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Sam Happy Face
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Okay, it’s been more than a month. That’s crazy. I wanted to update this site a lot more often than that, but I’ve just found myself leading a rather boring life (and often lacking an image to upload with the post). But I willed myself to make some sort of entry on Independence Day, because – well, because.

I had big plans for today. Okay, maybe not big plans, but I had plans. Unfortunately, I was only able to accomplish some of those plans, mainly due to my lazy and forgetful mind. My first plan was to buy as many patriotic songs I could find on iTunes, play it all day, and hopefully not annoy the family to the point of breaking my iPod or my neck. Because I’m still here and I’m typing words others can understand, neither of the items mentioned were broken.

I “recently” – ignoring the month-long delay between updates – purchased a cheap-in-more-ways-than-one lens from Ritz Camera: the Quantaray 500mm f/8 Mirror [epinions.com] lens. I have both buyer’s remorse and begrudging acceptance with the purchase. It’s not a sharp lens, and it certainly is unsuitable for anything but sunlit shooting. However, to get a lens like this from a Name brand would cost far more than I paid for this lens, which ended up being less than $100 on clearance. Therefore, while I may berate myself for actually buying a Quantaray lens, I have to admit I wouldn’t be able to get a real lens [bhphotovideo.com] anywhere near this focal length for the price I paid with this lens, nor does the cost of the Name brand 500mm lens balance with any use I’d get out of it.

My second plan was to take a picture with the lens. I failed this one: perhaps I’ll accomplish it at a later time.

I don’t believe I’ve ever mentioned it here, but I’ve become rather fond of Adagio Teas [adagioteas.com]. I originally heard about the company on Diggnation [diggnation.com], a weekly technology news podcast. Kevin Rose – another tea drinker and host of the podcast – recommended the site and the interesting teapots the site offered. I checked it out and was pretty impressed with the design, and decided to purchase a sample of the caffeine-free Rooibos. I was hooked, and soon purchased a tin of the stuff.

The interesting thing about the tea is that the majority of it is sold loose. The teapot I mentioned earlier is the strainer, and it makes the entire process rather easy and mess-free. Perhaps it’s just the geek in me, but I find it fun to make tea with the little teapot.

While I found Rooibos was tasty hot, it was pretty bad cold. I went to the TeaChat forum on the site and found a few recommendations for iced tea: Oolong #40, Ceylon Sonata, Apricot Green, and Silver Needle. I really like being able to try out the sample packs of each tea: I don’t feel worried about experimenting, because the investment is only a few dollars.

I guarantee you I wasn’t just paid to write that out, even though it may have sounded that way. I like tea, and the site is an awesome resource for tea fans.

I suppose I’ll continue to “advertise” and mention that I updated my business site. [flagmandesign.com] I’ve been working on the design for some time now, because I wanted to break from my tradition of rushing things out before I was fully satisfied with the layout. This design change also means I’ll be more willing to hand out the address to potential clients, and currently more importantly, potential employers. I hope to be out of Ritz before the end of the summer, and certainly before Christmas season starts again. I was originally planning on leaving the store back last year after (or during) vacation, and quickly and easily finding another job within a month of two. Michigan then bodyslammed me with reality, and then rubbed my face in its economy just in case I didn’t understand. I do hope I don’t have to leave the state to get a job, since going to another state without a vehicle would prove cumbersome.

On the topic of vehicles, things have changed with the family cars, and we’re down to one again. I find it rather odd writing that we own more than one car, but for a family as large as the one in which I was born, having more than one car is rather necessary. Unfortunately, the van has had some setbacks, and is rather unreliable. It stalls more often that it starts, and accelerates only if one is willing to wait a few minutes to get up to highway speed, and there are no hills along the way. Fortunately, my father was able to get an used car for a very good price (Samuel prayed), so his work car is far more dependable. Perhaps I’ll take a picture of it when I also take a picture with the 500mm lens.

Today’s Image was taken back at the end of May. It is very mildly posed: Samuel put the flowers in his hair and my sisters told him to walk over to me. He then posed in the manner presented in the photo, and I took the picture. Since the picture (actually, as of an hour or two ago), he’s had just about all his hair shaved off per his request. Hey, perhaps I’ll take a picture of it when I take a picture of the new car, which is right around the time I take a picture with the new lens!

Sounds like a plan.

UPDATE: Okay, so I didn’t get the car or the new haircut. I did get a picture of what the new lens can do, though. Actually, the five pictures below show what all my lenses can do (the newest being the last).

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 4th, 2007 at 10:34 pm and is filed under Life, Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.