Lets see, what has gone on over the past 7 months?  Well this fall I finally got rid of the hideous wallpaper in my living room and gave it a paint job.  Looks great.  Now I just need to do the rest of the house.  I’m thinking actaully of trying to hire someone to do it but alas, I trust nobody around here to actually give a shit and do a good job so it’s likely I’ll just end up doing it myself.  Gavin the Wonder Dog had knee surgery about 3 weeks ago.  I guess that was the big event of the year for me.  Talk about nerve wracking.  Not so much for him I guess as for me.  He is my child after all and having to put him through reconstructive knee surgery was pretty stressful.  You never quite know how a dog (or cat) might respond but he seems to have pulled through with flying colors and he is getting his stitches out this coming Friday.  He should recover about 80% use of his back leg by summer if all goes well.

Speaking of family.  I hosted my first Thanksgiving this past year at my house and it was a blazing success.  Everyone showed up, everyone brought great dishes to pass and nobody complained that I didn’t watch the football game with them on TV. LOL.  Really, it is wonderful to me to have so many family members living in this area.  They are all solid people and they’ve always given me plenty of encouragement in my life, sometimes when I’ve really needed it.

Sister Sarah and Brother-in-Law Brian were here for Christmas with my niece Lucy and nephew Christopher.  They’ve grown accustomed to staying at my house which actually has worked out quite well.  For everyone.  I’m always awestruck by young children.  Their lack of inhibitions and curiosity about everything around them is entertaining at the least and knowing how wonderful  their parents are at least gives me hope that they won’t mind contributing to my retirement fund once they start working.  The wonder years are ahead for them and I can’t wait to be that “cool but somewhat weird” uncle that likes to play Lego and shoot the shit with Ken and Barbie.

So beyond that, there is not a lot of new shit going on right now.  I am looking forward to profit sharing coming up at work and I’m looking forward to paying off my debts and maybe getting a couple toys as well.  Stay tuned for that.

I will promise that this year I will try to keep this blog updated more often.  Seems that whenever I have thought about writing, I’ve always managed to find something better to do with my time.  I guess that comes along as one of the pitfalls of home ownership.  There is always something to work on.  So, until next time.  Cheers!

I do have a new video to post here.  A couple of years ago I purchased a really nice Cannon HD video camera and over the winter it decided to quit working.  As luck would have it (amazingly), I had purchased a repair plan from Best Buy and so I sent it in hoping that I could at least get it working again.  No luck.  They could not fix it but they did offer to replace it.  This was the FIRST and it will likely be the only time in my life when I have actually used one of those extended warranty plans.  I hesitated to buy it in the first place but I’m sure glad that I did now.  I replaced it with a nice HD Sony Handycam and I’m fully impressed by its abilities.  The Cannon was a much better model however it was, not surprisingly, quite complicated and not very user-friendly.  This Sony is much better and is more to my skill level when it comes to videos.

So here is my latest video on You Tube.  It is a tour through my backyard (in HD if your net connection is worthy).  As you can see, I’ve got my fence installed now and all the trees and plants are finally in bloom.  I’ll try to update more often on this blog but you all will just have to get used to seeing fewer posts from me for a while until things settle down again for the winter months.  Sorry.

Why am I concerned about this?  I don’t actually care that much but haven’t we reached a point yet in our society where people can just quit being so fucking up tight about anatomical depictions of the human body?  Sorry, if your kid is asking what that is hanging between his legs, clearly you’ve failed as a parent and never taught him how to pee.  I’m not a parent but I’m no fool to believe some kid is going to need to be lectured about sex as a result of seeing a naked statue.  What’s to blame for this repression?  Religion.  Remember, the world ends on May 21, 2011.  Nuff said.

Today was a very busy day for me.  Today I learned how to start up my sprinkler system.  I am so happy that I have one already installed in my yard.  It should give me quite a good lawn all summer.  I only had one hiccup and had to replace one sprinkler head that got crushed over the winter.  Turned into a rather big hassle and I ended up with a big hole in the ground.  The yard is in such good shape however that the patch job I did should recover.  Got a load of fertilizer on the yard today as well and also had a second estimate for my fence.  I should know tomorrow which company I am going to use to install.  The one that came out today buys all their stuff exclusively through my employer so his estimate should be good since I know what he pays for his materials.  I am shooting to have the fence installed and done no later than June 1.  Once that is up then I can start doing the sort of landscaping I want to do but I need to get the hard scape installed first so I know what my boundaries are going to be.  It’s exciting.

On the work front things have been crazy for the last 8 weeks.  My assistant has been on maternity leave and I have been working generally no fewer than 50 hours a week.  To say the least, when I get home from work, the last thing on my mind is writing an entry in this blog.  She is due back this next week and I can’t wait for things to finally settle down again.  I’ve been short people the entire time she has been away so I’ve been struggling to keep up.  I managed to fail an inventory audit which will create more work for me as a result but luckily, it has little baring on my employment.  Thank God for that.  So aside from the daily dose of crazy I get from people at work, things are getting into a grove.

I’ve been thinking about mom lately as she has started treatment for breast cancer.  Chemotherapy is really rough on your body and I can only imagine what it does to your head.  She seems to be doing OK with it although she’s a bit concerned about her hair.  Both Dad and I offered to shave our heads as a token of support but, never being a person to step outside the lines, she insisted we both looked better with hair.  It’s taken me a little time to face the reality that both my parents are in fact getting older and both seem to spend more time at doctor’s appointments than anyone else I know.  I suppose that is normal though.  All my grandparents died before I was out of High School so I don’t have very clear memories of their aging process and processing the reality of aging is quite different to a kid than it is to an adult in their mid 30′s and getting closer to 40 every day.  The good thing is that both Mom and Dad are realistic about their own health and are taking the steps they need to take to keep things under control.  While I don’t often say it, I’d pretty much bend over backwards for either of them and I’m sure they know that…. they’d do the same for me.

So tonight I’m enjoying a cocktail in celebration of actually getting something done today around the house and I’m hoping that you all will continue to check in every now and then for updates.

We are finally starting to approach spring up here in the northwoods.  The pot heads are coming out of the forest and visiting the store once again stinking up the place, and the roads are full of pot holes again too.  Life in Michigan: where tourists can pretty much count on losing an axle on the roads as soon as they cross the state line.  Speaking of traveling, I did finally take a vacation (after 6 months of constant work) and took a trip down to the corn fields of Iowa to meet my new niece Lucy.  It was nice to see that Sarah and Brian run a tight ship, emulating the fine examples of our parents.  Christopher has grown and is finally learning to speak using complete sentences, something that will always make him my favorite nephew (make sure you remind him of that) and Lucy was sporting a fine head of hair, clearly preparing to wear home made barrettes made of bright pink sequins for the annual family pictures.  It was nice to see them all and even help them to acquire new channels on their TV.

On my way home from Iowa I managed to spend $10 on tolls going through Chicagoland only to end up at Ikea to spend a paltry $35.  I had never been to an Ikea store before and I had planned on making some bigger purchases to help furnish my new house.  Once there, I decided that other things really needed to be accomplished prior to setting up a Swedish sweat lodge in my basement.  Really, I simply can’t have a country bumpkin, collection of random things going on.  I need more consistency than that so some planning is going to be in order.

I am enjoying my new 47″ TV that I purchased with my profit sharing bonus at work.  Of course everyone I know is simply amused that I refuse to get cable TV to go along with it, they all think that I’ve wasted my money because I can’t watch 600lb men behave like fools at national sporting events in 3D.  Little do they know that there is more to entertainment than learning how many feet there are in a yard.  Like, perhaps watching the latest episode of Glee.  Gavin the wonder dog has been having a good time exploring his new house and it has not taken him long to get quite comfortable wandering around outside, soon I’ll be able to fence him in and I won’t have to stand out there and watch him every time he needs to go out.

I won’t even go into all the drama lately at work.  Let’s just say I’m glad I’ve got my shit figured out since at least that means I’ll be able to keep my job.

So that’s about all I have to say for tonight.  We’ve sprung the clocks ahead by an hour this weekend and so my body still thinks it’s much earlier than it really is.  I must be off to bed if there is any hope of me waking up in the morning.

