Act Natural Like You Don't Care

Has it really been a few months since my last blog? Well, time flies and life re-prioritizes itself for you when you're a new dad.

I was moved to dust off my shelved happy blog for a truly happy event. My son drank an entire bottle of formula for the first time, after 4 months of consuming the real (and probably better tasting) thing. We had a false start last night when he balked at the thought of even tasting his introduction to processed foods. The stars must have been aligned properly tonight for his second attempt, and his dad (me) tried everything to make it happen this time, including: feeding him while still in a good mood, asking his mom to kindly sneak upstairs to hide the real meal (this worked eventually to transition him to his bottle feeding), entertaining him with his new favorite and plush Goofy toy, and, most importantly, playing a Steely Dan album on Dad's iPod.

This was a sales job, and I was determined to close the sale this time. There was a smile on my face, I shook Goofy with conviction, and I took the advice of Donald Fagen in "Chain Lightning" when he proclaimed: "Act natural like you don't care."

The funny thing is that I care a lot, and am happy to be a dad. Finn has been impressing us and making us smile since he was born four months ago. This event is just another feather in his cap as far as he is concerned.

To find out more about what Finn is up to (mostly from his point of view) see his blog here: http://www.finnrocks.blogspot.com/

Sunrise

This morning brought a sunrise worthy of taking a photo. My bedroom was filled with a pink-orange light. Maybe the distant wild fires are causing the haze to filter the sun? Check it out:

Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon - Accenture 2008

Well, I haven't been in high gear yet this year to train for a triathlon, but wanted to go watch part of one in person this weekend. So my wife and I drove across the bridge to be inspired at this year's Accenture Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco.

I took a few video clips using our digital camera and edited a short piece together. Too bad we couldn't see (or find) the swim transition area, but it's a good sign that there were so many people there to support the athletes. We were able to see the top finishers come in from the end of the bike leg, and near the finish line from the run leg. It was amazing to see the transitions-- it literally took some of the pros about 20 seconds to transition off of the bike.

Here are the top finishers:

Men's Pro Results
1 Andy Potts 2:01:57
2 Graham O'Grady 2:02:32
3 Craig Alexander 2:02:53
4 David Thompson 2:03:04
5 Matt Chrabot 2:03:25

Women's Pro Results
1 Leanda Cave 2:15:37
2 Becky Lavelle 2:15:52
3 Miranda Carfrae 2:16:47
4 Rebeccah Wassner 2:20:17
5 Samantha McGlone 2:20:58

New Video Intro to HappyIsTheNewBlog.com

What do you think?



Hope everyone out there had a good Memorial Day weekend. Mine was fun-- a good friend visited from Philly, and I saw the new Indiana Jones movie!

Tasty Summer Salad

This one's a keeper. It's a simple, cheap, and tasty summer salad. We had it tonight with mac & cheese, but it could be a great companion to a backyard bbq, potluck, or quick dish to make at home:

Tasty Summer Salad

• one can of black beans, drained


• one can of corn, drained


• one tomato (Roma in this case), chopped


• half of one red onion, finely chopped


• one healthy bunch of cilantro, chopped


• olive oil


• a splash of red wine vinegar


• a dash of sugar


• salt


• pepper

It's easy to make. Just chop the ingredients and mix everything together in a bowl.

Enjoy and be happy!

Redwood Regional Park Hike

Explored more of the roads and hiking trails in the RRP near our house. Saw a banana slug, took a short video of a serene brook, and found a great, low-traffic, trail that took me to the top of a cool, shaded ridge.



At the top of the ridge was a bench, complete with placard that read: "Always enjoy the view. In memoriam: Victor Egert (1911 - 2005) and Ruth Egert (1911 - 2005)" The view from the bench is spectacular, of course, and overlooks a wooded valley and a couple of quiet, winding two lane highways.

Running in the backyard Redwoods

It's a good feeling to have the Redwood Regional Park so close to home. A neighbor and some relatives suggested that I check out the running/hiking/biking trails near us, and my regular after-work run was spent in the serene landscape near the Skyline Gate area. It's a good way to ramp up any exercise routine for the summer.

