cetan.org RSS feed now online
By default, I block hot-linking of images from most of my domains. The reason for this is simply to keep the bandwidth thieves at bay.
And so, when I turned cetan.org into a photoblog, the default action was to stop hot-linking of all images from the domain. However, what this did was prevent the RSS feed from working, as the feed contains thumbnails of the images posted.
Today I finally got off my rear and fixed this. So now only full-sized images are protected from hot-linking and the thumbnails are not.
The RSS feed for cetan.org is available here:
http://cetan.org/index.php?x=rss
Enjoy!
Photography and Exercise – a year later
It was a year ago today that I purchased, for $35, the 2MP Fuji A205 and decided to begin walking for exercise during my lunch hour. It wasn't until recently that I abandoned the idea of limiting myself to only 24 photos per walk and started taking the Canon A80.
Today, it's cold and raining, but I walked to the south loop to see the remains of the Wirt Dexter building that burned down two days ago. I also stopped off at Central Camera to see what prices are on twin-lens reflex cameras (answer: too much).
I've updated the map since the previous post to include a couple of the new areas I've wandered through. (However, I'm still not including the Garfield Park walks on the map.) Because of my walk from the Brown Line stop at Sedgwick, I've had to change the scale of the map slightly.
Some statistics:
- Number of miles walked: no clue. A lot, that's for sure.
- Number of photographs taken: 2211
- Number of photographs featured on WBEZ.org: 4 (?)
- Number of photographs featured on GapersBlock.com: 6 (?)
- Number of times yelled at by a cop: 1 (just today, in fact for not walking on the right side of the street even though the street was essentially closed to cars)
- Number of time I felt threatened by walking in these areas: zero
- Number of times I felt truly out of place: too numerous to count.
- Pounds lost: 12. Not great but not too bad.
I think I'm going to use Qoop.com by way of Flickr to print a mini-book of this years best images. It would be nice to have something on the bookshelf to pull out and review every once in a while.
Overall, I'm very happy with my decision to pursue this activity. My photography has improved, my health has improved, and my knowledge of Chicago, even a small part of it, has improved. Last week I made two 4-mile treks, which means I can probably open myself up to even more exploration and still do it within the lunch hour. And, based on my experience on the Brown line, I will be extending the area I can cover every once in a while.
Goose Island – real men make their own islands…
http://lnk.nu/maps.google.com/bmc
Today I managed a 4 mile walk to Calumet Photo (located on Goose Island) and back again. The great part is that not only did I do it in an hour ten, but I was able to work in some photography and picked up a Holga 120N from Calumet.
Some links on Goose Island:
http://www.gapersblock.com/airbags/archives/goose_island/
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/300045.html
I'm coming up on the one year anniversary of the start of these lunch-hour walks. I'm amazed at how much of the immediate downtown area I've been able to see and am humbled by how much more there is to explore.
World Toy Camera Day 2006 – Saturday October 21st
Break out your "Plastic Fantastic" cameras; your Holga's, your Lomo's, your Dollar Store specials. Pinholes and cheap folders are all welcome.
This Saturday is World Toy Camera Day. Cheap cameras with little to no control, save the vision of the person holding it. Simple, straight-forward, no-nonsense photography.
Take your chances and fire the shutter.
(I hope the weather is more agreeable than what's predicted...)
Productive Weekend
Friday after work I headed down to my parents to drop off 2 old computers and a ton of old hardware. They, in turn, took the stuff down to St. Charles for electronics recycling. It felt good to get it out of the house.
Saturday morning I raked and swept leaves for the first time this season. Given that 
helloheather will not be able to help this fall, I've made it my goal to stay on top of the lawn care as much as possible. Letting the leaves go too long makes for a very long fall.
After lunch, tinyprayers and I went out for a bit of photography at Moraine Hills State Park.
Neither one of us had been to the park, and so we set out on a 3.2 mile loop around one of the lakes. A ton of centipedes and caterpillars were spotted as well as one snake sunning itself on the limestone path. With a little encouragement it slithered off into the grass where it was safe from the many bicycles roaming the area.
On Sunday I was able to clean out the gutters on the west-side of the house. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to get the east-side ones done.
Being able to visit with family, working on cleaning up the basement a bit, getting yard-work done, and even making time for some photography made for a very nice weekend.
Nathan’s weekend of grandparents
A busy weekend for little Nathan:
Friday:
Visit Grandma and Grandpa Swanson
Saturday:
Visit Grandma and Grandpa Broman
Sunday:
Church with Grandma and Grandpa Bernhard (and all their friends)
Visit Grandma and Grandpa Bernhard and Great-Grandpa Bernhard
Visit Grandma and Grandpa Broman again and their friends (helloheather's godparents).
And through it all: smiles for everyone. The only times he was upset was when he was overly tired from missing a nap or when he was hungry. Otherwise, he enjoyed every minute of visiting.
Such a wonderful child.
For Heather
Companionship - 2006
When I photographed this scene, I realized that I want to be this couple. Years from now, I want to be with you, close together, looking through windows at puppies up for adoption.
Recently spotted in the wild…
Two photos recently featured on the Gapers Block website: