http://beyondmidnight.net/abm/2008/I skipped last year since I was busy with dealing with wedding stuff, and I skipped 2005 because that year sucked.

This came out last week.  I had heard about it a few months ago and honestly wasnt impressed at all with the idea.  Seemed like it would be a pain in the ass, and when I went to look at the “Watch Instantly” selection, they were totally crappy. I went about my life and didnt think much of it.

Couple weeks ago, the day the new Xbox Live interface came out was the day the Netflix Watch Instantly over you Xbox was released.  Upon my  first viewing, it seemed very annoying.  Took a VERY long time for something to load, and then the quality looked like I was viewing a video online, blocky and noisy.    Overall I still wasnt impressed.  With the half hour loading time for a 45 min episode of a TV show, it did not seem much like “Watch Instantly” at all.

Later on that weekend, I was very bored and with nothing good on TV.  So I felt I should give the Netflix/Xbox another try.  Maybe their servers were slow that night, after all it was the premier night.  But upon a second go around, things loaded rather quickly, and with decent quality as well.  And soon enough, I was logging into my Netflix account, and looking over every single “Watch Instantly” movie to add, looking for anything that even remotely seemed interesting.

The problem is that there are slim pickings.  Very, very slim.

But still.  I am often way too lazy to watch my Netflix DVDs and mail out, often holding onto something for months at a time.  Now I can actually use my account, after all Im paying for it.  Plus it perfect on the weekends when TV is so crappy…that I might get desperate and read a book.

I havnt properly introduced my new DSLR camera.

It is a Sony A300.  I got it at Circut City at a pretty good price, all the other big electronics stores wernt even selling it (at the time).  I bought it right before I went to the Delorean Car Show in June 2008.
It is pretty much is like all the other DSLRs, its 10MP, takes a CF card, stuff like that. But my favorite thing about my camera is its tilt-able viewfinder.  Many, many times I took photos low or high using my compact camera, and I found it difficult to see exactly what I was taking a photo of, often relying on slight variations in the LCD when viewed at an extreme angle.   Having the view finder able to tilt up or down is so great, I hardly ever use it flat I almost always tilt to take my photos.

Being able to get used to taking real photos is a large challenge. I got so used to simply turning on the camera, waiting for the camera to start up, and then taking the photo. Now with my DSLR, the camera starts up almost instantly, but I have to adjust the aperture and speed, and even though its been a few months, Im still not quite good at it yet…even with the light meter in the camera!

So since I got my DSLR, I have gotten into a new love of photos. I tried out Polarizer filters, and an InfraRed Filter, and I have some colored filter on the way…new toys to play with.

A while ago, I took film photos.  I had a photography class in my senior year of High School (1996), and got interested back then.  Sure my photos wernt ground breaking, and I had a hell of a time rolling the film properly…but it was still fun.  I got my own enlarger (1998), and took more and more photos after I graduated. But film is expensive, and chemicals are expensive, and paper is expensive, and I did not have enough money to support my photography interest, so I quit.  I got a compact camera a few years later (2003) , and I havnt lived with out a camera on me since.  Earlier this year, I hit the wall as far as compact goes.  I was frustrated without having total control. I wanted better quality, I wanted to take things farther, and realzed I needed a DSLR.
Well, all in all, having a DSLR is definately a commitment.  It weighs more than a compact, its heavier than a compact,  it can not fit in my purse like a compact.  Its more inconvenient in so many ways  and the photo file size.

But I still love it.

Not that Ive ever been really big on updating my blog, but I have been lapsing on it lately. For the past 4 months, I started a new job. I now work at MerrickTowle in Beltsville, MD as a web designer. It took a bit of a while to get a web design job, (almost 4 months looking) longer than I thought; and I have work experience. I really, really wanted to work for a design firm, since I needed the difference in projects. And I got a job in a marketing firm.

So basically my life has been going to work and going home and chilling out. I havnt been trying to bust my ass on creating any images, cause I dont feel like it now. I havnt been building any new sites (Since the simple Delorean Car Show one) lately, cause I dont feel like it either.

The one thing I have been interested in, it taking photos. I know, another lame chick taking photos…its true.  But I got a DSLR in June, and I love it.  Although, Im never fully satisfied with the images I take, I still feel like Im learning how to use it properly.

You are thinking one of four things:

1. What is Stop and Shop?
2. I already knew the logo changed
3. Really, I didnt know the log changed
   or
4. Why do I care?

Well, you dont have to care…because I do. I grew up on Stop and Shop and the “old reliable Red” and Green circles. I saw them through the 80’s and into the mid 90’s. Sure going food shopping in really boring when youre a little kid, but I was there every week with my mommy. Stop and Shop provided food for all those Christmass’, Thanksgivings, yummy birthday cakes, and pretty much everything I ate for all those years.

