December, 2004:

I got my contact prescription yesterday. For the next two weeks I’m trying a lens that should help me hate contacts less. They run about $170 per year, which isn’t terrible. I’ve certainly paid a lot more. I asked about the RGP lenses, but the optomitrist said that, unless I’ve been wearing them for a while, she doesn’t really like to recommend them to new wearers as they are more difficult to get used to and feel much different in the eye than a soft lens. Also, in order to try them out, I’d have to pay $75 or so just to get a set to try, since they are custom fit to your eye. So, since these were free to try, I decided to give it a go.

Afterwards, I met up with Rob to work on the John Wilkes Kissing Booth. This took up the rest of the day. Justin, Jess, Ashley, and Vicky met up with us later in the day for dinner, and then back to Justin’s house for more work on the Booth. It looks good.

Today, I’m heading over to Justin’s house to help with more party preparations. Then, Jess and I may have a small party to go to after that (she’s getting the details for us today). Afterwards, it’s back to Justin’s house to decorate the Booth and handle more party things. Desi is coming over to make Fissoli (sp?) too. Mmmmmm.

I was kind of waiting for people to request that I post more of these, but, since no one did, I’m assuming you’re all either waiting patiently, or you don’t realize the importance of it. Believe me, you want “all”:http://gentlenews.com/archives/2004/12/17/7-sins-more-details-as-promised/ seven of “these”:http://revjim.net/item/10211/.

Here’s another one. You should see the remaining four scattered about today and tomorrow. Get them. Print them. Bring them. You’ll be very glad you did.

ANGER

(click for more information)

I’m going to get my eyes examined today, I think. I’m interested in wearing contacts full-time again. I still have a bunch left over from when I bought them 3 or 4 years ago, but they are expired and my prescription has changed.

Contacts are so expensive. For the kind that I need, It’s about $80 every 3 months. Of course, that’s the price I get online from my insurance website. The doctor is going to charge me 4 times that much and will refuse to release my prescription, knowing my luck. And, he’ll insist that I buy a 3 year supply… you know… just in case.

I’m also considering buying plywood/pressboard to put down some floor in our garage attic. Since the storage in our house is SEVERELY limited, I think it’s a good idea to get some up there. I think it would also be nice to put a door in the wall of one of the bedrooms to make getting in and out of the attic easier. It shouldn’t be too much trouble. I’ll have to talk to my dad and see what he thinks.

I also have a Ruby project I’m working on that I’d like to get a bunch of work done on today. And, I’d love to have some time to drive around and take a few pictures.

I also need to call the liquor store about getting a Keg for New Year’s Eve. I didn’t think about it before now, but, I hope that’s something you can order with only 2 days of notice. I’ve never done it before.

Fun stuff, huh?

I got a *bunch* of good stuff for Christmas. Aside from being able to spend time with my family and friends (which, in many cases, are the same group of people) I got a lot of material gifts too.

My loving wife got me a new razor, a Linksys WRT54G (woo!), some clothes, and a whole other assortment of thises and thats. My parents got me a whole bunch of stuff including a set of Skil Cordless Powertools, which is quite nice. Additionally, they got me a backlight stand, a backdrop stand, and a second battery for my camera.

So, who wants to come play with my new background stand?

It’s snow-ish-ing. A snow and ice mixture. It’s beautiful. I’ve got some shopping to do today, but hopefully, I’ll be able to squeeze in a few pictures too. If it lasts.

It’s supposed to get down to 23° tonight and stay below freezing until Christmas Day. But, it’s also not supposed to snow until this afternoon. So… I still have my hopes up for a White Christmas though it’s doubtful.

Here’s another image from my shoot with Danielle. I’ve got two more shoots with her coming up that are both pretty exciting.

high cut

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Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Yesterday, on the drive home, I got very cold. I turned on the heater and everything was much better. When I finally made it home I took my temperature. It was just under 100. Jess got me a big pile of blankets and I tried to eat some dinner, but it didn’t help. So, at 7pm I got in bed with the heating blanket. An hour later, Jess took my temperature again and I was just under 102. I had planned on getting up but Jess laid down with me and we both passed out. Around midnight, I was hot, so I turned off the heating blanket and took off most of my covers. Then, I woke up again around 2am when Jess woke up to get undressed and actually get in bed. I didn’t wake again until 5am.

I feel fine this morning. I have a little bit of a headache and my back is very sore. But, my temperature is normal again. So, I guess I’m over it. I don’t know.

Here’s a shot from a recent shoot with Jennifer. The title on this one is truly inspired. I think I’ll title all of my images like this from now on.

Crouching with Bench

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As always, your comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Jess and I are heading out to Keller today. From 1 until 6 or so, we’ll be making lots and lots of Tamales.

I like Tamales and, despite the work involved, they are fun to make. But, I don’t quite understand why we’re making a metric buttload of them in December. Regardless, I like spending time with my family, so it should be fun regardless.

At 6, when my brother finally gets there, we’ll be taking family pictures. These turn out terrible nearly every year. First of all, everyone in the house is in the picture, so we have to deal with a remote release and all that fun stuff. Secondly, there isn’t really a good place to pose *all* of us in front of. My mom’s house is large, but there really aren’t any rooms big enough to hold *all* of us and still have room to move things that clutter the image out of the way. None the less, it’ll be fun trying.

This year will be the first year we’ve had studio lights to attempt it with. Hopefully, that’ll make them at least marginally better than they have been in the past.

Mom wants us to dress “nice” so that she can get individual shots of the couples and families within our family, too. So, I guess I’ll be bringing my nicer clothes with me as opposed to wearing them there, as nice clothes, chili soaked beef, pounds and pounds of masa, and photographs is a receipe for me getting something on myself where it shouldn’t be.

Lisa, Mike, Jess and I went to Holiday in the Park yesterday at Six Flags. I’d never been before. We had a pretty good time, but it is a bit of a ripoff, really.

Most people (not us, thankfully) are paying full price to get in ($20 – $30, depending on if you have a Coke can or not, which is also quite a stupid situation). yet at least 1/3 of the rides are closed. No Batman the Ride, no Mr. Freeze. In fact, that whole section of the park is closed. No Flashback. No Texas Giant. No Cliffhanger (or whatever it’s called these days). None of the water rides (obviously).

To make it worse, on a regular day in the regular season, you could get there at 10am and stay until 10pm, enjoy 12 full hours of waiting in line. But Holiday in the Park is only open from 4pm to 10pm, cutting your time in half. Add to that the fact that of all the times I’ve ever gone to Six Flags yesterday was by *far* the busiest and it doesn’t really seem like you’re getting your money’s worth. I mean, we had a good time. And our tickets were only $10. But still, it seems a bit silly.