Blog

Zentangle Colors

2013-05-17T19:03:56Z

One item I forgot to mention from yesterdays post was using colors in Zentangle drawings. When I add colors to mine I use Tombow Dual Brush Pen Set. I picked these up on Amazon based on the reviews from several Zentangle artists. One end of the pen is a narrow tip marker and the other end is more of a brush type pen. I usually prefer to leave my Zentangle drawings black and white, but if I need to add color to a drawing - these pens work great.

Make Something

2013-05-16T20:38:46Z

Lately I have been focusing more on creating. With the availability of technology and media everywhere, it's easy to get caught up in a cycle of consuming. Creating doesn't have to be anything extravagant. When I say creating, I am not talking about making something and selling it to others. Although that would be great. I am talking about making something. Whatever that something is.

The first thing I am trying my creating skills on is drawing. As a younger gent I loved to draw, but somewhere over the years I lost that. I think a lot of adults lose their creativity, the world has a way of taking that away from you. I was looking for away to get back in to drawing that was non-traditional. I was not interested in still life or portraits. That is when I stumbled across Zentangle. Zentangle is an art form that is drawing using structured patterns. I doesn't take much to get started, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here are the tools I picked up:

Sakura Micron Clam Ink Pen Set

Faber-Castell Pencils

Prismacolor Kneaded Rubber Art Eraser

Blending Set

Sketch Paper Pad

Joy of Zentangle: Drawing Your Way to Increased Creativity, Focus, and Well-Being

Just in a few weeks I am amazed at how quickly my creativity is coming back.

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12MP Digital Camera

2013-05-09T19:39:39Z

For years I've had cameras from the EOS line from Canon. This is a great line of digital cameras, and they all served me extremely well. My latest EOS Rebel was starting to age and it was time to upgrade. Since purchasing the Rebel I had honestly not had much time for photography. As much as it saddened me I started looking for a point and shoot. Something I could carry with me, not have to keep lenses around, and use easily.

After much searching I happened on the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12MP camera. I spent a few hours reading reviews for the camera. The zoom looked amazing on it, and this is what initially drew me to the camera. I eventually purchased the camera and have been very happy with it.

Just to give you an idea of its zoom capability, this was taken in my yard with a tripod.

Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12MP camera

The zoom is amazing. And to zoom in this far you will need a tripod, I assume any tripod will do, but I really like the Vista Explorer 60-Inch Lightweight Tripod from Davis and Sanford. Other features such as AF and image stabilization work great.

The Hunger Games

2013-05-09T19:13:11Z

I know I am late to the game on this. When the books came out I read them all quickly. They were engrossing. I finally decided to watch the Hunger Games movie yesterday, and it was good. I don't think movies always portray the books as well. When I read a book I've got a picture of how everyone looks, the scenery, and pace. That rarely meshes up with the movie. The movie is free on Amazon (for Prime Members) and on Netflix.

RunKeeper For Pebble

2013-05-07T20:39:21Z

Pebble has been at most, an interesting device to me. Nothing more than a fancy watch. A fancy watch that I couldn't justify. I gave up wearing watches several years back. Today, Pebble announced a partnership with RunKeeper.

I've always loved RunKeeper for keeping track of jogging. But my biggest gripe, was having to start and stop a run using my phone, which was in a holder on the side of my arm. My second gripe was that it was hard to see my progress and information while I am running. RunKeeper does offer audio cues, but they wore on me rather quickly.

RunKeeper and Pebble are a perfect match. According to the press release you will be able to start and stop a run from the watch and track current progress and other metrics. This may be enough to make me consider purchasing the Pebble.

BlackBerry CEO Sees Limited Future for Tablets

2013-04-30T18:10:17Z

The company that failed to make a successful tablet now says tablets are a dying breed.

“In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” Heins said in an interview yesterday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”

Bloomberg

It's not what I wanted

2013-04-25T15:54:09Z

How often do we lay back and dream goals for our lives? In college, my biggest goal was to finish school and become an IT Director/Manager. I wanted it bad. I am not sure what drove that dream, but deep down, I knew that was my destination. After graduating I went for it. I worked hard, gained new skills, and grew. 4 years later I took an IT management job. I hated it. But I tirelessly worked. I turned that IT department around, and I still hated it. A few years after that a bigger opportunity came, this was a much better job, still a manager, and I still wasn't happy. Ten years since graduation and I was at my goal (I had been at that goal for five years). What I thought I wanted, turned out to be something I hated.

Now I stand at a crossroad. Maybe I am fortunate that I am figuring this all out before I turn 40. Maybe it's a cruel cosmic joke, and I'll hate what comes next. Maybe I am just a curmudgeon. I don't think so. I still have fire and desire.

So what comes next? Honestly, I have no idea. I am getting thoughts down, taking a course I am really excited to be a part of called Deliberate Practice. All I do know, is that there is more to life than this. There has to be.

Bioshock

2013-04-16T16:43:57Z

Back in college (what seems like a 100 years ago) I enjoyed playing first-person shooters. At that time (I am dating myself) the big ones were Unreal Tournament, Quake, and Half-Life. Beyond those I didn't do much. Shortly afterwards I got my first job, married, and then kids. Over those years I completely lost touch with video games, well outside of iOS games. But most of those seem to be the type where you pick one up play for ten minutes and put it back down.

I have been hearing a lot lately about the new Bioshock Infinite. This seemed like a good time to get back in to PC gaming. But, I didn't have a PC capable of running BioShock Infinite . A few days back I was browsing the Mac OS App store and noticed that they had the first version of Bioshock that came out. I downloaded it, and have not been able to stop playing since.

It may be time to get back in to gaming.

New BlackBerry iPad Competitor?

2013-03-31T13:45:45Z

Is this a case of just being too late to the game? Or is there truly still room for another tablet company? If so - can Blackberry pull this off?

The iPad competitor appears to be named the B10. The roadmap gives no details on its dimensions or specifications, but it looks to be a large tablet in the vein of Google's Nexus 10 and Apple's full-size iPads. Should the device materialize, it would represent BlackBerry's second attempt at breaking into the tablet segment.

This would definitely give BlackBerry a wider range of offerings. I can not help to think that ship has sailed for BlackBerry. This reminds me very much of Palms last hurrah.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

2013-03-28T21:28:27Z

This week I've enjoyed listening to Specter At The Feast by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. BRMC is a recent find for me, I wish I would have found them sooner.