David's Page

Blogger.

2008-12-01T14:34:00.000-08:00

It's been a long while since I've updated this thing. Been having lot's of fun and busy at work, but the biggest problem is trying to connect and stay connected to blogger with my crappy satelite internet connection. Flickr works great, so that's where I now tend to post photos and things. Check it out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66312989@N00/

Poor Edgar.

2008-09-30T13:34:00.001-07:00

Now that is is a little over a year old, today was the day.

First Fridays with Chris and Heather

2008-09-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

We went out Friday night! First time we have been out like that for a while, we went to First Fridays at the MMFA with Chris and Heather and then for Mexican food at the new Ixtapa. They are a really fun couple to hang out with.

Hiking in Tuskegee

2008-09-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Mary and I took Edgar for a short hike in Tuskegee National Forest Yesterday, it was nice to get in the woods for a bit.

I've been lazy with Blogger

2008-08-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have not had too much to post about lately. I've had more fun with Flickr than this site the past few months, and then my new Canon point and shoot camera went kerplunk and that has kept me from documenting things. I did get a cafepress page though, so you can get my skateboard logo on tshirts and other items if you like, click here to check it out.

More items will be coming soon.

Here are a few recent photos. Our house one night last week:

Edgar being happy at sunset:

The ramp:

Sunset behind the neighbor's barn:

Helmetcam!!!!!!

2008-07-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

Last week I was waiting on an order of Seseme Tofu at China King. With 15 minutes to kill I walked into Wolf Camera and checked out the clearance table, and saw an Oregon Scientific Helmetcam for $19.75. Had to have it. The quality really is bad, I've seen cell phones this good. I sure wouldn't have paid the original retail price of $120, but for $20 it's a fun toy if I break it next week.
This is my first decent video, the camera taped to the bottom of my deck for a run on my ramp. I have an idea for this camera that is going to be really funny, but that will come after I improvise a fisheye lens and dog-collar mount.

I Have a Ramp!

2008-07-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I have been working on this thing for 2 months now. It's something I have always wanted, and it's beautiful. It's got a 7.5' transition, and it varies in height from 4' on the short section, 5.5' on the other side and 6' on the tall side. The 6' part has concrete coping. Since completion it has rained like hell, some rain got it before I could get it sealed well but I'm working to keep in good shape. I also hurt my leg and have not been able to ride as much as I'd like. The joist are mostly 2"x4"s, I would have prefered 2"x6" but I had a lot of scrap wood in the barn and was trying to cut corners.
I got all but the blue paint as "oops" paint at Home Depot and Lowes. If you are a homeowner I suggest going by the paint counter every time you are in there. Oops paint is where they mixed a custom color and it was returned because it wasn't a perfect match. It's all $5 a gallon, even the real expensive paint.

Reason #462 Why My Wife Rocks

2008-07-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

She made me sesame noodles with bok choy and cucumbers. Damn that stuff was good.

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

We did it up for July 4th this year. Had all kinds of activities and the croquet by fire tourny I have been wanting to have for so long. The croquet however was started WAY too late(partly because I didn't listen to suggestions) and moved way too slow. Next year there will be a smaller course and we will start the first rounds during the daytime and have the final rounds by fire. We did declare Jim Wahl(sp?) the winner as he had the best time advancing, and we drew numbers for everyone else to get prizes.

My cousin Webb came and visited also, I have never had a good chance to hang out with him but we got to talk some at the wedding and had a good time on the fourth. Here is a shot of him playing the spoons:

Also, Mike, Adam and Sean helped me finish my ramp. It still needs one more surface board, a few braces and the final coat of paint but those guys helped me do what would have taken weeks in a day and we managed to skate a bit. My old friend Steve Allen was in town from Colorado, he was nailing fakie disasters and Sean rolled in from the 4' deck on a bike. I was busy and didn't take action shots, but I will get a session going soon and post up. I did get this cool shot of Mike welding my coping though:

WOOOO!-HOOOOOO!

2008-07-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

The skies have been amazing out in the country the past few nights. Edgar has been in full-tilt puppy mode as well.

Is anyone really this stupid?

2008-07-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

It amazes me that a frozen pizza needs to have something in the instructions saying it needs to be cooked before eating.

Dogwater

2008-06-25T07:26:00.001-07:00

Mary gives Edgar a drink on a hot day. I'm lucky to have these two!