After reading the letter from the Alumni association, and learning about the bright future of the choir school, I have decided that it will be important to me to make a trip to New Jersey this summer to meet with my former boychoir classmates, camp cohorts, and the many, many staff and faculty that played such a big role not just in my own musical development but in my transition from a boy to a man.  One last meeting at the place we all called home, the place we ate, drank, and slept, the place where we learned how to be a world-class ensemble.  I know that I’m being melodramatic here but there is something very unique about Albemarle (the name given to the ABS campus).  The history of that house could tell thousands of stories, both good and bad, with the countless number of people who have lived and worked there.  It’s going to be a shame to lose such a wonderful place in the middle of Princeton but this move does not end the school, it doesn’t change their mission.

The mission of The American Boychoir is to sustain and move forward with a distinctively American voice the one-thousand-year-old boychoir school tradition. The American Boychoir is committed to being the finest choir of its kind in the nation and among the finest in the world. The American Boychoir achieves this each year by recruiting and training talented choristers from across the country.

The mission of The American Boychoir School is to combine the training program for mastery of choral music with a superior academic program in order to create a profoundly integrative educational experience which emphasizes creativity and such traditional values as self-discipline, self-reliance, hard work, teamwork and dedication to long-term goals.

It is a testimony to the vision of the institution’s founder, Herbert Huffman, that after sixty-nine years the objectives stated in the School’s original charter are as apt today as they were in 1937:

1. To build character in young boys and prepare them for good citizenship.
2. To provide an exceptional training program for musically talented boys, regardless of their religion, social background or financial circumstances.
3. To make this unique opportunity the motivation for general educational attainment.
4. To help enrich the cultural life of the nation and to produce a musical organization that is recognized throughout the country as the finest of its kind.

As today’s stewards of The American Boychoir School, the board, faculty, staff, parents and students affirm these objectives.

All of those things above remain intact and all of those currently working at the school fully support this mission and the boychoir’s continued success.  This move will enhance not just the vocal opportunities of the students but it will allow ABS to grow and prosper for decades to come.  All of us who have spent any amount of time at the school will cherish our memories of that old house, both the good memories and perhaps even the bad ones, and all of us recognize that in order to grow, we must be willing to let go of the past and embrace the future.  I will make it a point this summer to reconnect one last time with Albemarle (how I’m going to do it, I have no idea), and I will make it a point to hold on to my memories while embracing a bright future for the school.

I’m posting 2 videos below.  One from Libera and one from Billy Joel.  In their newest release, Libera performs one of Billy Joel’s most emotionally gut wrenching songs which never earned him the fame that it should have.  I learned how to play this song on the piano strictly by ear and it was on ‘repeat’ on my CD player for a good long time.  It’s one of my favorite songs, not just because the melody is so haunting but because the lyrics are timeless.  Billy Joel released this in 1993, I was 18 years old, just finishing a rocky time in High School and I was reflecting on what the hell I wanted my life to be.  This song always reminded me that the people who stood by me throughout would always be there for me in the future.

Here is Billy Joel

Here is Libera

Here are the Lyrics:

Good night my angel time to close you eyes
And save these questions for another day
I think I know what you’ve been asking me
I think you know what I’ve been trying to say

I promised I would never leave you
And you should always know
Where ever you may go
No matter where you are
I never will be far away

Good night my angel now it’s time to sleep
And still so many things I want to say
Remember all the songs you sang for me
When we went sailing on an emerald bay

And like a boat out on the ocean
I’m rocking you to sleep
The water’s dark and deep
Inside this ancient heart
You’ll always be a part of me

Goodnight my angel now it’s time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child will cry and if you sing this lullaby
Then in your heart there will always be a part of me

Someday we’ll all be gone
But lullabies go on and on
They never die that’s how you and I will be

I am eagerly awaiting news from Iowa within the next several days.  For anyone totally out of the loop, I am expecting news of the birth of my niece!  Sarah and Brian are expecting their second child any day now and the parents have gone down to Iowa to be with them.  I know that Sarah is very much ready for this to be over with and of course the grandparents are just beaming I’m sure.  Should be within the next few days….I hope.

