November 24th, 2008 admin
Just got back from a long weekend at HCR. Got a chance to catch up with good friends who for the most part I hadn’t seen in awhile. Rick moved to Dallas, Mike jetted off to Prague for 5-weeks, Daron and Lori, like me and my wife, are consumed with parenthood and work and Lorne -well there is no good reason why I haven’t seen him or his wife Angela.
The weather ended up being a little colder than predicted so most mornings were spent eating breakfast playin’ music and taking hikes around the ranch. We did actually climb a little Saturday afternoon.
Saturday night was the highlight of the entire weekend. After dinner we spent the entire night sitting by the fire in the lodge listening to Grateful Dead, playing the mandolin and guitar, drinkin’ Scotch and Bourbon (this is starting to sound like the lyrics from a George Thorogood song I know) and watching Lorne parade around in a Cowboy hat. Eric and Keith if you are out there – you were definitely in my thoughts and you were sorely missed.
It was great catching up and talking about all the challenges life happened to be throwing at us all. And while we all live separate lives, our challenges are not all that different…till next time.
Here are some pics from the weekend.
Rick
Mike
Lorne
Daron, Lori & Andrew
Posted in HCR, Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, Photography, climbing | 3 Comments »
November 18th, 2008 admin
I tackled a little project this past weekend that came about because of a simple statement made by Caroline – “you know Randy you really need your own place in the house to put your stuff” she might have said “crap” but I can’t recall. I thought to myself your right. The boys have a play room in addition to their bedrooms, Caroline has her office…so I need to find me a space.
The only area unclaimed at this point is the unfinished basement. While in its current state it was a complete disaster with boxes and crap strewn about – but I had a vision. I will carve out a space and make in MINE.
The plan had to be quick, simple and cheap…which ruled out installing drywall. Knowing that the concrete foundation would be exposed as well as all of the duct-work, I needed a solution that fit the “raw” space yet provide some finish to the space. So being a fan of Chipotle and their simple interiors I went in search of corrugated galvanized metal siding. Luckily the stuff is cheap ($13 for 2×10 panels) and it’s easy to install – just screw it into the studs. It took me about 4-hours to cut and install about 5-sheets. At that point I started to like what I was seeing and yelled upstairs to Caroline to come take a look.
I was pleasantly surprised when she said “I really like it – can we do the whole basement this way” Uhhh I guess so…so off to the hardware store for more siding. Below are pics of “My Space” before and after. I will post up pics of the entire basement after I finish.
Stay tuned…
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
November 12th, 2008 admin
All last week I listened to the soundtrack to the movie ”Into the Wild”. Which in my opinion is fairly good – especially the mandolin piece titled “Rise” but I digress.
While I read the book several years back, I realized I hadn’t seen the movie. So Caroline was kind enough to pick it up at the local movie store for me to watch. While I won’t go into great detail about the movie, I must say I was especially struck by the final message of the movie that is…
Happiness is only real when shared
While the coincidence didn’t elude me that his real name Christopher and his “re-invented” name is Alexander are the names of my two sons….this somehow struck a personal chord with me as much of the story is centered on his relationship to his parents. Not sure that I have a major point other than the fact that I am fortunate to have shared many happy moments with my family, friends and especially my wife Caroline and sons Alex and Chris. So if you fall into one of those categories – thanks!
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
November 10th, 2008 admin
Well I bit the bullet and bought a Nikon SB800 flash this weekend. Without going into a bunch of gory details…suffice it to say this now gives me the ability to control my other flash (SB600) wirelessly - Giving me alot more options when lighting a subject.
While I have alot to learn on lighting, Alex was kind enough and patient enough to serve as “the talent” while I played with my new toy. The image below was taken in our basement with the flash to Alex’s right. To control the beam of light I made a “snoot” out of a cereal box to focus the light, rather than have it flood the image. I ran across this technique while admiring the images of Nick Turpin that were featured in a blog post at Strobist.
While I’m not completely satisfied with the image, I already love the options this new capability now opens up for me.
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
