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Hobby-ception

Last week, The YouTube Algorithm thought I’d like to watch a video about making linocut prints.

After going down a fascinating rabbit hole of learning about carving techniques, Picasso’s reduction printing process, and a few other topics, I realized that this could be a great alternative to sewing custom tags into garments and other sewing projects I make.

I ordered up a box of pink erasers, designed a “2024” stamp, and set about finding my Speedball carving tool.

(That last step took a few days… I stored my rarely-used carving tool someplace clever so I’d remember where I put it.)

This morning, I carved my stamp, and I am pleased. It’s not perfect, but it’s what I wanted, and I’m not going to let perfect be the enemy of good.

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7th Grader

While waiting for the bus this morning, wearing his vintage Southview High School jacket in the 54°F weather, Connor assured me, “There’s probably gonna be kids wearing shorts.”

Connor has eschewed shorts all summer, opting instead for joggers and jeans. Some of those pants have become high-waters over the past few months — the tiny hole he tore in the knee of one pair of athletic pants during skateboard camp back in late May has migrated at least an inch northward since.

He didn’t request any new clothes for the new school year, although I did buy him new shoes and a couple new pairs of jeans. Interesting how his style changes over the years… In elementary school, he always wanted to dress up for the first day of school, and that became what he was known for. Nowadays, he’s leaning toward graphic tees with gaming themes, topped with a dapper hat (although the hat will have to stay in his locker for the day).

Connor’s summer has been uneventful overall, so while he’s not exactly glad to be back at school, he’s looking forward to getting back to the usual routine.

Me, too, dude. Me, too.

memories, parenthood, roadtrips Leave a comment

Seven Years Later

In August 2017, when Connor was about to start first grade, he and I spent a few days in Dayton to visit my late grandparents and my BFF, Amy.

This past week, he and Aaron and I all spent a few days in Dayton to visit Amy. Of course, I took the opportunity to capture a then-and-now photo at JD’s Custard.

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Nerding Out In My Free Time

I mentioned in a recent post that I rediscovered my camera collection when I was looking for a film camera to bring to Hocking Hills. That morphed into a side project to create a new version of the Cameras page I had in a previous iteration of my blog.

Thing is, my WordPress installation uses PHP as its programming language. I haven’t touched PHP since the last time I tried to customize my blog, which was many years ago. Granted, my job as a data nerd has meant I’ve gained some experience in other programming languages, but PHP is not one of them. Also, I haven’t had to touch CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for a Very Long Time, so I needed to refresh my knowledge of the possibilities there.

I managed to break my project into a bunch of bite-sized tasks that felt very Agile-esque.

  1. Create a custom tag page in WordPress.
  2. Retrieve the tag information.
    (Shoutout to Mobilize Cloud for their helpful post from 2016.)
  3. Display the tags as tiles, using an unordered list and some basic CSS.
  4. Link to each tag page.
  5. Display the number of posts for each tag.
  6. Display a photo of each camera (tag).
  7. Retrieve the date range a given tag was used.
    (This was the hard part, and required doing some research and flexing my SQL skillz.)
  8. Enter descriptions for each camera/tag in WordPress.

Next up is making sure my new page works as expected on mobile, uploading photos of all the cameras, and writing up descriptions. After that, I’m sure I’ll come up with some other bells and whistles I’d like to add….

hocking hills 2024 , Leave a comment

Hocking Hills: Cedar Falls and Conkle’s Hollow

When my mom suggested we go somewhere for a short trip this summer, the things most on her mind were 1.) a swimming pool and 2.) waterfalls. The waterfall requirement was the main reason that Cedar Falls was the first stop on our Hocking Hills nature adventure, despite me having already researched the local attractions and having decided that Conkle’s Hollow and Ash Cave would be our best bets for truly accessible hiking.

Pro tip: if your knees can’t tolerate stairs, hiking Cedar Falls may not be in your best interest.

  • Wide angle from the creek at Cedar Falls
  • King of the Falls
  • This Swallowtail landed on the stream bank and let several hikers photograph it close up
  • Grammy and Connor waited up on the trail for me to take pictures
  • View from the creek approaching Cedar Falls
  • All the tourists were photographing this turtle and the fish
  • Informational plaque at Cedar Falls
  • Family Selfie at Cedar Falls
  • Connor and Grammy at Cedar Falls
  • Now they tell us…
  • Grammy standing with her walking stick next to a wooden bridge. A sign next to her says "Accessible Trail" and shows icons of a hiker and the modern Wheelchair Symbol.
    Conkles Hollow looks much less strenuous
  • I didn’t use the selfie station as designed
  • The caves along the gorge are reminiscent of the ones farther north at Whipps Ledges back in Medina County
  • Sandstone cliffs of Conkles Hollow
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