Kiddo out having fun

Betty Shreds Club!

Not really going that fast, or she'd be in a helmet.

Just some more pictures I took this weekend

I'll just shut up so you can look at the pretty.

Check this out

added a new "lens" and "film" to the Hipstamatic app in my iphone.  it's snazzy.  It does color, when i choose one of the color film options, but i really like this black and white combo.  very noir.

It'll have to do until i can save more for the new toy.  although i suppose i could take some of that time and learn how to black and white convert to get these results.

enjoy!

it's summer, and there's very little rest for the wicked.

Took this photo at nearly 10pm at the beach last night. 

I want a new camera.  I don't need one.  Most of my pictures at this point are being taken with the iPhone. but I've been teaching my co-worker about how to use a DSLR.  Just the basics, but digging into all of the fun stuff on my D40 has got me lusting over a camera I can have a little more control over. My D40 does everything I NEED it to do. But this is a thing of beauty.

I DID not take the following picture. I've just been drooling over it. I linked to the picture at Mr Ken Rockwell's website .I really like everything about this camera, and I'm saving my pennies to try to find my way to it by the fall.  Wish me luck!

Midlife Ride got a NEW ride...

More details soon, just thought you might like to check out a couple sneak peaks...

all the fancy new gadgets are cool, but there's just something special about old pictures.

Pictures that have spent their lives in a box in the attic, forgotten on an old roll of undeveloped film in a camera purchased at a garage sale, or in grandma's photo album.

And now you too can have that very own feeling in your photography.  The randomness.  The blurry. Everything that's old is new again, and it's now called Lomography. There's art and beauty in the unpolished and ugly. "Rat" rods, steampunk and rockabilly all sit well within this increasingly popular fringe of fashion and culture. This isn't about carefully crafted imagery and fussy photography.  you don't need to know f/stops and film speeds and lens glass layers and coatings...  just point your camera and shoot.  turn OFF the playback screen.  just let what happens happen.  and enjoy it.  I do have to say i'm kinda taken with this whole thing right now, so more of my pictures may come along looking like i've washed them a couple of times in the old maytag, but eventually i'll find a good balance of the art and the technique and be back to just taking pictures again.

I have yet to dive in whole-heartedly, but as a digital photographer, can dabble in it with ease.  Filters, randomizers, and other specialty products allow the feeling of lomo to invade my work. Apps for the camera in my new phone make it quick and easy, and provide exactly the right feel.  quick snapshots without any control or thought involved.  That's what lomo photography is all about. Thanks to the kiddo for being my primary subject in these images.

Just a little upright goodness to brighten your day...

Ooh I like this. Enjoy it! 

Once again, life intercedes

And has prevented me from being the prolific poster that procures people's precious peeks. Um. Sorry 'bout that.   On the gadget front, I've been issues a new phone at work.  I now carry the Verizon iPhone 4. I know. i'm sorry too. I want, want, wanted a Droid Bionic, but they've been delayed once again, and in the interest of supporting my fellow employees, and being the impatient bugger I am, I went with the iPhone.

I like the camera.  I will give it that.  The rest is going to take a bit of getting used to. The pictures in this post were all taken with the new phone, and edited/processed on the phone.  I likey the lomo. We'll have to talk more about that soon.

Other news?  I've started the third batch of meat, the second one only lasting long enough to completely dry before it was completely consumed.  Still playing with variables.  Still looking for that shining golden moment. The variables under observation this time are cut of meat, the cut of the slice itself (across the grain, with the grain or on the bias.) and ratio of meat to brine.

I've not yet killed myself on the longboard, although my adventures in riding have been short, tame, and relatively slow.  Kiddo had a mishap a couple weeks ago, and got her wheels back this past weekend, so we decided to learn to inline skate. She's getting good, and fast.  Woo for new extreme sports!

I blame this video...

It all started here.  Well actually, it started long ago. but this rekindled the fire inside me to ride, to feel the wind. It's what I feel on a snowboard, on the longboard.  It feels like this video. Like this song. free.

MEAT!

So you want to preserve food for the Zombie Apocalypse, or you just like cured, dried meat?  I have a method that yields spicy salty meat without the need for refrigeration or cooking!  There are a few ingredients, and a couple simple tools required, but it's surprisingly easy, and VERY tasty.  I don't know exactly how much weight is lost during dehydration, but it's significant. So a 5 pound roast *might* yield a pound of dried goodness, but that's probably pushing it a bit.

