to step up.

20. (279) Radim Vrbata – Back with Phoenix, had  a great season the last time he was there (27 goals).

21. (282) Jonas Gustavsson – The Monster.  Could steal the starting goalie gig on the Maple Leafs.

22. (307) Andrej Meszaros – Lame season last year with the Bolts. Will probably drop him.

23. (310) Andrej Sekera – Will be dropped ASAP.

I’m happy with the results for the most part, by my last two picks irked me a bit, as both are rather lackluster defensemen. The problem was that my list was based on us originally have 16 teams drafting, but then we dropped to 14 at the last minute, which changed things a bit.

The problem with the auto-draft is that while it follows your order, it also looks to fill what you need how it sees fit–and I don’t know how it decides. For example, there might be a great Right Wing available, but it sees that you need a Left Wing and skips down to that, avoiding the better player. I think this is why I have a bunch of Centers. The advantage of a live draft is that you can make calls like that on the fly “Oh, that guy’s still available…I really need a Right Wing, but this Defensemen is awesome…”

Where my strategy paid off was with picks two and three–Heatley was ranked lower this year because of a crappy season in Ottawa. He was recently traded to San Jose, and plays on the top line with Thornton. The good thing here is that I could be doubling my points on a given night–if Thornton assists on a Heatley goal, I get both of those points.

I also got some nice steals in the early and later rounds, mainly Brassard (a rookie of the year consideration last season until having season ending surgery: 25 points in 31 games, not bad) and Gustavsson (a goalie nicknamed The Monster because he is so big).

And I’m really happy I was able to get Leino from the Red Wings. After Heatley though, I’m fairly weak when it comes to wingers, but a few of my guys could be sleepers. Penalty Minutes is one of our categories, so I gotta pick up some goons.

…How the heck did my last two picks both end up being guys named Andrej?

And I leave you with this:

I also updated my Writing Samples and Resume pages.

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In Halloween costume news, I swung by a local costume shop–one of the mega costume stores that appears in early September and disappears on November 1st, like some kind of costuming Bringadoon.

My plan for the moment is go as The Man With No Name character from thee Fistful of Dollars trilogy.  The main thing I need to pull this off is the trademark poncho Clint Eastwood wears.  Thankfully, they had ponchos (not the exact design, but that’s OK), so that part is taken care of.  Next, I need to find a decent looking gun with a hip holster, and a hat.  I can get the Eastwood squint/scowl down, no problem–and I’ve already been working on the voice (which I use for the Magic of Eyri podcast).

All in all, this should be an easier task than last year’s Ghostbuster costume.