I probably just need a timeout....

So, I was going into work a little bit later today and I decided to hit the fruit market to grab some fresh fruit, vegetables and few other things. I'm thinking (since we normally don't go to the store early in the day) that it should be a quick trip in and out and then back home so I can get ready to drive to work. Anyway, was I wrong! Man, it must have been some sort of unpublicized senior citizen holiday this morning! Geez. From the parking lot to most aisles in the store, I had to dodge, weave and wait for these blue hairs. Oh my!! It's always that situation (probably just perception) of feeling that delays occur when you are in a hurry. Annoying!! And, of course, I never want to be a jerk and make these older people think I am some young punk, so I smile (although I am screaming inside) and patiently wait for them to walk in front of me or wait as they block an aisle for several minutes and never grab anything....Oh well, I just hope I don't act that way when I reach that age....

Heart of a Lion (just not one from Detroit)

For some reason, this pic had me cracking up..."All I need is some courage...." LOL! Mimi was in the D last week for the Lions Thanksgiving game halftime show.

R.I.P Mr. Miyagi

Typecasted after Karate Kid or not, Pat Morita was an interesting guy. He died at 73 and will be missed.

Endless XBOX 360 lines and Black Friday....

People can be really ugly during this time of the year. Unbelievable! I have been reading stories about these morons fighting in lines last night (and early this morning) trying to get the new XBOX 360. I am amazed at humans sometimes in that they can basically trample over someone for a stupid gaming system that will bring them temporary gratification until the next iteration presents itself. Do I like playing console games? Of course! But, you won't catch me standing in a line for that thing longer than I would stand in a line to pay for some food at the fruit market. Sheesh! This chick (ok, woman!) at my work was telling me how her husband conned her into going to BestBuy to stand in line at 9pm for that stupid 360. You have got to be kidding me. Sounds like love to me. LOL! Could you count on these moronic people to stand behind a counter to feed some people in a homeless shelter or church for the half the time they stood in line for their stupid tech toy? I really doubt it, but it's all about what's important to you........which is the perfect segway into what goes down in the next three days---drum roll, please--- BLACK FRIDAY. After stuffing their faces, people gear up to prove there IS NO RECESSION or economic downturn in this country by maxing out credit cards to keep up with their neighbors and prove they really "care" about their family and friends by gratuitous spending of money they will bit*h about not having for the next 4mos. Amazing! Once again, as in my previous post, this country is wayyyyy tooo spoiled. Have I ever gone out on Black Friday? Yes, but I am talking one store, for one thing, no more than 2hrs (max!). I have rolled up on places where the line was wrapped around the place....I keep driving. It's not worth the let down of getting to the aisle and it being ravaged and the item being gone. NOT THAT SERIOUS! The other thing that is curious to me is where did the name "BLACK" Friday come into play? Rev. Al Sharpton, where you at! ;p

Ok, I could not resist my google fix...BLACK FRIDAY = "the day retailer balance sheets move out of the red and into the black -- is an important indicator of what's to come." And there you have it.

This country is WAAAYYY TOOO spoiled!