I started with a venison roast, but I believe that any very lean meat will do. Beautifully marbled steaks and fatty pork will result in bitter rancid fat and other unpleasantness in your final product, so save those for the cast iron skillet or the dutch oven. I'll talk more about those techniques later. We want the leanest, cleanest, most fat free roasting chunk of meat you can find. Eye of round, or similar. Then we cut it up thin. Strips, small chunks, or even scallopini slices would work wonderfully for this process.

For the brine, we'll use equal parts soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce, a tablespoon or two of Garlic and Onion Powder, a couple teaspoons of Cayenne Pepper (leave out if you don't like the burn), a couple tablespoons of Honey, and a bit of liquid smoke. The amounts used vary depending on the amount of meat, but this should evenly coat up to two lbs of meat: 1/4 cup of wors. and 1/4 of soy, 1 TBSP of garlic and onion, a few shakes of cayenne, 2 TBSP honey, and 2tsp of liquid smoke.Optionally, just before you hang the meat to dry, you could crack some black pepper over the top for another dimension of flavor.

Throw the sliced, diced and slivered meat into the brine and stir/shake it up to make sure every bit of meat is evenly coated, and repeat the agitation every couple of hours. Let it marinate overnight or up to 24 hours in the fridge, and then we start the fun part. the skewering.

For this, we'll need some bamboo skewers, or something similar, that you can impale the flesh on that you are about to dry out.  That's right.  There's no cooking involved.  Stick the stick through one end of the meat, and slide it almost all the way to the end.  Repeat, leaving a bit of space between each of the pieces of meat. Place aluminum foil or a couple of cookie sheets in the bottom of your oven, to prevent drippage now from causing smokeage later, and dangle the punctured meat between the bars of the rack. Set the oven to as low as it can go, and prop the door open.  This accelerates the drying process, without cooking the meat. I use an oven thermometer, and make sure it never goes over 120 degrees or so.

Is it done yet?

This drying process is going to take a couple hours, I usually let it go 5 or 6 hours before removing from the oven and depositing it in a plastic tub for the last part of the drying process. If it's still quite smooshy, it's not dry enough. You can always dry it in the oven more the next day. This last drying stage happens in the Fridge in an open topped container. Best taste and storage results from a longer drying process, I prefer another day or five uncovered in the fridge. This is where the thinner slices pay off.  you can tear them off and eat them first, while the thicker slices are still drying. Once it's totally dry, then just stash somewhere to munch on when you're ready, preferably an unsealed or open container, paper bag, or something similar, so it doesn't have a chance to gather moisture.  I have no idea how long this will last, because it rarely lasts more than a week at my house before it's completely consumed.  If it gets moldy, throw it out. otherwise it's probably good for a good long time.

**sigh** i suppose i should include this again. Don't be stupid. us govt recommendations on drying your own meat.

See what happens when i take time off of work?

I forget to update. I have a few of them. be patient.

This is what I've been waiting for.

Kiddo and I will have LOTS of fun rolling around this spring.  She rides a Landyachtz. The 75mm 80a wheels under this deck are soft and comfy. The Bustin Ibach deck flexes just right for me as a 275lb re-beginner.  It's predictable and smooth. It's exactly what I was looking for.

I'm debating

I have an idea of what I want to do this weekend for you fine folks. Well. for ME. But I'll include you if you choose to read it. And if I decide to do it. It involves The Kitchen. But if I decide not to do it, I wouldn't want anyone out here to be disappointed.  so maybe I shouldn't mention it.

You see, I'm wanting to do a series of Do It Yourself articles, showing off those things I've taught myself to do, either through trial and error, or through resources I've discovered online. I have lots of knowledge to share, from The Kitchen, Behind the Camera, and in other areas, too.  Hopefully someone will find it useful!

out for delivery

YAY! The internet-ordering NERD!'s favorite words!

I'm almost ready for springtime.

Next week the vacation arrives. A week off of work with the Kiddo and nothing planned. We have lots to do, but no agenda. I like that. No Office. No Homework. The goals are: Fishing, Skateboarding, Bike Riding and maybe a little garage clean-out.  I still don't know if the beast will actually fit inside the garage. Maybe there'll be time to discover that!

