Dryden Is Home

Zero Gravity Coffee Break

Zero Gravity Coffee Break
Originally uploaded by dmakar

On March 25th Neatorama posted about Salvador Dali Bloopers. I first found Neatorama from a link at kottke.org. Sometime that morning I had a coffee break (and a camera with a 10 second timer), and a little blog post inspired me to fly in my home office. If it wasn't for gravity, there'd be a whole lot of mess in the air too (coffee cup, laptop, wireless mouse, wallet, phone, pager, bills, paperwork).

A link to Google Atomicus (the photo of Dali in the air):
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=Atomicus+&btnG=Search+Images

A link to the Neatorama Post:
http://www.neatorama.com/2008/03/25/salvador-dali-bloopers/

A link to the webpage with the bloopers photos:
http://www.infomercantile.com/blog/2008/03/salvador-dali-bloopers.html

My favorite lines from the article:
“after each exposure, while the assistants mopped the floor and reclaimed cats, Halsman developed the film to see the progress in the composition. Accidents would happen. The water, intended for the cats, would cover Dali’s face instead.”

There Will Be Vader

Remarkable. A mashup of There Will Be Blood and Star Wars. About 9 minutes, but priceless.

An Amazing Story

I found this link via kottke.org, I don't know if it is true or not, but it is interesting enough to see  part of humanity:

Julio Diaz got mugged on his way home from work. But not really...that's not where the story ends.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89164759

Kitchen Torture

Medieval Torture Device or Bed Bath & Beyond Gadget? Score: 100% (10 out of 10)

100% luck. How did you do?

And now, back to work.

A Blank Slate

When I last wrote - our cat died and I was anxious about Arjan's return from Turkey. I've been meaning to post, but well, life got busy. So busy in fact that since August 1st this blog has been a blank slate.

Funny how I'm getting back into blogging and it happens to be the blog's 3rd birthday (up and running on August 3rd, 2004). Here are some stats from the past few years:

• Year 1: 4,261 hits total
• Year 2: 31,881 hits total (27,620 new in year two)
• Year 3: 91,031 hits total (59,150 new this year)

So what's new:

• July 18th: I was nominated along with Joseph Solomon to run for a 4 year term on the Dryden Town Board. Also nominated that evening were Mary Ann Sumner for Town Supervisor and Jason Leifer for Town Justice. See more details here: http://drydendems.org/
• July 19th: At a Varna Fire Company training I lost my camera somewhere in the station.
• July 20th - 23rd: I put up paneling in one of the rooms in our house to cover up much bad looking drywall - pictures sometime soon.
• July 24th: Arjan returned from Turkey! Yay! Welcome home love, now let's plan our wedding!
• July 28th: First ever (in my brief tenure) Besemer Flats neighborhood BBQ. Fairly well attended (at my house) we had about 15 people (kids included) from the neighborhood come over for a backyard potluck dinner and conversation.
• July 30th-31st: A short camping trip to the Finger Lakes National Forest in Hector to celebrate Arjan's birthday.
• August 1st: Dryden Democrats Monthly Salon at Mary Ann Sumner's house in West Dryden
• August 2nd: Truck check and monthly regular meeting of the Varna Fire Company.
• August 3rd: Blog's anniversary and much work to do.

Sprinkeled in there were 5 conversations about impeachment vs. censure, a lawnmowing mishap that made for fun racing stripes in my yard, zuchinni mass production (pictures soon! - sorry Matt and Mike), lots of work projects, work proposals, database development and websites.

More to come soon - this is going to be a busy five months to New Years!

A weekend of Driving and Flying

When you are 5 and you go on a trip to New Hampshire the world seems huge. You remember just enough to be able to say you remember. Maybe a sign or a tree or a person, but probably not a conversation in detail.

When you are 9 and you return to the place you remember it for the week away from home. A week at camp in a tent. A hike in a lightning storm and singing songs with your best friend.

When you are 14 and you show up to work at camp a crazy man with a condiment name glares and listens and teaches. You meet some people that will be the bridge to friends that you will keep for the rest of you life. You make mistakes, you learn, you have fun.