Montgomery Biscuits Game

2008-06-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

We went to a Montgomery Biscuits game this past Saturday night. I don't know why I don't go more often, I have never been a fan of baseball but it's a great thing for the city and it needs to be supported. The weather was great and the sunset behind the stadium was beautiful and there was a fireworks show afterwards. The biscuits lost however, though it was a good game and went to 11 innings.
In the photo are two of my colleagues, on left is Chris Stacy who is the Univeristy Photographer at Griffith University in Bribane, Queensland, and on right is Joe Olivera from Tuskegee University. Joe and I are going to get some local photo workshops going on around here before long.

Our Honeymoon

2008-06-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I know it took a while, but I finally finished editing the photos from our honeymoon. These are my favorites, I will be making a dvd slideshow with music and everything eventually.

Our Garden, 05-21-08

2008-05-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Some days nothing is better than skating

2008-05-12T14:37:00.001-07:00

Last week got to be a long week. I worked 13 hours Thursday, 12 hours Friday and Saturday too. When I finished on Saturday I managed to grab a quick session at Montgomery's park though, I really needed that!

Pools Open!

2008-05-08T09:16:00.001-07:00

Got my pool up and running. I have only swam in it a couple times though, the water is still cold as hell.

Lizard Porn

2008-05-05T13:50:00.001-07:00

I found these guys laying out next to our pool yesterday and got a few photos.

Saturday

2008-05-05T13:45:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday we made homemade pizzas:
Harvested our first head of lettuce from the garden:
And visited the Montgomery Farmer's Market:

WOO-HOO!

2008-05-05T13:37:00.001-07:00

Saturday we went to the MMFA's first Fridays thing and had mexican food afterwards with Alton, Billy, Dougie, and Scott & Candie. We had a great time but were paying for it in hangover land Saturday.

VEGGIES!

2008-05-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

The broccoli has come a long way since this post, and we will have tomatoes and zucchini very soon also, ymmmm.

Doofus and I

2008-05-01T12:21:00.001-07:00

Mary took this photo of me and our boy the other day while we were walking at ASF. We are going back tomorrow night for first Fridays for music and wine and to check out the Karsh exhibit.

Soccerdog

2008-04-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Italy was great, but it's good to be back in Alabama for my nightly soccer matches with Edgar too. He is getting better, he can pick up the ball now and dribble with his front paws, we chase each other around the yard.

Honeymoon stuff

2008-04-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on the honeymoon. We will post more photos as time allows.

Our Wedding Day

2008-04-21T09:22:00.001-07:00

We are back from the Honeymoon now and all is well. We had a great time at the wedding, thanks to everyone that came. Our only regret was not being able to stop and talk to so many people that we had not seen in a long time.
Also, someone left a women's red leather jacket at the reception, email me if it's yours and I'll send it to you.

We have been busy!

2008-03-31T15:40:00.001-07:00

Things have been busy for me lately so I have not been posting stuff on here. This photo of Edgar was taken Saturday the 29th. On this coming Saturday there will be a big tent right where he is sitting for our wedding reception, it will be a fun time.

Another Broccoli Shot

2008-03-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

My broccoli as of yesterday morning. Hasn't changed much since last week's shot, but the picture is prettier.

New Photos

2008-03-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

I shot a few more photos to test out the new camera yesterday. This one was lit with the on-camera flash.
Edgar and Mary relaxing after a long day of gardening and digging in the yard.
Setup a Sunpack 120J on barebulb to light this one. The camera performs best at low ISO settings for sure.

New Camera, Nasty Veggies

2008-03-06T13:51:00.001-08:00

I got a new camera(thanks Mary!) for our upcoming trip to Italy. It's a Canon G9, I've been eying them for a while.
This is the first photo I've taken with it, not counting a couple photos of Edgar's nose last night. The plants are broccoli growing in our garden. I titled the post "nasty veggies" because I really don't like the taste of broccoli at all. But it's damn good for you, so I eat it anyway.
So far the camera seems to work rather well, I will put it to a bigger test in days to come.

Project Complete

2008-03-05T17:44:00.000-08:00

I have finished and installed our new wine cabinet now. Well, sorta. I am going to hae to remove it and sand down the bottom a bit because it's a tight fit and doesn't line up just right. I still need to glue the copper backsplash on the side also, it's just sitting there in the photo. On the other side we are glueing wine corks until it is covered. I had saved two big fat bags of them over the past several years, but they seem to have bee lost in moving. The ones mounted on teh cabinet are ones Mary had saved in the past couple years. At current rate this side ofthe cabinet will be complete in 5 more years.