Today, Libera and I went to one of my favorite local fruit markets to get some flowers for my abuela and my mother-in-law. Being the frugal miser that I am, I always check out the clearance shelves for a great deal on vegetables, fruit, bread, etc. Most of the time, there is not too many things that great on this 5shelf unit on wheels that they keep on the outside of the store and away from the main entrance. Again, I am a frugal mofo, therefore, I don't mind walking 15paces out of my way to land a good deal. Anyway, I was amazed to find two bags with a 99cent sticker on each one for 10 (total) bell peppers. Red and orange. Man, I was hyped! Normally, these badboys are 2.99/lb and that's for the red. The orange are usually more. Sheesh. While that was a great situation, I began to analyze the background issue here. Today, this shelf unit on wheels was jammed with food that they had reduced for quick sale...Man, I am talking grapes, melons, apples, onions, some bread and a host of other items. I am not naive enough to think that the grocery business does not produce alot of waste, but sheesh. I think of people in this country and obviously in other parts of the world who have NEVER even seen that much food at a glance. I know we take the abundance of food we have for granted at times. I really try on a daily basis to never do that, but of course I have been guilty of it. It's kind of crazy that some of these grocery stores just load up their dumpsters with a few day old food. I know perishable stuff gets to the dumpster quicker than items with long shelf life, but it's kind of twisted that they would not at first thought earmark all of this stuff for local food banks since I can bet that within 5miles of any grocery store, there is a shelter, group home or at least a church that would take those items and pass them along to a hungry person or family. Sheesh....I guess people are just too caught up in things to help others out. Don't get me wrong. I certainly do not think that people who are CAPABLE of working should be working the system and STEALING this food from other people (orphans, disabled people, etc.) because they think they deserve it more.
Those of us in MI know about a recent story in the news of this scum of a woman who was working the system by going to a church food bank several times per week since March and the lady has 3 houses to her name with her husband. Get this...each house is 800K-1M and she was going to a church food bank?! Come on!! She stole food from others because of some twisted game in her mind. Horrible. While what she did is not technically illegal, I believe it is of a pretty low moral standard to ever do anything like that.Oh, back to this country. The obesity situation in this country is really a mess. Though I find it laughable to classify obesity as a "disease", I know those people are sick. It's just like morons who smoke. It's mental. People like to convince themselves that they are really dependant on those vices, but come on....In terms of food, it's all about portion control and the lack of exercise in their lives is really a no-win situation. Any oncologist will tell you, the number one way to reduce your chance of developing cancer is to avoid smoking. Sheesh, the friggin packs even warn people...and of course the government would NEVER put a stop to smoking since they get mad tax loot from these people....Don't get me started on the government....Ok, now I'm pissed...Time to hit the treadmill.....

The world is mine!!

Ok, I suppose this globe could be mine if I wanted to lay down the $160 for it. Ouch. Either way, it gets 10 cool pts for the aesthetics. Probably cost $6 to manufacture. Oh, the simplicity of design and the complexity of economics...

Photshop Critique

So....as I mentioned in an earlier post regarding the tough choice of buying a dslr cam, I have been teaching myself photoshop and it has turned into quite an obsession...actually more of a compulsion...in reality, an obsessive compulsion...ok, I'll be honest...I just wanted to weave obsessive compulsion into a post...Anyway....

Below you can see some of my work. Click to view more detail. The first photo below is the original. Fergie is the subject and a fabulous one at that. Any comments on a particular effect will greatly be appreciated.

Below is an edit to the original where I smoothed out the "shine" on her forehead and nose and brightened up the gold on her "dress". OK, it's a toga, but who cares. ;)

Below, she has entered the matrix. Pretty decent effect, I think. Changing the colors could be interesting.

Below, she enjoys a black & white situation.

Below, she has been the victim of a Vibrant Overlay for an interesting effect.

Below, she has been transformed to a comic character of some sort.

Below, she's is a sketch.


Ok, that is just a sample. Again, any thoughts would really help me out....That's all for now.

Try Indian Food because it's good!!!

Man, if you have never tried Indian food, get out and find a good place because it's excellent. We went out last night with some friends to a place in Farmington Hills called House of India and I have to say I was very pleased with all the food we ordered. Call me crazy, but I never really had Indian food in my life. No real reason other than I just never did. I also would hate to go to place and waste cash if the food ends up being junk. Not this place though....Wow. The decor of the restaurant was pretty lame. An occasional Indian woman in a painting and a few tapestries on the wall and nothing-special carpet and tables/chairs. All those details got shattered when I tasted the food! The one thing that really confirmed my hope of the food being good was that there were actually Indian people in there eating! Basic concept, but in my mind, if a place cannot even attract its own people, then it begs to be scrutinized. The place was actually packed with Indians and that made me feel like we made the right choice. Anyway, the garlic naan (garlic bread) was very good and super-garlicy. I love garlic, therefore, I had no issues with that at all. Libera got some chicken biryani and it was very, very good. Our friends ordered some lamb tandoori and some other things on a combo plate as well as chicken biryani. I ordered the chicken tandoori. We also had some lentil soup that was excellent. I ordered a mango milkshake that was Mmmmmmmmmm. Bottom line, House of India will see us again... :)

It's all about the Light Emitting Diode yo....

