Daily Plog

February 6, 2010

Quick Query…

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jacob Crosby @ 2:19 am

So, I have had pretty consistent website traffic since the sites inception in early 2008. Through all the updates, changes, broken features, people did not seem to care much and visited just the same. However, in the last two weeks I have found that my traffic has dwindled to nearly nothing. I mean literally, in two weeks I have had four visitors, and they were all on the same day. So, one of two things is happening here:

A: My methods for monitoring traffic have become corrupted and are no longer logging and storing traffic data correctly.

B: People really are just not visiting the website anymore. This could be due to a general lack of new content, a less than entertaining design and interface, and no tabloid-esque, American Idol, flashy lights drama on the index page.

My query is this, I would like those of you that visit, to simply shoot me an email, or take the time to leave a comment that is simply a number, a letter, or whatever it is you would like to leave as a way to signal to me that you visited the site, as I have a problem with the fact that the site has gone from 5-60 visits per day in the last two years, to literally ZERO in the last two weeks, aside, of course, from the six visits on January 31st, and the one, lonely visit on February 5th…

Thank you all for taking just a moment of your time to help me better the functionality of this website. If you could all contribute to this place it would be a much better website for all of us to tinker on.

~Jacob

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January 17, 2010

The Bright Idea

Filed under: D90, HDR, Minnesota, Outdooors, Pets — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Jacob Crosby @ 2:23 am

This photo is a good bit out of my ordinary type of photo. I ran this one through PS (Photoshop CS4) in an effort to give it more of that wintery feel. I am confident my treatment did lend a bit of cold to the overall feel of the photo. I hope that you also feel the same, I consider this to be one of my best ever photos… Please vote and let me know what you think. I am finding that there are a great number of visitors coming to the site, but not voting, or commenting, please, it only takes a single click of the mouse for you to vote, they are the little stars at the bottom of the photo/post.

Thanks Everyone!

“And in the end, we find that we are back to the place we began, fetal and weeping, for no better a reason than fear and selfishness.” ~Jacob W. Crosby

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January 1, 2010

The Invitation…

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jacob Crosby @ 3:20 am

For a long time I have wanted to write a story. After many years of fumbling around with ideas in my mind, and never quite having the confidence in my writing skills to start, I have finally written what will be the first part of my short story, realizing that what better to write about than my personal experiences. Some of you may know where the story starts and ends with respect to my life, some of you may not. I will not be answering ANY questions about the story(ies), but feel free to ask in the comments section and someone may be able to answer. I will be reading comments, so if you would like to critique my work, please do so as I am certain there will be errors somewhere.

There will be no distinct chronological order to the story(ies – should there be more), and they may jump around even within themselves. I do hope this is something people will be coming back for from time to time, as I hope to put out a portion of them on a weekly basis, they will be very well organized on the site, with each part of the story having it’s own page and subpages, so they will be easily found and read in a distinct order. Anyway, the first story begins HERE. Please take a look and I do hope that you enjoy, as it is one of my new years resolutions…

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December 29, 2009

Amazing Thailand! and some background…

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jacob Crosby @ 7:00 am

Happy Birthday to my good friend Eric, though it is a little late at this point, I had a bit of a busy day and it slipped my mind…

I had the privilege on Sunday to hang out with a group of my friends for a birthday celebration. After being the first one to arrive and sitting there for 20 minutes, alone, and very very awkward and uncomfortable, I got to thinking about the last three years of my life with regards to the event (which mostly means the company) that was about to take place.  I have always had a proclivity towards the unknown, be it culture, science, technology, religion, and pretty much anything that one could learn, some things would interest me beyond the information available, others quickly dwindled and were forgotten. However, in the last three years I have met two people that have had a huge part in my interest and desire to visit and ‘partake’ of other cultures.

