Hang Time

hang_time
Originally uploaded by taylorsherman.

Tuesday

Tuesday, March 28 2006
23:25

Did something to my hip. I'm not sure what. It was pretty sore after sitting for 45 minutes the Saturday before last. . .so this past Saturday I sat on a stool instead of cross-legged. Yesterday it was a bit sore, then after the performance started getting worse. Eventually, I noticed that I pretty much couldn't lift my left foot off the ground when sitting, it hurt too much. Feels like a pulled muscle, something fairly small on the outside of my hip. The only thing that happened yesterday was a "pop", while I was standing playing the pre-show, something like a knuckle cracking but in my left hip. It didn't hurt at all.

Sent an email to Danier telling them to cancel my order and refund my money. I purchased a jacket from danier.com on 12/24/2005. By January 5th I had not heard anything about it shipping, so I emailed them. The reply was that it shipped the day before, and they gave me a tracking number. OK. So, when the jacket arrived it was too big. No problem, as their website expounds their generous return policy – they'll pay half the shipping (you pay to ship the item back, they cover the replacement going back out), no matter what the reason. So I sent it back. UPS indicated arrival at the address they told me to ship to on February 2nd. Danier is a Canadian company, but the return address was in NY. By March 3rd I had not heard a single thing, so I emailed them again asking what was up. They said that the return shipment had arrived at the NY address, and they were waiting for it to show up (presumably at the Canadian address). They said they'd email me Monday with more information. That never happened, though I did receive a phone call a couple days later confirming the size of the replacement jacket. That was the last I heard. It has now been 24 days, with no communication or jacket. I dunno, that's pretty atrocious in my book. Oh, and it's now $50 cheaper than when I bought it three months ago. I don't think I'll order anything from them again.

Went to the eye doctor for the first time in 4.5 years last Friday. They said that my brand of contacts isn't made anymore (I guess the online place I order from just has a big inventory). So I left with a new kind in my eyes – made of silicone, which apparently breathes much better than the previous materials. The problem is that, as the day goes on, they seem to become less effective – until I'm driving home at night, and lights are all doubled and blurred, slightly worse than things are when wearing my 10-year-old too-weak glasses. So, that's a no go on those. Now I just have to get a supply of decent lenses from them this Friday when I go back, as I'm all out of the old ones and leaving the country for two weeks not long after that.

car music: Rain Tree Crow, Cocteau Twins

Bastille Day, 1996

paris_eiffel
Originally uploaded by taylorsherman.

Three Ducks

3ducks
Originally uploaded by taylorsherman.

Quack. Taken in 1989 or 1990 down at Lake Samammish.

Wednesday

Wednesday, March 22 2006
25:13

Bought a scanner the other day. Scanned in a hundred or so old photos I had laying around. Well I had more than that in the box, but these are the ones interesting enough to scan. The scanner is pretty fast, it's a bit overkill though as I only really need 200 dpi for these old photos. I guess if anyone wanted to make prints of them I could scan them it at 4800 dpi. As a flatbed, it's big. And it has a curved top so it doesn't even make a good base for stacking when not in use. Ugh.

The food at Yanni's on Greenwood is excellent! I tried CG's moussaka and wow, OK eggplant can be very good.

car music: Snatch and The Saint soundtracks, and the WHORE tribute to Wire. I'd only listened to the latter once in the several years I've had it.

Really Outside

Really Outside
Originally uploaded by taylorsherman.

Shot using a tungsten white balance, overexposed, then the red and blue channels were reversed.

Saturday

Saturday, March 18 2006
17:16

I think the cold/whatever is finally on its last legs. The neck felt pretty bad until Thursday, and it's almost fine now. Thursday I also discovered that the potato leek soup at the Latona pub is really, really good.

Learning a bunch of new material lately. Nothing terribly complicated, it's been a while though since I've picked up anything new. Also re-learning a melody that I worked on with a different group a little over a year ago.

Lunch in Ballard w/ IA today. Met up w/ the Wilsons but by the time we got there they had to go – we had a bit of a detour to the wrong fish and chips place near the locks. So we went back to the place we parked at initially and ate there. Not bad. The jalapeno poppers were super hot, there were some burns and dumb moments with bits of scalding cream-cheese laden pepper hanging from our mouths going on. The halibut tasted good but was really heavily fried. Went in to look at the locks after that, as Igor had never seen any. I hadn't been there in years either. Wished I brought my camera.

Schedule tonight includes Greek food for dinner and entertainment by the Lost Pedros. Or something like that.

car music: Interpol, Murder Inc.

Altered Moonlight

moonsil_red
Originally uploaded by taylorsherman.