Not much else going on up here in the northwoods.  I have the weekend off and I’m planning on going out to the lake to dig out my folks.  Hopefully I can figure out how to run their snowblower.  Then I am going to take the dog over to Lake Michigan to take some pictures.  Good Harbor should be mostly frozen by this point and I’ve not made a trip into Leelanau for quite some time.  It’s time to use that camera of mine.  I’ll upload new pictures to my web site if I manage to capture some good ones.

I’m off to bed now.  Hopefully I can convince myself to write again soon.  By the way Happy Birthday  A. A. Milne

I spend a lot of time dealing with people in my life.  At work, I come into contact sometimes with thousands of different people a week, ALL of whom may or may not share my own viewpoints on the world we all live in.  In retail I see it all and more often than not, I hear EVERYONE’S life story whether I want to or not.  It’s easy to be disillusioned about the world by some of the people who I see…from the wife beater disparaging his wife in public to the creepy skinhead showing off a white pride tattoo…do I think any of them should continue breathing?  No.  But am I going to advocate for their death?  Absolutely not.  Many of us can go through life and disagree with others and we can do so without resorting to violence to make or achieve our point.  It is not necessary for me to threaten people with their lives.  What is important however is that I can and do express myself without ramping up the rhetoric of violence.

I’m going to let Keith Oberman speak for me on this because he does it so eloquently and with so much passion and conviction.  The violence has to stop.  It has no place in our democracy or in our country.  Things must change in significant ways.  We are reaching a tipping point in this country, I can only hope that enough people have enough compassion for their neighbors that we can run the cup over with forward thinking progress rather than draining the cup with a bullet through the skull.

It’s been a busy few weeks for me but now things are finally going to calm down for a while.  The Christmas madness is finally over and people really blew their wad this year.  This was my best year ever for sales but that means of course that I have to now work twice as hard this coming year to beat it.  People who work in sales never get a break.  If you do well one year, you are expected to do better the next year.  I’m sure that I will but it is added stress to think about.  Coming up at work now are weeks of re-sets, re-models, and immediate preparation for the coming spring.  In my business there are only 2 seasons.  Christmas and Spring (yes I know Christmas is not a season but it might as well be).  Everything I do right now at work leads up to the spring season when everyone under the sun decides it’s finally warm enough to do something other than sit in front of the TV and get high on whatever it they smoke up here.

So every year now that I’ve kept this blog, I’ve managed to come up with a few resolutions for myself in the new year and this year is no different.  I don’t tend to do very well keeping these New Year Resolutions but it’s interesting anyhow to come up with them and go back and read them later on.  This new year I resolve to:

1 – Put a stop to my almost daily burger habit.  3 days into the new year and I’ve managed to stick to that one by having a salad each day as my main meal.  While I’m at it I should really put a stop to my sugar habit too but that one is a little harder to kick.  I need sweets to survive my job!

2 – I am bound and determined to lose up to 20lbs this year somehow.  I don’t know yet how I’m going to accomplish that other than by just starving myself (which I would really have a hard time doing).  I might try to figure out an exercise routine, or maybe just get a little more into playing the Wii.  This one is in development right now so we’ll see how it turns out in a few months.

3 – With the purchase of my new house comes mountains of new responsibilities and irritations.  I am resolving this year to spend a little money actually doing things around the house that need to be done.  First and foremost will be the installation of a privacy fence in my backyard.  This year I will be spending my work bonus on things that matter rather than spending gobs of money on toys and other random things that I don’t need.

4 – Now that I am within walking distance of Interlochen Arts Academy, I am resolving this year to make an effort to go to some concerts.  Granted, in the summer, I should be able to sit on my deck and listen to a few but since I moved up here I have wanted to enjoy the fact that the talent coming out of the Academy is truly world-class and I need to take advantage of what is right in my back yard.

Thats about all I can think of right now but I’m sure as time goes on I’ll come up with a few more.  It’s hard to get motivated in the winters up here but I’ve got a lot going for me right now and even though I work 50 hours a week at a minimum, I do actually have a fair amount of time in which to accomplish things…so long as I don’t get lazy.

My next post likely won’t be now until after the new year since I’ll be fiddling with the settings on this blog until then.  So, have a happy new year!!

