Vote for Caleb August 31, 2006
Posted by Patrick in : Friends, Photography , 2 commentsMy ex-roommate Caleb is in the running for BBC’s photographer of the year. Vote for him if you think he’s earned it.
Still no call August 30, 2006
Posted by Patrick in : Movies , 4 commentsI still haven’t heard a call from the casting agency yet. Maybe it’s because I look more fruity than from the 80’s. Here’s a photo that Albert took of me after the audition.
The Big P August 29, 2006
Posted by Patrick in : Christianity , 1 comment so farAs you can see, the blog is maturing and going through many changes. Kinda like puberty. For one thing, the theme changed. And I think this one will stick. I’m still working on the header image. The careful observers might have noticed the categories were revamped. I tried to make them less generic and more specific.
Also, I’m thinking about a weekly commentary on my Bible study that I have every Tuesday night. Our group’s studying the book of Acts, and it’d be good to document the highlights. We’re currently on week 7 of 29. We’re using the companion study put out by Redeemer. It’s very rich, thorough, and chock full of historical and contextual information. Here’s a primer [PDF] if you’re interested.
New Firefox extensions August 28, 2006
Posted by Patrick in : Software , 1 comment so farI perused Firefox extensions earlier today and found three good ones that others might be interested in.
- Mouse Gestures - This is the one that I was actually searching for. With this extension you don’t have to reach for that search bar if it’s out of reach. Just do a little gesture with your mouse pointer. Albert told me about this one.
- Colorful Tabs - Adds a little color to your tabs.
- IE Tab - This one is great. This extension allows you to switch between the Firefox or IE engine within each tab. Now I don’t have to open an IE window every time I want to use my company’s intranet.
Lesson learned
Posted by Patrick in : Cycling , 3 commentsAfter biking home from Nathan & Val’s place in Highland Park, I learned why cyclists either carry around a bike pump or a Schrader valve adapter on their bikes. As I was speeding down Penn Avenue in Lawrenceville, my rear tire (which is always the case!) somehow got a flat.
Since I stood a good four miles away from home, I walked over to Liberty Avenue to see if I could spot any bikers that could lend me a hand. Unfortunatetly, it was late, and I couldn’t find anything but pointers to the nearest gas station. And as I mentioned before, I needed a valve adapter for the car pump to work.
So, I started the long trek home. On foot. You see some weird stuff when you walk from Bloomfield to the North Side after midnight. I’m glad I’m home safe and sound.
It’s bedtime.
Regulus, mount up August 27, 2006
Posted by Patrick in : Software , 1 comment so farBecause of some feedback that the theme was too sparse and plain-looking, I’m giving Regulus a try. The theme adds more color than my previous two themes, while keeping the look simple and intuitive. I like how it uses the sidebar as two separate columns. The font and the color trimming are appealing. He also does some neat things with blockquotes.
It offers several configuration options that I’ll have to fool around with. One of the first things will go is the header image.
Thoughts?
Tessaro’s and swing
Posted by Patrick in : Friends, Pittsburgh, Cycling , 2 commentsBefore my sister takes off for Penn State, the family celebrated one last time at Tessaro’s this evening. Every year, Tessaro’s is rated as the best place in Pittsburgh for burgers. And even though I’ve had two burgers in the past week, I had to learn what all the fuss was about. My pick was the bacon and blue cheese burger, which was very tasty. I didn’t meet the challenge to finish it, however. It was larger than a hockey puck.
After spending a good time chatting and saying goodbyes to the family, I went next door to the Dreaming Ant to rent Stop Making Sense. A Beleza barrista recommended this movie earlier today, after she learned of my fondness for the Talking Heads. So, I’m looking forward to seeing that.
After picking up the movie, I swung over to Wightman to swing. A friend leaves for college this week, so we celebrated the night dancing. However, from my place to Tessaro’s to Wightman, I rode my bike. So I think some of the girls were grossed out when I arrived all hot and bothered…Oh well.
Tables in HTML August 26, 2006
Posted by Patrick in : Software , add a commentWhat a novel idea!
Theme thoughts?
Posted by Patrick in : Software , 4 commentsLike Adrian, I’m considering a new theme. What do people think of this one? It’s yellowhite3c. I like the simple, clean, minimalist design. Some of my concerns are a) the three columns for small-res monitors 2) the small typefont for the grandmothers (since that’s the largest demographic of my blog) and d) that it’s too plain and simple.
The days are numbered
Posted by Patrick in : Music , 1 comment so farSince my car was broken into last March, I have been without music in my car for quite some time. Sometimes, it’s refreshing to drive in relative silence. It gives me time to call a friend, or to pray out loud. And with the recent popularity of hands-free cell systems, I don’t look completely crazy to my fellow daily commuters.
But then, my recent obsession of the Talking Heads rears its head. Or the latest Keller series itches my brain. These and many other reasons have slowly eroded my built-in defenses to this new technology: the portable mp3 player. Maybe it’s not that new. But like most technology, I’m behind the times and need some advice.
Some of my reasons for not jumping on the bandwagon in the past was the loss of the physical album. With mp3s you miss the cover art and liner notes. Plus, working in software all day, I think my hands are starved of physical contact with anything (except of course, the keyboard). I think part of my interest in starting a darkroom, and not jumping to digital, was that the whole process was chemical and physical. It’s completely hands-on. With digital, I’m yet again relegated to manipulating bits on a computer screen. Albeit, in a much different way.
At any rate, the pros for an mp3 player outweigh the cons. It’d be great to have all your music in one portable place. I can have access to all my music at my home, or the office, or the car (or my bike, but I’d be a little fearful of that). As Colin has touted, emusic seems to be a great service. And I just learned that you always have access to songs that you purchase via their website. So, you don’t have to worry about archiving your music.
So does anyone have any thoughts on the player? Should I be yet another person with a pair of white earbuds? Or are other players just as good? Colin bought his iPod because of the AAC format. I know others have bought it because of its compatibility with iTunes. But, there’s a 20GB iRiver on craigslist for $100. Any thoughts??