Lunar Eclipse

2008-02-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

Got an eclipse last night.

Sk8tin!

2008-02-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

I got to go skating last night. Didn't get there until 6:30 but stayed for a couple hours and managed to ride 3 different boards and take photos. I have not been skating much at all lately due to weather, work, house stuff and a cold. It was really good to ride again.

First Project

2008-02-20T07:57:00.001-08:00

This is the first project other than my skateboards I've made in my shop. I just got the table saw so that helped. It's a wine and liqour cabinet that will be an expansion of our kitchen cabinets. The top will join with the ceiling and the bottom will sit on the countertop. I'm going to put a wood door on the part to the bottom left, our liquor can go there and Mary's wine collection will go in the top. The face strip on the right hand side is extra-wide because we are going to mount old wine corks on that side of the cabinet for decor.

My shop!

2008-02-20T07:10:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite thing about our home. I have been working at getting my workshop setup since we moved in. I recently built this deck out front, it will have railings and an arbor. I planted jasmine so in a couple years the top will be covered. From that chair I can shoot my .22 into a target I have set up by the woods.
I have a bunch of tools setup inside now, along with a little beer fridge and a futon. Most of my tools are for woodworking but I have a bike stand and several other things as well. I can amuse myself all day in here.

Burrrrrrr

2008-02-20T07:08:00.001-08:00

It's been chilly around here lately, and my house-mates are bundled up! Though this morning the yard was full of robins and this weekend I will start planting again, spring is here.

Edgar-Edgar-Edgar

2008-02-05T08:01:00.000-08:00

Latest photo of our boy.

SNOW!

2008-02-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

It snowed here a couple weeks ago. Doesn't happen often in Alabama so we take photos of it. It even lasted until noon!

My little boy isn't little anymore.

2008-01-16T13:09:00.001-08:00

It's time for more photos already. This was taken a month ago today and he can't wear the hoodie anymore. When we bought it for him it was too big.

IR Photo of the House

2008-01-11T07:19:00.000-08:00

Taken over the holiday break at some point.

Mary's First Day on the New Bike

2008-01-08T13:29:00.000-08:00

Mary and I rode the Pleasant Hill Trail in Tuskegee this past weekend. It was the first chance she had to ride the new bike and she did great. Other than a little brush with a tree she she stayed upright the whole time! Pleasant Hill is an easy 4 mile out and back trail and a great first ride with little technical difficulty and no real climbs.
We hope to hit Swayback on Sunday, weather permitting since I have to work on Saturday.

2008-01-01T08:50:00.000-08:00

For New Years we had a campfire in the backyard . The guy in the center of the photo is(was) 2007 man. We set him on the fire at midnight, it was quite fun. Video coming soon, he had a hat of rockets and pockets full of firecrackers, as well as the lease from my old apartment, Heather's student loan papers, a set of Chris's drumsticks and various other items. Perhaps we will make this a tradition.

2008-01-01T08:44:00.000-08:00

This is our family Christmas photo. Edgar was hard to get to sit still.

2008-01-01T08:42:00.001-08:00

Mary got a bike for Christmas. We go for our first off-road ride together today.

Merry Christmas!

2008-01-01T08:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas was good to us this year. We stayed busy, had our Christmas in our new home, visited my mother in hers and then packed up and treked to Atlanta Christmas night.
I'd be posting more photos, but our internet service in the country is poor and this is a hassle.
More are coming though.

Dayhiking in Talladega National Forest

2007-12-03T07:08:00.000-08:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Edgar's First Trip to Keisal Park

2007-11-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

GODSPEED RICHARD!