There is plenty of stigma attached to being gay, especially up here in the northwoods of Michigan.  At the same time there is a TON of stigma attached to being an atheist even that has become less of an issue over time, remarkably for me since I moved out of the promised land of Western Michigan and Grand Rapids.  For the record, I define an atheist as a person who does not believe in God.  Yes, it’s that simple.  I do not believe there is some supernatural being controlling things from above.  Nor do I believe there is some other supernatural being trying to direct me towards a place called hell by controlling my actions and thoughts.  Those of you know me well, none of this is a shock to you because I started to distance myself from religion years ago.  For those of you reading this that still believe, good for you, that is your prerogative.  Up until now though I’ve always left a little bit of room to believe that there might be a God, with a strong emphasis on the word MIGHT.  I’m not trying to make any sort of special statement through this post, I am simply acknowledging something about me that has been brewing for a good long time and I’ve decided before the years end to make it final because I’ve never really just come out and said it.  I am my own person, completely in charge of my thoughts, actions, and life and I’ll leave it to the words of Ricky Gervais to say the rest for me.  I don’t apologize for my acknowledgement, nor do I have any standing issues with those of you from my past who have tried to convince me of your God.  You don’t have to apologize for pushing me to consider it.  Yes, you failed, but I don’t fault you for it. Click the link at the bottom to read the whole essay.

Why don’t you believe in God? I get that question all the time. I always try to give a sensitive, reasoned answer. This is usually awkward, time consuming and pointless. People who believe in God don’t need proof of his existence, and they certainly don’t want evidence to the contrary. They are happy with their belief. They even say things like “it’s true to me” and “it’s faith.” I still give my logical answer because I feel that not being honest would be patronizing and impolite. It is ironic therefore that “I don’t believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence and from what I’ve heard the very definition is a logical impossibility in this known universe,” comes across as both patronizing and impolite.

Arrogance is another accusation. Which seems particularly unfair. Science seeks the truth. And it does not discriminate. For better or worse it finds things out. Science is humble. It knows what it knows and it knows what it doesn’t know. It bases its conclusions and beliefs on hard evidence -­- evidence that is constantly updated and upgraded. It doesn’t get offended when new facts come along. It embraces the body of knowledge. It doesn’t hold on to medieval practices because they are tradition. If it did, you wouldn’t get a shot of penicillin, you’d pop a leach down your trousers and pray. Whatever you “believe,” this is not as effective as medicine. Again you can say, “It works for me,” but so do placebos. My point being, I’m saying God doesn’t exist. I’m not saying faith doesn’t exist. I know faith exists. I see it all the time. But believing in something doesn’t make it true. Hoping that something is true doesn’t make it true. The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn’t. It’s not a matter of opinion. You can have your own opinions. But you can’t have your own facts.

Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, “Why don’t you believe I can fly?” You’d say, “Why would I?” I’d reply, “Because it’s a matter of faith.” If I then said, “Prove I can’t fly. Prove I can’t fly see, see, you can’t prove it can you?” You’d probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, ‘’F—ing fly then you lunatic.”

Click here to read the rest.

I likely won’t write again before the new year but I do want to warn you that I am moving this blog to a new hosting service after the first of the year which will cause some down time.  I’ve about had it with my current web host, Go Daddy.  Over the years their servers have become slow and unresponsive.  I don’t like what I’m getting for what I’m paying (which is about $200 a year for hosting).  I’m going to be moving this blog over to DreamHost which is where my newest blog kingfisherchronicles.org is hosted.  Their servers are much faster and they will be more responsive to my blog which is nearly 5 years old at this point (if you count the time I was not writing much).  Much has changed in my life over the past several years and I’m happy to say that this blog has managed to keep up and keep you up to date.  Have a good holiday and I’ll write again in the new year!

As we get closer now to the new year, it’s time for a little reflection on this past year.  It’s been quite a year for me.  Back in January of 2010, I had no idea that by the end of the year I’d be living in my own house, that I actually would qualify and get a mortgage after so many years of financial damage had been done to my credit report.  I had no idea that it would take me the better part of 6 months to fight with the credit reporting agencies about their own failure to report and document things correctly or that, by the end of it, it would only take me 30 days to close.  So now I own a house with a mortgage, in the little town of Interlochen with a dog, a yard, and new neighbors.  And I’ve done all this largely on my own except for the bits and pieces of financial help and MASSIVE amounts of encouragement I’ve received from my folks.  I think they are as impressed as I am that I was able to get this done without having to borrow lots of money from them.  It makes me feel good that I didn’t have to, after all, I SHOULD be doing these things on my own at this point in my life.  I have a good job, a good income, and finally, I will now have a tangible asset and of course a LOT more responsibility.

This has also been quite a good year for me at work.  My income only continues to grow but more than that I’ve finally reached a point now at work where I can be considered an experienced manager at least by my companies definition.  In April of this next year, I’ll be entering my 7th year with my company and my 5th year as part of the management staff.  I think that without question, that gives me a degree of credibility and earns me some respect from my peers and employees.  People listen to me as a leader, not necessarily because I’ve got the experience under my belt but more because I have and can keep a level head in a VERY unleveled working environment.  I have been able to stick it out and make my job work for me as my career and I’ve been able to promote (or rather convince) other employees that retail employment can really work for you if you let it.  NEVER in my life did I envision myself becoming a retail manager, I think this job is not one that most people dream of having.  I never did.  But, it has worked out very well for me despite having to put up with random idiots, freaks, and fools, I do enjoy my job quite a bit and I enjoy the fact that it keeps me entertained.  I could never go back to a desk job at this point.  How boring, how tedious, how monotonous.  Every day is new adventure for me and I hope that I’m never forced to change that.  It takes a toll on my body but that is of my own doing.  Part of my new routine now going into the new year is to start taking a little better care of my aging body in hopes that it will last me a while.

My photography has also taken off quite well this year.  I purchased a professional level camera in February which has allowed me to capture quite a number of truly amazing photos.  While photography is still just a hobby for me, my work has been featured on Leelanau.com 4 times in the past year, I’ve had multiple requests from people to buy my pictures, I’ve even had to sign an affidavit at Meijer because they could not believe the pictures I was developing with them were my own.  That puts me in an exclusive little club at this Meijer up here.  Their little file isn’t very thick which I suspect says more about their inability to develop quality images using quality materials than it does about me since there are so many great photographers in this region who rightly choose to develop their photos through professional photo labs.  I am looking forward to moving ahead with my photography this next year and perhaps doing another book in addition to the others I’ve already published.

On the family side of my life, I am looking forward to the addition of a niece named Lucy.  This will make child #2 for Sarah and Brian and I could not be a prouder (is that word) Uncle!  I am always saddened that I don’t get to see them very often however that is not uncommon for people in our age group.  Families simply don’t all live in the same city or state any more and I accept that fact I think more than my folks do.  I know they would like to be closer to their grandkids and to Sarah and Brian but it’s not a reality that is possible at this time.  At least it gives all of us a reason to get out of the state every now and then and visit other places.  I’m sure if we did not have family in Iowa, we never would have made it out to Colorado this past fall.  Exploring our environment means having to take risks and having to take trips.  I can’t wait to make a trip out to see little Lucy and her brother Christopher this next year.  I look forward to learning the nickname for Lucy to counter Wally.

I’ll wrap this post up for now and leave by saying that I hope you readers do stick around.  There are lots of things going on in politics right now that I want to write about and share when I can find the time to do it.  At the very least, you will all find some amusement or pleasure in reading what I have to say.  Today then I’m off to clean out my garage in hopes that I’ll soon be able to park my car inside it.  Cheers!

Tomorrow night I’ll be sleeping in the new house and I can only pray that Gavin the Wonder Dog takes chill pill by then.  He was a ROYAL pain in the ass today although I can’t blame him too much.  His world and daily routine has crumbled right before his eyes in the past few days and he’s taken it fairly well.  It will take some adjusting at the new house for him but I’m quite sure that he will come out just fine.

It’s going to take me a while to recover from this.  Tomorrow night, I will have to get the house in some sort of order so at least I can get from one end of the place to the other without falling over boxes.  It’s going to be a real challenge.  I’ve got a lot of shit.  You don’t realize what you’ve got until you have to pack it all up and move it.

Now, I’m off to bed to try and get some sleep before all hell breaks tomorrow.  Hope everyone is doing just grand!