Silhouetted by moonlight, with a tweaked white balance set.

Sunday

Sunday, March 12 2006
23:41

Less sniffling and coughing today, though more sore neck. Went out for dinner and ice cream w/ family to celebrate my stepmom's birthday. It was good to spend some time w/ the folks but I also felt nervous about spreading germs. I couldn't taste a thing, which is interesting as I can breath through my nose. I almost picked my ice cream flavor at random, but thought maybe if I went with a single strong flavor (orange) I could detect a little. Nope.

Decided yesterday to go to the Guitar Craft course in Argentina this April. That is, if there's still room. No reply yet on that subject. Looking at flights, was surprised that it's 10 hours between Dallas and Santiago. Just not used to thinking in that direction. It is a long distance (4800 miles). That will be the longest single leg I've ever flown, beating LGW to STL ten years ago.

Cedar on Orange

Cedar on Orange
Originally uploaded by taylorsherman.

Saturday

Saturday, March 11 2006
23:29

So, still sick. Thursday was mostly a cough. Friday, by the end of the day my sinuses had been hit and the fever was back. That way all day pretty much today. Didn't go to rehearsal. Hopefully I'm not quite so sniffly tomorrow, I have a family get-together.

Spent about an hour taking some photos today. Messing with white balance. Using the "tungsten" wb outside yields some intense blues. Went back to LP, and tried telling the camera to use a green leaf as the white balance – with great results. There was a definite magenta/purple hue to many things, and some greens were washed out. But some greens came through just fine. Some surreal results. Then, back at home, tried taking the skewed pictures and re-skewing them by swapping color channels. Wow. Sometimes the picture looks surprisingly normal, but not as it actually was (white concrete turned tan, like you see in some parts of the country).

car music: Fracture and Easy Money from The Great Deceiver, disc one

A little serendipitous camera shake.

blinds_blur
Originally uploaded by taylorsherman.

Wednesday. Sick.

Wednesday, March 8 2006
24:45

Fever was better today. Worked from home. Still felt achy and out of it most of the day. And cold. Thankfully the cough isn't too bad, I'm not sure why but coughing for me is just a really horrible, painful thing. Will probably go into the office tomorrow, depends on how I feel when I wake up though.

Found out that two of my pictures made the most interesting on Flickr – one all the way up to #50 for the day. Apparently that happened over a week ago – I guess when people at work viewed them.

Up the Mountain

0224_mk_road
Originally uploaded by taylorsherman.

Heading up Mauna Kea.

Tuesday

Tuesday, March 7 2006
24:06

Well, I'm sick. Not sure what. This morning I noticed a bit of a cough, with that "familiar taste" to it. When I got home from work and realized I was absolutely freezing I realized I had a temp. Just under 101. First time in about 3 years. Oh well. That also (hopefully) explains why my joints hurt all day.

car music: Polytown, Smiths

Monday - first show

Monday, March 6 2006
25:17

The first TTA show went very well. For me, started off a bit rough, but
I could actually feel my guitar playing getting better during the show. I think it was still rough at the end, but, better. Large group went out afterwards, with a few guests from out of town.

Feeling my way around some of the Flickr "interactive" groups – eg, "rate my picture and I'll rate yours". The first one was kind of fun but way too negative. The second is a little kinder. They still didn't seem to think that my picture was the best thing ever, however. Huh. Flickr seems to be inundated right now with "HDR" pics (multiple shots at several exposures, mushed together with Photoshop algorithms) and "fake tilt-shift miniature" pictures (where a blur is added to mimic the DOF caused by a macro shot of a miniature, making the picture of a real city/etc look like a model).

car music: Swans - Various Failures; PMG - The Way Up; Rollins Band - Weight

Warm and a little too fuzzy

Warm and a little too fuzzy
Originally uploaded by taylorsherman.

Another good one from the park today.

lincoln_leaves_crop

lincoln_leaves_crop
Originally uploaded by taylorsherman.

From the park today. I like this more every time I see it.

Sunday

Sunday, March 5 2006
24:42

Just backed-up files to DVD for the first time in over a year. Didn't realize it'd been that long. Slept in pretty late today. Went down to Lincoln Park and took some pictures. A couple really good ones. Signed up for the "DEL*TE ME! Uncensored" group on Flickr – lots of unabashed criticisms. Submitted two photos to the dogs so far – neither my best, I don't have the guts to put something I think is really great out there.

Signed up for a Blogger account – will be uploading this entry, my first. About to give up on MySpace, it's ugly and sucks. And I think I screwed up by not making my account a "band" account – so I need somewhere else to upload music to anyway.

First new Tuning The Air show tomorrow. I should practice more.