Housewarming BBQ a Success

Wow. It has been over a month since my last post. Time flies when starting a new job. Our housewarming bbq was a success yesterday. The house does feel more like a home with people sharing it, having a good time, and filling it with good energy.

Fun to kick off the California neighborhood bbq season too.

New Job, Lost, and Goonies

Great news-- I received a job offer yesterday after almost 2 months of looking. The last two months has been good in some ways because I've had quite a bit of free time, aside from doing a big job search.

Somehow I managed to get completely caught up with all 4 seasons of Lost. Now I'm in that strange and wonderful place in between receiving a job offer and showing up for the first day. In the past I've taken advantage of that time to watch the majority of World Cup Soccer games, go for extra long bike rides, catch movies, and just Relax. Today I embarked on my first day of Job Offer Vacation by watching a Goonies dvd (complete with outtakes, commentary, and other special features) that my wife gave me recently.

Back to reality soon...

Ron Burgundy jazz flute solo - for a smile, guaranteed

Update to Pixar Gate Project

Work in progress:



Original reference photo:

Creating a Virtual Pixar Gate to Open the Real Pixar Gate

Many of you know that I like experimenting with 2D and 3D animation. I've spent the last few years building my skills and working on small projects here and there. This time my focus is to work on a bigger project that involves an animated scene at the gates of Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, CA. My hope is that this will be a project with a steeper learning curve and one that gets me closer to becoming employed, professionally, with a post-production house, studio, or otherwise involved with a creative project.

Music for Morons is a Refined Sound Artistry

A friend of mine started podcasting a while back and I've tuned in from time to time. He seems to have reached a new level of refined sound artistry with the latest edition, 19: Kansas City Attack part 2 (N-Z). I've long been a fan of expertly crafted soundscapes and designs, and this one blows me away. Way to go, Aaron!

What jumped out at me the most this time around was the thematic thread that binds this aural landscape, and Aaron's thoughtful, careful additions from his sound palette.

Give his podcasts a listen sometime:

Music for Morons

How to Create a Composite Image With Photoshop

Photoshop and I are friends. The creative possibilities seem endless, and it always fascinates me to come up with a new scene by assembling and manipulating bits and pieces of existing photos. Here's a short tutorial. Keep in mind that there is more than one way to accomplish this scene, and the sky is the limit for your own creativity with this exercise. Maybe it will give you some ideas for your own creative projects.

How to Create a Composite Image With Photoshop:

1. Start with a photo.
   
   
   


2. Make a copy of the original layer.


3. Separate the foreground objects from the back ground. To do this, I'll use the levels control on a color channel: on the layers palette, click the 'channels' tab. You'll see four layers in the 'channels' tab if you're working in RGB color mode. Click on each channel to see which one give the most contrast between the background and foreground elements. In this case, it's the blue channel. Click and drag the blue channel down to the bottom of the layers palette to 'create new channel.'


4. Now we need to bring up the 'Levels' control. Use command-L on a Mac. Work with the 3 sliders on the histogram until you have as close to a black and white image as possible. Click OK.
   
   
   


5. Now 'load channel as selection' by clicking and dragging the modified blue channel copy down to the bottom of the layers palette. You should see a selection (dancing ants) between all of the white and black areas on the screen.


6. Now click on the RGB layer in the 'channels' tab to make the three original color channels visible. The blue channel layer copy that you made should not be visible anymore. Click back on the 'Layers' tab in the layers palette, and your selection will be made on the copy of the background layer that you made.


7. With your selection still active, go to the 'Layer' menu, and choose 'New,' then 'Layer via cut.' You should see the background separated in a new layer from the foreground objects. Deselect the background layer and you should see this:
   
   
   


8. Now it's time to have fun with the photo. I'm going to add a new background scene.
   
   
   


9. Maybe I'll add some neon to the sign
   
   
   


10. Now I'll desaturate the background and original foreground objects, darken the sky behind, add a couple of street light effects, and blur the edges of the foreground objects to blend into the scene better.
    
