I hate how weekends let you relax and help you remember that there is life beyond your 8am-5pm grind. It’s so freaking annoying how you can sleep in and shower in the mid-afternoon. And you know what else I hate? How you get your sanity back - how very annoying.

/* End Sarcasm */

So, Thanksgiving has come and gone. It lasted all of 3 hours. Got up late, headed to breakfast with C’s parents (so good) and then came home to nothingness for a good 4 hours - good times. We headed out to my parent’s house and arrived about 4minutes before dinner was served thanks to a turkey that was fully cooked before schedule. Apparently they give you a time of “6 to 7.5 hours” - quite a range. “Sir, you car will be fixed in 1 to 54697654987 minutes” - bad analogy? Possibly.

Though I find Black Friday to be both silly and sensible, I found myself both wanting and not wanting to go out to the stores. I’m still tempted to dress up as a Worst Buy employee and go into the store and just mess with people. “Yea, the more megapixels, the more time it takes to turn the camera on - this one takes two minutes to power on” - that’d rock.

Not really sure the point of the post - meh. I’m resisting the urge to discuss what I’m getting people for Xmas…because those people may read this blog :). I’m hoping this year is full of surprises for those that I buy for as I have suddenly taken pride in getting kickass gifts for everyone (not lavish, just great gifts from the heart). Last year I bought my dad an Onkyo HTIB (Home Theater in a Box). I’m fairly certain he had a little tiny heart attack as he unwrapped each package (I couldn’t wrap the entire thing as the box was massive). When he unwrapped one of the speakers first he shot me a “Oh no you didn’t.” I replied with a “You’d never buy one on your own so yes I did!” look. It rocked.

Okay, my eyelids are still heavy - time for another coffee injection.

Tomorrow is the mother-of-all eating days - Thanksgiving.  A time when overeating is encouraged and accepted across the United States.  The one day where it is okay to eat pounds of food and then gaze into a television while the food coma washes over you.

This year, like recent years, I have become more excited about Thanksgiving than Christmas.  Granted, after Thanksgiving, I tend to go into “What’d-ya-git-me” mode and my holiday shopping picks up a bit as I try not to be the guy in the mall on December 22nd scrambling to find gifts - no thanks.  I’ve come to really appreciate Thanksgiving and I enjoy the time off spent with family and friends much more than I did when I was a child.

And now to give thanks:

• I am thankful for my good health and the health of the ones I love.
• I am thankful that Phil from Iraq safe - to his wife Rachel and newborn baby Bella
• I am thankful the opportunities given to me - both personal and professional
• I am thankful my loving girlfriend - my best friend
• I am thankful for the love and support of my mother and father - it has never faulterd in all of my 26 years as their son
• I am thankful for the compliments and encouragement by all during my discovery of a new hobby - photography.  I’m modest to a fault, but the encouragement means so much.
• I am thankful for coffee, as it is keeping me awake while I write this post.

Most of all, I am thankful for the life I’ve been given.  The good, the bad and the ugly - it’s been a fantastic trip thus far.

A safe and Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

I was asked to update my blog, and put the shots up from the High Falls Film Festival Gala. Being an efficient human being from time to time, I’m doing both - two birds with one stone.

Nothing much to report as it seems most of what I do consists of work, photo editing and relaxing. So..that’s what I’ve been doing - working, editing photos and relaxing. I was contacted by Sue Egan to gather some samples from the two weddings I shot with her (pictures from second wedding coming soon). A potential client may want to hire two photographers. I’d still feel funny getting paid, but this would be a great opportunity for me. I think next time I’d like to focus more on the formal shots as I haven’t really done many of those - didn’t want to step on Sue’s toes.

VMWare - Oh my god that’s the funky sh*t!

I attended a Rochester VMWare User Group meeting yesterday and I came away very impressed by both VMWare and Vizioncore. I can see myself putting the software to good use both at home and at work. I’d like to try VMWare out again on the Dell box at work and see if I can’t setup a LAMP, Samba and RoR (Ruby on Rails) box - we’ll see. Considering the Dell doesn’t really have a lot of horsepower, I’m not sure how effective having 3 guests on the box will be. Meanwhile, my old Athlon box has Ubuntu and RoR on it. I also found out that my host, Dreamhost has RoR support, so I setup a sub-domain to mess around with it whenever I get around to doing so - http://ruby.danbowles.com/public/.

Well, with the arrival of my 24-70 f/2.8 L, there is no need for this lens. I figured I’d throw this up on my blog. I am planning on putting an ad up on craigslist soon too.

This is a Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM lens. It was purchase in January 2006. Hood purchased in August 2006. The lens is in mint condition, minus signs of light use. I haven’t sold a lens before so the price is negotiable. Feel free to comment with your email address and we can open a line of communication. I realize only 3 people read this and of those three only one has a Canon dSLR :).

Whatevah.

My best friend gave me a call Saturday to let me know he was home - not in Rochester - but where he’s station at Fort Carson, Colorado.  After a year in Iraq, he’s got at least a year off (working on base, but not stationed in a warzone).  It was very good to hear his voice and know he was home with his wife and baby girl Bella.  Good to hear things were quiet out there too, considering when we went out to visit, it was a bit hectic as Bella had just been born.  We talked on the phone like he was living only a few miles away - it was fantastic.  It also offers me insight into the War that goes beyond what the media wants us to see, which is great.  Heading out there for a few days in April is tempting but considering we are planning a trip to Japan, and I need all the vacation time I can get, I’m not sure it’ll happen.  We shall see.  Still, it’s good to have you back in the States Phil, it’s a relief and I’m damn proud of you for doing what you do.

Another Wedding…

I assisted in another wedding and I hope to have pictures up soon.  I also took some shots while attending the High Falls Film Festival Gala Party - hopefully they turned out alright.