2007-11-15T14:13:00.001-08:00

Our friend Richard was picked up by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department today. He will be placed in a facility where he will have dirt to dig in yet be protected until the springtime, then he will be returned to the wild. This is great news, he has been living in our bathtub for the the past couple months. We at one time had to give him shots(not easy with a tortoise) and we had to squirt pink goo down his throat as well. When we brought him home he was very sick, he had trouble breathing and snot ran out of his nostrils. We kept him on a heating pad indoors as he had to stay warm and take antibiotics. He got better and better, and when I put him in the yard to graze last week he was munching grass and yard weeds like a madman, his activity levels really rose high. I got attached to the little guy watching him as he desperately tried to get away from every time he got in the yard. No matter how many times we would pick him up and carry him back to the area behind our house, he would turn around and start heading toward the woods. Sensing his determination made us even more aware of his desire to live in his own world, but with his illness he would not have made it through a night.
I am still troubled however that we had to do this. It bewilders me that someone could be walking in the forest and find such a creature, and decide to take him home and paint him orange as though he was personal property. Richard is as real a being as any of us. He is over 30 years old and probably roamed his habitat longer than the asshole that removed him from it. I know a few people read this stuff as they browse through blogger, if you are someone who happens upon this post please take heed when you visit our wilderness and know that the creatures that live there belong there, not in your possession. They were not put on Earth for us to have as playtoys, they are real living beings just like us.

It would make me feel real good to make the person that painted this wonderful animal feel real bad.

Happiness is a Warm Puppy.

2007-11-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

Edgar has grown in the past week already. Few things on Earth are cuter than a puppy though, and I can't believe I have not taken a proper photo of him yet.

ASU's Hawk

2007-11-09T09:18:00.001-08:00

Yesterday and today there has been a hawk hanging out on campus at ASU. I got within 5 feet of him this morning when he was sitting on a rail. Yesterday he was eating a baby squirrel in a tree.
It seems that every year we have one hanging out for a while, I don't know if it is the same one or not but the squirel population defiantly goes up and down with them.
Three years ago I photographed one outside my building. The photos are posted here, but be warned they are a little on the graphic side as he was eating a kitten that day.

Burrrrrrrrrrrrr, my hot peppers are cold!

2007-11-08T05:38:00.000-08:00

Last night things got in chilly. I picked a couple tomatoes this morning, but looks like the end of the road for the ol garden. Picked my last watermelon also, and there was another black widow under it.

Our New Baby Boy!

2007-11-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Yesterday Mary and I adopted a new puppy, his name is Edgar. Mary choose the name for a character in the book, "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint". He is a fawn Dane with white paws and is fairly large for 12 weeks. By the size of his front paws he will be a very large dog, probably a good bit bigger than Ileya was. Click here to view the photos on Flickr and read captions.

Another Reason To Love Alabama

2007-11-05T07:11:00.001-08:00

It's November 4th and we are still picking veggies from our garden, these were harvested last night. The soil here is so fertile! We kind of got burned out on tomatoes and have really neglected the garden, but it's still producing jalapeño and cayenne peppers, sweet red bell peppers, tomatoes cucumbers and watermelons. We are expecting very cold weather this week so I will probably pick the last watermelon tonight and dig up the sweet potatoes at some point during the week. The okra and eggplant quit a few weeks ago. Our jalapeños are really tasty when vine ripened red, not as hot as normal as they are a milder variety, which means you can use more of them an get great flavor when cooking. I've mostly used them for huevos rancheros mix with soyrizo(veggie chorizo), and some great enchiladas and burritos.

New Infrared photos

2007-10-30T05:53:00.001-07:00

The barn across the street from the our house.
Mary harvesting basil, the stuff grew like mad this year.

FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

2007-10-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

Last night was one of the more fun nights on our property so far. I've been missing the pool as it's gotten too cold, but now as the weather starts to cool off we can start building fires out back. Last night wasn't really that cold, but it was still great fun. We drank beer popped jiffy pop over some coals. Soon the leaves will turn and camping season will be upon us.

The Alabama State Fair!

2007-10-29T04:43:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Mary and I went on our annual Alabama State Fair date. It was as fun as ever, we rode the ferris wheel and did all the usual, and I even decided to forego my diet for a polish sausage. I had fun looking at our old photos on the blog from 2004, and 2005 also, and last year we posted a little video.

Good News for Turtle Guy!

2007-10-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Update on yesterdays Post: Mary has found a place where we can take our new friend after he is healed. It is a preserve in Midland, Alabama where he can live in the wild in a protected area with a bunch of other Gopher tortoises. I am very happy to know that he will be able to exist in a natural habitat and have his freedom, and other tortoises like him. This is great news.

Our New Friend

2007-10-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

We have adopted a Gopher Tortoise. Someone dropped him off at the vet school and he is now residing at our place. His shell was painted orange, probably by some stupid frat boy football fan. At the moment we don't know if we will keep him or release him, but either way it will probably be spring before we can release him. He is rather ill and is getting anti-biotics until he gets better, and the orange shell would make him visible to predators. We have yet to name him, but I like "Locha" which is Creek for turtle and Mary likes Richard. More coming later on his condition.