When you are 18 and you are in charge of a small camp department you answer a lot of questions. You teach a little and learn more about yourself than the subjects you are teaching. You find your strengths and your weaknesses. You hide and search. You get up early and swim. You get to know a few people better.

When you are 22 and return as a staff member of another camp you battle on the ballfield and you find that the home team is the one you are on. The people that have replaced you are different. The people who have stayed behind are stronger and have learned to delegate.

When you are 30 and return as a guest you find that the people that were campers are now in charge. The people that taught you almost everything are long gone. The few in between, John and Dan, bridge a gap between generations. You wonder if there is a way to do it all - and then you drive home realizing that the world is still a huge place and there are a lot of things to do.

A couple days ago I showed up on the doorstep of Camp Wanocksett and relived a few moments of my camp days - tonight I will be attending the Dryden Democratic Caucus where I will be nominated for a four year term on the Dryden Town Board. Everything I've learned so far prepares me for what I will do next.

(The guy floating above is now in charge)

What's Happening?

The character known as Michael does have cancer. He's in a hospital getting the best treatment possible. Chemo earlier this week, radiation later this week. I wish I wasn't so far away from him.

Dryden Town Board was last Thursday, lasted until 11:55pm (The May meeting ended around 12:25am).

I heard from an ex-girlfriend that she's engaged.

I celebrated father's day with Arjan and her parents on Sunday and Monday. We visited the Farmer's Market, Ithaca Commons, Der Rosenmeister's Nursery, and Wegman's. http://www.derrosenmeister.com

Chief Natan of the Varna Fire Company is recovering from a car crash. He has a plastic turtle shell looking support holding him in place. http://www.varnafire.org

Strawberry season has started here in Dryden and in Massachusetts, too.

My friends with two kids and a Freeville mailing address had to go to the hospital. I hope their young daughter is ok. More details soon.

Krystof is doing ok. He's done with school for the summer. http://krystofskommunity.wordpress.com/

It is rainy and thundering and I'm off to the Varna Volunteer Fire Company for training on Search & Rescue.

More details on life changing events coming soon.

What about the updates? (Volume 2)

June 8th now, just getting back to the blog. Heard a few stories this week about readers and thought I should give you something to go on.

I'm leaving Toronto today, heading back to Dryden for tomorrow's Dryden Dairy Day. Spent last weekend helping Arjan move into the Golden Pub. Went to the IthacaFest parade before that and to Cape Cod before that. A long two weeks of life, and not too much of it spent at home.

I was able to visit Boston for a few minutes on my Cape Cod tour.

A lot is going on with others, and henceforth be known that Michael may or may not have a terminal illness (he finds out next week), Truman is talking about cohabitation, Sam and his wife are going to a place they've never been, and Hal and Maggie are on their way to a place they've never been too. Gordon, Eve, Ross, Donna, Mark and Melissa are all going to be dancing soon. Dolores has moved to Chicago. Helen's New Grounds closed due to flooding. Alan is now selling houses. The Dude went to Texas for year with his wife, when he returns we'll watch college basketball with Sam. Nina has joined Caroline in limbo. Nicolette is dating someone new and better than the past. Rosemary is now overseas. Nicole is still the same. Laurie and Bert haven't said much lately, I hope they are well.  Perhaps I'll spend more time with Karim and Leslie before they leave Boston. Finally, from what I've seen from afar, Trivia Night has grown and become quite a weekly event.

Here's the "What about the updates" from 2006.

TV during lunch

On my lunchbreak today (lentil soup with brocoli, red onions and sesame seeds) I found a little quiz about TV show theme songs. How well can you do?

http://www.mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php?q=55

Good Luck! (And I don't even own a TV!)

Desktop Tower Defense

About three weeks ago Jason posted a link on his blog to a ridiculous online flash game called "Desktop Tower Defense". It is a giant time eater. Do not play this game. It is addicting. I think I am now done with it. I hope so. If not, I'll always be able to find it with this link:

http://www.handdrawngames.com/DesktopTD/