    
    

Compare with the original photo:



I've learned how to use Adobe Photoshop over the last few years through many ways; participating in online forums, watching tutorials, seeing live demonstrations by professionals, reading books, and just experimenting for hours. If you have some moderately advanced skills in Photoshop, and would like to learn a bunch of cool tricks to save you some time, check out this book by Steve Caplin:

How to Cheat in Photoshop: The art of creating photorealistic montages
(this book showed me how to create the neon sign in this tutorial)

More Fun With Photoshop - Curious Jesse

Great Valentine's Day Meal For Two (or more)

My Valentine and I had a delicious meal tonight, courtesy of my Google search query that brought up some menu options found on FoodNetwork.com:

• Risotto with Wild Mushrooms and Scallops (our version was sans scallops)
  
• Saltimbocca of Zucchini
  
• Individual Strawberry Trifles
  

I partook in a nice chilled Pinot Grigio whilst cooking. Me'lady declined and preferred apple juice in a wine glass due to the baby on board.

Great food and a mellow Valentine's date at home, with some Madeleine Peyroux for the ears.

ACME Music is My New Practice Place

So we moved to Oakland recently, and I always like to explore each new neighborhood that I move to, including the local music stores as my landmarks. Usually I look around the various local shops and have a conversation with the owner or managers in the way that a cartographer might use a compass.

ACME Music is responsible this time for giving me my bearings. The owner, Jay, has been in the business for a long time and is a die-hard, self-ascribed musician. He has some great stories and works with some talented folks (including a teacher that played with Miles Davis) to provide a place for music lessons.

An important aspect of a local music store, for me, is one that provides affordable, accessible rehearsal space. This one is the best yet. Jay and I talked about using the rehearsal space, complete with piano, during the non-peak times for a bargain price. I'm looking forward to popping in there once in a while to practice the trombone or play some piano.

And I'm working on doing a barter with him; a website for some practice time.

Fun with Photoshop - Sad Turbo

Joaquin Miller Park in the Oakland Hills

Wow. We went with some friends today to the Joaquin Miller Park for a picnic and to toss around the frisbee. Beautiful place. I'll have to go back and check out some of the trails soon, as we were only on one side, close to the road. If you're in the SF Bay Area check it out some time: Joaquin Miller Park

Tax Relief

We 'bit the bullet' and filed our tax paperwork. There's no relief in the sense of a refund (we're paying even more), but damn, it's a relief to be done with last year's return. I've believed Benjamin Franklin's whimsical comment on the certainties of the world to a large extent in the past:

Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes. (source)

But I'd like to add that Uncertainty is also certain. The tricky part is how we deal with things both certain and un, right?
Anyway, I shook off the taxes and went for a run today, which was a very happy thing for me. The weather is gorgeous today!

Tasty Burrito and Mr. SuperBowl

O.k.; first, a nod to the tasty burrito that found it's way to my plate yesterday. And there were enough leftovers still today to recreate a similar version that just had to be photographed.

Another fun, happy moment: My wife and I went to the grocery store this evening and ended up being helped by a cashier with a sticker on his shirt that read "Mr. SuperBowl." I was curious, so asked him what it meant. He said that he went to the SuperBowl. So I said, "Cool-- unless you're a Patriots fan." He said "You didn't see the sign," and pointed to a plastic novelty parking sign on his checkstand that read 'New York Giants Fan Parking Here.' And then he proceeded to smile and lift both arms to flex his biceps. Hahahaha. Made my day.

Happy is the New Blog

Howdy Kids,

I'm acknowledging more and more to myself that I'm a happy individual. Today I'm feeling happy enough to share it with you all. The life of this blog may end abruptly, maybe time will speed up and I'll re-prioritize the 10 minutes a day it takes me to blog. Who knows? Anyway, thought I'd liven things up a bit by sharing some good stuff as often as I can.

There are many many reasons for my über-joyousness. Two in particular are worth throwing out there today:

1. I'm an expectant father and just got the first 'photos' of my kid yesterday. They're still making me smile right now, and it's difficult for me to know how happy I'll be when the kid is born.
2. Just had a really good burrito that I made, MacGyver style, from the leftovers in our kitchen:
• garlic herb wrap
• leftover turkey (from our neighbor's Super Bowl party)
• sweet jalapeño jelly
• shredded cheddar cheese
• roasted veggies (potatoes, peppers, onions)
• diced green onions
• chopped cilantro
• spinach

Man, it was tasty. Anyhoo, hope you're happy today too.