So, what next?  Now I have to figure out how to get out of this condo.  My garage is packed at this point with boxes and all kinds of random shit.  A good deal of it I’ll be able to move rather quickly using my car but it will be time now to recruit my folks and their trailer to see what we can get moved as soon as possible.  My next decision is whether or not I want to hire some people to move my big stuff.  I’ve called a couple of places and it would appear that I could hire this move for less than $500 which is a fair amount of money but considering my first mortgage payment won’t be due until January, I will have a little extra cash that I can spend getting this done.  I’ve got about 10 big things that will be impossible for me to move myself.  The rest is (or will be soon) packed up in boxes.  I will need to make a few more phone calls to see what I can come up with.  Once I get that figured out, then I have to get the carpet cleaned in the condo.  I agreed to do this when I moved in as a replacement for the cleaning deposit which I did not pay.  Going to cost me about $150 or less if I can find a coupon.  Ideally I’d like to be moved out as much as possible by Thanksgiving.  That will give me a few days to get this place cleaned up so as to ensure that I get my deposit back.  That’s really pushing it though because I am being consumed at work right now preparing for BLACK FRIDAY.  We’ll see what happens.

So, thats my big news right now.  I wanted to post the video below because today marks the 35 anniversary of the sinking of the Edmond Fitzgerald.  Enjoy the video.  This is a classic song, one of my favorites.

This year, I’ve had 4 photos featured on the Leelanau.com web site and it’s rather exciting to me because that web site is the number one resource for all things Leelanau!  According to the webmaster, they get over 100,000 pages hits per day on that site so even if a visitor never clicks on my picture, I am still getting tons of exposure.  There are so many good photographers up in this area, I am happy just to be considered good enough to pass muster with the web master.  If you don’t have this website in your favorites, you might want to add it.  It’s worth checking out on a regular basis if you are interested in the things that go on up here in the northwoods.

So along with the exposure on Leelanau.com, I also have seen a huge spike in hits to my flickr account (which is where the photos are hosted that appear on leelanau.com).  I average about 50 hits to my photos per day on Flickr which is pretty modest but when my photos are featured, they jump significantly.  In just 2 days I have received just over 900 hits on my photos, I’ve been added to multiple photo pools on Flickr, and I’ve received a ton of good and supportive comments from people all over the place.  I’ve even been asked by a few people if I’d be interested in selling some of my work.  That has caught me a bit by surprise because I’ve not really considered doing it.  I know the value of intellectual property such as this.  I’ve always been hesitant to sell my work primarily because when you sell it, you gain notoriety, but you lose some value in the work itself.  Once it shows up on a postcard, it becomes common and I’ve not decided yet if that’s the way I want my photographs to be seen.  What I need is about $5000 so that I can make prints, frame them, and get them placed in a gallery.  It’s much easier to sell a print for a worthwhile sum if you’ve taken the time to present it properly.  It’s also easier to control what happens to it.  I do copyright my images but those copyrights extend only as far as digital media allows it (which is not terribly far).  Digital media is easily stolen.  It’s a double edge sword.  I want the exposure but I also don’t want to be ripped off.  I’ll have to make some decisions on what direction I want to go with that sometime soon in the future.

Not much more to write about tonight.  This weekend is Halloween and it’s time again for the annual Gurthet Halloween Pumpkin Festival.  I’ll be spending Saturday night out in Leelanau with the family carving pumpkins and taking pictures.  I’ll be sure to post a few here as well of the final results.  Last year I believe we carved about 150 pumpkins, knowing Matt, I’m sure we will try to beat that number this year.  We’ll see.

Here is one of the pictures that was featured on Leelanu.com this week.

I used this picture here to give you an idea of how amazing the waves were today.  The surfer in the water is at least 6 feet tall (and crazy).  At this beach, the water remains fairly shallow for about 15 feet past the shore (the surfer is in about 3′ of water where he’s standing) and then drops off to about 10 feet deep for another 200 yards at which point it drops of quite a bit.  These waves are breaking at about 10 feet high.  The surfer was having a hell of a time keeping it together.  Another windy day is expected tomorrow so get out there and see the lake.  This only happens a couple times a year up here.

Gettysburg Address