First, I was fortunate enough to meet my friend Eric’s girlfriend Villa some time ago. She opened my eyes to an entire world of things. New foods, experiences, people, culture, I could seriously go on and on. It used to be that I would pretty much stick to the things I knew and not really wander outside of my comfort zone. After meeting Villa, and several of her friends, and just spending time with Eric and her my outlook completely changed. I started enjoying life and all it has to offer. There is a whole panoply of new experiences and adventures to enjoy, granted, I can be a depressive person and I go through moods at times in which I just do not want to see anybody or do anything, but for a couple years I was able to enjoy a completely different side of life, and getting out and doing things with my friends became an adventure worth taking part in. I am eternally grateful for all of the fun we had, and for them both always inviting me to tag along.

Secondly, the opportunity I had to meet a very interesting person named Chandra. Chandra was originally from Nepal, a very small country stuck between India and China, with a small mountain range called the Himalayas, and a little known mountain called Everest. When she was young she was adopted by an American family and brought to the U.S. (The story behind that is probably best left for another post). She is a very unique person and quite literally one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen in my life. She generally has a very positive and fun outlook on life. Something to which I was relatively speaking unaccustomed to. For the first three months of knowing her she opened my eyes to such a unique perspective on things. She was a great help to me in showing me that I am a generally well liked person. Our initial meeting was quite odd I must say. She had tried many times to get me to meet her, which I would fervently turn down. Though I do not recall doing so, at some point she got my phone number and called me after work, not knowing who it was I answered the phone and was effectively strong-armed into meeting her. Immediately upon arriving at my destination it was like we had known each other for many years. Effectively teasing one another about various things… I could not help but to point out her small stature, and she was intent on harassing me about my choice of ice cream and how long it took, then the fact that I could not finish it because I did not like it. I had never been so comfortable with someone in my life, albeit after 20 mins of physical interaction. Regardless, Chandra was able to have an impact on my life that very few people ever have the opportunity, one that will likely last forever. She opened my life to a place where money does not matter, and only one’s ability to provide for their family with food and shelter is of any significance. She told me stories of life in Nepal and captivated me with her adorable accent and absolutely beautiful Nepali dances and absolutely lovely attire.

My point in all of this is simple, my desire to travel the world and experience it and capture it via my photography is unparalleled by anything I have ever considered doing. Because of the cultural differences of two people, my life has been forever changed with the desire to experience new things, and cultures, and places. In so many ways I just do not understand how people can fear the unknown, why is society so insistent upon forcing some unnecessary fear of life, death, driving to work, travelling, having a Christmas tree, and pretty much doing anything. Yes, there are necessary fears in the world, but none that should cause an overwhelmingly abundant paralysis to an entire country. We should embrace the unknown with open arms, welcome the unknown with our minds open to the abundance of new information that we are bound to experience.

In essence, this post is all because I went to Amazing Thailand for a great friend’s birthday party and arrived twenty minutes early… Here is the photo that corresponds to the celebration. As far as the food, I give it an 11 out of 10 (Tip: Order the pineapple stuffed with rice, ingenious and delicious).

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December 17, 2009

Great news

Filed under: Nikon D90, People, Updates — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — Jacob Crosby @ 3:15 am

I have a great deal of good news to share with everyone this post and it does not even involve some deliciously edited photo… I have recently come into a certain amount of assistance from someone to which I am eternally grateful. As it stands recently I have been unimaginably hopeful with regards to my future. I will say this, and I wll keep it ‘relatively’ short, I had recently lost someone in my life in which I believed had absolutelty no replacement the world over.

It seems not only did I find a replacement for this person, I found that this person never really deserved to be in my life in the first place. I thought my life would be terrible and I would be lost without her, and he truth is, my life has been unfathomable leagues better since she lost me. I have been blessed not only with realization that I have had MEGA great friends the whole time, and  that I may have lost one person, but I have gained two great new friends and an amazing family that make it very clear that she always needed to be replaced. Much like a broken piece of office equipment, you do not dwell on the fact that it is broken and “gone”, you simply replace it, and forget it ever existed in the first place because the replacement unit functions better on it’s worst day than the previous unit did when it was brand new….

