Monthly Archives: April 2003

A Bird in the Han

Posted on April 30, 2003 by thedude

Sorry, I just could not resist… It was just too obvious. You see, I just met my new neighbor Han, and Han just met Orion.

Han and his charming girlfriend came over after work tonight. They seem like a teriffic addition to our building. He keeps the streets of Santa Clara safe at night and paints during the day. (He promises to show me some of his work soon.) She’s a professor of Asian-American relations.

They both claimed that they have never heard a peep from Kelly’s birds – a claim that I find very hard to believe. (I think they were just being nice.) Of course, Orion showed his appreciation by biting Han on the neck. Blasted animals.

Anyway, I got a very positive feeling from both of our neighbors. I can’t wait to see them again!

I absolutely love living here – most of the time. But hey, don’t even get me started on that subject.

Posted in Loft Life | Leave a comment

Time for a Change…

Posted on April 29, 2003 by thedude

I did it! my blog is now my home page. I never touch the pages on my old web site any more, so I figured it was time. If you’re looking for old links, you’ll find most of them on the left hand side of this page.

Hope you enjoy the new look.

Posted in Just Blogging | 1 Comment

Dashe Winery

Posted on April 27, 2003 by thedude

Well, what a nice surprise! Looking for an excuse to get out of the house on a gorgeous day in the Bay Area, we decided to make a wine run to Rosenblum Cellars – one of our favorite stops in nearby Alameda. To our surprise, there was an event in progress at the abandoned shipyard that is now home to the Rosenblum tasing room. The Dashe Winery Spring Open House was in full-swing. Live music – delicious food (yummy tapenade!) and some pretty darn good zinfandels.

    

(Apologies to those who have seen quite enough pictures of Kelly.)

While tasting some pretty nice wines, we met two new neighbors – a couple who live in a new development just one block from here. Sounds like we may join them at their upcoming blind wine tasting. Cool! I love to meet my neighbors. I love a sense of community, don’t you?

Posted in Bay Area | Comments Off

Canon G3

Posted on April 26, 2003 by thedude

I am often asked for recommendations on digital camera. I have never been able to provide a definitive answer – until now. I finally found a digital camera that I can recommend without reservation.

Continue reading →

Posted in Photography | Leave a comment

Hope Dies

Posted on April 26, 2003 by thedude

I just learned that my ex-boss and friend for thirty years has died of a massive stroke.

Hope Waldecker was the owner of the Auctioneer’s Inn – a restaurant located in the middle of a corn field in rural Wisconsin. I worked at the Inn on and off for six or seven years – most of the time as a waiter. At her best she was boisterous, colorful – a teriffic singer in complete control of the room – a genuine entertainer. At her worst, she was drunk, loud, argumentative, pushy.

Was it just a year ago that her son Jeffrey James died from a heart attack at the young age of 52?

The Inn will not be the same without the two of them. They will not be forgotten.

Posted in Wisconsin | 2 Comments

Whoa! It’s a BLOG!

Posted on April 25, 2003 by thedude

Woo-hoo! I finally did it. I set up my first BLOG (weB LOG). Of course, I had help. I used the terrific bloging software from moveabletype. I had a look at Blogger, but I think that moveabletype creates the best-looking blogs out there – with a minimum of effort. This page looks like it’s been lifted straight out of Communication Ats magazine. And this is the default template. Beautiful!

So, now the question is, “What are you going to do now that you have a fancy-schmancy blog, Jim?” The answer? I’m not exactly sure, but the whole concept has me very excited. I have a lot to learn, and well, maybe that’s the most exciting part.

The first thing to learn is how the different image upload options work. Here’s one:

Jim and Greg before dinner at Le Cheval Monday night.

Here’s another:

This method is pretty cool. The thumbnail was auto-generated by moveable type to my specifications. In this case, I simply sepcified 120 pixels tall. Egg-sellent!

My next trick will be to to figure out how to add blogs for all of my friends and family.

Click on the comments link below if you dare!

Posted in Just Blogging | 2 Comments