Amazon.com is on my top 5 sites for shopping on the net. It's really amazing the amount and range of items you can locate on that site and affiliated sites. I have purchased books, CDs, Clif Bars, pots/pans, camera accessories....the list can go on and on.....Anyway, I was checking out amazon last Friday and they usually have this FRIDAY ONLY sale that occassionally has some pretty decent sale items. I happen to check the site out and saw an LED flashlight. Oh.....LEDs are sooo cool. Just notice how intensly bright the light is from the flashlight....Sheesh. We have all seen them on vehicle taillights and many electronic devices, but now the ubiquitous flashlight? I had to have it! I was looking for an additional flashlight anyway since you really can never have too many and I have medium grade and really cheap ones. I figured I would see what all the hype was about since LEDs seem to be making their way into more common and lower cost products. Longer bulb life and use of less energy. As you should know, I am all about sustainable resources, recycling, green is the way to go if economically feasible in certain situations and all that good stuff. So, I get the item yesterday (free shipping since I also bought another item) and was pretty impressed. I recommend LED flashlights to the people. The light is a much different intensity and concentration. I am sure wavelength and semiconductors come into the conversation in explaining the unique properties of LEDs. The light beam is actually less of a beam and more of an overall concentration of light. It's kind of weird to explain until you see it. The range is not too far ahead of you if you point the flashlight, but the light has a wider circumference of light than a traditional incandescent bulb. Again, you should check out a store that has one of these things and see what you think. It gets about 20style pts in my world also. Peep the link to the item on amazon and let your light shine... ;p

Tough choices.....

Ok, it certainly is not a matter of life or death, but I need to decide if I am going to upgrade to the prosumer level in the world of digital photography. My trusty sony cybershot is pushing 5yrs old and it has been a nice view of the world from the 2.1 mega-pixel point of view, but I have been researching for the last year about the jump to the world of DSLR cameras. Obviously it's a significant jump in price and to know me is know that I hate spending money on purchases for myself. I feel sick to my stomach when I spend over $200 for an item. Not sure why, but I suppose it is some form of psycho-somatic mechanism that just manifests itself. I am over it by the next day, but nonetheless, it remains as a constant.
I have been teaching myself photoshop and really want to hone that craft and the idea of taking pics on a much higher res cam would really help in developing my pshop skeelz. I have a niece on the way and that is another excuse to upgrade the cam...yeah, that's it, blame the family for my own selfish gain...LOL! Really, I would certainly use the cam to its fullest potential, but I am afraid of my initial reactions to my treatment of such an expensive piece of electronics. I baby my sony p&s cam and like I said earlier, it's pushing 5yrs old. I guess I am just conditioned to take care of my digital kids...anyway, I would like to get the Nikon D50 or possibly the D70s right around Christmas or after the new year. No rush other than my selfish needs being sustained...haha. Some people keep mentioning Canon, but I went to a cam store and held several Canon models and felt much better about the Nikon models in my hands. The Canon felt much too delicate and not that I am a butter-fingers, but I just felt more sure of myself with the Nikon. I am about 99% set on getting the Nikon.........We'll see.....I plan for a bit more research on the upfront costs since I will be buying the body + the lens + the carrying case + the tripod + at least one high speed SD card for fast shooting......These choices need a rest for now....

"Hello Teamwork......Are you out there?"

Ok, it's not a stretch to say that all of us have worked in teams at some point in our work, school or personal life. The most frustrating thing is when people decide to form these silly alliances within the "team" for a variety of reasons. They may lack the knowledge to complete the objectives. They may be trying to "stand out" for that elusive promotion, therefore, crushing everyone in their path to get to the next level. They may just be moronic people who insist on dancing on everyone’s nerves for their own twisted entertainment. Either way and for whatever motivation it is, I just laugh about it because these people are just poor souls in search of something.....I won't go into any specifics for fear of making you fall asleep and smashing your forehead on your keyboard, but I am dealing with this situation and at least you should be able to relate to this situation and it's quite annoying....

Halloween came and went...

Well, another Halloween and yet another year sans tricker-treaters...Ok, we had two....TWO!!! They were the cutie little Iraqi neighbor girls. 6 and 7 or something like that. We went to costco this past weekend and bought a 5lb bag of candy for naught...Well, my coworkers will appreciate it, but that's not the point. I wanted to see some kiddies. Well, actually, I was not home Monday night since I am taking a Monday night class this semester and Libera was the one with the goodies for the kiddies. I did the right thing by going to class since it actually started to rain about an hour after getting dark and turned into a pretty nasty night; perfect environment to learn or work. My professor is a good guy. He held two class sessions. One on Friday night and one on Monday night since the class was pretty evenly split on who was going to show up due to most of the class having kids to take out for tricks and treats. No way I was going to kill my Friday night in class.....Anyway, next year may bring more kiddies, but I doubt it. I will still be the sucker buying the big bag-o-candy....