I have always heard the best revenge is living well, hehe, well, that I am doing, and not that I would ever wish ill upon Chandra (or most people for that matter) as I do still love her so very much, I reently heard she is doing worse since she lost me… If there is such a thing as karma I am confident some just got dished up, shaken, not stirred.

Having given that tidbit of “grandtastic” news, I want to inform everyone of my first purchases towards my new business as well as the basic premise behind my new venture.

My very first purchases towards the business were a new air compressor and a new brad nail gun. Essentially I intend to process my photographs as usual, and get them printed in varying sizes. The second step in my overall process is to construct my own unique frames that I will be able to design around the photograph that will be going inside the frame. Now that you can see why I would need an air compressor and a nail gun when working with photographs… hehe. My third purchase was my dream camera. I have been dissatisfied with my camera for shooting HDR photographs for some time now. Ultimately, I found a great deal for a Nikon D90 online, I purchased the D90 with a few lenses and some additional equipment that will help me transfer from my Canon to a Nikon as all the connections are different, as well as the threading of the lenses.

Now that everyone knows why I have a great level of confidence in my future I am ready to go out and sell my photographs and frames. I would like to involve my friends and family in the process of building this, and doing so from the beginning, so if you have an ideas that you think would be beneficial, please do let me know.

Sorry for the lack of a photo today. :(

“Real life is the hardest impression, it’s always moving so I let it come through.”

~Little Texas

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December 6, 2009

Hospitals in Winter…

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jacob Crosby @ 4:06 am

“A long December and there’s reason to believe, maybe this year will be better than the last… The smell of hospitals in winter and the feeling that it’s all a lot of oysters, but no pearls…”

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November 30, 2009

Rose…

Filed under: Arizona, Nature, Outdooors, People, Phoenix, Rebel XT/350D, Sedona, Travel — Tags: , — Jacob Crosby @ 12:32 pm

Don’t disturb the beast, the temperamental goat, the snail,
While he’s feeding on the rose,
Stay frozen compromise,
What I will, I am…

Bend around the wind,
Silently blown about again,
I’m treading so soft and lightly,
Compromising my will, I am…

I am, I will, so no longer
Will I lay down, play dead,
Play your doe,
In the headlights,
Locked down and terrified,
Your deer in the headlights,
Shot down and horrified,

When push comes to pull,
Comes to shove,
Comes to step around,
This self-destructive dance,
That never would’ve mattered,
Until I rose, I roared aloud here,
I will, I am…

I am,
I will,
So no longer,
Will I,
Lay down,
Play dead,
Play this,
Knee down,
Gunshy,
Martyr,
Pitiful,
I rose,
I roared,
I will,
I am….

Within the words above I find a certain level of comfort. It seems that in this song the notion that we are able to endure precludes itself. I found that my level of endurance, tolerance, and patience, with regards to the lies, untruths, and injustices of another is finite and is not everlasting as I previously thought it was. It seems that, just as in the words above, there came a point in which “Compromising my will” was just no longer possible and as such, “I rose, I roared aloud here!… So no longer, will I lay down, play dead, play this.” I did whatever I deemed necessary to stop the “Self-destructive dance” that was indeed occurring. I was not able to focus on anything short of what the end outcome would be. My approach wrong, perhaps… Is the outcome what was most necessary, yes, without doubt, and in the same, there is an amount of remorse that penetrates me. Though not enough to cause regret, just enough to, on occasion, cause my spine to tingle, my heart to race, my thought process reduced to what might have been. Though after the abundance of effort and time on my part put forth, it seems that, inherently, people are incapable of change.

We are all faced with challenges, some as simple as getting out of bed, some unimaginable. In the end, we make our decisions based on the rules we have set for our lives, the guidelines to which we tailor our existence. Sometimes, our emotions interfere with a logic that is evident and ultimately undeniable. Perhaps if we could take the emotional variable out of the equation, the decisions we must make would be a great deal easier, but nobody ever said the easy choice was always the right choice, and as I have found, it rarely is.

