Thursday, November 6
So the whole family (sort of) is now in Las Vegas to attend the SEMA convention, which is basically heaven for anyone remotely interested in anything automotive. This is pretty much the most productive year I've attended. It used to be a shiny-cars and hot-chicks kind of deal, but I have graduated to actually talking to exhibitors and trying to find software solutions for the Family Empire. My sister and I have also between attending the free seminars that range from inventory management, small business IT, and online marketing presented by leaders of their respective fields. The last seminar we attended was chaired by execs from eBay Motors, Amazon, Google, Activant, etc! This is a pretty damn good deal for the $15 registration fee that we paid!
Rambling mode on. So it's a cut throat market, and everyone's out to make a buck. I used to subscribe to the school of modesty, and self-deprecation. "Set expectations low, and perform high." Never acknowledge your talent, because there seems to be greater satisfaction when it comes unsolicited from a third party. There are, however, some potential drawbacks to this approach if it starts to manifest itself internally. To guise yourself from others through modesty, may be a formidable plan of attack, but be sure to always keep in mind what is real, and believe the truth in what you can do. It's easy to get swayed into the cop-out that you cannot do something, when all you need to do is to take that first step and make the effort to make it happen. It's easy to follow the crowd of lemmings and go with the flow. And this fear of 'failure' (that can present itself in many forms), marks the difference of those successful, and those who are not. And no matter how intelligent you are, no matter how much you understand it better than the monkey next to you, what stays in your mind as ideas can never be as real as the actions you put to follow the idea through.
There are constant disconnects between what I believe in, and the life I am stuck with. Each day is another opportunity to weed them out. Nothing that a few beers can't fix. :)
Labels: hamster wheel, ramblings, travel
00:04 ::Tuesday, November 4
:)
Gobama!!
Wednesday, October 15
All I am is a curious monkey that wants to tinker around, learn, and be the best at what piques my interest. Boredom is my enemy, and it doesn't help that my attention span is beginning to wither into goldfish territory. I need to be exposed to new people, new situations, and never be allowed to stagnate lest I start to embrace the boring tranquils of comfort. The mestre once said, that each moment spent not training, is a moment taken by the enemy to train and defeat you in battle.
Friday, October 10
Wow.
We're in trying times, folks. Time to vote.
Wednesday, October 8
"Do you realize, that everyone you know someday will die
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes
Let them know you realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize that the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round"
Do You Realize - The Flaming Lips
Labels: photo
16:17 ::Tuesday, October 7
Sunrise at Valley View in Yosemite.
A lot of times we attach our personal memories to certain events, that make them more meaningful. Specific smells from a period of our lives, the friends you hung out with when you hear a certain song. But there are times, when you venture out into the world, and realize how tiny you (and your personal life) are while you scrape your jaw off the floor. There is beauty built by our experiences, but then there is beauty built by something, someone, greater than all of us combined can ever be.
And little do we really realize, that we live in it.
Labels: photo, ramblings, travel
01:52 ::Friday, October 3
Action packed!
I'm typing this from a brand spankin' new X200 - a sexy beast indeed! I'll have to readjust to the smallish 12.1" screen again, but I'm rolling with a full-size keyboard and speedy responses from the black box. Not too bad. Although I miss the rubbery feel of my old X23.
This is from last week's Big Sur camping. 
Nickel in a sleeping bag, hehe.
Finished packing this morning for Yosemite. Weather forecasts light showers all over the weekend, so it may not be picture perfect, but our team of adventurers always finds something to gawk over. Like a rock! Or a shadow!
Congratulations to Marco and Wendy, can't wait to meet baby Isabella :)
Labels: nerdery, photo, travel
13:26 ::Monday, September 29
Paul and Kat's new living room accessory. He he he.
Labels: paulandkat, photo, volkswagen
23:53 ::Friday, September 26
The world is changing as we speak. I am normally optimistic about the way the world turns, but everything that's been happening the past 24-48 hours with the bank meltdowns and that horrible Palin interview by CBS are starting to bother me. This disaster can be real.
Meanwhile, I'm packing my bags and will hide the remainder of the weekend along the beautiful coast of Big Sur for camping. I hope America is still around when I get back. Suckas!
Labels: travel
00:58 ::Wednesday, September 17
Happy birthday to the newest member of the Paul and Kat lens family! :) Hopefully she will bring us good tidings and cheer in the form of pretentious pixels and incoherent images. 
A pencil is useless without it's artist on the other end of the lead. Camera - useless, without it told what to see. Gadgets designed to create, will never serve their purpose without a curious mind on the swing. And a curious mind remains steadfast in its curiosity, as it explores what's on the other side of that rabbit hole.
Labels: paulandkat, photo, ramblings
01:48 ::Saturday, September 13
Caught the Parson Redheads and Citay last night at the Tangier. Second time to see PRs, they're always a fun bunch. Citay is good shizz also, I love their sound!! Glad I pushed through going out, because there's nothing like live music..
Thursday, September 11
i: only the best for you j!! and its up to you to determine what that is ;)
j: thanks g! i really needed to hear that!:D
i: the only catch, is that you cannot blame other people for the choices you make :)
i: so choose wisely, but be happy :)
Wednesday, September 10
Art takes time. Understanding takes time. Knowing takes time. Forgetting takes time. Time takes nothing - except for what you don't give.
Labels: ramblings
02:43 ::Thursday, September 4
My domain and websites got defaced! Was down for almost 24 hours. I'm actually pretty flattered. Remember kids, use strong passwords!
Labels: intarweb
16:40 ::Tuesday, September 2
So we spent the long weekend up along the Sonoma coast. First night was camped out with Kath and Dan at their friend's pad. The setup was three interconnected trailers along a bluff in the coast. My day was spent polishing off Tecates (my new favorite beer), while the other guys dove for abalone. Lots of cheese and beer, and Kat and I slept on the outdoor deck underneath a canopy of stars and the Milky Way. Great stuff!
I didn't take pictures until the second night, when Pat Pel Kat and I transferred over to a designated campground with our tents. I setup the camera to take one shot of star trails as they traversed the night sky, framed by the tree canopy up above. I left it outside for probably 3-4 hours, before Kat closed the shutter again. The problem is, that the noise reduction function processes the image after it's taken, and takes a terribly long time before it writes the final image to the CF card. And of course, it never reached that point. I come in with a full charge, take one massive picture, and the camera dies. I was really disappointed in the morning - that is, until I had my first can of Tecate for the day.
It seems likely that a new camera body is on the horizon within the coming year..
Labels: paulandkat, travel
13:41 ::
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