The Guardian of the Garden

2007-09-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

I found this tonight when I was picking a watermelon. She was under it. I went to the barn to get something to catch her and put her in, and when I did I saw the biggest Wolf Spider to date also, it was huge. We have had a lot of creepy crawlys lately, there are two very large garden spiders of different varieties behind the barn, and I saw a little rat snake a couple nights ago out there also.

The Shop is coming along

2007-09-13T15:05:00.001-07:00

My shop is still a project in the making, but it's much improved. The photo is a panoramic that shows it all the way around, on the table to the far right I have some boards I'm working on, my bike tools are to the left of that, woodworking tools(bandsaw, etc.) to the right, and old skateboards on the left. The boxes are full of crap I need to put somewhere. I am going to build a new countertop after I finish the sink in the house and Mary drives me to Home Depot for plywood.

Snake!

2007-09-10T04:50:00.000-07:00

Mary and I rode bikes yesterday. We went 20 miles down our road and back, and right at 1/4 mile from our driveway as I turned to look back at her, then turned around again I ran over a huge dead rattlesnake. I looked down in just enough time to pick up my front wheel a bit:

Old School Session Montgomery, 08-09-07

2007-09-10T04:35:00.000-07:00

Had to work a little while on Saturday, but went skating at Montgomery's park afterwards.
Me:
Tim :
Joey:

Old School Night Montgomery

2007-08-29T12:57:00.001-07:00

There are a few older guys skating at the Montgomery park now. This was old school night last Thursday.

My Cute Little Buddy in the Barn

2007-08-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

This little guy has had a big web in the back of my barn for a couple weeks now. I have not been cutting the grass where he anchors his web, because as you can see he eats the pesky bugs. Our backyard is an entomologist dreamland, we have so many different varieties of spiders and other bugs it's amazing.

Ridin Bikes!

2007-07-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

Mary and I did a short 10-mile ride around our area last night. In the second photo she is getting a shower from the same irrigation thing a couple photos ago. The scenery in Macon County is great for bike rides.

My frog friends

2007-07-23T14:21:00.001-07:00

These little tree frogs hang out in the pool at night. It's really neat to see one go swimming past one of the lights doing the froggy stroke. This guy is on the pool float, they usually hang onto the liner at a spot where it sags, I figure they get a lot of bugs out there. The calls they make can get really loud sometimes too.
I don't use chlorine, instead I have a product named Pristine Blue which uses copper sulfate as a anti-bacterial. I think it's safe for the little guys.

Our weed and Vegetable Garden

2007-07-23T14:18:00.001-07:00

Another Infrared photo of the garden. It's full of weeds, but still yields awesome cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, okra, jalapeños and more. Yesterday after riding bikes we had our first watermelon, it was great.

Sunday Afternoon Cycling

2007-07-23T14:02:00.001-07:00

Mary and I got out on the road bikes yesterday afternoon. We had not riddne in quite some time so we only road 14 miles, but we still had a lot of great scenery along the way on County Rd. 9.

The Pool

2007-07-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

On July 4th we put up a volleyball net and last week a basketball goal. The pool is a ton of fun, I especially like it at night.

Stupid Shops

2007-07-03T14:31:00.001-07:00

I don't know why I like going to junk shops at the beach. I hate the sight of them in the mountains, but they seem fitting at the beach.

Milton, Florida

2007-07-03T14:28:00.001-07:00

Since Mary was speaking all day Saturday at the Vet conference while we were at the beach, I headed over to Milton, Fl for some skating. This park is great fun, but HOT.

The Beach!

2007-07-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

Mary and I got to spend a little time at the beach this weekend. I'll post more when time allows.

Lareado!

2007-06-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

Made it to our favorite restaurant in Auburn last night, first time in a while.

Our First Harvest

2007-06-27T15:50:00.001-07:00

Last night Mary and I had our first real harvest from the garden. That zucchini got huge real quick!

Having a Garden Rocks!

2007-06-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

Our garden is growing great! We have so far only harvest one Jalapeno and a couple radishes, but we have a lot of stuff coming.
This is Crookneck Squash, there is also zucchini that is looking great.
This is Okra, at this time they are only 1/2" long but growing.

More house photos

2007-06-12T15:01:00.000-07:00

The pool is in good shape and has been a blast. We have floating lights and other assorted pool toys.

It seems as though there is a beautiful sunset every night in the country.
This is zucchini, the garden is growing well.

Still moving stuff

2007-06-05T10:18:00.001-07:00

The sunrise and sunsets are beautiful in Shorter, but we love our place.

Smoke

2007-05-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Recently the air has been very smoky here as a result of the wildfires in Georgia. Saturday morning there was a fire in Elmore county and west winds blew a bunch of smoke into our area. The above photo was taken with my infrared camera in Macon County, I think the IR actually cut through the smoke and it looks clearer than it did.

Creepy Crawly

2007-05-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

This little guy was crawling around my car as I left for work yesterday. He is a wolf spider,
species of Lycosa in the family Lycosidae. These things are all over the yard and in my shop, but it turns out they are harmless and will actually lower our bug problem.

Moving.

2007-05-21T08:11:00.001-07:00

Saturday Mary and I planted a garden. We are growing tomatoes, squash, hot peppers, onions, watermelon and corn so far. Sweet potatoes and other things will go in the ground soon.
We still don't have a lawn mower that works.
I am really tired of moving stuff.

The pool is up and running now, but the water is really cold. Another week or two and it is going to be a blast though.

This is an infrared photo of the front of the house, still need to shoot a color one.

We are homeowners!

2007-05-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

After a lot of waiting and paperwork Mary and I have finally bought a house. At the present I don't have a good photo of the actual house, so I'm posting a photo of the barn which is to be my domain. The right side is a set of horse stalls and the left is a carport. I plan to convert them into usable space so look forward to some barn parties.
This is my workshop in the center of the barn. Power receptacles all the way around and lots of space for storage, I can't wait to get it setup.
Also, there will be a halfpipe going up this summer and I can shoot guns in the backyard. Busted off a half a box of .38 special rounds last night!We also have an above ground pool. It's not too much of a pool and needs a new pump, but that is going to be fixed asap.

No time lately....

2007-05-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

Have not updated the blog for a bit. I have been too busy! I have some great video from bombing hills with Mike and the boys in Atlanta, but I am having trouble getting to load on the computer(I'm a still shooter, video makes me nuts).

Mary and I are buying a house. They tell us we will be ready to close any day now, but we've been hearing that for a bit. more will come on that when it happens.

Last weekend was the pro bowl contest in Alabaster. Steve Steadham, Lance Mountain and Christian Hosoi were all there from back in the day and I got to shoot photos of them, it was KICKASS! I got to see a lot of the pros skate back then but Saturday I was sitting at the coping with a camera in hand. Coolest assignment I ever got, I'd rather shoot a pro skate contest than any other pro(or ncaa) sport.

Springtime Dinner

2007-03-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

The weather was so nice this weekend! We grilled out and ate on the porch, and put Ileya's bed in the yard so she could bark at the neighbor's horses and enjoy it with us.

Free Stuff!

2007-03-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

I recently entered my newest skateboard build into a contest on Silverfishlongboarding.com, a web forum about skateboarding. I won! First place was two sets of Bennett Truks, they came in the other day. I am setting the more narrow of the two up on a 70s-style deck, I will build something for the other two. I was pretty excited when I looked up the price of these things, they go for $69 a set.

Bout time for another food post

2007-03-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

Last night I cooked dinner for Mary as she had been out of town and it had been a while since I cooked anything. The main course was Shrimp, Scallops and Orange Roughy marinated in a butter, garlic and saffron sauce I made on the stove. I love saffron! I placed the stuff on skewers and grilled it. For veggies we had miniature squash and portabello mushrooms sauted in white wine and olive oil, and we had roasted garlic italian bread. Desert was chocolate lava cake.

New Board

2007-03-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

I've been working on my marquetry skills lately and this is my latest deck. I made the rising sun out of African Rosewood, the background out of Zebrawood with the grain running from center, and the tail area and flames are Cocabola. The Japanese writing reads, "David Campbell Skateboards" and is burned into the wood with a woodburning tool.
I pressed the veneers onto a sheet of Canadian Maple with a vacuum press, and then pressed that onto a a blank I had already pressed with the tail and concave shapes.

Froggy

2007-02-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

Found this little guy at the threshold when we got home from Laredo's the other night.