Kiddo wants to experience catching a Northern Pike. I'm reading through the regulation book, and can't find anywhere that says it's illegal to catch and release on the off season. I'm going to be putting a call into the DNR this week to get a definitive answer, but we'll be careful not to target any specific fish until season opens officially, in the meantime.  Wish us luck!

**UPDATE!**

from the Michigan DNR Website: "It is unlawful to: Take or attempt to take fish outside of the open season for that species."


That's a bit of a bummer, but I understand the reasons. So we're likely to be fishing for Perch and Panfish next week, but it's ok. We'll have a great time fishing anyway!

Nadia G...

I know I promised that I'd take all the photos for this blog, but until I can successfully get myself in picture range of this Canadian-Italian kitchen goddess, I'll have to settle for web pictures.  Seek out the Bitchin Kitchen on Cooking Channel. She's worth it. It's all about the technique.  Honest.

Time to burn some dino-juice

The rig. 2005 Ford F250 4x4 Diesel. It's time to go home, and unlike my gasoline burning brethren, I won't have to visit a refueling station until the end of the week. I drive TONS of miles, too.  About 100 miles a day. It needs a bath, though.  Maybe that'll be tonight's project.

Don't you hate it when you've

Don't you hate it when you've ordered something and you have to WAIT for it to arrive?

What better way to keep a NERD! interested than hobbies with gadgets?

One of those hobbies is photography. I like to take pictures. I've worked hard to learn how to use my limited selection of gear to take pictures of friends, family, stuff and things... You will see some of it here as the days and weeks go by, or you can check out more now at my website.

I try to limit the work I have to do in software, too.  Most of my pictures are completely done in-camera. I don't use image editing software, if I can get away with it. "MADNESS!" you say. "HOW did you get to be so awesome?" Well, I'm just. that. good.

No. Not really. I think I'm up to somewhere around 25,000 pictures on my current gear, and most of those are of the towel bar in the bathroom, or the television screen in my living room. I spent hours pouring over photography websites, image galleries, and other resources to see what I liked, and figured out how to make my camera do that stuff, too.  ANYONE can do this, with ANY camera. Photography is ART, not science. Artists know how to use their tools, and leverage those tools to make ART.

So STOP WORRYING if you've got the right gear. No matter what creative outlet you love. Just do it. Create. Sculpt. Write. Compose. Act. Cook. Paint. Build*.  Don't spend your whole life working. Find time for you.


*Notice I didn't say take pictures in that list there.  I like to think I'm pretty good at that, and I don't want to encourage someone who might be better than me. I'd be jealous. Ok. Maybe only a little, but still.

The New Ride

So part of this revitalization of mine includes spending as much time doing the fun active stuff that the child likes while it's still ok for dad to hang around.  To that end, I have a new mode of transportation on it's way to me.

http://www.bustinboards.com/v/build_ibach_longboard_10ply.asp

I have had my fair share of reckless hobbies, but I haven't ridden a skateboard with any regularity since before I could drive. This just may very well be the end of me. If it happens, I'll definitely go down grinning.

Here goes nothin'

I look around me and see the trappings of a conservative, white collar, middle class man. Cubicle job in a computer career. (NERD!) Mortgage. Car Payment. 401K. Accrued vacation hours. WHEN THE HELL DID I GET OLD?


I've been watching and encouraging my pre-teenage daughter to live life, appreciate the music in her head, and find the thrill of adrenaline from riding bikes, boards and blades of all types. She is enjoying it all with very little fear. Watching her has reminded me of that rush I used to find so energizing myself.  I've become respectable. I've become professional. I've become boring.  Every braincell in my head keeps shouting at me. "YOU'RE TOO OLD!  You'll NEVER play with a rock band.  You'll never be able to keep up with the kid on boards or bikes or anything anymore. You're going to KILL YOURSELF if you try!"

The voice of reason says I need to continue to act my age. I don't WANT to. I have acted my age my entire life. I want to act the age I WANT to be. So here goes nothin'. The longboard is on order.  My bass is tuned, The  BIG ASS amp is powered up and on 11. Let's go have some fun!