Daily Plog

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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November 26, 2009

Going Through the Mill.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jacob Crosby @ 1:33 am

I was browsing through my catalog of photos, of which there are over 13,000 (Likely 30% being potentially post-able). I found this particular photo, it was taken in a time that was difficult, as are many lately, in which Chandra had been gone for awhile, and I was on my way home from spending some time up north in Kathio State Park near Lake Mille Lacs. I did have a good time, getting away and relaxing. Though, somehow being so disconnected from everything was a bit emotionally burdensome.

In retrospect I wish I could more enjoy my time away from everything and have the ability to distract myself from my worries on occasion. On my trip to Arizona I was mostly able to do so, but that is primarily due to the influence of Chandra to distract me from the problems of my health. She has always been able to make everything feel like it will improve, even if all logic points to an alternate conclusion.

Having said that, I really like the peacefulness of this particular photo. Living here a hundred years ago. Somehow imagining the peacefulness of having a small plot of land, a Wife and Children and what might seem like a little bit of solidarity. I can imagine how much simpler life would be without all the troubles of modern life, mortgages, cellular phone(s), fuel costs, car payment(s), and just keeping up with all of the things that a person is required to do on a daily basis.

“If you’re attractive enough on the outside, people will forgive you for being irritating to the core” ~E.L. Kersten

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November 24, 2009

As it stands…

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jacob Crosby @ 10:56 pm

As it stands the problem surrounding the rating system not working was in fact one of the implementations I had made back in early October to speed up the loading of the site. No worries though, it currently (As of now) appears that everything works fine and the site is still loading at a “very” respectable speed… Let’s hope it continues.

As far as my ending with a quote, that only applies to the first post of the day, just to clear that up with everyone….

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Broken things and new endings…

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jacob Crosby @ 10:33 pm

So, it has come to my attention that the rating system on the site has become non functional once again. I was told of this some time ago, and I distinctly remember making it functional again. No matter, I am currently working on a fix, and we will see how long it takes, so for now, perhaps comments are in order.

I have recently decided to end each post with a quote, whether it be one of my own, a movie, a song, or something I have read somewhere. So, should you have any ideas for a quote, feel free to contact me and I will surely include any ideas. Some of you that visit my site may wish to remain anonymous, and as such, you may freely post on the site, though when it comes time to typing in a name and email, feel free to type in something like “anonymous” as a first and last name, and “anonymous@anonymous.com”, and I will certainly make sure to approve your posts, as my spam filter will likely do what it does best, and filter them.

“… and perhaps all of the misfortunes one could endure would not be equal to this moment, here, right now, wherein you are gone…”

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November 21, 2009

All the Fire in the Sky

Filed under: Arizona, Fire, Nature, Nature Preserve, Outdooors, Phoenix, Rebel XT/350D, Sunset, Travel — Tags: , , , , , , — Jacob Crosby @ 12:22 am

The good news, perhaps the best news short of my recent trip to Arizona, is that I had a job interview today. I have been applying at a plethora of places looking for an IT position, and it seems that my level of experience and knowledge is either not enough or far surpassing that of the desired candidate for most positions. Fortunately, Apple seems to think differently (No pun intended) ;) , because I actually had an interview with a company for a helpdesk position troubleshooting Apple products. I feel extremely confident that I will get the position.

The bad news (That is actually good news), I recently lost someone that was a huge part of my life. Don’t worry, she is very much alive. Regardless of the circumstances with which things ended, it seems that it is a great sigh of relief to be able to breathe again. I was so overwhelmed with constantly having to repair everything that went wrong, both emotionally and physically. Constantly needing to be there to pick up the pieces, but every moment a new “toy” came along, I was immediately of no use. Every instant, walking on egg shells, worried that the most innocent of sentences could spark a fire that could not be put out and would become a raging inferno. Ultimately, this is the best week I have had in almost exactly one year. Thank you for freeing me from your undying abuse…

As previously stated I was granted the opportunity to visit a friend in the Phoenix area of Arizona. In Minnesota we have the beautiful reds that turn orange and yellow, the deep blues that fade into purples and pinks…. In Arizona it seems the sunsets are someone setting fire to the sky. When there are clouds in the sky (Which is certainly a rarity), it is a violent torrent of rich orange, red, yellow and mix perfectly with the swirling clouds in the sky. Having said that, there are the beautiful multi-colored sunsets that we experience here, but I did not see them until I went to Sedona.

This photo was taken after a short hike through Lost Dutchman State Park to an area called Flat Iron Peak, and The Praying Hands. Chandra and I had hiked up the mountain top the highest point, which was and area between Flat Iron Peak and the first set of Praying Hands. We got to the top and took some photos of each other, horsed around a bit, and kind of relaxed together and sat down and just cuddled. After about twenty of minutes of that we started heading back down the mountain.

Once about halfway down and having made it partially around the side of the mountain the sky opened up and the name struck me, All the Fire in the Sky. Actually lyrics from a song, it was the first thing that came to mind the moment I saw it. I began running down the mountain, camera and tripod in tow, which, given my medical condition, was probably not in the top three list of “Things I should do to get a nice photo”. However, I knew that at the bottom was my backpack with all of my gear, and fortunately my pain medication. Not that they were necessary as I made sure to take enough prior to starting the hike. I was somewhat out of it during taking most of my photos as any time we had gone hiking I made sure that I took enough to endure the pain of carrying my gear. Due to the fact that I was on pain medication I was not entirely in the best mental state to focus on camera settings and taking good photos. As such, many of the photos I had taken during my stay in Arizona are not suitable for HDR… Sadly.

This photo is not an automated HDR, I actually mapped the photo manually in Photoshop just to see how difficult it would be, of all photos, please comment and rate this one.

Well, after my long story about Lost Dutchman State Park and All the Fire in the Sky of an Arizona sunset, here is the aforementioned photo in all of it’s illustrious glory!

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November 20, 2009

Farewell

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jacob Crosby @ 5:44 am

In light of recent events…. So sad I am to see you go, yet, in so many ways, the future without you looks so bright, as I am sure it does for you.

This photo was taken during a trip home from the Virginia/Cook areas of MN. I took my then girlfriend Chandra, to see a friend, Lisha, and her family. We stayed on the farm for the weekend, and really just relaxed for a few days. Chandra was happy to see the modern side of farming, as she is originally from Nepal, and farmed the old fashioned way, with your bare hands. She lived in a small village named Bartar (Please forgive if it is spelled incorrectly), which if you happen to search for on google maps, will look something like a forest in the middle of northern Minnesota, but with a river nearby instead of a lake.

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to visit Chandra in Arizona, and took many amazing photos. Sadly, I was very very heavily medicated to be able to do the hiking, and I was not able to capture a ton of quality photos, simply because I was pretty well out of it. Though the skies certainly are painted there. It was probably one of the last trips I will take. I will be going towards Chicago for Thanksgiving, so hopefully I will be able to capture some impressive photos then.

I am sad to announce that I will likely be selling my camera equipment soon. I am finding that the passion I once had is now gone. So when the time comes for me to sell the equipment I will of course post the necessary information here, and hopefully I will find some interest.

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