After some great news today, I must have been energized, because I spent time revisiting a writing project that I had let sit for the past few months.  Way too early to talk about it, but I’m very excited about it.  Awaiting some feedback, and going to let it sit for a little bit and ferment.  In the meantime, I have two outlines to relating to it…

haymuff:

anyone?

Mi mama y papa son de Puerto Rico.  Yo naci en los Estados Unidos.

(My Spanish writing isn’t that great LOL).

I’m very honored that my picture, “Love Park,” has been selected for Schmap’s ninth edition of their Philadelphia guide!

You can see the entry here.

I am very flattered and honored that a photo of mine was once again short-listed by Schmap, makers of online travels guides and more, for an upcoming guide on Philadelphia. Previously, a photo of mine taken in Florida was short-listed and subsequently selected by Schmap for their Jacksonville, FL guide. The latest photo is the one above, “Love Park,” which I took this past summer while on a day trip with the family. I hope to find out in a few weeks if my photo is selected, but either way, it is a great nod.

I’ve been in a lull for the past few months. Maybe this will give me a kick in the rear that I need to get back out and start taking photographs regularly again.

Somehow, this slipped past me, until editor Bob Furnell informed me of this in an email: the latest issue of the Canadian Doctor Who fan magazine, Whotopia, is out. Included in this issue (#17) is part 2 of my Eighth Doctor fan short story, “The Memory of Darkness.”

Check out an overview of Whotopia issue 17

Download Whotopia issue 17 (PDF format)

Download Whotopia issue 16 for part 1 (PDF format)

As always, your feedback is welcome!

I did a pathetically light amount of photography over the past 3 months… kind of a bummer, but I’ve been very focused on other things. I went through the photos I took over that time and wasn’t crazy about most of them. This, however, remains my favorite of the batch (and is completely unaltered… I shot it as you see it).

Not a lot going around here these past few weeks. Basically, I’ve been enjoying some other pursuits, taking care of a few things, and doing more personal reading. As a result, updating the blog has taken a back seat. It’s part of the natural cycle; I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this site will always have extended bouts of content interspersed with recharging cycles where I’m doing other things. We’re in the latter.

But, to catch up, here are a few random notes from what’s been going on lately:

• Contrary to what people in my personal life have been expecting, I have not purchased a Zune HD.  Though the new software looks pretty cool and the hardware looks pretty amazing, I’ve surprisingly happy with my combination of the BlackBerry Storm + 16GB card + Flipside.  I still have my Zune 120, that’s been sitting in a drawer for over a month now.  Don’t quite know what to do with it yet.


• Recent music:  Nelly Fertado’s Mi Plan, Maximo Park, Kate Walsh, and The Very Best of Cream.


• Picked up Guitar Hero World Tour for the Wii.  Very cool game; all of us have taken turns playing guitars / drums and performing vocals.  It’ll be a great addition for Julian when he has friends over.  Sure, that’s the primary reason I get.


• I am now wearing glasses full-time.


• Finally read Ender’s Game.  Great book, as 99% of the rest of the science fiction-loving world knew already.  Maybe I should get around to finally reading Dune now.


• Bought a used Playstation 2 today from someone at work for $40.  It’s not the slim version, but it looks almost brand new, with 2 controllers, a memory card, and a game (ATV Offroad Fury 2).  Because I’m SuperDad, I surprised Julian with NASCAR 09 for the system.  He was bummed out when we initially traded in our old PS2 for the Wii because the Wii barely has any NASCAR games for it.  So when I saw the PS2 for sale today at work, I figured it was too good a price to pass up.


• I’ve picked up playing the MMO 9Dragons again, after almost a year since I last touched it.  Doing casual play, and I’m enjoying it.


• I also picked up Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the Wii.  Yes, for some reason, this has been a pretty game-heavy couple of weeks.  Love the game, by the way.


• McNabb getting hurt during the Eagle’s opener was not terribly surprising.  Kolb being shaky was no great revelation either, though he needs more playing time to really show what he can do.  I think the next two weeks will make or break Kolb.

Oh, Direc TV.  You almost had my business.

Earlier this week I saw an ad offering to lock in a 150+ channel package for $29.99 for an entire year for Dish Network subscribers.  I’ve been on Dish Network for over five and a half years, and I like it because it is a cheaper than the Comcast megalith in our area, which has just kept raising prices over the years.  However, to save some money, we had been using the Dish Family package for the past several months, which is a minimum package comprised mostly of family channels (for the kids, and oddly enough, Disney is not included in it).  We just don’t watch that much TV.  However, with the new season coming up, I’ve been wanting to pick up a few of the extra networks to catch shows such as Star Wars:  The Clone Wars and Doctor Who.  So when I saw the opportunity to lock in at a ton of channels for a great price, I took it.  I set up a time to have Direc TV come out and do the installation.

Then I called Dish Network to cancel.  Of course, they put me through to an account rep who was sweet talking me.  When asked why I hadn’t called Dish Network to see if I could get a deal on my account, I told her that I had tried doing that a couple of months ago, and they did not budge on telling me that their specials were for new customers only.  Long story short, I wound up getting their 200-channel package, plus they waived my DVR fee for the entire year.  Basically, for $4 more a month, I am getting way more than I was previously.  I was set.

Then I called Direc TV to cancel my installation.

I was connected to a guy, who proceeded to give me the hard sell about staying with Direc TV.  I expected this; hey, he’s just doing  his job to try and keep me, and I get that.  He was saying that Dish Network would raise their prices and that Direc TV would offer me a deal in a year after the current one ended.  I kindly told him, thanks but no thanks.  Then he got an attitude, and continued to try the hard sell with a condescending tone.  Talk about being a dbag.  I wanted to start yelling at him on the phone, but I took the high road and kept cool; I figured that this was just reaffirming my choice to stay with Dish Network.  The kicker was when I still told him that I was still sticking with Dish Network.  His response?  ”Well, fine, you’re the one who’s going to keep wasting money.”  Nice.  They canceled my order and I promptly hung up the phone, glad to be finished with that.

Thanks, Direc TV.  Looks like I won’t be using your services ever.

… at last, that’s what it seemed like to me, here at Dorney Park, where we took the kids today. Since our original plans were rained out for Knobles (another amusement park) on Friday, we wound up just doing the more local Dorney today. We came across this blown-up statue of Snoopy, who despite his smile, would most likely rampage and pillage if given life and set free. We spent most of the in the water park, and after the long but enjoyable day, went out for a late dinner and came home. The kids were sleeping by the time we got home. They had a blast today, which makes me extremely happy.

Now, time for some reading and letting my brain happily shut down. Blah blah blah.