trasna.net

Technical update (finally!)

For sometime now (about 6 months actually) I have been wanting to update the backend of this blog. I finally got it done today. It involved copying and recreating the site, creating an empty database and migrating the structure and data from the original database to the new one!! Everything seems to be working now. So now that everything is in working order, blog on…

Updates

Lots of updates to css has made this a theme (Emire by Phu Ly) I can live with. Some code was borrowed from Kubrick. All in all I like this one. I need to do some work on the sidebar… but that is for another day.

Themes

ok. I had to get away from k2 for now. I will be trying different themes for a while until I design my own.

Look and Feel

I thought I would try out a new look for a while. This is the K2 theme by Michael Heilemann and Chris Davis. Mike Heilemann designed the default theme for WordPress. I like this one very much; and it will be the basis for my next custom design. The Musyoka theme may make an appearance now and then…

I can see I need to make some adjustments to the make the blog render better. In time, in time.

New Camera Woes

I recently purchased a Nikon D50 with an AF-S DX 18 – 55 mm F3.5 – F5.6G ED lens and an AF-S DX 55 – 200 mm F4.0 – F5.6G ED lens. I really love this camera. It is the first high quality digital SLR camera I have owned. My other digital camera is a Casio Exilim EX-Z50. Even though it takes decent pictures it has always felt like a toy to me. The very first digital camera I owned is a Kodak DC3200 that I got free when I purchased a computer. So I am very pleased to have a digital SLR that is on par with my Minolta X700 SLR film camera. I am really disappointed about the demise of the Minolta camera line. But, that is another story…

I am having great difficulty with this camera. Actually, it isn’t the camera at all, it’s me. I have taken about 100 pictures so far. I have managed to delete all but 8 of them. There were several that I really (really!) liked. But through a series of errors I have managed to delete them. I think I am getting used to the camera now and I truely hope there are no other stupid things I can do to delete pictures.

The pictures this camera takes are really excellent terms of resolution, clarity, and color rendering. The camera pretty much allows the user to point and shoot if you want to but also allows significant control over exposure setting too. I am just getting to be friends with this camera and I’m liking it a lot.

Buried Roots

It is a beautiful spring day as I walk home from work. Syracuse University has a nice campus. Unfortunately, the university has succumbed to a landscaping style that I don’t care for. I call it “Buried Roots”. That is, the common practice of clearing a circle around a majestic tree and then mounding mulch like an inverted cone at the base where the tree enters the ground. It is beyond me why people find this attractive. It is as if the tree in its natural surroundings isn’t good enough for us to admire. Some landscapers seem to have this need to add mulch, sometimes in fake colors (red or black), I guess to “enhance” the appearance of the tree. Feels to me like its origins are being buried.

It occurred to me that we do the same to ourselves sometimes… bury our roots. As if our origins aren’t good enough to expose to the world. We often long to be something we are not; something the world might tolerate but isn’t really who we are if left to our natural surroundings. Oh well… just makes me wonder. It is a beautiful day today.

Spring Vigil

Every year I play this little nature game. Each day I chech the trees and watch the buds as they develop. I am particularly interested in trees. Inevitably there comes a day when I look and am startled that al of the leaves have somehow appeared. Kind of like between a blink on the eyes. Seemingly one moment there are no leaves and then voila! the trees are fully dressed in their finest. So, I am again on my spring vigil to see if I can capture that special moment… when the leaves appear and the wonder of creation overwhelms me once more.

Driving: Convenience or… ?

There are things in life that have the characteristic of both being both a benefit and a detriment. For me driving is one of these. For the first 28 years of my life I didn’t have a driver’s license. I walked or rode a bike everywhere or took a bus when I needed to travel longer distances. I was pretty fit in those days – burning as many calories as I consumed. And then I got a license. For a few years it was ok. My wife (girlfriend at that time) had a car and would let me use it some. But the some became more as I decreased my walking/biking and began driving more.

Read the rest of this entry »

A beginning

I have been thinking about this for a while. I will write some of my more personal thoughts over the next few months. Some of the things I contemplate are very negative and some are very positive and some are just my thoughts. Never one to be controversial I tend not to say things that may cause discomfort to others or that I may feel intensly about. But reading other blogs have inspired me to attempt to write some things down. There are several topics that will emerge. Some I have a clear picture of. Others will emerge as I write. Enjoy if you care to, criticize if you must. And please comment! But understand… these are my thoughts and feelings. I don’t claim to represent anyone else except me.

Winning the war while losing every battle

I have been trying for quite some time to lose weight. My pattern is predictable: lose a little, gain a little; lose a lot, gain a lot. Over and over and over again. It is easy (at least for me) to lose perspective on something like weight loss. It sometimes seems so futile. Afterall, we have to eat, don’t we???

Read the rest of this entry »