Moving from Connecticut to Virginia in 1995 and then things changed over to the supermarket Giant. Both companies are owned by the same business, and so once in a while, there was a stray S&S item on the shelves, and I always got a little kick from that.  Ive only been to S&S a few times in the past 13 years its been since Ive moved, and I can get silly buying items with the logo on it…even taking photos in the store…just to be funny.

Well, now the logo has changed, and I instantly HATE it! Its ugly, does nothing for the name, and I wish it would go away. Im personally bothered that its changed from when I was a kid…I dont like seeing “old reliables” change in any way.

http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/stop_and_shop_for_a_new_logo.php

Oh yeah, I did do this cool image for the Delorean Car Show 2010. I forgot to post that here.

http://www.deloreancarshow.com/

I really want to do more design stuff for the Delorean Car show world. It its something I am interested in, and would love to support in maybe the only way I can.

I called someone a year after they emailed me and the number isnt working anymore.

If youre reading this, use my contact form again, and leave an email address.  I totally would have emailed you back right away, but you left a phone number, and I kept forgetting to call.

Well, will the free time I have, I thought to make a new wedding website, this time a post-wedding site. I have plans to make it in Flash, and just a little bad ass, not totally, but I want to try some things I have never done before. Hopefully this will happen. The first part of the plan is to make an image, that the site is going to be based off of.

Here is the image

Its actually not as complicated as I want, but I cant seem to find it in me to make it more detailed. Maybe I should wait a couple days.  Its been a while since I made an image…well, maybe not that long, last one I finished was for the pre-wedding site: here

I was flipping through a graphic design book, and this guy really caught my eye. I love his style, his flow. Its so electric and smooth, items cut out, yet they blend well. Overall, its really yummy to me. I am really into complicated little details in graphic design images.

http://www.hypnoteis.nl/

With my love of all things sassy and retro, I am thrilled to find this studio, right here in Baltimore! http://www.atomiccheesecakestudios.com/
They dress you up, do your makeup, and take saucy photos of you. Oh I want to do this so badly, I probably will by the end of the year.

Holy crap, I happened upon the greatest blog! They point out…obviously, Photoshop disasters. Found in ads, posters, catalogs, almost anywhere. Some of them are just horrible, and I find it hard to believe that any art director would let the images go out like that. Some of them are so bad, Im wondering if its a joke. Either way, this blog is quite entertaining.
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

Yup. Done and done.

The wedding was super kick ass. I loved the whole thing. I believe more in the ceremony part than reception part of a wedding, therefore all my attention went to the ceremony, having made our outfits and all that goes along with not being a sewer yet sewing your wedding dress…and not really having a formal reception. Anyways, the ceremony was fun, the “reception” lunch after was yummy, and overall the whole trip was great. Vegas brides rock the house!

My recap of the day

Flickr Photoset

Me featured on “Offbeat Bride”

By the way, my computer did get seriously screwed up. As in Windows failed to completely boot up eventually, meaning that Windows had to be re-installed. I always thought that was the most difficult thing to deal with, but its not…so long as you are able to back up everything you need to, which I did.

But that was a long time ago.

Anyways, next week Im going to Vegas to get married. Ive been busy, busy, busy making things for this wedding. I made the invitations, the website, my wedding dress, his jacket/duster, and other things like my hat, garter, purse…bunch of things.

Of course I will spread around the photos online, and then get back to writing in here as I used to.

Here is a photo of my ring

Oh my god, I can not believe this has happened, but its totally my fault.  Spyware, Malware, Poopware…I got it.

I have run SO MANY different scans on my computer, its been retarded: Ad-Aware, Counter Spy, AVG, Advanced Spyware Remover, a-squared Security Center.  Those did absolutely nothing to stop whats going on.  I have also run SmitfraudFix, and VundoFix. Those two managed to stop a couple things.  I also went in the disable the pop ups for IE, which its annoying to go down for lunch, only to come back to my computer to have 30 IE windows open with bull shit ads.  I wanted to uninstall IE all together, but finding that add-on window for IE and disabling the things helped.

But still, Im getting error messages all the time, (triangle !) pop ups all the time, and various other things popping up to make my day at work that much more frustrating.

Considering wiping my hard drive to get rid of everything, but that has got to be a last ditch effort.  I only wish all the spyware, malware scans worked.  They are totall bull shit, they dont solve a thing.

Either that or what I have is so hard core that the scan miss them.

It just seems that my whole life has been scanning, removing, rebooting, repeating.  For days and days.  In all my years being on the computer, I have never had this much of an issue before.  Never.

Have you ever wanted to design a pair of Doc Martin boots?

Well now here is your chance.

They are doing a contest. The first year they did this was 2006, and the winning design is pretty damn good.

View and rate this years submitted designs