Valentines Peeps!

2007-02-16T14:40:00.000-08:00

This year for Valentines day Mary and decorated Peep hearts for each other. Mmmmmmmmm.

Picnic in the Park

2007-01-16T14:19:00.000-08:00

It was amazingly warm this weekend in Alabama. Perhaps things are not going well as our global environment warms, but it was still nice to take a nap on a blanket in Keisal Park Sunday. We also played Frisbee and had cheese and crackers.

Thinh came to town

2007-01-16T14:13:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we got to see Thinh. He used to live in Montgomery, but a few years ago left Alabama for Washington State and Becky. He married Becky and they recently relocated to Atlanta. Thinh keeps a rather entertaining blog, located here. We went to hear Chuck Brodsky at the Unitarian Church in Auburn, they have a cool concert series called Sundilla, I think we will see future concerts there.
Pictured are Mary, Kim(Thinh's sister in law), Becky(Thinh's wife) , Thinh and yours truly. Photo by some guy that walked in.

The Ring

2007-01-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

I am posting this so some family members and friends that wanted to see Mary's ring but have not could see it.

Trip to Columbus, Ohio

2007-01-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

Mary and I went to Columbus for the weekend to celebrate her 40th birthday. I love the way this image was rendered in Infrared. I am wearing a black hat!

Happy Birthday Matt and Mary!

2007-01-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

Well it's official, Mary turned 40. That's her twin brother Matt on the left. We also went to a Mexican restaurant, check back for some video.

2007-01-10T16:09:00.000-08:00

I got to have lunch with my old room-mate David Planchet while I was in town, he's doing well. It was great to see you again man.
This place was on the street where we stopped to have lunch. I know nothing of it's history, other than it sits next to The Garden Church and across the street from The Garden Sex Shop. Made for a cool infrared photo anyhow.

Worthington Skatepark

2007-01-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

I got to skate this place for a bit while in Ohio. It's a free park, has two five foot bowls and a street area. One bowl is tight and the other is large, but they have a slight uphill slant and it's a lot of work to keep any kind of decent speed in there. I assume they slanted them like that for drainage since it's right next to a river and probably would drain well if they put a drainage system underneath.

New Years Hike at CRATA trails

2007-01-03T10:23:00.000-08:00

Latest Creation

2007-01-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

This is my latest board and first longboard. I made it for Mike as a Christmas present. It's all Canadian Maple, 7-plys and 40" long with a 30" wheelbase. There is a moderate concave and a very little bit of camber, it has real nice flex. I set it up with Randal 180s, stock bushings with flat washers. The wheels are Abec 11 Noschoolz, 65mm and 80A durometer.
It's painted white, and the stripes are red and blue metalflake paint with silver pinstripes and flame-stripes from the autoparts store. I put 6-7 coats of polyurethane on it, wet sanding between the final ones.

Good News!

2006-12-26T08:21:00.000-08:00

The best thing I have yet to post on the blog! Mary and I are now officially engaged. I proposed to her while we sat by the fire Saturday night. I couldn't be happier, I think she is the most genuine person I have ever known and I am so lucky to be with her.
I will replace the above photo with a nicer one when I get the chance to do so. It was dark and all I had was my little point and shoot camera.
She probably isn't crazy about the smaller photo, I made her pose for that. But I love it!

Chrismas Scotch

2006-12-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

Billy and I both got bottles of Scotch for Christmas, so we sampled a couple glasses last night. So what do a couple photographers do when drinking whisky? Something cool involving light anyway. Photo shot with my Canon pocket digital point and shoot with the on board flash at 1/4 power, and a Nikon SB800 in slave mode on 1/32 power behind the bottles.

Christmas Dinner

2006-12-26T08:03:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I decided to stop eating meat. Since I've lost about 10 lbs.(would be more if I'd give up cheese) and I feel much better. So for Christmas dinner I baked a Tofurky. I have to admit, this was a hundred times better than I thought it would be. This was really good! It is made of textured tofu with a core of rice and mushroom stuffing. I basted it with olive oil and soy sauce, I highly recommend this whether you eat meat or not, it's a delicious alternative and very healthy.

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.....

2006-12-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

Lately Mary and have been doing roasted Chestnuts on her backyard firepit. There isn't much better than building a fire out in the country, drinking and roasting nuts. They taste great too! Can't wait to get a group around the fire before long.