I have made my bed, and I am fully prepared to sleep in it, and a certain level of confidence burns through me, that I will rest well, and may you also, with all of your regrets and remorse for what you have done to those around you, and what you will continue to do. Only you know the extent to which your behaviors reach, and the irreparable damage you have caused. May you sleep well indeed Chandra.

Since this post was built around a “quote” in the song above, there will be no quote today.

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November 29, 2009

The tides of time and a Photo

Filed under: HDR, Minnesota, People, Rebel XT/350D — Jacob Crosby @ 5:30 pm

I have been using the software I previously mentioned called Woopra for a few weeks now. It has become a small bit of a surprise to find that roughly 30% of my website visits come from two users in a single city. I will not be mentioning the single city and state, as it is important to me that both visitors continue, well, visiting and I fear that should I make an announcement of it, they will likely stop visiting. Though I am not entirely certain, I am very confident… So thanks for your visits, you know who you are.. :)

In starting the writing of this particular post I did not have a particular direction in mind. I have been in a great deal of pain in recent weeks, and it seems that it is getting progressively worse. Which is exactly what I was informed would happen, and that in the coming months things will progress pretty quickly. I am afraid that the current medications I am on are becoming of little use. Most days I am able to ignore the coming months, and the fact that there is a certain outcome of which I have little control. Although, there are days, in which I am simply stuck with myself and all the information locked in my mind, which is also of little use. Time is a relative thing, it seems that when we have an abundance we allow it to waste away, yet when we have little, we long for more.

As of this very moment in writing I have no photo selected, and I am not sure I have the motivation to even look at them… Most of them remind of a much different time in my life, wherein I may not have had a great many things, I did have one thing, and she was most of what mattered to me. It seems counterintuitive, but the falling down does seem to be far more painful than the standing up. I have finally been reminded of a photo I had taken some time ago, though I cannot remember the date, and I am not going to spend the time to look for it. This photo was taken in St. Cloud with Chandra at Munsinger Gardens. I asked her to wear her sari so that I could take some photos of her in it as I thought it would be a beautiful and colorful addition to Chandra. Though not one of my favorite photos, it seems that many people like this one. Also, no unique name for this one..

A short while after this photo was taken we had wandered around and found a cage with peacocks in it, totaling around 6 if I remember correctly. There was one in particular, so extremely colorful and energetic. I tried my best to get the three photos usually necessary for HDR, but it was of no use, as the animal was reluctant to stay still for more than a moment at a time.

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November 28, 2009

Sonoran Sunset

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jacob Crosby @ 12:47 pm

This photo was taken on a last minute trip to Sedona with Chandra. As we were driving the view progressively got better and better, I waited until just before what I thought would be the cusp of the perfect portion of the sunset, to which I was correct. We stopped the car just after exiting the freeway towards Sedona, and it was a most spectacular view indeed. Well worth the trip up there if I were to only be able to view this and turn around. Again, I have heard this area of the world referred to as having sunrises/sunsets “Where God paints the sky” and it is one of the most accurate phrases I have ever heard.

I implore everyone that may have the opportunity to go to Arizona, and just relax, enjoy the beauty that is there, or any place in the world for that matter, that you find to be special.

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Fun New Tool

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — Jacob Crosby @ 12:05 pm

I have recently found a new piece of software called Woopra. It allows me to see tons of useful information about visitors (Though nothing to personally identify you). Sometimes I will be on and notified of a visitor, and with this new software I am able to send a message to visitors. So, though I may have no idea who you are, you may receive a message from me in the future, if you want me to know who it is, let me know, if not, just talk back and never tell me who it is. :) Hopefully this enables a little more interaction with visitors, hopefully without feeling too intrusive to anybody, if it does feel that way, I can certainly disable this function for visitors, but I have to do it when you are online at the same time as me, as stated, no way for me to identify anybody, so I can only do it when I see you on. Hopefully we need not worry about that though. Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone. I can say that I am thankful for the things I have once had and how they may have affected me, both positive and negative…

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