Pretty boring day

Not much to report. After staying up late last night to submit my photos, I’m crashing pretty hard right now.

Spent most of the day at work researching missing or incorrect addresses on returned mail. I’m wagering that’s what I’ll be doing for most of tomorrow, too. Sometimes it’s hard to be a conscientious worker when your given task sucks away your soul so much. I guess I’d rather do that, though, than answer phone calls—which I’ve heard I’m slated to do soon. Goodness, no. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to people; I’ve gotten better with that. It’s that I don’t even know half of what I should know to effectively assist banking centers (and the occasional random client). Ah, well. I know I’ve gotta start sometime.

Downloaded some more early-season drum corps mp3’s this evening. One of them is a hack of a .wma file you can purchase from the DCI.org website—and in the middle of the show, during some applause, a voice comes in and says, “Support your local drum corps, you cheap bastard.” I’m guessing the person who “hacked” it from wma to mp3 thought that would be funny. I think it’s just gonna spell a few minutes of me editing some mid-show applause short.

Sorry today’s been kind of boring. I just wanted to be sure to post something, now that I’ve kind of gotten in the habit.

For now, though, I’m really sleepy and I still have to shower and take some Tylenol to prevent the impending onset of overnight girlie cramps that will keep me awake most of the night. (Menfolk, you’ve really got it made, trust me.)

My cat has an extra footpad/toe thingy behind each of her front paws, making six toes, and a little bump even farther up that looks like it could have been a toe if it tried harder. Cat owners, check your kitty paws: is this normal? Did I just miss this on my other cats?

OK, I’m going now.

Contest Entries… Away!

Well, I done it. I e-mailed my six selections to the Popular Photography annual contest tonight. I ended up choosing:

+ Manual, Black Swamp Arts Festival, 2000
+ Mei (June 2004 – aka “The Artsy One”)
+ Wood County Fair (aka “Wood County DMB Under The Table Album Cover”)
+ Fort Meigs
+ Signpost, Michigan Renaissance Festival
+ Rose of Sharon

Photos I ended up not choosing and why:

The other Mei pic: I hadn’t been going to even consider that one until I posted it in my cubicle at work and Scott told me it looked like a postcard. I thought it looked like a snapshot, but that made me think maybe it was better… Well, maybe not.

East Hall, BGSU: Might have been more interesting with a more interesting sky. As it was… eh, it’s BG.

Gravity Games, Cleveland OH 2003: I agree with Amy that my composition was off. I cropped this one horizontally for a desktop theme earlier, but didn’t know how the crop would translate into an actual photo submission. I may try cropping and submitting it for another contest in the future, or I may just chalk it up to a learning experience and bring more than two rolls of film to this year’s Gravity Games. And my new teleconverter.

Cleveland Skyline: Didn’t receive the critical acclaim I was hoping for. I’d kind of liked it, but I liked the others more.

Random Affirmation (Birds Know They’re Alive): This was more of a “WTF?” snapshot that I took, and doesn’t have much artistic merit in and of itself. I still think it’s kind of a funny picture, but not necessarily contest material.

So… winners will be notified in October. I’m not getting my hopes up too much, but wish me luck, anyway. Go me!

Let’s Take A Vote…

OK, I need everybody’s help here. And I do mean everybody’s. July 1st is the deadline to submit photos to Popular Photography & Imaging‘s annual photo contest. For the past few years, I’ve meant to enter, but my procrastination has gotten the best of me. This year, though, they’re allowing e-mail entries… so, I’m there. Problem is, I’m having trouble narrowing my entries down to only six.

I have an idea of which pics I’d like to submit, but I want your input, as well. So, check out my page o’ possibilities, then vote by leaving a comment here (or a tag on the front page). Vote for as many as you like, but tell me which of them is your favorite and why.

Thanks for your help, everybody… and remember, I need to e-mail these out by Wednesday night!

For a Good Cause…

Garrett, a stranger whose blog I frequent, is giving away many coveted Gmail accounts. All you have to do is donate $5 or more to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, then forward your confirmation e-mail to Garrett, and you will be entered into a drawing for one of at least 36 (people keep donating more every day) Gmail accounts.

I don’t know that I want a Gmail account, but I donated ten bucks to the MS Society, anyway. I think you should, too.

This Weekend: Catching Up and Catching Art

Feeling kinda funky. I think I ate too much low-carb ice cream. I hope it goes away, though, because Aaron and I haven’t gotten it on in a while, and… ahem. TMI. Anyway…

Yesterday was my ten-year high school class reunion. It wasn’t too bad, all told—I got to see some people I hadn’t seen in years, mainly from choir and band. Matt was my main friend of the afternoon, although I tried really hard not to obviously follow him around like a puppy dog or anything. The only thing that was particularly disappointing was the fact that I still had a bit of a cold, and my hacking cough came back to haunt me multiple embarrassing times in the couple hours we were there. But, all in all, no one’s changed too much (physically, anyway); most people are married and most of the married (or divorced) ones have a kid or two or three; a few people do have jobs that one could consider… worth a college degree, I guess. Sonya’s a surgeon, Garrett’s a pilot, Theresa’s a operations manager for an advertising firm, Serafina’s a teacher. I didn’t catch what Jessica does, but Jim’s in the seminary, Matt works for his dad’s ATM business, and I work for a bank. But I’m happy, dammit. And that’s all that matters.

Oh, and I didn’t mention Atkins at all, because that would have required me to admit that I got really fat and sloppy over the past few years. I’d rather them all think I look almost the same as I did in high school, and leave it at that. 🙂

Today, Aaron and I hit the Crosby Festival at the Botanical Gardens. Lots of great artists, awesome photography, neat sculpture, and nifty “plant rooters” made out of blown glass and copper wire. I almost bought one, but figured the cat would destroy it wherever it lived. I also discovered the Photo Arts Club at the Botanical Gardens. I’m definitely planning to join up—their next meeting is in October, though. Sounds like the kind of thing I need: pros and amateurs participating in discussions, outings, and informal photo contests on a monthly basis. Hey, Erk, you with me on this one? I could sure use a photo buddy…